Reprioritizing

And my blogging has fallen by the wayside. Shame on me!

No, really.

I turned 25 — and what did I have to show for it? A huge pile of RESPONSIBILITY staring me in the face. I haven’t decided how much it sucks yet — or if it sucks at all. There’s my personal life to consider, and how it interferes (or compliments!) my blossoming professional life. There’s the demands of a new, yet exciting, job — and how it infringes on my personal and romantic life. There’s the romantic life — juggling the trials of sharing my life with a guy I consider as important as myself and the rest of my family.  The celebrations that come along in any life — whether it’s to celebrate another wonderful summer day — in the middle of September, the celebration of knowing you’ve survived another year, celebrating the win of a favored athlete, or even another month to tuck into your belt.

All that stuff above, was just another way to say that I’ve been busy. My life has moved so fast in such a short period of time (as of today, I’ve been 25 for a whole month)… that I just haven’t had the presence of mind to log it in the blog.

It’s not that blogging isn’t important to me — it is. Blogging even makes its way into my job (what company DOESN’T have a blog anymore? Really.). Sharing my thoughts and musings with what little part of the world cares, is also important to me. My relationship with my boyfriend is important. My family is important. My job is important. My private time is also important. I think the main struggle of being in this quarter life is to know what is important when. During the 9 to 5 (9 to 6 in my case), my job is the most important thing. Secondary would be everything else that doesn’t directly relate to my job. Before and after work, that’s the time for myself, my boyfriend, my family, my friends. Time like now, is meant for myself. To take care of me, so that I have the health to deal with all the aforementioned stuff.

I haven’t been doing a very good job of that lately, either. Just last week, I pulled my calf muscle. Ow. Time to put the gym aside and take care of that. While I have that extra time to myself, I should devote myself to my job. Concentrate on being the best I can be … which, also includes taking my work home with me, which I’ve also done earlier tonight. Also find time to invest in my boyfriend, who is also going through a similar re-prioritization in his life.

Taking the time to explain the intricacies of everything’s relationship to one another, especially in the context of MY life — would take forever. Every day, the priorities change. Every day something happens that will shift the way we decide how much things are worth. They fluctuate more often than the stock exchange.

Part of dealing with the QLC is the ability to be flexible and realize the necessity of being flexible.

Life’s just a game of juggling. If you can’t do it, you just keep trying and practicing till you do. Sure, I’ve managed to figure out this tiny piece, but I’m just taking it one day at a time.

Sleep is becoming a priority like… rightnow.

So I’m browsing through CNN’s top stories

…as part of my daily routine, and I wanted to see other’s comments on the CNN/YouTube debates last night.

I come across top story #7 – S.C. black voters like choices… I might as well read it, since I read every top story and headline anyway. Or at least skim it… and so I come across this little gem.

Oh, man… gems like this always get me… especially from the major news bureaus. Sure, I realize that journalists are busy people and that there are loads and loads of editors, proofreaders, and copy editors all over the place that are supposed to look over these things before they go live (and things called spell check as well) and people are only human. Humans are fallible.

But really, Sasha Johnson, misspelling the name of a U.S. state? tsk.

I wonder how long it will take them to notice the typo?

EDIT: Approximately 45 minutes after I posted this, CNN has kindly corrected its little typo. At least I’ve forever immortalized the goof in this post. Go CNN editors!

Personal PostSecret

That page I did 100+ things on me… Well, I turned an old Moleskine notebook into a PostSecret of sorts for the boyfriend. Turns out I’m a lot less guarded of my thoughts when I’m on the verge of falling asleep — instead of during the day. Daytime mental vomit is a lot more playful than half-asleep mental vomit.

If you want people to take you seriously…

Please know and understand the value of proper written and oral communication.

Understand the difference in usage of ‘break’ and ‘brake’. Proofread your emails, blog posts, written interviews, published work…etc… Proofread anything that someone else in your industry or intended industry might read. Have other people read your drafts before you speak.

Therz lyke nothin more anoyin 2 read than pplz who wanna be recognized as LeaDeRZ iN THeiR iNDuSTReeZ ut KaNT TiPe FeR $#!+.

//twitch// It’s one of my major peeves.

Books are our gateway (or Genital Euphemisms)

And yet… they’re censoring what they show to kids… There’s a difference between sheltering them from the truly offensive and the proper and correct. After my humorous post earlier, here’s the meat of the problem.

Author Susan Patron [wiki] won a Newberry Award [wiki] for her book ‘The Higher Power of Lucky’. The controversy sprouted when one of the lines read: when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.

There it is. The highly offensive word. The scientifically correct term for the flesh pouch where the testes sit. Look in an anatomy text. It says scrotum.

“Somehow,” Patron said, “there’s a perception in America that you can put your kids in front of the TV, let them play certain kinds of games and expose them to absolutely atrocious levels of violence and language. But somehow the book is sacred. And especially the Newbery winner.”

Personally, I was watching things like “The Benny Hill Show”[wiki] and “Are You Being Served?”[wiki] when I was 3 or 4 years old. It was funny. It’s pretty risque, but when you’re that young? You really don’t know all the sexual connotations associated with humor like that. And it’s not even like Patron’s book was intentionally offensive.

Using euphemisms for genitalia is just going to create more problems in the long run. See the below example concerning The Vagina Monologues [wiki]:

In Florida, a theatre performing The Vagina Monologues was pressured into changing the title on the marquee, because the protesters were evidently unprepared to explain to their children what a “vagina” was when the little tykes read it in passing. The solution? For about two days, the marquee read “The Hoohaa Monologues.” Not only does this contradict the entire idea behind The Vagina Monologues—that is, that society should be more open about talking about vaginas—but it doesn’t even solve the problem.

Children are still going to ask what a “hoohaa” is, and I imagine the parental talk that ensues will be even more embarrassing, because “hoohaa” is to “vagina” what “hooters” is to “breasts.” Hooha is a childish, funny-sounding, misogynistic euphemism for a female body part that basically tells girls that their genitalia is too weird or dirty or gross to talk about properly in public.

No matter what you do. Kids are going to grow up. Kids are going to come up against the real words for anatomical parts. And then they’ll see how ridiculous this whole thing was in the first place.

Link Blog!

I’ve been using Google Reader for some time now… And now I’ve remembered that I can post a link to it on MY blog (or just THIS blog). Check out the link on the sidebar…

Or just click here.  

Blog Writing Philosophy

It’s interesting to see how my writing has evolved over the years. Since unearthing my OpenDiary (which, it’s interesting to note, is still up — despite the fact that my OD friends have all deleted their accounts), I have been going through entry by entry (I ended up with 1,800+ posts total) and taking a long trip down memory lane. My thoughts are extremely stream of consciousness and very long, or very short and fluffy. I definitely had regular readers and commenters. But I wondered, was I writing for myself or someone else?

Seth Godin posts an interesting point about blogging. Even though he’s speaking mostly about business bloggers — I feel that it can also apply to personal bloggers like myself.

Once you realize that no HAS to read your blog, that you can’t MAKE them read your blog, you approach writing with humility and view readers with gratitude. The second thing it does is force you to be clear. If you write something that’s confusing or in shorthand, you fail.

I’m aiming for the short and sweet now. I know how short of an attention span everyone has now.

Memory lane

Surprisingly enough, my OpenDiary is still up. My ID number is A123728. I was one of the first. I remember signing up and their front page saying they only had maybe 500,000 users active.

So, what was I writing 7 years ago? Let’s see. I had three entries up that day.

February 25, 2000  – *I can feel how much you love me*

ha! yeah right. I want a guy to feel safe with. I’m still a little bit hung up on my last entry. i write when i feel like it. it’s from that lone star song — *amazed* it’s a cute song… i wouldn’t mind some hottie singing it to me. as if. hoo boy, i feel another low spell coming on right around now. and the funny thing is thati know that this is going to be an awfully long entry… since i plan on spending about two hours on it. yes, that’s right folks, i have two hours to kill. classes ended today. i had my last anatomy class yesterday. it consisted of a donut and cider party — followed soon after by a pop quiz on digestion. after he let us out early, wes ripped up all his handouts and elliot trashed his binder. i would have loved to as well — but i think i might need those notes later on.

today was my last color and design class. gustin brought in donuts, but the stupid froshie 3 – davis, brett, and willie – ate all of them. the pigs. also my last moral reasoning class. mrs foster brought in easter candy for us. i still have an entire term of calc to go — so it was just exam review there. last eng class. we reminisced, wrote course evals, and discussed the last scenes of othello. went to the sac. came back here.

now i’m getting all weepy about jamie. i hate guys who sweet talk me [and then i freakin FALL for it, cuz i'm such a dumbass] and promise me that they’d visit me and talk to me.. and then he says.. oh i’m seein this girl and i dun wanna cheat on her. sorry. well. SCREW YOU TOO!

I just got back from the musical performance. i liked the singing… and the ensembles… were… just … too…long… i probably would have appreciated them more if 1) i weren’t sick and 2) i wasn’t so exhausted.

anyway, i’m back in this little mousehole i call home… it’s really a mousehole, i can’t believe i live here. it’s insane. two people fit into this little box. I can’t believe half of it contains ALL my stuff. luckily in a weeks time… most of the bulky stuff is going to be shipped home… and nothing but summer wear for later… honestly — this entry is getting nowhere and i am slowly losing my energy to write. so til later. adieu and goo’night.

The first entry. Ever.

2/23/00

I gotta admit. This is kinda weird, putting my journal out into the wide open Internet… for a good portion of people to see. But the intrigue is enough for me to try it out. Sure, I’ll still have my handwritten one — especially the entries I have during english class… those are more fun to write about. Considering I type a lot faster than I write, maybe this will be more appropriate. And since I’m on my computer for more time than I actually see my journal, maybe this option will be better. This is obviously my first entry — I really don’t know if anyone’s really going to read this… but the prospect of someone ACTUALLY reading this is scary — and yet, somehow fun. It’s weird, my roommate actually thinks that I’m writing a paper or something. This entire week is horrible. I’ve had 3 papers, 2 late assignments due this week. I have two exams next week. It’s horrid. And to top it all off! I’m SICK! sick sick sick sick. with the Common Viral Cold, they say. No cure. It sucks. It really does. Pounding headache, work –> those two just do not mix. Anyway… to give yall a taste out there of what my mind is REALLY like… maybe I should post a past entry. While I debate about that. I’ll type about today. We had a pointless meeting about sex, alcohol, and drugs in college — try a more inventive and interesting topic: like DEPRESSION in COLLEGE. ooh. there’s something we havent’ heard before. I went to see the BV Hockey game. we beat them good: 4-0. so their record is now 13-9. they still won their last two games. I’m so proud of the boys. Ok. I’m going to post a past entry. besides, I like to procrastinate. and typing is good therapy.

2.20.00

sunday d yet again. it’s about 10 17a. that blob? [i drew a pic at the bottom] that’s me. anyway I’ve been writing my case study. it’s been more of a question and answer session than anything else. but i’ve broken 4 pages so i’ve been productive. oh crap. i have to make it to 8. criminy! ah well… it’s a bit of a while until tonight. maybe i’ll go see the french play even though i can’t understand french. what can i see from here? i can see quinn bored out of his mind. victor and nessim bored out of their mind. cam being a jerk. ben looking bored. hun hun chatting. dawsie’s hair is hilarious as usual. i don’t even know if i’m going to make it to Mass even. oh yeah. the hockey game fri night? we tied 2-2. in the 1st period, french scored. 30 sec later == we scored. the tying goal was scored w/ 3 min left in the 3rd period and the boyz lost to taft 1-3 yesterday. how depressin. i wrote two pages of my case study in sunday d. and right now i’m in my rest stage. watchin TV. and writin in this. ooh. the sun just came and gosh it’s pretty. i wonder when the wwf is on. i need my dose of the ROCK. Do you smell what The Rock is cookin? sorry. I had a ROCK moment there. LA Confidential was a great movie. that was another random moment. i really really need something to eat and something good to watch. NOT WCW NOT ROSEANNE. luckily i’m not horribly picky when i’m writing in this. in fact. 80s vintage roseanne… this is actually funny. tom arnold and john goodma in the same frame. nifty. my hot chocolate’s kind of lacking. i need one of those get better bear things. my throat is killing me. is there anything more revolting than seeing tom arnold in a long 80s cut? i can’t believe i grew up in the 80s. the new decade is so much more for comfort. a poker game. a prime example of conflict. do i really want to comment on this more? i dont’ know. ignorance and apathy. 2 of the better things in life. maybe eating @ noon. *yawn*

well that was that. i wonder. if people would actually see this. now i’m getting all congesty. so i think i’ll crash. nighty night pple out there.

New blog!

Go figure, I have my 7 year anniversary. I create another site in the long line of Corinne-blogs.

This focuses on 20-something life. The new one is everything before then.