More Than Just a "Comment"

Why.

Why, why, why, why.

Why?

Why do I read the comments?

It's not like I'm ever going to be pleasantly surprised.

I must just like to torture myself.

I'm reading an article, watching a video clip, looking at a blog. My head says NO but my rebellious finger scrolls down the page anyway to view the comment section.

Horrifying insults. Disrespectful words. Vile language that few would have the guts to say to anyone's face.

The internet is typically a pretty cool place. Information. Shared ideas, words, creativity. Easily accessible. You can say what you want to say. Everyone has an audience.

But. People are so quick to type out a scathing opinion. So eager to engage in a pointless argument. So ready to gang up on someone with a different point of view.

We all know bullying is wrong. Parents, teach your children to be nice! Be polite! Use your manners! The golden rule!

But I'm not reading comments by children. I'm reading comments by adults.

People who write those comments: Is it brave, what you do? Is it sticking up for yourself? Is it helping someone understand?

It's teaching someone a lesson. It's belittling someone's point of view. It's stepping on someone's feelings.

It's setting yourself up above someone else. By pushing that someone down. That's bullying. It's always been around, but now it's different. It's online. It's fast, it's easy, it's widespread, it's anonymous. Mocking, biting sarcasm that not everyone is strong enough to withstand.

People are killing themselves after being torn down online. Kids are growing up typing, hammering out their blunt feelings on issues because they are learning that they are valuable and important only at the expense of others who are not as coolsmartfunfashionablesexy as them.

This should not be okay. THIS SHOULD NOT BE OKAY.

Source

Confidence, Procrastination, & Footnotes.

Confidence is a fickle, fickle friend.

I've either got it or I don't got it. It's amazing how much my environment influences my feelings of confidence. One minute I'm top of the world, the next minute I am worthless.

Let's not dig too deep into this psychologically, let's just think a bit on how my confidence blooms or wavers when it comes to schoolwork, shall we?

Yuck. Schoolwork.

I promise you I used to be more focused when it comes to work. I blame the internet. Now suddenly I can't concentrate unless I have music playing, 17 windows open on Google Chrome, and a snack. Seriously, can I not work on a paper for more than ten minutes without having to read a blog post or refresh my Facebook?

Seriously. I am writing this blog post as a way to avoid an assignment. This is real.

And speaking of confidence (wow, off topic much?), I am always always always second-guessing myself when it comes to assignments.

"I've got all the time in the world!"

"I will never get all of this done!"

Sometimes "working on schoolwork" is really just me studying my calendar and planning how long I can put things off.

I go back and forth all the time. I will accomplish something and pat myself on the back, plan out the rest of my week, and feel good.

Then two hours later I am having trouble with my internet connection and realizing that APA citation style takes longer when you can't do it free on easybib.com. (Why different citation styles, why? I used MLA throughout my entire college career and now, out of nowhere, come footnotes?? Are you kidding me?)

My confidence is very fragile, apparently. I try with my lists to stay organized, but I give myself minor heart attacks when I all of a sudden think maybe I've forgotten to submit something. The nightmares aren't helping, either. Why are all my dreams about forgotten assignments? Am I that much of a nerd?

*Sigh* Okay, back to work. I've got a paper to write.

On the other hand, these fingernails aren't going to paint themselves.

Source

Speaking of footnotes, I sort of hate when fiction books do this. The author thinks it would be fun to interject random thoughts speaking as the main character, but it drives me bananas. Because I have to read every one. I have to.

Oh, I'll Get Her a Journal

I am a girl who owns many journals.

Journals, diaries, notebooks...whatever you want to call them.

I've got a lot. I consider myself somewhat of an accidental collector.

Cool notebooks are a pretty standard gift, after all. People must think, I don't know her very well...I'll get her a notebook! It's like lotion. So versatile. She's a girl, so she must enjoy writing down her feelings and moisturizing her hands.

And....it's true. I like both notebooks and lotion, by the way.

But I've never really liked writing down my feelings. I went through stages where I tried to keep a "diary" but I ended up destroying many pages after rereading. Ugh, feelings sound so stupid when you write them down. And what if someone found them and read them? No thank you.

As a result of me trying to write and then hating to write and then destroying what I'd written, I have lots of notebooks with half of the pages written.

There's nothing quite like starting a new notebook for class, Bible study, lists, whatever. Unless you're starting an old notebook. In which case I may need to tear out five pages of stupid thoughts first.

What is old (and already written in) is new again!

I wish I hadn't thrown so much of my writing away, every time I wanted to start a new notebook. I'd kind of like to read some things over.

Nah. *r i i i i i i i i i p*

Source

I Am Smarter Than You, Spellcheck

I am smarter than you, Spellcheck.
I'm a human; this is true.
I've been around and read a lot more literature than you.

I am smarter than you, Spellcheck.
Please don't underline in red.
I think I know how my own name should be spelled out instead.

I am smarter than you, Spellcheck.
When you use that bright green line,
You're just proving that your IQ is far underneath of mine.

A machine, you'll never understand,
You won't write on your own.
Don't be hatin' on my crazy skillz; don't tell me I'm alone.

That's a word; that's a name; that's a brand new hipster term.
I am smarter than you, Spellcheck.
I write this simply to affirm.

BOOM.

Aaaand, this is what I do when I'm supposed to be writing a paper..

Source

Speling and gramer, Its importent

Not gonna lie; I lose a smidge of respect for people who make obvious spelling and grammatical errors.

Does this make me a grammar nazi? Or simply a lover of words who hates to see them misused..?

I blame typing. And texting. And firing off words without thinking or pausing or checking. At least read your comment over again before posting. At least remember fifth grade English. At least only use words you can spell. And define.

I do hold people who should know better to higher standards. Especially businesses and reputable websites. Adults who should really understand correct usage of their, they're, and there. Seriously, it's not that difficult! Not caring is just lazy. Why should I care what people say if they're that sloppy in their professional writing?

It might seem simple, but it makes a big difference to me. Precise, correct writing prevents the reader from being bogged down with distractions. If I look at a flyer and the first thing I see is "it's" instead of "its," I'm mentally rolling my eyes as I glance through the rest of the words.

Why do skills like spelling and grammar have to be part of a lost art? Why do people who care about such skills get labeled as stuck-up?



Think about it.

Haiku, Youku, We All...Um...

My blog makes me work
Thinking, staring, what to write?
Just type anything.

This is my haiku. I wrote it in honor of National Haiku Poetry Day, which was on Tuesday. I also wrote it in honor of writer's block.

Man, keeping this blog is tough work. I try to write on it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. I write my library's blog on Tuesday and Thursday. So yeah; that's a lot of ideas.

Sometimes I hit on something excellent and popular and perfect. Sometimes I string just the right words together, develop interesting ideas, passionately argue.

Other times, I write about bobby pins.

It's a discipline, I must say. Obviously I wish that all my blog posts are spot-on works of genius. But I think it's better to be writing something than nothing. Who knows? Something wonderful could come out of my ramblings.