Writer’s Block: Challenged

Tags

stress relief, writer's block, writing

For the past three weeks, I have wanted to write. My fingers have itched to dance across the keys of my laptop, yearning to romance the English language with my own particular brand of prose. My brain has wished to expel my thoughts and internal dialogues into the world like so much water through a sluice gate. Trouble is, this sluice gate has recently been clogged by some unknown force.

Therefore, my dancing fingers have been figuratively hobbled and the English language seemed to have friend-zoned me like the cruel temptress that it truly is. I have struggled to overcome this curse with very limited success. Just this morning I finished a piece I volunteered to write, after a very strained period of consciously forcing myself to sit down and press keys until what was on the screen looked passable enough to work.

This issue has irked me, but no more. Now I fight fire with fire. A really, really freaking BIG fire.

Writing is a great way to release stress, to get rid of that mental tension by just letting everything go, letting all of your problems flow out of your fingers and into the open where the big bad world swiftly devours them. Writing about an issue is a great way to resolve it, at least if it’s internal. My issue was writer’s block, so I wrote about it.

I’m back, baby.

I just don’t get it.

Tags

alcohol, college kids, drinking, experimentation, new experiences, vices

I can say with pride that most of the temptations present in our society have never had the slightest effect on me. My biggest vice is really my tendency to overindulge in my favorite foods.

Tobacco? Disgusting and idiotic. Not worth it.

Sexual experimentation? Not my thing, as well as against my values. Not worth it.

Alcohol? Way too expensive and, considering my current age, way too illegal. Not worth it.

The result? I am, by all accounts, a reasonably successful young man respected and well-liked by my peers and my elders. Of course, I  do not mean to suggest that the aforementioned behaviors necessarily hinder success. I’m just proof that they don’t cause success either.

I have been told countless times that college is where young adults experiment with new experiences, particularly those that may be described as temptations. Colleges are notorious for the drunken parties and general inebriated rowdiness. Comedy movies will quite often joke about how a character (usually female) is sexually straight, except for that one time in college. Regardless, a campus is prime ground for hookups. And, unlike high school, nobody cares if someone smokes on school grounds, as long as you’re not too close to the buildings. My observations over my time at college have confirmed that the assumption that college = experimentation is positively correct. People do dabble in new things, things that are often risky and illegal.

My only question is, why?

I don’t understand where the motivation comes from, especially the drinking. What inspires the desire to drink an overpriced (often foul-tasting) beverage that, if one isn’t careful, will turn the drinker into a clumsy buffoon with zero social graces and sometimes even less of a temper?

I understand if one moderately drinks in a social setting, once it’s legal, but this seems to be the polar opposite of collegiate reality.

That statement brings up another point: the legality of many of these vices. Illicit drugs are quite popular with experimenting youth, and alcohol seems to hold a desirability to rival that of the Victoria’s Secret Angels. Yet no amount of desiring changes the fact that such activities are still illegal. They are illegal for a reason: to protect the welfare of my age bracket. Frankly, we are not yet mature enough to drink responsibly, with a few exceptions to this rule. However, if one were to read this and think, “Yeah, that’s me. I’m mature enough,” they would have actually proved the opposite to be true. Observations have shown me that young college students, despite what they say, can’t handle alcohol. If they could, they wouldn’t like to drink as much as they do. You know what they say about the taste of forbidden fruit. It’s bitter.

I really don’t comprehend why all these behaviors are so appealing to others in my age group. It makes no sense to me. If someone could explain it for me, I’d really appreciate it.

And if you happen to be someone who partakes in such activities, tell me: Would you do it with your mother watching you? For those who still don’t care, please be careful.

Please.

This is a two-way street, here…

I want to make something very clear. I am currently employed at a global franchise’s establishment located in my hometown, and I love having a job there. It is a great job for someone in my situation, as I can go on academic leave and still know that I will have opportunity to replenish my funds when I am home on breaks. I enjoy working with the customers, and contrary to what I’ve heard aspersions cast towards (more on this later), it is with a genuine smile that I supply you with what you have ordered.

I am not going to identify by name which chain it is that employs me for the sake of my job security, because I, by contract, cannot make negative statements about the company as an employee. However, chances are pretty high that you know me personally, and if not, I will be making references to outside sources that very well should lead you to the truth. I really would just like to set the record straight on a few things.

I have recently noticed an alarming trend of negative statements being made about my place of work. This is nothing new, it is a fast food joint and was the focus of a Morgan Spurlock documentary that showed the documentarian suffer crippling heath consequences from a diet that only included menu items. The name has become synonymous with “evil corporation hell-bent on draining our wallets as it kills the American people”. I concede that all of this is understandable, maybe not reasonable, but I can see how one would believe this.

What I can’t understand is how the restaurant is immediately attributed ALL the blame. We serve products to customers who come in by their own free will and pay for our services. We don’t force anyone to buy anything from us. In my months of working there, I have never been told to go and direct traffic into our drive-thru window, or hold the patrons inside the restaurant  at gunpoint until they buy more food. As a customer, it is your choice to buy our product, and therefore you are also directly responsible for any consequences which may derive from your patronage. Nobody’s making you eat food from… my workplace.

Speaking of which, I’d like to take the time to point something else out. I have heard some very negative comments about the typical attitudes of the employed crew at our topical restaurant. Seriously, the crews that have served you guys must really suck, and I’m a bit surprised that they are still employed. Part of our job requirement is to always treat the customer with courtesy and to be as kind as we possibly can. I know back home my crew mates do a fine job at working through personal stresses, but nobody’s perfect. Still, we do our best to deal with all twenty-two million of our daily customers, being as nice as we can as we tell you difficult truths, despite a large amount of customers proving to be things I cannot, by contract call them outright.

I love the smell of freshly cut grASS, but sinkHOLES are really annoying when you try to mow the lawn.

We are people too. Please try to remember that.

Thank you very much.

Is the surprise I feel normal?

Tags

college professors, contentment, second semester

So, here I am, back at school, at the start of my second semester. I feel good, I feel happy to be back, and I feel quite refreshed after seeing my family over break. However, there is one more feeling that I have yet to mention that I am experiencing.

Utter bamboozlement.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the complete change in schedule is throwing me for a bit of a loop. I keep expecting to wake up on Wednesday and hustle over to Composition and Critical Thinking, but no, now I get to enjoy breakfast before scurrying over to Language Skills for Writers. It is mind-blowing. Sure, in high school my schedule changed, but it seemed different. I actually saw my old teachers on a fairly regular basis despite not actually having them for class. This is not the case anymore, in fact, seeing last semester’s professors is a novel experience.

It’s really weird. I’m not sure I like it.

I suppose I just expected to see them roaming campus a little bit more. Sure, they have class and office hours and all, but I never thought they’d be as reclusive as I usually am. I like to describe my appearances in public as occasions: not all too frequent. Apparently college professors are the same way.

Fortunately, I’m not as disoriented as I was initially, so I suppose I’m adapting to the new and different lifestyle that I now presume each semester will bring in the future. Thank God for that.

At least the amount of fun I’m having hasn’t changed. I still have great friends, interesting classes, and a greater feeling of contentment than of discomfort. What else could I ask for?

Apparently, textbooks are printed on VERY fancy-schmancy paper.

Tags

college textbooks

Why else would they cost so much?

I’m not really one to talk, as I have been fortunate enough (so far) to not have been assigned many texts that fall in the price range between “arm and leg” and “ludicrous”. Take careful notice of my use of the word ‘many’ in that statement. I was recently reviewing my booklist and checking prices to find that, when purchased from the campus bookstore, a single textbook would cost me upwards of one hundred dollars. One book. For one class. Dear God.

Why are they so expensive? Seriously, I want to know. How on earth are such prices justifiable?

I really have to laugh at the businessmen in the news, being arrested and imprisoned for big elaborate Ponzi schemes and other such cons. They go through all this trouble to make money and are eventually thrown in prison for it, when they could have just published textbooks for a living.

Heh. Suckers.

However, you’d think that digital copies would be cheaper, assuming that the fancy-schmancy paper theory is correct, but no dice. Knowledge is power, and power costs have been rising.

I really hope that this university education helps me get a good job. I’m going to need one to pay for the university.

OMG i just had lik d BEST TIM EVAAAAA lol ;P U shuld come wit usss nxt timee :P luv u

If you have ever read a post/tweet/comment/text worded in the style of the title of this post and immediately felt the dark cloud of irritation creep into your mind, keep reading.

If you have ever written a post/tweet/comment/text worded in the style of the title of this post, stop reading now because I am going to offend you.

Actually, reverse what I just said. Those who were irritated may stop reading, because the message of this post really doesn’t apply to you. You already get what I’m trying to say, and you might just agree with me.

However, those of you who are guilty of using such language to “communicate”, you should be ashamed of yourselves. The art of the written word has been developed and practiced for millennia. Wordsmiths have devoted their entire lives to the perfection of their craft, to refining the science of language until it gains the beauty of art. People have DIED for their words. How the hell can you possibly justify producing a work riddled with errors and disregarding the fact that those errors are present? What you are doing is making a mockery of the English language, spitting on the graves of those who lived and died for what they crafted.

And why? Why is this genocide against grammar gaining ground? To put it simply, because we are lazy. We couldn’t be bothered to take the time to spell correctly. All that matters is speed. Get this status update finished so I can keep texting that rumor to my entire contact list before I check my Twitter feed and tweet what I just ate. Oops, too many characters, let’s omit some vowels!

I’m disgusted. America, the land of opportunity, and we deprive vowels of their liberty.

I apologize for the extremist content and the confrontational tone, but this plague has bothered me for a while now. Thank you for listening.

Oh yeah, I do have a YouTube channel…

… albeit a neglected and incredibly irregular one. It’s also just plain terrible. Seriously, I am not a good video blogger. I don’t have the skill, the time, or the talent for creating an interesting video that reaches the quality of work that would appease my personal standards. In short, rather than produce a crappy video every so often, I would rather stop making them at all for public viewing. So I’ll stop. No more videos. Sorry.

I’m not going to “cancel” my video series indefinitely, mind you. This interlude will ultimately (I hope) just be a long sabbatical for my channel. For those interested, my channel can found under the same name as this blog, just on YouTube rather than WordPress. For your own safety, I’m telling you that you are not interested. You are not interested in the slightest. You actually feel an aversion to the YouTube channel. I’m serious. I’ll tell you when it’s safe.

I suppose that this decision to transfer my focus could count as a New Year’s Resolution, even though I’m not sure I really see the point in New Year’s anymore. After all, time is a completely human-dictated measurement, isn’t it? We could pick to start our year whenever we want, couldn’t we? We could start our year in August if we wanted. And isn’t the idea of the Resolution an excuse to make a change in our life? Thing is, I’m really happy with how my life is now. There isn’t much at all that I want to change.

Which is a really awesome feeling, now that I think about it.

But I suppose that in keeping with tradition, I should actually sit down and resolve to do something. So how about I resolve to try to be a little more diligent in publishing new material. Real life takes discipline, and one more New Year means one less Old Year before real life strikes. So I resolve to be more faithful in my writing. Carpe diem, while it’s still hanging around.

Of course, my job may get in my way a bit, but despite that, I’m lovin’ it.

Happy New Year, everyone.

My First Ever First Ever College Final Ever, also my Last Ever First Ever First Ever College Final Ever.

So that’s over with.

I feel a bit crazy, sitting down to write a blog almost immediately after writing a few essays, but I’m trying to wind down so please bear with me. I’m also not sure where this is going to take me, so I’m just going to let my fingers type and see what I get.

That wasn’t so bad, I guess. It could have been a whole lot worse, that much I’m sure of. Yesterday took a nosedive south after I posted and instead of landing in Happyville, USA, my day crashed down in ThisFreakingSucksburg, Angstopia. But, since I don’t like sad stories, I’m going to assume you also don’t, and therefore I will not delve any deeper into what happened. Suffice to say I did not go to bed in the best of spirits, not good the night before a test. Fortunately, a decent night’s sleep seemed to do the trick, and I woke upon a considerably better mood.

(Well, not initially, but can you really jump out of bed the second you wake up and be instantly chipper? Didn’t think so.)

And now my test is done. That is officially the last time I will have to do work in regard to that class. It’s a weird feeling. Now I have three more days of tests, one test a day. Call me crazy, but that actually seems manageable. Wasn’t college supposed to be completely overwhelming during finals week? DISCLAIMER TO THE UNIVERSE: I am absolutely fine with it being manageable. Feel no obligation to complicate things, the status quo is great and jim-dandy. I was just making an observation. END DISCLAIMER.

Then again, Universe, yesterday did get pretty overwhelming. Please don’t drag those feelings up anymore on me, all right? Especially not this week, because that would just be fighting dirty.

Anyway, I suppose I should wish the best of luck to those who still have tests, and to any parents whose little prodigies are being evaluated. It is a very dark time in anyone’s life, and so I sincerely wish lots of luck and success to everyone involved in such a process.

Especially in regard to myself. After all, I’ve got to look out for number one.

In regard to my two families…

Okay, right off the bat, to clarify: ‘mom aspersions’ translates to ‘yo mama jokes’. Sorry for any confusion caused by that little comment.(See? This sort of thing is exactly WHY I’m doing this in the first place.) Let the record show that I love my mom to death. She is the sweetest woman I know and has done so much for me throughout the eighteen years I’ve called life. I’ve missed her so much as she’s been home while I’m here at college.

I’ve missed my whole family, to be honest. I’ve missed my mom and spending some momma’s boy time with her. I’ve missed my dad and his quippy humor. I’ve even missed my little sister ( that sibling rivalry thing is really all for show, you know) and I’ve really, really missed my dog (who is much, much harder to contact via technology because he never has his phone on). I’ve really missed family meals.

Really missed those…

Fortunately, my school is closing up shop for break at the end of this week, and so I’ll have an entire month to spend with my wacky family, with will be fan-freaking-tastic. However, I’m anticipating another problem to occur, which has popped up during the shorter breaks.

I’m going to miss my second family.

Because despite what has been said about writers and their antisocial idiosyncracies (for a very entertaining reading on such, check out http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2010/10/12/beware-of-writer/ . BEWARE OF EXPLICIT LANGUAGE) I have actually managed to have a social life. Yes, yes, I know, it’s crazy, but I have actually managed to make friends! Really good friends! Such good friends that I’ve missed being with them over breaks! And these breaks have been short ones, I can’t imagine what a month is going to be like.

Because I really, really love my friends here. They are my second family, after all, and isn’t a family supposed to love each other unconditionally?

Essentially, I’m torn between two families all the time, which, as problems go, is a really awesome problem to suffer from. So I’m grateful… I think.

Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. The blessing is that my friends, UNlike my dog, will actually return my text messages. I guess I can survive.

Of course, this is all assuming I can get through Finals Week… oh boy.

Woah, first post!

So, this is my first ever blog posting, and therefore it could be said that I’m fairly new at this blogging thing. However, my professor did suggest it, and in doing so he validated an idea that I’ve been kicking around for a while now. That having been said, I had hoped that starting one would have automatically downloaded some ideas of what to write into my head. No dice.

But despite this fairly massive roadblock, I shall soldier on, through all the nonexistent rain, wind, and snow that batters me in my dorm room as I sit at my laptop. You could think of me as a typing mailman. You probably won’t, but the option remains open.

Let’s take a moment to discuss my writing. This is a learning experience for me. Keeping this in mind, allow me to mention that learning is usually associated with feedback. I need some feedback if I am going to learn anything through this exercise. Therefore, I implore you to comment on my work. I need to know what I could improve on. Be scathing, but in a constructive way. I realize that this may be a challenge, but I’d be impressed if someone managed to reasonably critique my writing and cast aspersions regarding my mother simultaneously.

This post seems an excellent place to start! So please, let me know what would be better. Naturally, I realize a real topic would augment my writing, but what else can I do? As a writer, I serve you, my audience. As my aforementioned professor taught me, the easiest thing in the world for someone to do is to stop reading, so what can I do to persuade you not to stop? I promise I will take every comment into consideration and do my best to implement it.

So, dear reader, let me have it: How did I do?

Sincerely,

He who hopes to someday be Your Favorite S.O’B.