Author: meredithallen

insert iron maiden pun here

Yes, this is a real conversation. No, my hotshot is not a misogynist. No, we don’t use that many emoticons all the time… or ever. Are we even using them properly? Who’s to say. Why did I even use a flamenco dancer? No clue. These are not the important facts, people!

Last week I ran out of Downy Wrinkle Release Spray, so… I bought an iron. And an ironing board. And I keep it properly stored (upright, water emptied!). BOOM. Take that, adulthood! Since then I have been ironing everything in sight.

(What even is this thing?)

So if anybody needs anything ironed, let me know. I’ll be happy to knock it out with my new awesome iron.

PS – I’ll still have to borrow my hotshot’s vacuum every other week. One thing at a time, people!

starting a blog is hard!

Starting a blog is hard. It’s daunting, really. To help get us started, my professor gave us some great readings. I thought these were very poignant and helpful…for the most part. They also scared the crud out of me. In the article “You Should Write First for Yourself,” Jeff Goins gives us what he says is a crucial truth to writing success, putting the audience second when writing – great advice, right? Maybe it was just me, but the first point he makes rubbed me the wrong way:

You create prose to challenge, compel, or convert. But you don’t write to entertain (If you do, feel free to skip this post).

If you are truly communicating — and not merely entertaining — you need to challenge people. Which means making them uncomfortable. Which means sometimes bucking the system and pushing the status quo.

Uhh pressure much? I feel like those are some intense parameters to put on blogging. I don’t write to challenge, compel or convert very often. Maybe I should, I don’t know. I just  want to write a blog that gets a few followers and makes them smile. Sure, I’d also like to write something that sparks ideas or creativity, that’s helpful or gets people talking – but if it’s not entertaining, who is going to read it? I feel like Goins is perpetuating a stereotype of pretentiousness that is sometimes placed on writers. Am I being too sensitive here – looking at things in the wrong way? I did find the rest of the article and comments useful. Writers, you can read his article here and please let me know what you thought. Why do you blog – to challenge the status quo, because you enjoy sharing with others, or something else?

PS – I actually feel like I might have challenged the status quo of Tour de Fat costumes this weekend during my short stint as bicycling bowling pin.

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PPS – It occurs to me that might not be correct use of the term ‘status quo’ but I just wanted to brag about my amazing costume and couldn’t think of a way to tie it in. Shameless.

living with peter pan syndrome

Peter Pan Syndrome is a real thing, and it afflicts more people than you probably realize. Know a girl who has to set an alarm for 10:30 am? PPS. A guy who calls his mom every time he does laundry? PPS. That twenty-something-year-old who dresses like a twelve-year-old? PPS.

Peter Pan Syndrome is the inability to grow up and act one’s age. It is not to be confused with immaturity, laziness or a lack of good judgment. Although sometimes those are contributing factors, PPS usually results in much funnier (rather than serious) consequences. I personally know the challenges of living with PPS, because I have PPS. And it’s getting ridiculous.

My first trip to the laundromat a few weeks ago can be summed up in one embarrassing word – flood. I lost all but one of my forks in my last move. I recently discovered what happens when you don’t wash new towels before you use them. And before you ask, no I am not an eighteen year old who just moved out on her own – I have been out of my parents’ house – in a different state, nonetheless – for six years. See? It’s just silly.

I dunno, maybe it’s me. I’m not a Dumb Bunny so maybe it’s luck or fate or the energy I’m putting out into the world or something – whatever the cause, it has culminated as Peter Pan Syndrome. I just can’t do anything adult-y right the first time around. This has given me some good stories, but it makes it hard to be taken seriously. Now that I’ve planned to document them, perhaps they’ll stop – or I’ll just become even more forgetful every time I sit down to write. At the very least, others can be as entertained by my life as I am. At the most, I learn to appreciate the ridiculousness.