Where am I?

At the beginning of this year, I started dating Jake.

As I would with any man I spend energy on, I want you to be impressed with him and will gloss over any quality that could betray character flaws so as to falsely elevate your esteem of me. To avoid listing all his achievements, suffice it to say he is as attractive, intelligent, and nice as possible.

The problem was that Jake could only hold my attention for 2 hours at a time. With Perfection being as boring as it was, we were destined to never make it to the state of Official Relationship. Yet I let it hiss and putter along for 6 months before asking to be let out. I've been stranded at the same spot ever since while he finished the trip with another gal.

Fuck. And this is the fourth time in a row.

It's not that I'm jealous--I'd never take back those dull dates of flickering conversation. Yeah, of course it was my fault they were as boring as they were--I didn't know how to invest in people, how to make them come alive in coversation, how to probe for information and reconstruct my world view into something more rich than it was before. I was an empty board with a fiercly flashy but uncomplicated installment of liberal arts college-brand communist circuitry.

My mother came back from India to prod me into getting a sales job at a bank so I can start going somewhere again.

Now, I'm not a passenger in a car with a failing engine. Actually, I just bought a Toyota Corolla in August--the same month I started my job. I'm learning how to drive. I'm constantly getting lost and finding my way. My ego is humbled. I'm not complaining about the view, the direction, or the speed. I'm just trying to figure out how to go.

Personalities: Old, lonley eccentric men AKA Cafe ghosts

On a college campus, this man is a familiar stranger. His faux professor attire is your cue that you're done for once you've caught his eye. And unless you can employ either guiltless rudeness or a tactful refusal, you best pack up your book, your laptop, and head somewhere else.


Who is he?
This man is retired, didn't make waves with his career, missed getting the girl, and is probably "writing a book," which together all free him up to desperately seek praise for his intellect (which is sometimes very modest).
And he won't leave you the fuck alone.


What does he do?

He spends all day in coffee shops trapping passersby with conversation on literature or philosophy or politics. He remembers everything--names, dates, historical facts--and he wants to talk--not with you, but at you. So anyone will do, but because you're politely silent, don't share all you know and maybe have a cute face, you've won his heart. He keeps you for hours. Rather than deter him, his lifelong loneliness has made his trap deceptively sticky. You're somewhat intrigued, but you know you're totally wasting time.

So what do you do?

I listen almost every time because I don't know how to get away. But now I have another reason to listen: because he's lonely.

I got trapped by one of these guys yesterday and it took me a while to figure out that he was suffering from classic Hemingway loneliness. I flattered myself and first ran through all the other possibilities he'd want to monopolize my attention for three hours--arrogance about his intellect, wonder at my intellect, horniness (he called me pretty several times), even charity (he tried to help me job search and offered to buy me coffee), but after re-reading Hemingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place I finally figured out that it was the kind of loneliness that comes from being close to death. He seeks the vitality and youthful faces of a college campus because everywhere else reminds him of how his life is no longer just beginning.

It's hard for me to have compassion for someone who obnoxiously steals my time and attention. But no one deserves it more. My friends just want people to party with and an audience for their unimpressive sexual exploits. These coffee-shop ghosts need company to stay alive.

Obviously, this isn't how I want to grow old. I want to grow old being a listener not just because I want to stay relevant to the world but also because there's too much to learn to keep my conversation partner silent.

Why are girls so bitchy?

It's a sexist question that's bound to have a sexist answer, but one I've heard asked a lot. I know there's a better article about this somewhere, but here's the answer I gave on answers.com. I aimed to be as brief and plainspoken as possible, but the bot still flagged my answer as inflammatory and biased. Cue tongue in cheek swearing: WTF?!

I don't believe this is chiefly a female problem. Men and women have been known to get irate with each other once in a while. However, I do have a theory for why women *sometimes feel they are entitled to act disrespectfully and impolitely.*

Society has historically oppressed women; from a young age they are typically told that their looks are their greatest assets and they aren't given much confidence about their earning potential. This plays out in the adult world; women make less than men in almost every profession. What often consoles men and women and hides this inequality is the fact that our culture imposes a code of conduct on men requiring them to act gracefully and chivalrously with women. For example, men are supposed to open the doors for women, let the lady go first in line, etc.

I think over the years being tolerant of a woman's cranky moods got rolled into the chivalry act. Hollywood movies and the like depicted chivalrous men falling for impolite girls by finding their tantrums cute, smart and attractive. Take, for an example My Fair Lady or any other romantic comedy. Women started to figure that it's okay, maybe even cute for them to be impolite. But in truth, acting like a bitch and thinking its acceptable to do so further reproduces the inequality between men and women because cranky behavior gets typified as "woman behavior."

So lets just be courteous to everyone regardless of gender, yeah? And stop oppressing us, damn it!

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_mostly_female_like_to_show_anger_and_angry_at_the_male_without_a_polite_and_respect#ixzz1QWlB4RtC

Blog for one or blog for all?

Browsing other blogs on the 20sb network--and being unimpressed by some of them--got me thinking:

Should I blog for myself--as I largely have been--or should I blog for a community that has yet to take shape?

I DO NOT BLOG TO GET READERS--rather, I envision being in constant discussion with other curious, serious people and that's what I feel I haven't yet achieved. The purpose of this blog was to connect with other bloggers, but I'm really struggling with making that happen for a few reasons.

1. Bloggers are self-centered. They live for comments and self-validation but don't like to spend a lot of time giving shape to other bloggers' muck by way of feedback. I started this blog determined to be different, but networking with other bloggers can be tiresome until you've honed in on the few with common interests. I've found a few blogs that I genuinely enjoy reading--on these I comment and express genuine adoration. But they are operated by people who either get too many readers to care about connecting with me or have completely different subject interests.

2. My blog is boring. I don't mean that to provoke self-validating comments--trust me, I don't need to feel any more special than I already do. But I don't have any clear "hook" that would bring people back here unless they know me. I think my lack of readers comes from a lack of focus for the blog as a whole. I started off wanting to talk about politics a ton more, but I've been gravitating to personal issues because that's my main worry in life right now. Which brings me to my third point...

3. Personal issues are difficult for unknown bloggers to muster up a following around unless they're REALLY niche and resonate with readers in the same position--like abuse or weight-loss. I'm in a community of 20 somethings struggling with the same issues, but we all have extremely different ways of approaching our identity issues. It's staggeringly difficult to build a community around an issue as vague as launching into adulthood.


The only way I can make this blog do what I want it to do is if I unapologetically be myself. I have to blog for myself and risk boring everyone who doesn't know me so that I can at least find my voice. That will eventually help me find what I want to discover about the world. So to all bloggers who feel guilty about being self-centered, boring, or are wallowing in self-pity for not having followers: fuck it. You're here for yourself. This is your space to stutter and drone until you sing with a clear voice. Don't worry about the rest--just let it happen.

The Ex Spector

From time to time I find myself drifting into comparing the people I date with my exes. I think about how much better my new guy is for me than the last one was, how I wish new guy would have such-and-such quality that the ex had etc. It gets me stuck in a rut and I miss out on enjoying the person for who they are.

It's hard to escape it, especially if my date and I are with a group of friends who knew my ex and harp on how much they miss him. Yes, that happened, and I'm ashamed that I started it. But this is something I can fix quickly since I never had strong feelings for my ex.

According to this article the remedy is to live in the present instead of the past. The article outlines three "personalities" --Ladies X, Y and Z--who bring up their exes in various capacities; they either talk about his charms, his flaws, or just mindlessly allude to their moments together to fill gaps in the conversation. At different moments I have committed all three errors. Thinking about my ex and constantly comparing--even trying to become--my date's ex are products of not living in the present; they are attempts to live through the lens of my past

Living in the NOW is an integral part of getting through a quarter life crisis. It's a way of life that can give me direction professionally and personally. For an example:

He told me that he loves my passion for what I am studying. The truth is that while I'm passionate about Marxism and equality I'm also going through a phase where I'm finding out that I haven't been working very hard or productively for these causes, and I may not want to. I guess it is important for him to believe that no matter what I do, I'll be passionate and feel good about doing it. I no longer need to find myself, but I need to blaze my trail bit by bit every day. And I'm struggling very much with getting started. I don't think good intentions are enough to keep a guy as great as he is.

My solution is to live in the present moment, figure out the experiences I need right now and start blazing that trail. I'll have to work my ass off to make sure everything will come together. But if I do it right...hey, maybe it will.

My banner is shit: an explanation

My banner has a very juvenile quality. It's the Microsoft Paint equivalent of a 6-year-old's freestyle self portrait by way of crayons, colored pencils and color block stamps. Whatever. I meant for it to look that way. Kind of...

I'm no artist; I do not pour over making things presentable or in *carefully* conveying visual messages. I reserve that energy for writing, and even there I take a lot less care than I should.

So why did I bother to make my own banner?

1. I wanted to try it. It's a quick check to see if I had any knack for creating something on a very basic art program. I was inspired by the legendary comic Ali at hyperboleandahalf who creates magic with the paint program on her Mac. Clearly, I suck. It was a humbling experience that I may repeat just for fun. I actually used to draw during high school--my art teacher even encouraged me to join the magnet arts program. But I was never very motivated and my artistic energy died by the end of my junior year; I was tired of being upstaged by my more talented friends. Now, I'm facing my fear of failure, opening myself up for judgment, and will probably grow faster than was until now.

2. This blog needs a personal touch--even a half-assed childish one. Reading some of my entries, I tend to sound like an academic sometimes, and that's not a good thing. I occasionally sound stuffier than real academics like Lauren (though there's no reason she would ever sound stuffy since she has a background in creative writing). I could blame college; I haven't focused on developing my own voice since I wrote my first post for this blog in 2009. It has a more conversational tone than many of the posts that came after because I hadn't written many academic papers back then. Blogs are supposed to be conversational.

So yeah, my banner sucks. If you'd like to make me a new one, I'd take you up on it. Since no one is going to offer, I'll probably take a stab at creating my own again, but maybe not through Paint.

Lone female travelers

I'll be traveling through Los Angeles for four days next week by myself. I originally thought I could couch surf but I think I need to be more active in the local community for couchsurfing hosts to accept my requests. Right now I just kind of look like a crazy, selfish person with no friends who wants free accommodation. Couchsurfing is a safe community because most of the members have been vouched for by other members, so I feel little apprehension about asking to stay at a man's house. However, I just had a surf request denied by an experienced host. Though he was likely put off by my newness to the site and the fact that no one has vouched for me on my profile, my knee-jerk interpretation was that he was hinting a lone female traveler probably shouldn't request to stay in an unknown man's home.

Traveling by myself doesn't strike me as scary because I often travel alone (in fact, whenever I've traveled I've been alone). I love being independent and I firmly believe women can do anything if they don't let others stop them. Being afraid of being on our own is a product of oppression, I think. We have to fight that fear. We have to not let others instill self-doubt or stop us from realizing our independence.

But people have tried.

My mother reduced me to tears last year when I told her I wanted to spend a weekend in New York City by myself. "You haven't proven to me that you're ready to do this," she said, among other baseless assaults on my intelligence and maturity that I have never under any other context heard her say. After I pulled myself together I realized that she was only saying that to keep me safe; the thought of me traveling alone scares her a great deal more than it scares me.

I think my independence might be considered foolhardy by others, but there is no better way to gain independence and self confidence than by letting ourselves be open and vulnerable to others (...who have been vouched for). My request was probably denied because I have yet to prove to people in my own community that I am worthy of others' hospitality. But as I travel I'll wonder if others are doubting me because I am young, female and on my own.

If you are a female traveler, please share your thoughts!

Bloggerstock~

Thanks to Nyx for this fantastic bloggerstock post!! Mine will be on Syrah's as soon as I finish it.




The prompt was to respond to a picture, that I can't link to at the moment. I'll have it up here asap. Just belive me when I say this story captures the mood and content beautifully!

Hey all, Nyx here. This month’s bloggerstock was interesting – write a story about a picture! Not as easy as it sounds folks.

Anyways, here’s my humble contribution. Like what you read? Check out my blog at Notions. Also, major thanks to Alex for putting this all together, and to Daisy for hosting me!

Seriously. I cannot compete with this level of awesome.

Without further adieu….



Alyssa’s hair glinted in the sunlight – flaxen strands of gold, gathered under a pale pink hat. A present from her great-aunt, it kept flopping over her brow as she wandered the city in search of her next big adventure.

She was not supposed to be there.

The child’s mother was in Italy on a business trip to discuss an important merger. They had family in Italy, and so she had left her daughter with them while she attended the meeting. No television, no gaming systems. Alyssa was wont for something to do, and so while her great-aunt was busy cooking, she slipped through the back door and set off to explore.

She had, at first, made her way through the city, and had decided in a most definite way that there was nothing there for her. That was, until, she had come upon an old ramshackle building. Finding a hole in its outer wall, she slipped through and made her way into the courtyard. It was, of course, overrun with weeds and debris. She was certain that at one point in time, this place had housed a garden of some sort, but years of neglect had turned it into something wild and untamed and absolutely magical.

Meandering her way through the garden, she giggled as a butterfly flitted from one colorful bloom to the next. Enchanted, she followed her new friend, watching as it delicately landed from one petal to the next, dancing a ballet of sorts. Alyssa could smell the aroma of the flowers as it wafted past her, and she could hear the birds singing their songs overhead. Somewhere a bee buzzed, and Alyssa decided that it was a happy sort of sound – the type of sound one made when one was truly contented with life.

It was while she was sniffing a flower that she saw it. A rabbit, white and pure, hopping under a nearby rosebush. Stepping lightly so as not to startle it, Alyssa slowly crept closer to it. She thought she caught a glimpse of something metallic – a pocket watch, perhaps? – before the creature saw her and sprinted away. She ran to catch up with it, but alas – it was to no avail. She wound her way through the gardens, slowly going deeper and deeper. Before Alyssa knew it, she was lost. Her shoes scuffed on the cobblestones as she looked around, bewildered but not frightened.

Turning to her left, she caught a flash of white go around the corner – perhaps it was the rabbit! She crept over to the wall, and slowly peered around it….

Random

I don't often have the energy to convey philosophical thoughts, but this thought felt very important.

I found the blog Licentious Living after doing a google search on a novel I'm reading (I'm reading The Namesake, if you care). I "randomly" clicked on a post in the archives and found this gem:

Random, in its scientised avatar is embedded in the theory of entropy ... Entropy is a thermodynamic property that is a measure of the energy not available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. During this work entropy accumulates in the system, but has to be removed by dissipation in the form of waste heat. Which is to say that every work produces a certain entity which is utterly useless and is potent in rendering the whole system orderless. Which is to say that every random act has the potential to undermine the not-so-random. And every second spent on getting the random, said or done, is in a way, contributing to the entropy of the bio-system.

You can read the full post here.

In other words, the more I push off work and consume myself with "random" google searches, the more I build up entropy--a useless, restless energy that perhaps needs to be channeled into a more efficient system. But, there is revolutionary energy in the random because it undermines the the structure as it stands. At the societal level, the perfect example of this is a flash mob:



Flash mobs are silly, fun and often done without a clear political motivation. But they also wake people up and make them think. They provoke people to take in their surroundings and reconsider their relationship with their environment, much like Shepard Fairey's experiments with phenomenology.

The political implications of this are quite radical. What if there were enough randomness--enough entropy--to render the entire system of capitalism, structural and institutional power completely useless?! How awesome would that be? It's probably attempted every year by anarchists and obviously has never worked. But it could be so amazing.

So maybe my inefficiency--my entropy--isn't a problem in itself. I'd like to think of it instead as rebellion--as a reminder that not everything "productive" that's required of me is going to feed the needy and stop exploitation. If my lack of productivity holds me back from conquering the external world of inequality and awfulness, my entropy gives rise to a creative, boundless world within. Random is an inner world that everyone needs to change the external world.

Bloggerstock: Stop the world--I want to get on/off

But first, a message from Dapper Daisy:
It's bloggerstock--where bloggers respond to a bloggerstock prompt and have their posts hosted on another blogger's site. Big thanks to Tazim for the following post. You can check out my post on Booya's wall at www.booyabobby.com. Enjoy!
________________________________________________

Hello Dapper Daisy readers! This is Tazim from the Being Tazim blog - about art, home décor, and handmade products. I am here today to share with you my Bloggerstock post.

"Stop the world, I want to get on/off"



Have you ever had a moment where you realized that you just want the world to stop? Maybe it was because you realized you were missing something, or maybe it was because you just wanted a minute to breathe. Tell us about a moment like this that you had.

What would this be like - Quantum Leap, where the 'real' person Sam leaps into is transported elsewhere for a certain amount of time - their world, essentially stopping momentarily? Or like the holodeck on Star Trek - where one goes inside to escape their real life and can easily step back in to it again, when they're done adventuring?

Leaving Canada for a year exchange in New Zealand felt a bit like being transported to a whole different world. If only the exploration could have lasted longer without taking out any more time from my life. Think about the possibilities = what would YOU do if you could make things stop for a moment?

While in New Zealand I lived differently because of financial barriers - but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I spent a lot of time catching up on old tv shows and movies that I'd missed in the last 5 years of not having a tv/cable. University life had been so hectic, coupled with having to work part time as well - but in New Zealand I couldn't work (legally) and classes were much more laid-back. Was this what I needed? Was I missing peace and relaxation? Maybe I needed to step away from My Home and Native Land to really appreciate it, too. Being in New Zealand made me realize how much I want to just travel in my life, and explore, and try new things. It made me realise that university life/ academia just isn't for me.

 
You can read the guest post on my own blog, written by Anna from http://aheartforall.blogspot.com/, right here.

A global media informed by U.S. political interests

In "Google Earth and the nation state: Sovereignty in the age of new media," Sangeet Kumar contends that new media entities pose a threat to national sovereignty because of their "borderless" nature and resistance to state regulation. Though he focuses his analysis on Google, I can see how his concerns can be extended to Twitter and Facebook in the future. With Last Moyo's analysis of CNN and Xinhua's coverage of the Tibetan crisis as an example, I argue that global new media entities do pose a challenge to national sovereignty but only to the extent that they spread the economic and social norms of a neoliberal world order.

Moyo's case study shows how media entities inevitably reflect the values and interests of their targeted national audiences. He shows how CNN constructed the Tibetan crisis as a struggle for cultural autonomy from an authoritarian Chinese regime. In portraying the Tibetan protests as "legitimate dissent," CNN examined China's human rights abuses against western notions of freedom and human rights. In selectively approaching this conflict rather than the Palestinian or other US-involved conflicts from a human rights angle, CNN failed to point out the hypocrisy of the United States' condemnation of China. The resulting news product also failed to bring out the complexities of the situation, including the plurality of Tibetans' demands and the historical context of Chinese and Tibetan views. Chinese-sponsored Xinhua, on the other hand, delegitimized the Tibetan protesters by portraying them as a western-backed threat to Chinese unity and economic dominance.

The CNN narrative, Moyo says, was the inevitable result of neoliberal policies and discourse that allow for western dominance of the global financial and political landscape. The Xinhua narrative, however, was the result of the Chinese seeing international narratives as unfair and threatening to national unity.

While media entities like CNN and Google do pose a threat to national sovereignty through their resistance to national regulatory bodies, when countries like China and India recognize the threat they pose to imagined national unity, they either develop a counter narrative--like Xinhua--or coerce the media into cooperation--like India. The power a nation has to do this will largely depend on the whether the market forces at work can effectively persuade media entities to oblige. China's response to international media through Xinhua reflects a strong resistance to becoming a subject of the new global media.

As media entities gain momentum, the nation state may have to decide whether to develop a counter narrative and risk being seen as a stubborn "rogue" state in the growing cultural and political consensus, or to negotiate with these forces.

References

Kumar, Sangeet. “Google Earth and the Nation State — Global Media and Communication.” Global Media and Communication. SAGE, Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. .

Moyo, Last. “The Global Citizen and the International Media : A Comparative Analysis of CNN and Xinhua’s Coverage of the Tibetan Crisis.” International Communication Gazette. SAGE, Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. .

Productivity: My life.

It's funny when one little image makes you realize how lame you are.

Experiment Results: Friends with jobs make you spend more money

I'm usually a rather spendthrift sort of person; I don't blow cash on clothes, make-up, coffee or any other such indulgences. As a vegetarian who likes to cook, I've also come to see myself as pretty free from the vices of junk food.

To track just how saintly my spending is, I made a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and since February 16th have been recording every single purchase I make.

The results were shocking.

By the end of two weeks, I had spent over $90 on junk food, pizza, alcohol and other empty calories. That's one-and-a-half times more than my grocery bill. How the hell did this happen? Perhaps unsurprisingly, I had a little help from my friends; half of those expenses were on the weekends.

I know the internet just erupted in a resounding, "DUH YOU IGNORAMUS! NO WONDER THE WORLD'S GOING TO PIECES--KIDS HAVE NO FORESIGHT!". But this is a revelation for me because my life before I turned 21 was nothing like this. Weekend fun used to be free movies on campus and a burrito. Now that everyone in our group is gainfully employed, they can live it up. Except me.

I love my friends and not for a moment do I want to feel left out, but I simply cannot afford to keep up with their partying lifestyles. I'm not earning any money right now and most worrying of all is that I don't have any plans to make money after I graduate in a few months. I've never felt more "behind" in my life.

One of my resolutions this year is to stay positive and to only dwell on depressing thoughts when they can lead to a productive outcome. So it seems to me that I need to decide right now how important making and spending money is going to be to me now and in the next few years when I have virtually no career path ahead of me at the moment. Now, I realize that having enough money to get me though the giddy party stage of my early 20's is not a worthwhile financial goal. But I'm asking myself with more urgency than ever before, "But then, what is?"

I think the main thing to keep in mind is that I need to be thinking about couple things right now; what I want to do to earn money after this semester, what career I want that job to help propel me toward, and what difference I want to make over the course of my lifetime. There are certain comforts of bourgeois life that I want both now and in the future. I just need to be careful and mindful to not turn those comforts into trappings. Comforts become trappings when you need them for status, friends and happiness. I'll need them as tools to move forward with my ideals.

Have you done similar experiments with expenses? What are your financial goals anyhow? Are there any that would be particularly helpful to have as a 20-something?

Women in the Middle East revolutions

Check out this fantastic time-lapse video of artist Jessica Sabogal's tribute to the revolution in Egypt.


I dont' consider myself an art critic, but I am a Journalism and Global Studies double major. This means that I have a bag of tools for critical analysis that I probably will never be able to use profitably...so to show my degree was worth the cash I have to dump any related epiphanies on my blog :)
But seriously, I thought a couple things about the painting were significant and helped me think of the whole "revolution" differently.

1. The subject is a woman, and that too a *de-glamorized* one.

2. Women have traditionally been invisible, marginal voices in revolutions (focus is usually on male violence), but in the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, women are figuring very significantly. The subject of the painting here is probably not meant to be seen as an onlooker or the subject of regime change. Though she *is* depicted in the act of reacting, the artist chose to focus on women as agents of change.

This is a long but very insightful Al Jazeera interview on the role of Arab women in the recent democratic revolutions. My professor sent it to me so I think you will find it well worth your time.


3. The style is graffiti-inspired. Seems like a pretty direct interpretation of Egypt's revolution as a bottom-up movement.

4. The painting isn't necessarily triumphant. In theAl Jazeera interview above there is a discussion about how Arab women don't share a homogeneous view on the priorities for or purpose of democratic change.The painting depicts shock, which can be either good or bad. Political revolutions are, above all, shocking and always inspire counter revolutions. I like this painting because it isn't just a snapshot in time...it signifies the whole process--both the revolution and the counter revolution.

The discipline of being

Given to act only when I have that urgent visceral compulsion to meet a deadline, I don't consider myself a hard worker. I'm laid back and don't really stress myself unless and until I REALLY need to.

As a college senior with two majors and occasionally a job, this is problematic.

I'm starting to realize that it takes a habit of discipline to accomplish anything, be it homework or a blog post. I'm letting deadlines, assignments, and other opportunities to improve and prove myself to the job market slip through my fingers. This ain't good, folks.

So I present to you, imaginary reader, my plan for task management and self discipline. Both are important and related in my quest for greatness. I don't think it's necessary to schedule every hour of the day, but proper planning can take you a long way.

1.) Prioritize

Some brilliant soul came up with this great hierarchy to prioritize tasks.
a.) Deadline is soon and importance high
b.) Importance is low but deadline is soon
c.) Importance is high but deadline is later
d.) Importance low and deadline is later

2.) Deadlines

I've also resolved to set deadlines FOR EVERYTHING. And to never miss one. Ever. In practice, this will be difficult, but life is too short to push back deadlines...because that just makes you push back other deadlines.


3.) Involving friends

This undertaking is something I cannot do alone. I will need friends to help keep me accountable. That's why I have this blog. I'm finding that I take goals more seriously when I share them with other people because the next time I see them they'll be like, "Oh, did you finally apply for/do/kick ass in____?" And it makes for an awkward situation when I say "no," especially when the other person is someone I particularly care to leave a good impression with.


I'm going to have to track my progress with homework and personal deadlines, and not every checklist will make for an interesting blog. So I'll keep a task manager for me to look at personally and share my progress maybe every couple of weeks. I know I don't have any readers here yet, but when I do, won't you please share some task management tips with me?

Yes, *rubs hands* this shall come along nicely.