Why I Can’t Keep It Up: A Meditation On Blog Feature Continuity and Lack Thereof

I know that this is the place to do it: introduce constant features, regular stuff that people will want to check in on every day, an idea with slight variations that will continue to delight and titillate and receive continuous clicks. Make it simple, Goldberg! Make it snappy! Pictures of unhappy hipsters or GIFs of pizzas (which I love, btw) or something else amaaaazing.

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Such an endeavor will show how very organized I am. It will show that I can follow through. So you know you can count on me, prospective employer, because I could pump out daily similar hilarities!

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I know. I know. I know I should be doing this. And I’ve tried, OH, how I’ve tried. But here’s the thing: LIFE IS SO HARD»»UGHHH.

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Seriously. Between trying to keep up one’s work commitments and pitch/research/meet deadlines for one’s freelance career and consistently Tweet and exercise and be a not crappy girlfriend/friend/Tamagotchi owner, sometimes a girl just wants a place that isn’t a perfectly planned uniform little blog concept, but rather a free and fun creative space to romp around with words and ideas.

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So what I have to offer here, instead, is the creative energy that’s left after all those other logical and scheduled things in my life are executed. Meaning no, you can’t come to my Tumblr and know exactly what to expect every single time, other than that it will come from a real place in the currently un-used corner of my creativity. And y’know I’m pretty happy to share that with you.

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But how will you know, prospective employer and/or critic of some sort (personal, otherwise), if I can deliver regular high-quality content?

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Well, for one thing, you can check out my new blog over at Bitch Magazine. For eight weeks, I’ll be mashing together lady-driven Top 40 songs with great works of art from female writers of the past to see what messages they may have in common. The point is to have some fun and to demonstrate how the topics discussed in the pop music that many people view as fluff are similar conversations that hallowed female writers from the canon also discussed. Three times a week for two months I’m going to sploosh out some fun little groove-filled posts for them. See… regular, expected, great. I can do it!

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It’s true I’m not as great at being consistent and predictable over here in Tumblr land. But at least in this venue you get to really know me and my voice and interests. And if you’re going to be someone hiring me or criticizing my work, I want you to really know me first.

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So, hi. Hi. Hi! Let’s tumble together randomly through the excitements of life and the internet.

The apartment I’m staying in for the month of July is in the strangest part of town. Bridal gown shops, art galleries, the anti-aging store. And on top of the weird neighbourhood juju, the actual apartment itself is without any curtains or drapes, and has a large picture window all along one side.

For a lady like myself, so deprived of city life for some time, this is a wonderful thing: to wake in the night and see the skyline staring back at me, the CN tower glowing red and blue and green, the moon moving across the sky.

The downside, of course, is that people can TOTALLY see me while I’m changing unless I cower in the bathroom. I did that for the first few days, but then thought, what the hell, I’m living my life. It was liberating, exciting. And now though I’m okay with the nakedness part I’ve come to take an interest in what I can see through other similarly non-cloaked window views. (So far, nothing fruitful.)

In an attempt to streamline my media content with my living situation, I watched Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” the other day. Though I knew what was going to happen, as it’s been parodied in so many pop culture items (also, I saw “Disturbia,” bleh…), it was so charming and giggle-inducing to screen the original, about staring too much and too often and too curiously at one’s neighbours through their open windows.

I enjoyed imagining Hitchcock directing the adorable Grace Kelly and now I know the secret, it’s all about properly serving the lady a cup of tea.

awesomepeoplehangingouttogether:

Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchcock by Edward Quinn, 1954

Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year

newyorker:

On April 16, 2012, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced that it would award no Pulitzer for fiction in 2012. This was, to say the least, surprising and upsetting to any number of people, prominent among them the three fiction jurors, who’d read over three hundred novels and short-story collections, and finally submitted three finalists, each remarkable (or so we believed) in its own way.

And yet, no prize at all in 2012.

How did that happen? http://nyr.kr/MSxOeh


Letter from the Pulitzer Fiction Jury: What Really Happened This Year