This.

Endless Summer (?)

Hey kids! I know it's been a while since I've posted something without meaning, but I have a lot of opinions, okay? I like to pretend that people on the internet care about what happens in my life, so I try to keep them updated.

First things first: I bought a ukulele! (I don't think I've mentioned this...) I got it at the beginning of July and I've just started to get the hang of it. (I can now tune it with little to no problem!). For those of you interested, Rahul taught me how to play the beginning of Stairway To Heaven last Spring, and I have taught myself Feelin' Groovy by Simon & Garfunkel (no surprises there). However, I'm still retarded at singing and playing at the same time. Practice makes perfect! Rahul and my's roommates will be having sex 24/7, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to jam together.

In other news, I've made a big step in my love life. I'm not going to divulge details but I will link to here, which should explain it pretty well for those of you who know me personally. The road to Moscow should be a pretty well traveled path for me by the end of the year.

I go back to school in a week and a half (11 days!) and it can't come soon enough. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is leaving my ridiculously big and comfortable bed here and packing up all my shit for college. Don't get me wrong, I like summer, but I need to feel productive. Working is one thing, school is another. I'm looking forward to the fall show, my classes, and being able to see my friends again. It will be grand. Oh! And Facebook Stalking 101 will be published in C of I's newspaper, the Coyote. :D

Ta ta for now, fictitious readers!

Fulfilling My Civic Duty

Well, it happened -- I got called for jury duty. (We Goldy's seem to be called a lot, we must be fair and unbiased in the state's opinion). I would have loved to serve (or even be asked questions) but unfortunately I was 3 people short of being questioned. So close, yet so far away. It was a child abuse case too, which would have been interesting to hear. But, eh.

In other news, I've painted my room (goodbye, orange!) and it is now 2 calming shades of blue. We also just got a new puppy who can be sweet but mostly just chews on people.

Introducing: Ruby, "The Newbie"

And, I bought this 80's inspired dress today from Forever 21 and it makes my ass look fantastic.

Can't wait.

20 more days till school starts!

Follow up of 'A Review of TC Writers: Top Contributors Ed.'

As you may (or probably not) have noticed, my post about TC writers got a little heat in the internet world. It was linked to (thanks, Steph!) and commented on (6 times!), not to mention the whopping 63 pageviews it got.

How he found my blog is beyond me, but Tao Lin himself commented on it, asking "what about megan boyle, tao lin and jimmy chen" (word for word, I swear. Sans punctuation and everything). I preferred not to respond to this comment, figuring it was a one-time thing, and nothing would come of it. However, a little over 12 hours later, an anon commented with a little snippier tone: "megan boyle, tao lin, and jimmy chen are among the most substantive authors TC publishes...your lack of notice/regard for their presence is telling" Well, so is your tone, I commented.

I didn't think anything of this little fiasco, other than an internet tiff that was remotely exciting. Then, tonight I was doing a little tweet-stalking (is that a thing?) and found Brandon Scott Gorrell's Twitter. How interesting, I thought (ironically), he's just as boring on Twitter. He did link to an article about Tao Lin & Friends (including himself) which I took the time to read -- and it finally all made sense. Tao Lin was butt hurt about not being mentioned!

I quickly realized while reading this article that Tao Lin has published 3 books, mostly out of his own pocket. Suddenly, I understood why he was so mad that I didn't review him -- he's an actual, published writer, and I didn't even mention him! Suddenly, the term "substantive" makes sense in that comment! Oh anon, you are correct! They are some of the most substantive writers! TC should be happy to publish them!

However, the article explains the kind of writing Lin has published (that being, a kind of glorified, gchat poetry). They provided a sample, and I must say, I was not a fan. But it occurred to me that if TC had published this, I would have remembered. In fact, when those comments were posted, I was driven to look at the articles that Tao Lin had written -- why didn't I review him? But I didn't remember any bad poetry. So why didn't I review him? The first answer was obvious, he only had 25 published articles (Top Contributors Ed, anyone?), but more importantly, they were boxed TC articles. No human element here, just some tips for being considerate on the internet and other random articles with no pattern to follow. Most importantly: I didn't feel like I knew him after reading them. I reviewed people with personality, because, let's face it, it wasn't an actual review of people's writing. It was just another excuse to flaunt my love for Thought Catalog and their writers.

But back to my anon comment (maybe I'll turn those off?) "megan boyle, tao lin, and jimmy chen are among the most substantive authors TC publishes...your lack of notice/regard for their presence is telling" Well, anon, I agree. My lack of notice and regard for their presence is telling. It tells that I am obvii not internet literate, otherwise I would have known who the fuck Tao Lin is and how important TC is to have his published writing on it. That being said, I'm completely okay with being a couple years behind in the internet world -- no need to cause a stir in something that I can just log out of at the end of the day.

The moral of the story is: just because a bored 19-year-old girl writes a blog post that leaves you out doesn't mean she's doing it on purpose, it just means she's internet illiterate.

P.S. Tao Lin, if you read this, I think your Thought Catalog articles are fine.

*facepalm*

The setting is dinner with my parents, Cheerleader's Bar & Grill (cheaper, less hot version of Hooters).

Me: So I had an interesting Day On The Internet.

M&D: Oh really?

Me: Yeah. The blog post I wrote about Thought Catalog writers got a little heat.

(goes on to continue story about comments, being linked to, etc)

Dad: So I guess I'm missing something here...what is a "Thought Catalog Writer"?

This article is perfect in all the right ways.

What You Are To Me - Chelsea Fagan

"You are laughing, laughing so hard I can’t see through my tears, laughing so hard I need to sit down for a moment. You are the happy ache in my side from laughter that comes in gales and waves and only gets worse as you try to stop it. You are that moment when I’m being held down and tickled and legitimately wondering if anyone has ever died from being tickled too hard. You are the cries of “Stop it!” that can barely be understood through the squeals of open laughter."

A Review of Thought Catalog Writers: Top Contributors Ed.

Ryan O'Connell (Ryan Ohh): Flaming, lovable, understanding. Better at describing your feelings than you are. You will have trouble finding a 20-something who does not enjoy his work. Writes joint advice column with fellow TC editor Brandon Scott-Gorrell (Dear Gay/Straight Dude). Article identifiers include how-to's, recipes and the overuse of #dark. Favorite articles: How To Tell If Somebody Loves You, but really, they're all gems. It would be unfair to name only a handful.

Brandon Scott Gorrell: Senior editor at TC (the big kahuna, guise), but overall fairly boring. Writes articles that revolve around YouTube videos (who watches those, really) and a lot of articles about what to do with quiet people (nothing?). Released a recent article with his "Relationship Resume". Srsly Brando? No one wants to date you for a reason. Okay, that was mean. But if this was high school, he'd be the kid that always shows up places without being invited. (I mean, he didn't even put funny on his resume! Who wants to date someone without a sense of humor?)

Kat George: The new Ryan Oh. Hilarious Australian chick living in NY. (You know her and Ryan Oh hang out on a regular basis). Articles include personal anecdotes that are extra hilarious because you read them in an Australian accent. Warning: Reading articles by Kat George may induce the feeling of wanting her to be your BFF. If you don't like reading about poop, you should probably stay away from Kat. Other than that, she's fantastic.

Chelsea Fagan: Funny girl, with red hair and cray-cray personality. Wrote a genius article de-faming "Slut Walk" (also removed from TC -- I just tried to link to it, and it seems that it doesn't exist anymore) that was quickly shunned by most of the internet and Ryan Oh himself. I, however, enjoyed it immensely and continue to enjoy her articles. They include lots of dry humor and blatant sexism -- refreshing.

Stephanie Georgopulos: A light blend of Ryan Oh and Brandon Scott Gorrell -- relatable and consistent, but still funny and not-boring. For a while, I got her and Kat George mixed up, but that line was quickly defined when Kat started climbing the TC ladder. Catalogs a lot in Life and Internet, and sometimes love. Her articles are almost always a 'hit', having some sort of redeeming quality about them. And no, I don't know how to pronounce her last name either.

Oliver Miller: Oh, how I love the name Oliver. He first caught my attention when he published an article about his name -- "Oh look, a boy named Oliver!" And then kept my interest when he published his article about alcoholism. When an author puts so much personal into an article, I'm inclined to do research (read: Facebook stalk), and I was pleased with the results. For some reason I thought he was single -- maybe an article I misunderstood? Obvii, since I can't find it now. Anyhoo, he's cute.

Leigh Alexander: A hit and miss. Sometimes she posts amazing articles like Letter From The Modern Day Courtesans and other times she posts total flops that have to do with comics. WTF, Leigh? Must read: On Intimacy.

Dan Hoffman: Wait, what? This guy has 117 posts? Who is he again?