Live Blogging My Paper Writing

Last night I had a paper to write that I had been putting off for a while, not because it was hard, but because these past two weeks I have had five tests and four papers due. So I just haven't had much time. But anyways, in a moment of practical time-saving GENIUS I decided to live blog my paper writing. So get excited. Because you are in for one exciting ride!

11:10 PM- Began actually physically writing the paper. Contemplate why I chose to leave this until the last minute, but then get excited at the prospect of blogging this and recording my thoughts- which I am sure will inspire the nations to procrastinate like it’s their job!

11:24 PM- Stop to read the Seventeen magazine that is lying on my floor. I know… I can feel the judgment radiating off of people as they read the words “Seventeen magazine” BUT they should know I got a 396 month subscription or something like that for $5. And you can use magazines to make collages and modge podge things. So the joke is on you. Anyways, I never read them, but I saw some pictures of food so I stopped to look at that and it was a list of good study foods. Excellent! They wrote “healthy ways to inspire your studying” I read, “Excuses to eat a ton of food while procrastinating.” I then read my horoscope for kicks because I always like to see what they are going to predict my non-existent boyfriend will do, but instead it was horrifying accurate so I freaked out a little. Till I realized this is next month's issue come early so unless it was just off on it's dates or something, then horoscopes are still as bogus as ever.

11:40 PM- Changed a sentence in my introductory paragraph from “form of art” to “art form” which led me to delete words in such a way that my paper temporarily said “fart form.” I laughed so hard I snorted. Apparently I am a 10 year old boy.

11:43 PM- Get distracted by some girls on my hall which apparently inspires my need to eat. So I down an entire sleeve of Ritz crackers. They are so good. I don’t understand how a cracker can be so delicious. No wonder they cost about six American dollars, a family heirloom, and your social security number to purchase. Anyways. Back to writing.

11:51 PM- Sing my roommate a moving rendition of a song about Influenza. No explanation necessary.

12:03 AM- Check Facebook. Originally it’s to post something creepy on one of my friend’s walls that I just thought of, but then I convince myself it’s because I cannot leave my adoring fans waiting for too long: the world of Facebook must know what I am up to on a minute-by-minute basis.

12:10 AM- Couldn’t come up with an adequate way to begin my new paragraph so instead I ate more food. I ate some dark chocolate as it was referenced as one of the good study foods to eat in Seventeen. I ate some Pringles too. They weren’t on the list, but who cares at this point: after midnight calories don’t count. One of my skinny friends told me that, so I know it’s true. 

12:21 AM- Realized this post has more words than my paper. I’m screwed. 

12:25 AM- Stop to have a riveting discussion about the Holy Spirit with my roommate. It is now apparent to me that I will do nearly anything to put off writing this paper.

12:36 AM- Giving up on my paper to go shower. I have convinced myself that I will accomplish more under pressure tomorrow morning. HA. Likely story.

12:52 AM- Got motivated in the shower to keep working on this baby until it is done!

1:07 AM- Made an outline and title page but got too tired to finish. I am seriously pumped to finish this paper tomorrow. It is going to be stunning. Or hastily thrown together with weak reasoning and basic grammatical errors from lack of spell-check time. Yipppee.

7:49 AM- Got out of bed and dragged myself to my computer to finish this paper. Not awake enough to be entertaining.

9:30 AM- Just worked my butt off to finish, which means I wrote this paper in about 2 hours. Which means all of the time I spent singing about viral infections and eating study snacks last night could have been used to finish this paper. Oh well. Such is life. At least my paper is done and semi-coherent.

The moral of the story: don't put off your paper until the last minute, because chances are, if you give yourself an appropriate amount of time, it is bound to be more successful. :)

Reasons Why Blogging Is Stupid

So, I have attempted to begin blogging on several occasions. Well, maybe 3. Or 15. But every time I get cold feet… like just after I come up with that "super witty" username (like "megan_writes_again" or something equally BRILLIANT) and pick out the background, and adjust the font and get it JUST PERFECT I decide against it. It's like I panic and think, "Oh my goodness, no one is going to even read this! And if some poor soul does, they will never look at me the same way again!"

But this time I decided that regardless of my audience's reaction, I owe it to my poor roommate to stop saying every time I think of something remotely clever, "I should put that on my blog… once I make it!" or after reading everyone else's blog saying, "I should blog… It would be so much fun!"

So I begin my debut into the world of blogging with an inaugural post I have titled, "Reasons Why Blogging Is Stupid." Ironic? I sure hope so.

1. One thing I have against blogging is this idea that people are going to find your life interesting. I may possibly be the most boring person ever. And other than my mommy, I seriously doubt that anyone really wants to hear about my life in any great detail. Because while I love my life, and I have so much fun living it, other people would undoubtedly find many aspects of it incredibly mundane. Which is cool with me, but it makes me wonder why I would post about them on my blog with the presupposition that people are going to read it and be amazed with me.

2. But the biggest thing I have against  blogging is that people take themselves entirely too seriously on blogs. I mean, what do I, at 20, have to say that anyone would want to hear out loud, let alone take the time to read in words?! My personal convictions, while extremely important to me, are very much a work in progress. I pray every day that the wisdom I think I possess now is going to be exponentially increased every year. (I think us Reformed folks call this Sanctification).

So when people (especially people my age or younger) blog about important and serious things like they are the latest and greatest experts on the topic, I cannot help but roll my eyes momentarily. I know you are probably thinking (or at least I hope you are thinking,) "Oh, but Megan blogs are THE PLACE to express your thoughts and what is wrong with wrestling with serious issues as a young person?!" And you're right. There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, sometimes I admire those people, and some of my favorite blogs to read are those about the serious things. Because it makes me re-examine myself and my own beliefs, which is a necessary part of growing up and getting wiser. But I still can't justify blogging like I know what I'm talking about. Because I don't, even slightly. And I have a hard time taking myself seriously.

So that, in a very long and garbled nutshell, is why I am so hesitant to blog. And yet here I go, doing it anyway. I suppose that maybe people blog primarily for themselves. There is something cathartic about just typing away your thoughts. And there is something incredibly satisfying about thinking that someone might possibly read and think about them. Even ever so briefly before you scare them away with your incredible lack of decorum… And honestly, what young person doesn't attempt to use every form of social media to seek out affirmation from others? 

With ALL of that in mind, this is a fair warning that I am not one to take myself seriously, and so I would imagine this blog will reflect that. And I also am not afraid to make fun of myself and other things too, which doesn't mean I am personally attacking anyone who has opinions that differ from mine. It only means that I will criticize or adore things on here for the sole purpose of my own amusement and "self-expression". And I think that's fair. Because while I do really care about people, and I want to be respectful of everyone, I cannot agree with every person simultaneously without writing something ridiculously boring. And if you cannot express your own opinion on this glorified, electronic soapbox called a blog, where can you?