So my dear friend Sarah of The Sadder but Wiser Girl challenged me to fill out this questionnaire. I contemplated it, decided I’d do it, then promptly forgot it existed until today  –  when, bored out of my mind from being flat on my back due to messing up my back at work and then getting rear-ended to add insult to injury, I found it and decided to share a bit of what is going on in my head. I also thought it might buy me some time while I try to get my blogging act back together.

1. What am I working on?

Currently, I’m trying to keep my head above water at work. I have lost or will lose a couple key employees that I supervise, which means I’ve basically been running around like a crazy person all this month. I am also about to take on a paying project outside the library designing an online class for my former employer because “I am the best he’s had.”

*Cue warm and fuzzy feelings*

However, this will mean that I’ll probably be working about 60 hours a week. I have agreed to such a schedule because I am, in fact, insane. Once I figure out my way through all that, I’m starting the process of getting another master’s degree, this time in library science, on the city’s dime because they just reinstated tuition reimbursement. Boo-ya! One of my co-workers tells me that the online program at the University of Washington is the way to go so wish me luck, peeps!

And if you were talking about writing, not much in that area due to my brain turning to mush. Recently, I have exchanged my writing time for mindless reality TV, but I’m trying to get back to writing consistently again. I have thought about possibly saying goodbye to this blog and starting up a new one with a niche and other such fanciness, but we’ll see. :) It is hard to come up with a niche when you are horrible to average at just about everything. :P

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Well, if I had to put myself into a niche, I’d probably find myself with the humor bloggers. I usually just write about things that make me laugh, so my work differs from everyone else because I have a weird, dry, twisted sense of humor. Usually, this involves either library-related humor or stories about the stupid stuff my klutzy self does, like drop popsicles on my chest or get my keys caught on my pants zipper.  I think there are plenty of humor bloggers that are leaps and bounds funnier than I could ever dream of, but I simply write and hope that somebody laughs.

3. Why do I write what I do?

Life is stressful, y’all, and we all need a laugh, myself especially. I find it very easy to get down and depressed, convinced that everyone hates me and I suck at life. Instead of drowning my sorrows in strawberry ice cream, I try to write humor. Sometimes, this is hard when I’m feeling crummy, but I am determined to keep trying. I hope that my blog posts reach you, my readers, when you are feeling down. Whether you laugh with me or at me, if you are laughing, I’ve done my job well.

4. How does your writing process work? 

Step 1 – Open up browser – one tab for WordPress, one for Facebook, one of cute cat pictures, and one for Pinterest.

Step 2 – Get distracted by Facebook and/or cat pictures for at least an hour.

Step 3 – Close other tabs after realizing I haven’t gotten any blogging done.

Step 4 – Stare at the “Add New Post” page, hoping that inspiration will strike.

Step 5 – Stare at the wall, the door, and the pile of clothes on the couch that needs folding hoping one of them will give me inspiration.

Step 6 – Either give up or write a blog post about my lack of domesticity.

Step 7 – Forget to share it with people so nobody knows I wrote anything. Sad days.

Okay, in seriousness, I usually try to take notes on Post-It Notes or in my phone of post ideas when inspiration strikes and then find a quiet place to write the whole thing in one sitting. Sometimes, I’m a good writer and let it sit for awhile and do some proofreading, while other times (like at 2 AM when I have to work at 8 AM the next day) I just send it out in the world wide web and screw all the advice wiser bloggers have given me. I love using Feedly and subscribing to all sorts of humorous blogs to get ideas for my own blog, or at least, funny things to share on Twitter. My best work is usually in the wee hours of the morning with faux rain and thunder as my background noise if I can’t get the real deal. Chocolate also helps; I’ve tried recreating these situations with hummus and Wheat Thins, and it just isn’t the same.

So that’s my four questions – and now, I am supposed to nominate three blogs I love – who can either follow in my foot steps and fill this out  or not. I don’t care. :) I just want to know I think you are totally sick, awesome, thebomb.com, and totally rad. And if you didn’t make it on this list, don’t be sad because I’m only supposed to choose three, and that is like, super hard, y’all.

Aussa Lorens – Aussa is my hero. She’s one of those “leaps and bounds funnier than I could dream of” bloggers whose blog I stalk constantly and cry from laughter when she talks about Trash Cake or tells her tales of living at The Hovel. But even though she is BlogHer famous and I am a peon, she regularly comes over and comments on my blog posts. Which makes me love her super hard. Aussa, I am forever and always going to be one of your groupies.

Misty’s Laws  – Oh Misty, you have been here commenting and cheering me on virtually almost as long as I have been blogging on WordPress. Your blog posts make me laugh, and every time I see a poorly dressed person, I think, “Misty would love to see that.” She found out my love of Princess Bride and gave me a ROUS for Christmas. She has the biggest heart and makes me feel like I am actually good at this whole blogging thing. I heart you, lady.

Melanie Shebel of Code Gurl – Melanie is my new favorite person. She blogs about blogging, and she’s awesome. She and I have connected more over on Twitter than here on the blog, but she makes me laugh and has encouraged me to keep at the whole blogging deal. If you have any questions about how to be a better blogger, check her out!

And that’s all, folks! Hope to be back to blogging soon.

Love,

Sarah

The humor hasn’t been strong with this one recently. I feel like whenever I do want to write, it’s about serious things like depression or debates about the meaning of life, or it’s ranting about how ridiculous some people (and their driving habits) can be. And while it is incredibly cathartic to write about, it makes for nonsensical, maddening blog posts so I delete them immediately after finishing.

Which is part of the reason you’ve experienced silence for the last month.

Tonight didn’t seem to be promising in the humor department. I worked a couple hours – managing to not give every person who walked into the library my death cold – and then headed off to the movies to see The Fault in Our Stars with my husband. And while I won’t give any spoilers, there was lots of crying and unnatural, guttural noises coming from our row.

And that was just Ryan. (Okay, maybe me)

Naturally, my Facebook-addicted self had to see what exciting things happened this evening while I was gallivanting about the town. As I read, I saw that my sweet brother-in-law had tagged me in a comment. Curious, I clicked to see what he was harassing me about today as he always finds a way to poke fun at me, his one and only sister-in-law.

See screenshot below.

This afternoon, I had sworn to myself that I am really going to lose this weight I’ve been lugging around all winter for way too long and downloaded all the weight loss apps as Google directed. Apps to record my steps, apps to keep track of my weight, apps to keep track of my sleep patterns, apps to record what food I’m eating, and apps to tell me that “Holy crap, a pack of crackers has 120 calories in it” and I should probably just eat a celery stick instead – if it promised to make me a sexy, sultry size 10 again (or maybe an 8 if I’m feeling really crazy ambitious), I downloaded it. Many of these apps were of the Runtastic variety, though the only time I run is if something is chasing me, and even then, I get a stitch in my side and die first in the zombie movies.

One such app trains me to do push ups, recording one each time I touched my nose to the phone screen. That didn’t go very well, as I kept hitting the exit button, and shutting the darn thing down in the middle of my reps, y’all. So, I gave up and got ready for work, thinking nothing of it until I got home this evening. Yeah, cursed little app decided to post my one push up attempt on Facebook. Most exercise gurus post things like “Yeah, did 200 situps and benched like 300 pounds today,” or “Just came back from a little 10 mile jog tonight – #feeling lazy,” but I just posted that I did one push up when I’m sure I did at least 3 that the blasted app didn’t record. I was only a little bit embarrassed, and my loving husband comforted me by leaning up against the wall for support as he laughed at me.

So, I figured what better way to officially declare that I’m back to blogging then another post sharing something hilariously stupid I did to make you laugh at me too. It is safe to say I’ll probably never get my act enough together to ever run out of posts, a fact which I’m sure you all will enjoy.

Love always,
Sarah