Sunday, April 6, 2008

Are you there, blog? It's me, the PQK

Alright, yall. It’s been awhile. Many of you have probably gone on to find new and better blogs. How can I blame you? I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with a blog this unreliable and distant either. But please, I’m begging you to give me one more shot to explain myself.

Over the past month, there have been numerous occasions where I have sat down to write entries, like “What would it be like to live with aliens?!” (I sort of know, I live with a Canadian) or “If I was a has-been Backstreet Boy, which one would I be?” (Wikipedia has just informed me that they are still together. I wonder how that’s going), but for each crazy topic line, I was only left with a blinking curser.

Truth be told, there were a lot of other things keeping me from the blogosphere. University (yes, I’ve acquired British dialect since I’ve been gone and am far to sophisticated to say “college”) has been working me to the bone (and not in a sexy way)—essay after essay, exam after exam. While I’ve only been working weekends, work has been driving me a little cuckoo, too. Gosh, it’s a good thing that the creative writing degree that I’m so tirelessly working on will provide such a lucrative career. Then I’ll really get out of the service industry, huh? crickets
There’s been a wee bit of fun in there, too. I went to visit my friends, nicknamed A-mos (a lá Bennifer), in Philadelphia. Maybe I’ll do a Philly post in honor of the upcoming primary, complete with photos.

I digress. The fact is I was feeling pretty void of creativity and the little bit that I could muster generally went into dressing up in spring ensembles and narcissistically photographing myself in front of my window. Keep in mind, I really wanted to write, but geez louise was it not going well. What was wrong with me? Usually blogging is a welcomed form of procrastination from my wacky schooly world. Was I sick? Was it time to throw in the towel?

I did a little research, scouring the web for new blogs and carefully reading my old favorites. What do these people have that I didn’t? It hit me. I was trying way too hard. Each entry I tried to write in the last month was so lame because all it was was me trying to show you how clever and awesome I am. Somehow, through the internet, I had reverted back to the Pop Quiz Kid of middle school days, showing up to class in my new sketchers and Jennifer Aniston haircut only to have the popular kids laugh about it later.

So I’ve decided to make the same decision now that I did then (only this time, it won’t involve flared jeans and Blink 182 t-shirts) and stop trying so god damn hard. One thing that all of the bloggers that I like have in common is their sincerity or at least the talents to fake it. So here we go, embarking on a new path with the Pop Quiz Kid… that is if you’ll have me back.

6 comments:

Rachel said...

I'll take you back. I guess.

HA. HA.

Good entry--it sounded sincere and very much like you.

Also, am I sincere or do I just have the talent to fake it? Or was my blog not included in those referenced?

WDL said...

Its all about your own voice. Mine has nothing to do with libraries, and everything all at once.

I decided no one was talking about social graces for librarians, so I took that corner of the market as mine. 5 years later, I'm still spewing useless advice - to a quarter of a million readers. :)

hang in there, clear your throat, and SING OUT LOUISE!

Amy said...

Your sense of humor is so much a part of you---I didn't get the sense of you trying to hard, and you've always had a strong voice in your writing. So, "lame" isn't a word I'd have used at all (and I do think you're clever and awesome!) Just blog more!

Amy said...

God, I can't believe I just spelled "too" wrong. Oops.

Librarian Girl said...

Bring it! I'll read whatevah you write.

Maddie said...

Rachel- The thing with good fakers is that you can't tell whether or not they are faking, so you tell me! No, I believe that you are VERY sincere.

wdl- Coming from such an accomplished bloggist (and yes, I realize that the real world is blogger), I really appreciate the advice. Believe me, I'm tuning my chops as we speak.

amy- I guess I'm a pretty good faker, to(o)!

LG- I'm so glad to have you reading! Whenever I get stuck, I think "what would Librarian Girl do?"