don't listen, don't read

I signed up to write for the New University (UCI's weekly newspaper) about a week ago, went to the meeting last Wednesday, and secured a position writing for Features. Well, kind of.

What they do is e-mail a list of topics they'd like to see pieces about. Today I got the first e-mail with a pretty extensive list of topics, I could see myself worming my way into writing a couple of those pieces. How well they turn out, I don't know and I can't really imagine.

Honestly though, I don't think I'm a journalistic writer. I'm more of a blogger. I will tell you about what goes through my head throughout the day, why I wore the shoes I wore, what I think about certain things. I will describe to you how I felt about something, what I'm wondering about something else. But I'm not a journalistic writer. I can't TELL you anything about the world...I only know me. Nothing really important. I'll write about details, maybe shoot for the big picture but miss entirely.

So who is going to read what I have to say? Nobody cares, I'm one in a million minds. I'm not established enough or opinionated enough or interesting enough for people to CARE about things that I care about. I'm not engaging enough to make you read this, so I turn out to be my only audience.

Can I change this? I guess I'll accept this challenge to myself. One thing I fear is accidentally assuming a presumptuous, know-it-all voice that is not really me. Don't try too hard, be yourself. So much easier said than done.

Here's to Mondays -- new beginnings, and forgetting about the past.

NOBODY READS ANYMORE, ANYWAY!!! So why bother WRITE?

My Anthro 2A professor asked the lecture hall, "How many of you are currently reading a novel for pleasure?"
I raised my hand.
Looked around.
There were probably five hands in the air.
"You guys are missing out on a world of knowledge."

Agreed...but we'd all rather socialize online, increase the number of our facebook friends and pretend to ourselves that we are popular and meaningful. Shallow social life, truly, and I'm guilty as charged. It's a necessary evil, like that extra kick in your coffee.