I know what it's about

So it finally hit me, after more than a year of blogging, that my blog is about life after college.

Go to your cube

That highly controversial and (so) frequently thought-provoking blogger Penelope Trunk, had this to say in her most recent blog post: "Here’s how you figure out what to do next in your career: you line up all the stuff you like to do and you figure out which one will pay best."

It's very reality-check, in a way your parents would be when talking to you. Key points:

"Have you been writing songs since you were five years old and you cannot imagine living if you don’t write songs? You can still write them. At your house, after work."

And she goes on to say, "If you’re not making time to do it regularly unpaid, then you probably don’t love it..."

"And since you don’t have anything that’s making you feel like you’re gonna die if you don’t do it, go get a job in a cube and stop complaining."

It's certainly worth reading. It's very well-written for one. And maybe she's right. But I kind of hope she isn't... It really stings from someone who is still avoiding the cube (but somehow finding herself in her very own home cube).

Return of the Last Man/Girl

I used to think when I was younger that if you knew what the right thing to do was, you would just do it. If you didn't do it, it meant you didn't really think it was the right thing to do. It's kind of like what Plato says, about how humans strive after the Good, and in a sense everything you do is good. Every decision you make is because you think it is the best decision.

But it's not really true. Or maybe it's related to short-term versus long-term happiness. I know I should exercise instead of sitting on the internet two hours in a row. I know I shouldn't stay in my pajamas til noon, and that I should send out a few emails. And I really should. It would really be better. So now I know you can know the right thing to do, but still ditch it.

To throw in another philosopher, we can turn to Nietzsche and the Last Man. The Last Man (who I've mentioned before here) is concerned about being comfortable, not being great. The Nietzschean Superman (or Uber/Over Man, if you prefer) knows what he wants and does it. He does not play video games and watch season 6 (?) of Lost back to back. Instead he spends his days perfecting his true life calling, always striving to improve. I need to be a little less Last Man, a little more Uber Girl.

I feel lonely on the internet

I admit I use the internet as a kind of crutch, to fill up time. To kill time, in fact, that very worst of things. So I go online and expect to be Entertained. Thoughtful, funny emails filling my inbox. Friends aplenty online eager to exchange witty banter and meaningful conversation. Updated blogs with useful meaty posts. Instead I find emails from Facebook, friends with little red circles slashed with white next to their names signifying their official busy-ness, and blogs with previously-read posts. Well, what do you expect if you're going online every hour on the hour, more or less?

It's funny, this loneliness on the internet. I mean, the internet is powerful, right? Information on everything, all this potential. And then for you just not to find it appealing. For you not to be interested. I guess it's kind of like the library, as great as it theoretically is, full of books, information, all this exciting stuff, sometimes you just don't feel like being there. Sometimes you want something else, a mug of cocoa and somebody to talk to about your day.

In the Forest

"We live in a forest of unspoken expectations."

A great quote by my favorite advice columnist, Cary Tennis.

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I ate fried bread today and it was wonderful. It wasn't exactly vegan (fried in butter, friends) and so definitely not healthy, but certainly delicious.

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Penelope Trunk has a great post on her experience with postpartum depression that is shockingly honest.