Blog Featurette: I Wrote This For You

I have yet another blog to share with you! I seem to be on some sort of blog-promoting kick.

This one is called I Wrote This For You. Basically, what it is, is that every day a story is posted with a picture. The stories are short, many times only a couple sentences, and they are always very general, using the pronouns me and you. This allows readers to place themselves in the center of the story. Iain Thomas, co-creator and author of I Wrote This For You says that "There’s no story [he] can tell you that is as powerful as the story you can tell yourself." This means that, by making the stories vague, people are able to fill in their own experiences and make the story apply to them.
Iain also explains why the stories are so short: “The point of a story is, more often than not, a single sentence. I try to write that sentence.” In each entry for I Wrote This For You, Iain tries to explain a single human experience or emotion as concisely as possible. In doing so, he achieves everything from power, to truth, to poetry. What Tyler Knott did for love stories with his haiku, Iain Thomas has done for just about every other life situation with his words.

If you like poetry, profound quotes about life, or reading statements that really hit home, I suggest checking out I Wrote This For You. If you're not into that stuff...well, I still suggest checking it out. It's a pretty interesting concept, and the stories are short, so it wouldn't even take you a minute to read a couple. I'm really into this kind of stuff (and by "this kind of stuff," I guess I mean profound, "deep" stuff), but maybe I'm the only one. If you do check it out, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! I love hearing other people's opinions on things.

Google Overload?

Thanks to the fact that I follow TIME on twitter,
I came across this video:




I admit, I was really excited about Google Wave when I first heard about it. I watched the demo video, and thought, "This is awesome! Wave looks so useful! Look at all the cool stuff you can do with it!" Upon finally receiving an invite and setting up my account, however, I quickly realized I had absolutely no idea what I was going to use it for. Now, my "super exclusive," invite only Wave account has gone unused for the past 3 or 4 months (however long it's been).

Now, don't get me wrong, Google has created some pretty useful tools. I love how easy it is to keep track of all my favorite blogs using Google Reader. I'm currently working on overhauling my current e-mail system and forwarding it all into my new Gmail account. But I have to agree with this video that, while I appreciate Google's attempt to be everything to everyone, they've gotten a little out of control.

What do you think? Have you tried/found use for any of Google's newest creations? Let me know! Because as much as I love being on the cutting-edge of these things, there comes a point when is enough. We can only handle so many ways to communicate/stay in contact with people before we totally go crazy. It just makes me think if that scene in He's Just Not That Into You when Drew Barrymore is talking about leaving a voicemail on a guys phone, which he responded to with a text, which she responded to with an e-mail, etc. (that's not the exact order of events, but you get the idea). Thanks to Google , there are now three or four more modes of communication we can use.

An Awesome Thing: A Good Haircut

Inspired by the blog 1000 Awesome Things (which I have mentioned before), I just had to write an entry about something I am way too excited about: my new haircut. BEWARE: This entry was written after midnight, meaning that I cannot account for what late-night giddiness and/or half-asleep-ness may be fanning the flames of my already extremely vain feelings about my hair.

About a week ago, I got approximately 6.5 inches of hair cut off. For me, that is a pretty significant amount. Not only have I had relatively long hair for a good 4ish years, when I did get it trimmed, it was usually just that - a trim, an inch or two off, just to make the ends look nice again.


Now, I know how vain/shallow/conceited this will make me sound, but for a long time, I was very attached to my long hair. I'm not kidding you when I say it took about a week of mental preparation leading to what I like to call "The Big Chop." Yes, I realize that some people, usually participating in Locks of Love or a similar program, will get 10+ inches cut off at a time, but for me, over 6 was a pretty big deal.

All this to say, I could not be happier with the result of my hair cut! A week later, and I am still excited about it (that's how you know it's good). After having to manage that long, thick, wavy mane of mine for so long, it is so freeing to have half as much hair. Anyone out there who has had a good haircut knows what I'm talking about. It's easier to style, it looks good, it feels good – I know you know.

For those of you out there who have not yet experienced the pure bliss of the perfect haircut, have faith. One day, when you least expect it, you will walk out of the salon feeling like a changed person, and at that moment, you'll just know. Until then...well, I'm not really sure what to tell you to do, I just felt the need to say until then.

I apologize for this post. I'll try not to write blog posts at such late hours in the future. I can't make any promises though.

The beauty of language

I have always enjoyed reading, at writing poetry. To be honest, I never got that into the haiku thing, but I just came across this guy Tyler Knott, who writes some of the most beautiful haiku I have ever read. He is doing a series called "Daily Haiku on Love," and maybe it's just me, but I find the poems absolutely breathtaking (which is not a word I would usually associated with a written work). Here are a few examples:

You are sewn from the
fabric of my dreams and the
thread of my wishes.
-Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson-

I watch the smile grow
across your lips, up your cheeks
and into your eyes.

-Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson-

I will rest my ear
directly above your heart
and miss not a beat.
-Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson-

They are so simple, yet so powerful. I suppose that is the point of a haiku. I highly suggest you check out his site and read some more of them, because they are absolutely wonderful!

Google it!

I often say I am addicted to the internet, but more specifically, I am addicted to Google. I use the handy Google search bar in Firefox probably hundreds of times a day (I should try and keep a tally sometime). I often try to remember what my life was like before I had a laptop/iPod touch/phone with texting capabilities at my disposal 24/7 allowing me to look up things at a moment's notice. Then I found this comic:(via twentythree)

I'm still alive!

So, I am fully aware that I have not updated in over a month. This is mostly due to the fact that I haven't had much to say (hard to believe, I know), but also due to the fact that I have been extremely lethargic lately. The seasonal depression has definitely set in hard-core and I find myself sitting around listening to music about summer and hoping that spring will come sooner rather than later.

That said, I realize that almost anyone else living in snow-country (which is actually most of the US right now, apparently there is snow on the ground in 49 states) is probably feeling the same way. Therefore, I would like to share a blog that has certainly been a ray of sunshine for me throughout this dreadful Michigan winter. It's called 1000 Awesome Things. Basically every weekday they post one "awesome thing." Some examples of previous posts include:

#572 Learning a new keyboard shortcut
#585 Figuring out the plot twist just before they reveal it
#916 The sound of scissors cutting construction paper
#921 Snow days
#937 The smell of rain on a hot sidewalk

As a person who tends to get really excited about little things like this, I find myself nodding in agreement every time I read the newest post. If you are like me and you enjoy trivial things, I highly suggest adding this blog to your Google Reader or RSS feed of choice. It's definitely a spirit-lifter.