an interview with myself

Why not? It's my blog. And I am drinking wine...

1. Do you think blogging is an egotistical hobby?
Yes, I think it is a bit vain in nature but also quite harmless. I don't think I'm in any real danger since I have less readers than I do fingers  on one hand. But a free activity that encourages people to write & be a bit more self-reflective can only help communication in the wider world, right? 

2. If you could go back in time and meet yourself 10 years ago, would you tell your former self anything about the future?

I would try very hard not to tell myself anything specific, but I am notoriously bad at keeping surprises surprises.  I would tell myself, "Oh Baby, it going to be so much bigger & better than you can imagine. Don't be so hard on yourself, just do your best & be kind to everyone else who is trying to do the same."  

This is probably really good advice for right now, as well.

3. OK,  confess. Do you have a secret ambition? Something which you may never actually achieve, but you're still holding on to in a corner of your brain?

My secret ambition is to do stand up comedy. Why? Because I like to tell stories, & make people laugh, & love to be the center of attention. Stand up comedy is clearly perfect for me, if I was brave enough. I'm scared of the sound of crickets. And, Rebs, when I told him that I wanted to do this said, "But... you're not funny."  Not so supportive! He later modified that to say, I'm funny but not stand-up funny. Whatever, I've already decided that if I am discovered I won't share any of my comedy millions with him.

  Someday, I will try it out at an open mic night. You know, under a pseudonym, in Iowa, when I'm 83 & have nothing left to lose.

What do I have to lose now???

unreliable narrator

as an English major there was a lot of debate in my education about who is a reliable narrator. 

I think it all began with The Great Gatsby.

I'm no reliable narrator.

Oh, Bloggie, I have neglected you.  

Oh, Reader, I only write that which makes me look as I want to appear.  

I know, I know, we all do the same. We all update our Facebooks with the mundane, the comical, the flattering, even the quirks, but never the whole, self-revelatory, earthy, embarrassing, fragile truth.

And so, it's OK.. It's the best we can do & all we really want anyway. Or all I want at least.

But anyway, I'm attempting a comeback.

baby's first...

Ok, let's reiterate, I'm really glad Obama is our president. He has given me a renewed hope for our country. 

But 

I really think the media is being quite funny about the whole thing. Every story is, "Today is Obama's first ride in Airforce One," "Obama gave his first press conference today," or "Obama ate his first meal off of the White House china..." It seems like excited new parents who document every milestone of their first born. 

Oh well, I guess anything to distract people from how scary the economy is right now.

sand in my boots, words in my mouth, & phlegm in my throat

Yep. That's the latest update.  I got the greatest pair of pink rubber galoshes in time for a retreat & for the 1st time in my history it did not rain on our retreat weekend.  But I ended up having to wear them all weekend anyway b/c I forgot to pack other shoes so I'm sure I looked slightly deranged all weekend. The retreat itself was awesome. The teens were so engaged, open, & thoughtful in all of the activities; they exceeded my expectations. Also, we had 18 great leaders which makes any retreat really fun & easy to run. So, yay! Yay! to a great experience & Yay! to it being done.

"misquote"unquote

Recently there was an article written about me & youth ministry in a local Catholic publication. That in itself is rather flattering & I feel happy that someone thinks I'm doing a good enough job to warrant a write up but the weird thing is the article quoted me. A lot. Incorrectly.  The writer was the one who interviewed me & she quoted me talking about the things I spoke about but not my actual words. Am I right here in assuming that if there are quotation marks around a statement that is supposed to be a direct quote? Part of me knows this isn't a big deal. She didn't quote me as saying anything I disagree with per say but it's just not my voice. My voice is much more, how-do-you-say? young? with-it? irreverent? funny? specific?  It's strange to have people compliment me on an article that does NOT represent me accurately at all. I try to wave it off - not out of modesty but more out of embarrassment. It's a bit like being complimened on your daring new style when really you've just ran out of clean laundry & had to make do with vaguely matching clothes. 

This has also happened to me.

And finally, I'm a sick monkey. A whiny, sick monkey.  And I'm... well, sick of it. So sick of it that I don't even want to write about it anymore.