Wednesday, August 6, 2008

I’ve Lost My Mind

Everyone annoys me. I realize this statement won’t exactly shock you guys – let’s face it, if you’re not an animal, a really young or a really old person, or a member of my family, the odds of you pissing me off simply by breathing are inordinately high – but I just felt like I had to get it out there today. Why? Why not, I’m cranky.

Did you know I haven’t called Christine back since the night of the psychic? Not normally a huge deal (it was only a week and a half ago), but she’s called me twice, sent me 3 emails, AND she’s leaving on vacation…um, today. I have done nothing to reply in any form. The reason for this is – I just don’t want to. Yes, I’m really that simple. There was no fight this time around, nothing she did to piss me off, it’s just – you know, I just don’t have the energy to deal.

Now I get that indifference isn’t the same as animosity, but as I sort of implied, I’m feeling that too right now. I’m just generally fed up with everyone and everything at the moment, and the thing that’s really getting on my nerves at the moment is…bloggers. Yes, bloggers. I think I would annoy myself right now if I wasn’t…you know, me. Want to know why? Because bloggers – even the really good, entertaining, smart ones – never fucking change! (Note: My real beef at the moment is with ‘personal’ bloggers – like me! – the people who talk about themselves, their lives, their friends, ad nauseum, until you want to shoot them. How do you people – the readers – stand us? We’re not a relaxing break during the workday, we’re a fucking repetitive and stupid pain in the ass! Sports bloggers I still love though.)

Now I get it, if it’s so annoying then why don’t I simply stop reading? I do! ALL the time. I find a blog that I like, read it religiously for about a month or two, and then get so fed up with the writer that I have to stop (actually, this does sound strangely like all my relationships). Still, I think the point I’m about to get to is still valid: I can’t be the only one who feels this way!

Don’t you ever have a moment (while reading me or someone else), where you are suddenly almost overcome with the desire to say ‘Grow the fuck up already, would you?’ or ‘Get OVER IT!’ or ‘Just SHUT up!’ or my personal favorite, ‘What is this person’s fucking problem?’ I’m sure I’ve had readers who’ve thought this about me. And honestly, I don’t blame them.

Because while a writer’s ‘voice’ may be appealing in the beginning, don’t you ever find that after a while it’s all just the same old shit? The person’s quirks suddenly become flaws, and you start thinking to yourself, ‘If I could be assured this person – and their commenters – wouldn’t get all sensitive about it, I would LOVE to tell this person -----.’

Well here’s your chance – for all those lurkers out there that never comment, for the people who do comment but maybe don’t say EVERYTHING they’re thinking, for the people who used to read me but got fed up (I feel for you, I do) and maybe just dropped in today and got lucky – bring it on. What about me pisses you off? What will I NOT shut up about (but really, really should)? What am I doing with my life that you would change it you could?

Come on people – tell me something I don’t know.

10 comments:

MCBias said...

I definitely agree with you about bloggers not reinventing themselves. Sadly, the key to success seems to be not changing one's blogging style.

Let's see...ok, the "I got drunk and then something bad happened" posts were funny the first few times, when it came across as rambunctious Redhead just happened to have one too many. But as time went on, it started sounding more like "Redhead's Last Posts Before Rehab". I know those are some of the funniest stories, but I also hope you don't actually do yourself any lasting harm one of these times. Besides, I'm pretty sure you end up having plenty of misadventures whether alcohol is involved or not, so you don't need the scapegoat, ha.

Anonymous said...

I guess I would agree with you that if I read the same blogger every day I would start to lose interest. Fortunately that is not a problem here since your posts seem to average about 2 a month . . . .

Redhead said...

john: Hmmm, shorten my posts and become your hag. Got it.

mcb: Drink too much? Me? Nah.

anon: I just laughed out loud - absolutely outstanding comment. You need to come back here and comment more often.

TC said...

I've often thought that bloggers write about nothing quite as well, or as enthusiastically, as they write about themselves. Here you are, of course, taking things one step further, by trying to exploit us, your readers, to writer about you. LAZY!

I will say that either your tone, or my perception of your tone, has gradually changed from "Disaster Strikes, but Redhead Will Not Relent From the Ass-Kicking" to "Disaster Strikes: Redhead Pissy About It".

Anonymous said...

I suppose I like the majority of your posts. I enjoy the posts about how smut novels have drifted away from romance and gotten closer to erotica or porn. I dislike the posts where you indicate how easy you can be when you get liquored up. I don't have anything against it, it just reads like the same thing a lot ("I was depressed/self-destructive/feeling my oats/insert emotion and I got blasted and tagged somebody"). There is nothing wrong with that, as I said, but it is a fairly harmless thing and seems to hashed out again and again. I need the color that the rants offer. I suppose it is the insights that can be supposed from between the lines into someones world is the meat of this kind of blog, so you run a perilous line. Opening yourself up by admitting to the romance novel thing and offering your reaction to an archetype in your life is insightful. You would think that a hookup story would offer the same, but it does not. Instead, they offer the "If I get drunk enough and think about high school i will sleep with anybody that isn't so physically disgusting that it may embarrass me later" feeling that every single person in the world feels. Therefor, instead of enhancing the individuality and nuance that a cybervoyeur site (which is what this is) can offer, it makes it seem like all the others. For example, talking about a hookup is a wedding that everyone can identify with, and no matter how individual the experience, the psychology involved is fairly uniform and understood. As a consequence, it is un-insightful and not very exciting. However, talking about sitting in a women's studies class in college and discussing your thoughts on how to pick two chicks out of the class that you could talk into a threesome is interesting (I had a buddy that did it, the conversation was excellent).

Anonymous said...

All right, I'll bite on the bait, since I've been lurking here for a while. I'd say I stop by here once a week or so, skim whatever's new, and check out the comments on any of the posts I found interesting. (You have good commenters, as well as a good blog.) I think mostly I relate to the tone of posts just like this one, and you've generally got good stories. And you've got a cat - cats are cool. I don't really have any criticism, though. Maybe you should write more so I can manufacture some...

Redhead said...

thursday: Dude, you already know I'm lazy, stop pretending it's news NOW! Oh, and I'll get back to kicking ass ASAP.

paine: OK, so the main thing I got out of that is you like when I talk about erotica (hey, talk to your friend cobra - he's the one who used to freak out over it), I'm kind of a drunk-ass whore (my mother would be so proud...oh, and head's up genius: I don't sleep with all the guys I mention here - not that I give a shit what you'd think if I did), and I should talk about more insightful stuff like threesomes. Good to know.

alex: Welcome. Another person to bitch that I'm not writing enough. I'll see what I can do - suggestions on topics is always appreciated (as is a general love of cats).

Anonymous said...

Red, consider it more friendly needling than an actual complaint. I'm not one to talk, seeing as how it's been like six weeks since I've posted on my own blog. You can count on me for cat-friendliness, though.

Unknown said...

When aren't threesomes insightful...?

cheese said...

Here's what kinda bothers me while reading your blog. If you met someone just like you I think you'd blog about what a bitch/asshole that person is, or at least how much they pissed you off. Of course, you've pretty much warned us of that with your first line: "Everyone annoys me." It just seems like some of the things you bitch about, you end up doing later on and blogging about it.

And I don't mind so much the drunken hook-up stories....besides you've already said you don't sleep with (all) these people. So you're a make-out whore....big deal. Just make sure the story is interesting beyond the typical "OMG I was soooo drunk I fell over in front of the uber-cute guy! But its okay, my big boobs got his attention and we made out later!!!!" type story.

Allow me to offer my last two cents about the whole "Everyone/thing annoys me" mentality. Its extremely toxic. I suffer from it a lot, about petty shit. Really, the roommate used my coffee? People at work are dipshits and I have to fix their work all the time? Your friends are needy and annoying sometimes?
Yeah, you can bitch and complain about it and let it stew, but all its going to do is give you a heart attack or cause a blood vessel in your brain to pop when you're 45.

Let it annoy you for a bit, but at some point you gotta put things in perspective, and realize 99% of it doesn't really matter in the long run. So let it go. Get over it. Don't sweat the petty stuff.

And don't pet the sweaty stuff.