7 Reasons Taylor Swift Needs To Just Not

Is anyone else completely and utterly sick of Taylor Swift?

I know I gave her a shout-out in one of my earlier blog posts, but that was more me making fun of her for writing songs about her ex-boyfriends than actually giving her any sort of positive recognition.

I haven’t always been a hater, either. I used to really like her. Until she started trying too hard. No one likes a try-hard.

Everything this girl does gives me anxiety and makes me want to pull my hair out. Her creepiness at the AMA’s really set me off. So, my hate list:

1. Your weird comb-over haircut. Please stop being trendy because you switch your style every week. Yes, Lady Gaga is completely crazy but at least she sticks to it and is genuine.
2. Your personality changes as much as your style. All right, so you like to change your hair and your clothes. That’s one thing. But your multiple personalities disorder has got to go. Are you the innocent, sweet, heart-broken victim? Or are you the girl-power, don’t-need-no-man vixen? Who knows. It’s creepy, Tay.
3. Your dance moves. Honestly, do I need to say more? You look like an uncomfortable snake trying to shed it’s skin and it’s making everyone else’s skin crawl, too.
4. You pulled your music from Spotify. And claimed that your music was “rare, valuable art that should be paid for.” And made a huge deal about it. In theory, yes I understand why you did this and yes, I appreciate music as an art form. However, a) you do get paid a royalty when your music is played on Spotify, b) you have enough money, sweetheart, I promise, and c) if I can listen to other musical geniuses on Spotify, what makes you so special?
5. You don’t want to be associated with country music anymore. I just find this a little unappreciative. Without country, you wouldn’t even be in the business. And your country songs were far better than any of your teen-pop jamz. But, that’s just one girl’s opinion.
6. In an effort to steer clear of your country roots, you say things like “sick beat” and “hella.” Don’t do that.
7. And above all else, you’re not Beyonce. And you never will be. That’s not really in your control but I will hold it against you nonetheless. Bow down to the queen, T-swift.

Image from vulture.com

Ugh. I feel bad, because I’m sure you’re a lovely girl. But, just like you’ve got to write songs about your past love affairs, I have to blog about the things that bother me. And today, that’s you. Sorry girl.

She does know how to make a catchy song, though. I’ll give her that.

Manic Mondays: The 4-Letter Dirty Word That Starts With ‘S’

So, what is it? What is the real 4-letter dirty word that begins with an ‘s’?

Get your head out of the gutter. Obviously, it’s ‘snow.’

This is what I’m dealing with on this fine Manic Monday. And I hate it. As if getting out of bed on Monday morning isn’t hard enough, let’s add chunks of cold, white crap falling from the sky to make things even more exciting.

I know I’ve talked a lot about the weather of upstate New York, and my ice-box of a bedroom, and my annoyance with the cold, but snow is in a category all by itself. I’m not sure if anything adds to my stress levels the way that snow does.

Hypochrondri-Acting Like I’m Dying

I do not think one single person is surprised to hear that I am a self-diagnosed hypochondriac.

Isn’t that the most ironic part of it all? By calling myself a hypochondriac, I’m diagnosing myself with a disorder that is about diagnosing yourself with disorders…

I FOREVER think that there’s something seriously wrong with me. I’m almost positive at this point in time that I have strep throat (or the common cold), a brain tumor (or a headache), and an incurable rash (dry skin?).

Image from buzzfeed.com

Manic Mondays: I’m Becoming a Buddhist

Recently I’ve been reading up on some Buddhist teachings. I know, how worldly of me.

But, in all seriousness, last week, I read pieces by the Dalai Lama and a Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, and I feel like it’s causing me some anxiety.

What’s really ironic is that these pieces are probably supposed to be calming and soothing. They’re supposed to make you reflect and consider your life in an insightful way. Not stress. Which is obviously what I’m doing.

Both the Dalai Lama and Hanh talk about 5 traditional precepts, which should act like guidelines for living a compassionate, ethical life. Hanh specifically reflects on these “Five Mindfullness Trainings,” which can be summed up as follows:

1. I vow to affirm life and to refrain from the taking of a life
2. I vow to be generous and to refrain from taking what is not given
3. I vow to be detached (from being self-centered) and to refrain from sexual misconduct
4. I vow to manifest truth and to refrain from verbal transgressions
5. I vow to proceed clearly and to refrain from harmful consumption

And, as I read them, I started to worry about what a terribly self-centered individual I can be at, like, all times. I’m constantly worried about myself: What am I going to eat today? When am I going to get my homework done? Why am I poor? Why don’t I have a private jet?

Well, Laura, there’s some people who aren’t going to eat at all today. There’s some people who have been studying to get into medical school for about 10 hours today. There’s some people are can’t afford a house. And as far as the private jet situation… grow up.

The last mindfullness training really stuck out to me, too. When Hanh writes about consumption it’s about so much more than food and drink. We all consume so much on a daily basis: food, beverages, music, television, movies, words. We ingest much more than we think.

And, for me, I know that probably about 99.9% of what I ingest is toxic. I watch horrible T.V., I eat fast food, I don’t read enough, I drink cheap liquor, and above all else, the words and thoughts that I consume are almost always negative.

I complain, I moan, I stress, I worry. I created an entire blog off about this stuff for heaven’s sake.

I’m not saying that I should stop doing these things all together. Honestly, I’m not sure I could even if I tried. But, it’s probably important to start making a conscious effort to ingest nutritious food (but I love you TBell), abstain from drinking (but I love you Franzia), and consume positive energy (but I love complaining).

I might always be a chronic worrier, but maybe I could be the chronic worrier with a more positive outlook on life who is also super healthy and appreciative. I doubt it would kill me to lose a pound or two or seven, either.

I’ll get there, I swear.
Image from http://www.wkupireland.org

So, there you have it. It’s Monday, I’m over-analyzing, and now I think I’m a Buddhist because I read a singular article by a monk from Vietnam.

I’d Rather Be Someone’s Shot of Whiskey Than Everyone’s Cup of Tea

I know I don’t usually blog *on a Tuesday* but I was struck with some inspiration recently and I wanted to get my ranting out before I forgot.

Anyone with a blog knows that you can’t please everyone. There’s always going to be people out there that don’t like what you’re writing about or don’t think that anyone wants to hear your opinions. At the same time, there will be readers that absolutely love what you have to say.

For the most part, though, human beings tend to pay more attention to negative attention than positive attention. I am no exception.

Someone recently tweeted, “Twitter isn’t good enough for some attention whores anymore. Now they have to make blogs to share their irrelevant opinions.” Now, although I can’t prove this is about me, after more than five people screen-shotted the tweet and sent it to me, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it, indeed, was directed towards my “irrelevant” self.

I was definitely offended at first. I don’t necessarily think I’m bothering anyone by blogging, and even if I am, I’m not passing out contracts requiring anyone to read my attention-seeking opinions against their will.

Being not calm, cool or collected doesn’t help, either. If I were more even-keeled, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about the tweet, but we all know I can’t just go with the flow. I have to obsess about these things- over-think, over-analyze, over-worry. Should I just stop blogging now?

After my initial annoyance, though, I realized that you truly can’t win everyone’s approval. As cliche as, “You win some, you lose some,” is, it’s still 100% true. And spending your time worrying about the losses takes away from the wins.

Plus, criticism and negativity open up a conversation. If I had any sort of desire to speak to that tweeter, I could’ve utilized their negativity to create a discussion about what they prefer to see in blogs and what interests them. In the future, I plan to do this when I see similar comments. This person, however, didn’t deserve my time.

And that will happen, too. Some people are open to a respectful debate, and other people just want to bring you down. Deciphering between the two is crucial for bloggers.

I also think that the blogging world is one of acceptance. I am no angel, and it’s not like I’ve never judged someone in the past. But I certainly think that once you’re aware of how difficult and raw it is to put your personal thoughts on the World Wide Web, you become less critical of others and more open-minded. Love me some blogosphere.

In conclusion, a fair warning: Say whatever you like, but just like Taylor Swift can write a song about you…

I can blog about you 😉

Manic Mondays: Sub-zero Lifestyle

The struggle between freezing to death and paying for heat seems to have commenced today.

I’ve blogged about money struggles in the past, and although I’m not actually poor and probably shouldn’t complain, I still do. I’ve also blogged about my weather frustrations, but never fully explored the fight between pneumonia and not having enough money to buy fast food.

It’s definitely been getting colder gradually, but today, on this fine Manic Monday, it is freaking chilly. Maybe it only seems so cold because it is a miserable Monday and I’m my miserable Monday self, but either way, I’m wearing a scarf in bed right now.

An actual photo of me right now (minus the tail).
Image from giphy.com

I was away from my house this weekend and when I arrived back this morning, I realized I was living in the arctic tundra. It would be so easy to turn on the heat and thaw out, but then the nasty realization sinks in that I’m going to have to pay for that. So how long does this battle last?

I think I’m going to wait it out until my roommates say something. I’m a pretty tough girl (I’m not), so I think I can handle the cold for a little bit longer, but I’m wondering if one of them will have had enough in the near future.

Then again, it’s not even November, yet. We seriously haven’t even embarked on the winter months and I’m already worried about my igloo-like living conditions. What are any of us going to do when it is actually 0 degrees out?

Turn on the stupid heat. And pay for it. That’s probably the answer that makes the most sense. But, knowing me, I’ll look up tropical vacations on my MacBook in my bed for hours and ignore my roommates requests to stop torturing them. All to save approximately $15 a month.

I already have the short end of the stick with my glass-box room, which I’ve previously discussed. My bedroom lacks walls and therefore is made up almost entirely of windows. For anyone who has lived in upstate New York, you know that’s prime living conditions for the weather. If I can handle the cold than my cozy housemates can, too.

What’s really funny about the cold weather is that everyone complains but no one does anything about it. I’ll honestly end up living here my entire life, forever ranting about being poor and freezing, but never pack up in leave. Maybe we’re all a little addicted to thrill of the sub-zero lifestyle.

Or maybe we’re all just a little addicted to bitching.

It’s So Annoying Being Annoying

How many times a day do you look at someone or something and think, “Holy shit. That is so annoying.”

If you’re anything like me, the answer is roughly 117 times daily.

There’s no way to avoid it, either. No matter how “zen” I try to be, I’ll still find my inner-brat surfacing and saying, “Make her stop,” to the girl in the library talking on her cell phone to her doctor about her upcoming bacne appointment.

Image from degrassi.wikia.com

I guess that’s a bad example because, I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t find this acne-ridden problem-child annoying. But, I’m annoyed by the tiniest things, too. If my pen runs out of ink (a normal, non-life threatening occurrence), I kind of want to run out into traffic.

I definitely could go on and on about the small factors of life that make me 50 shades of homicidal, but recently I came to a terrible realization: I’m really f-ing annoying.

Image from reddit.com

Now, this might not come as a shock to many people, and I’m not sure if it was even mind-blowing to myself. I know I can be difficult to get along with at times or intense or, I don’t know, obnoxious. But, knowing how annoying it is to be, well, annoying- I never want to bestow that personality trait upon myself.

Yet, I find myself doing really annoying things lately! It’s horrible. Just the other day, I was continuously sniffling during an exam. I know for a fact that at least six people wanted to punch me right in my common-cold face. Imagine trying to concentrate on a test you studied hard for, only to find out you would be sitting next to that kid form Hey Arnold whose heaving breathing made everyone uncomfortable? Dude, that kid was me.

I also have found that I’m attracted to chairs that squeak. Why can’t I just sit down in a seat that quietly allows me to fidget without distracting the people around me? Better yet, why can’t I stop fidgeting? (Mental note: See doctor about possible adult-onset ADHD).

Even worse: my self-diagnosed OCD tendencies have turned into everyone-in-my-life-wants-me-to-give-me-a-muzzle tendencies. Three dirty dishes in the sink are not going to kill me, or anyone for that matter. I probably don’t need to issue a Public Service Announcement every time someone leaves out an unwashed cereal bowl.

So, what do you do when you find out the annoying girl you hate with your entirety… is actually you? I’m telling you it’s an awful realization. My world is crumbling around me. I always thought I was so… cool.

Kidding.

However, I think everyone is at least a little bit annoying. It’s probably part of human nature to bother certain people, while at the same time be bothered by others.

Knowing that nobody wants to be intentionally irritating, though, you have to wonder: Is there anyway to completely stop being so annoying?