{"id":227,"date":"2024-09-13T00:42:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T00:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/?p=227"},"modified":"2024-12-21T11:28:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T17:28:57","slug":"i-am-trying-something-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/2024\/09\/13\/i-am-trying-something-new\/","title":{"rendered":"I Am Trying Something New"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ever since I was a young bambino, I knew I wanted to start a blog. That\u2019s a complete lie. I only wanted to start a blog, hmmm, two years ago? More or less? I think that\u2019s when the idea first came to mind. It was 2022, my phone was completely full of storage and had begun to take away my privileges, starting with Snapchat. I was no longer allowed to use my camera or microphone on the app, which is kind of the whole app, so I deleted it. For years, I had used the thing to document my life, so when I was left without it, I was going through withdrawal or something. It was scary. I considered starting a blog, but I had no idea how to do that nor did I really wish to learn, so I moved on with my life.

Flash forward to 2024. I am once again going through withdrawal. This time from Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. My whole livelihood.

I\u2019ve given up Instagram before, for about two years\u20142020 to 2022. I realized I was on it a bit too much, and I didn\u2019t like that. It didn\u2019t make me feel good. I re-downloaded it in 2022 to use as an archive for photos I had taken of stuff around my high school. Then, when college came around, I began using it for more\u2014started posting different pictures, and started using the dm feature, as well as the stories. That was the beginning of the end. Those damn stories.

Listen, it\u2019s not my fault no one likes texting. What do you mean you want to use the universal feature on your phone specifically designed to efficiently communicate to talk to me? No, no, no, let\u2019s use this third-party app where messaging isn\u2019t even the main feature to talk! Mannnn. Okay. It is<\/em> my fault I\u2019m funny, though. Unfortunately, my humor is best displayed via social media story, and Instagram filled the hole that Snapchat left.

But I am sick of it! Sick! Of! It! And not just of Instagram. Alllllll of it.

I don’t like the fastness and the vastness of social media. Trends are getting a bit too much, don\u2019t you think? Everyone is obsessed with one thing for a day and then it becomes old news the next. And there\u2019s just so much of everything. Of everyone. There\u2019s billions of people who live on my phone, trying to tell me what to think, feel, wear, like, hate, be, do. It sucks!

I want to be my own person. I want to get stimuli from primary sources and make up my own opinion about it, you know what I mean? I want to disconnect\u2014try to stay away from my phone as much as possible\u2014so I\u2019m quitting social media. Not as cold turkey as in 2020, but more extensive.

Here\u2019s the deal: I am deleting Instagram off my phone, but I want to finish posting my school photos (I\u2019ll post via my laptop or iPad). Yes, I’ve been posting them for two years. Yes, I still have 200+ to go. Now you understand why I was completely out of storage in 2022. I\u2019m going to try to post semi-daily to try and flush these damn photos out. As soon as I\u2019m done, I\u2019ll try to drop it for good. Until then, I am going to stop posting stories. I\u2019m sorry to the story fans, but it is my greatest vice. My first friend, my enemy\u2026 I will continue to update the people on the White Boy of the Month, no worries, but besides that I think it\u2019s a wrap on the odetosilliness stories. Mostly. Maybe. Probably. I don\u2019t know. I might regret this decision\u2026 But then again, if I regret it, it probably means I really need to stop.

\u2026Is that how it works? I guess we\u2019ll see.

I am keeping Pinterest on my phone because my Monster High themed phone layout took me days to make and it uses Pinterest widgets, so no way am I deleting that shit, are you kidding me? But I am not allowing myself to use it on my phone. If I want to look for crochet inspo, I have to go onto the laptop for that. #Restraint

This is probably the longest I\u2019ve gone without watching an actual YouTube video in months. I\u2019ve been watching podcasts because my job is just tedious work at the moment, but besides that I haven\u2019t been on it! This is huge for me. It\u2019s been an easy transition, though; I\u2019ve just replaced it with Love Island. I may allow non-podcast YouTube videos on the weekends, or maybe even just one day per week. Maybe once a month! Or never! Who knows! To be determined.

In comparison to my 2020 social media blackout, this is nothing. The only thing, really, is the price of disconnecting, which is being disconnected. Duh.

Without having a connection to the online world, what will my real world look like? Will I be completely detached from my peers? Will I lose my mind and give up in a week? Or in a more optimistic outlook, will I discover wonderful things that I was too distracted to see before? I\u2019m not sure, but I want to find out. And I want to document it! So thus, the blog.

Truth is, I love talking about myself, and blogging makes it so I don\u2019t have to force people to listen. You chose to be here, buddy. No getting mad that all I do is babble on about myself\u2014you agreed to this.

I plan on posting once a week on Saturdays. I\u2019m extremely late with this one because YOU try making a website for the first time, okay?! My posts will be about me, as established. Likely to be mostly highlights from the week, sprinkled in with any other pressing matters on my mind.

It\u2019ll go something like this:
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I started school this week. Two days in and it\u2019s already kicking my butt. Joking, but, boy, has it taken a moment to get back into the swing of things. Like, what do you mean I have to actually do assignments for school? I can\u2019t just go there to chill? Damn. Who allowed that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I fear the Luna Divide is back and more polarized than ever. So much more polarized that I\u2019ve begun calling it the Great<\/em> Luna Divide. For the uninitiated, during my senior year of high school I suspected that people were going to start loving me or hating me more\u2014no one was going to be in between. This was due to the fact that my power was growing\u2026 I was getting stranger by the second\u2026 My confidence was skyrocketing\u2026 I was getting way cooler or weird, depending on who you asked. (Some could argue it was both.) I called this phenomenon the Luna Divide because I am a creative who comes up with creative things. The split was minimal last year. Maybe because I was still getting used to college and not yet at my 100% annoyingness level. Or maybe because it\u2019s college, and no one gives a shit. But, brother, do I feel it now! Thus, the greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing about me is that I\u2019m real. I remain true to myself for better and<\/em> for worse. It just so happened to be the latter during my classes.

First class: Religious worldviews and ethical perspectives. All about Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Part of our introduction was sharing which one we were most excited to learn about and why. So what do I say? Well, I say I\u2019m a lot like Shakespeare, of course.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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my first day outfit!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

“I\u2019m a lot like Shakespeare in that I make up words. However\u2014or I guess, and\/but depending on your belief\u2014I also accidentally plagiarize, so I\u2019ll make up a word that already exists. For instance, sometimes instead of saying, \u2018How confusing,\u2019 or, \u2018How curious,\u2019 I\u2019ll go, \u2018How Confucius.\u2019 But then I go, \u2018Oh wait, that\u2019s a guy.\u2019 So I want to learn about Confucianism to understand what it is I\u2019m saying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When will I learn to shut up? Just LIE. Say you heard about it in a TV show, but don\u2019t know what it is, so you want to learn. You\u2019re not PINOCCHIO, there is NO NEED to tell the truth! None of these people knew any of that; they wouldn\u2019t even know you were lying. Just give them your social security while you\u2019re at it, why don\u2019t you? Tell them about the time you shat your pants when you had the stomach flu way back when. My god.

Second class: Literature from 1700s to 1800s. Too big of a class to do introductions. Thank fuck.

Third class: Philosophical Inquiry. I mention that I\u2019m an English major that sucks at reading, but I like poetry. My professor asks who\u2019s my favorite poet. I forget the guy\u2019s name, so I say, \u201cUh\u2026 James Donne?\u201d

My professor corrects me. \u201cJohn Donne?\u201d

\u201cYes, him.\u201d The class laughs. \u201cI was close!\u201d

\u201cI\u2019m sure James Donne appreciates the attention.\u201d

I\u2019m not sure if the class was laughing with me or at me. Oh, well. Pretty sure half the class thinks I\u2019m a complete idiot now, including my professor, but I\u2019ll just have to prove them wrong. They\u2019ll see. They\u2019ll all<\/em> see!

Fourth class: Language, Self, and Society. No complaints.

Besides making a fool out of myself, my classes seem pretty fine. For the most part, at least.

Okay, I think that\u2019s enough for this week. I\u2019m not sure how long each blog will be\u2014I want them to be around the same length, but I\u2019m not making any promises.

I hope you come back next week! And the week after that! Hopefully, this is the start of a beautiful one-way relationship. But it doesn\u2019t have to be one-way! Leave comments! Reach out to me! The best way to contact me is by text (if that wasn\u2019t obvious), but I\u2019ll check Instagram every now and then until it\u2019s gone for good.

I have no idea how to end this. Go Cubs. Go Bears.
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Ever since I was a young bambino, I knew I wanted to start a blog. That\u2019s a complete lie. I only wanted to start a blog, hmmm, two years ago? More or less? I think that\u2019s when the idea first came to mind. It was 2022, my phone was completely full of storage and had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions\/1170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longstoriesshort.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}