I guess I do this now.

Man, sometimes I miss 2001.

Just sometimes, though. Frankly, I was a freak show of a teenager (we all were to some degree, whether or not you realize it). I could stand to not relive the awkward moments, the teen angst, the misinterpretation of social cues, the painstaking effort put into being liked and accepted by everyone.

…

…Okay, so as I am reviewing that list of Things I’d Rather Not Relive™, I think I’m now just living those things in real time.

At least I am not reliving the teen angst; but that’s only because I’m 36!

And I digress. I miss 2001 because you could just…fire up blogger.com or LiveJournal (or DeadJournal ahahahaha), set up your online journal and GO TO TOWN ON ANYTHING YOU WANTED, and no one was going to stop you.

You wanted to share your entire-ass life story? Nice! You should blog about it!

You get in a fight with your parents again? Bummer, dude! But you should at least probably blog about it!

Was your boss at your part-time, after-school, minimum wage job a real jerk today? THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW IT SO MAKE A BLOG POST ABOUT IT.

Did you write a very sad poem that encapsulates the darkness of your very soul? AW YEAH THAT’S THE STUFF RIGHT THERE, DEFINITELY BLOG THAT.

Ok. I surely am being a little retrospective here, and unfairly to boot. Sometimes when I reflect on the more embarrassing parts of my life, I forget that I was merely a child. My point is this: as an adult blogger, what are you even supposed to do? I do value decorum and discretion at least a little bit.

Maybe it’s less about it being 2001 and more about me being 36. Because here I am, blogging again. Of course, if nobody reads this, I pretty much have free reign, don’t I?

In that case, I probably won’t ever post about the fights I get into with my parents anymore, or if ever my boss at my full-time, grown up, executive job was a big jerk. I pay $130 a month to express those emotions to a therapist!

Mid-life angst, though? Hell yeah that’s a viable theme for a blogsite: crippling student loan debt; lamenting over how I haven’t deep-cleaned our apartment since before the COVID pandemic; inflation and fuel costs; my sciatica. I’LL BLOG ALL ABOUT THAT MESS TBH.

Plus, I probably have a few cringey poems up my sleeve, so. I guess I will do this now.

Ok bye.

P.S. Shout-out/R.I.P. to Blogger, LiveJournal, DeadJournal, Xanga, Facebook Notes and all the rest. Y’all were real ones.

Note about the featured image: I did a Pexels search for “angst” and it gave me this cat photo. I can’t make it make sense, but it does feel right nevertheless.