The Joy of Blogging

Blogging makes you a better person. It holds you accountable for things you plan to do. Eating at tables makes you a better person. It also makes you better at your job.

Eating at desks may be one of the single greatest problems in modern corporate America. Since we already essentially spend 95% of our days in front of our computer screens, you'd think we'd want to get away for an hour and look at something else, even if it is just an orange-painted wall or the table of middle-aged women who lunch together everyday without fail. I used to be a desk eater. I had my reasons, including but not limited to not wanting to clock out when I would probably just be sitting by myself at a table, wanting to leave earlier in the day (which taking no lunch break allows), or simply being too lazy to walk down to the cafeteria when I have a microwave located in the corner of my department. I was reading In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan's most recent book, when he suggested to me that I eat only at tables with the caveat that "No, a desk is not a table." With little else to entertain me during the day, I decided that maybe this table eating thing would have some benefits. After all, Michael Pollan is a pretty smart guy. So Monday I went to eat in the cafeteria. Within 30 seconds, one of my long lost friends in Finance sat down with me. I learned a lot about how he was doing, didn't spill any crumbs in my keyboard, and had FUN. Now I am only on day 3, but I feel like I have an infinitesimally better understanding of my organization than I did last Friday. Also, people have started to tell me things. Secrets. And, if you knew me, you'd know that I love a good secret and consider it one of the defining features of your relationship with me if you're willing to tell me things you wouldn't tell the average Joe.

So, in conclusion, my blog has held me accountable for blogging, eating right, and making new New Year's Resolutions whenever I find something I should probably try doing to make my quality of life better. Eating at tables has, in 72 short hours, made me 37.7% better at my job and increased the quality of 5 of my office relationships. If those stats aren't good enough to convince you to try eating all of your meals at tables, check back in another 24.

Uh oh...spaghetti-Os!

I haven't posted anything for two days. My older brother, who is currently my only follower, called me on the phone and informed me he was extremely disappointed in me for not caring for my blog. I'm experiencing a little bit of fear. What if I'm not meant to be a blogger? I don't know if I have a valid contribution to the world today (or yesterday or the day before). What if I fall victim to a neverending writer's block?

I think when I can't write, it means I haven't been reading enough.

And in the beginning, there was Tony...

The other day while I was at work, I discovered Penelope Trunk's blog by using my supreme information seeking research skills. After reading a couple of her posts, I decided she must have written it specifically for me and resolved to do everything she told me to do. Obviously, this would result in a long and successful life for me. One of the first things Penelope told me to do was to start my own blog. This would put me in a prime position to be successful in my chosen field as it would mean I was such an expert that I could provide valuable insights for other people to read and learn from, or so Penelope says. Because Penelope is a genius, she also provided a guide to starting my own blog. Step 1 seemed easy enough. I was supposed to ignore blogging buzz words. I'm a Millenial, but I barely passed the test, so I didn't know what any of them meant. This made them very easy to ignore. Unfortunately, step 2 required me to pick a topic.

I was stumped. I've filled journals with my thoughts over the years, but sometimes my propensity to jump from topic to topic makes me think I really might be Abstract Random. How would I ever decide what to focus all of my posts around?

Luckily, my house has recently become a commune. In addition to the presence of Angel and Michelle living upstairs, my roommate Laura's husband is in the process of moving in. That makes 5 adults living in a 1500 square foot space. This is all bad news for the one bathroom we have, but it is good news for my blog. Tony (the husband in question) is your typical idea man. Yesterday we strategized over a potential business model for a "green" shipping company that would operate on the same level as FedEx. Perhaps that idea will never come to fruition, but this morning when Tony was making eggs for breakfast (another fabulous benefit of his moving in), I was talking about my New Year's Resolution of only purchasing local, organic food. Genius Tony suggested my blog theme detail my foray into my new lifestyle and here I am.

Happy New Years and God Bless Us Everyone (especially Tony)!