How Gossip Girl Helped Me Lose Weight

The last three weeks were filled with the unreal, the beautiful, and the inevitability tragic.  (Or, more accurate, the inevitable tragedy.) For the first two weeks, however, I was blissfully out of touch with the world back home and enjoying a right of passage for any young 20something, the famous 'Euro Trip'  Yes, I've been to Europe before but never without the guidance and restrictions of my parents. This time I was on my own, accompanied only by my boyfriend's little brother and a multitude of maps, tickets, and the 'How-To Speak French' book he brought with him.

But more on my trip later.  Right now I want to tell you about the new amazing 'weight loss' idea I had.  Not that I need to lose weight, but after walking around Europe for two weeks I want to keep that good feeling exercising gives you.  Now, I hate exercise, but I hate Gossip Girl more.  I suppose that's not fair, I've never watched the show, yet I tried to read and could not stand the book.  I'm a bit picky when it comes to my television programs, I won't watch just anything.  Usually if it does not have scifi, fantasy, or ridiculous amounts of comedy I'm not interested.  I do not like Dawson's Creek, The OC, etc.  In fact, the only 'teen drama' show I enjoy (or used to at least) was Degrassi...it goes there.  Honestly though, I more or less know I'm not gonna like watching Gossip Girl.  My little sister likes that show, she thinks everything I do or like is...weird.  Yes that's right Nerdfighters, she things you're weird!  I love her, but she watches Gossip Girl and spends her money on clothing.  I spend my money on hard-drives.  But I shall embark on this feat, because for every Gossip Girl episode I watch, I will work out for the entire time.  That's right, 45 minutes every other day.  If, that is, I can work it around job interviews and making YouTube videos.  I'll try and keep posting here as often as I can so you can check to see what episode I'm on and how my workout progress is going.  I'm not going to weigh myself, it's not about weight loss, its about being healthy.  So from now on, when I mention what Gossip Girl episode I'm on, I'm more referring to how many time's I've worked out since Oct. 28th  Congrats, our first blog inside joke, feel special.

In other news, it's November, NaNoWriMo.  Even though I'll be cranking out at least 1,667 words a day I want to write on this blog more as well.  If you are reading this and want to agree with this idea, please let me know in the comments what you want to hear about.  My Euro Trip? the job hunt? NaNoWriMo news? Let me know.  Also, I have a new love of the British television show Doctor Who and after getting all caught up on episodes starting in 2005 and ending now, I have decided to start from the very start in 1963.  There a few things I am not giving up despite my recent unemployment, and one of those is Netflix.  (Another is VidCon2012)  Oh, and I'm 'sargentj' on NaNoWriMo.org if you want to follow my progress.  Comment with your username and I'll follow you!

Stay nerdy, you guys.

STATS
Subscribers: 278
NaNoWriMo: 1,235
'Gossip Girl Episode': 3
Doctor Who: The Begining, Disk One 'The Daleks'

Internet Friendships

I've had 'online friends' for years. Getting the internet was such an exciting thing for me as a kid. It meant I could find a world of people that liked the same things I did and would talk to me about them anytime. So believe me when I tell you that I'm no n00b to having 'online friends'. I am new to having online friends that I can actually see and talk to and are video creators like me. It's been a weird couple of weeks but ever since Vidcon my 'online' friendship count has astronomically increased. I believe it was partially due to the comfort of meeting these people in person first and the sense of comradery that was thick in the air. We could all be ourselves and not be judged for this one glorious weekend.

What I real want to address though is the term 'online friend' and it's stigma. At a time it was thought to be a creepy concept worthy of a visit by Chris Hansen. In the last, oh I don't know, 10 years or so it's gotten a little more respect and credibility. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, smart phones, and such are to thank for making communicating on the internet mainstream.  The problem I seem to run up against is the canyon-like separation I feel between my friends I met (or mostly talk to) on the internet and my friends I made at school and actually see on a semi regular basis. (at least more than my so called 'online friends')  Yes, the two worlds tend to collide at times and the term IRL (in real life) is pointless because the internet is still real life, and I hate the term 'online friends' almost as much as I hate the term 'viral video' but can't seem to find a better way to explain it to my (oh dear) 'IRL' friends...

I guess my general frustration stems from the fact I'm so used to hanging out in groups (in high school, at college, parties, etc.); that to have all of these individual friends I interact with online (even though some of them tend to know one another anyways) and no place/ability to hang out with offline in a group (google+ chat rooms do not count...not like I've been invited to one yet) Yes there are BlogTV shows and such, but again, online meet-ups does not count! I guess I could just be wishing to relive Vidcon, like so many of the people who were there do. Or maybe I want all of my high school and college friends to attend Vidcon and interact with my 'online friends' and accept it and say it's cool and not weird.

I don't know why I'm having such a struggle with this.  I guess I want to make sure my 'online friendships' don't dwindle and that we don't loose contact.  It's so much easier to forget friends when you can't hang out with them in physical places. I don't want that to happen. So, to all my 'online friends' (ugg, is there a better term for you?) though I can not take you all out to coffee like I want, please let me take to you to virtual coffee. What I mean is, go bother me on one of my many online locations, go, do it now, just say hi or something or comment here. And to my old friends whom I've shared experiences with and grew up with, lets go out for real coffee sometime.  Lets not let it slip into the classic: "We never hang out, lets hang out more!" because we all know that never actually leads to any hanging out.