Decision made.

I broke my rule - instead of being upset for 3 days only I allowed myself to be upset for a weekend and some change. This morning, however I made a decision - it's time to step up and face the music. (Literally.) 


"If you run away from everything that scares you, you miss all the fun..." a wise woman once told me. Maybe that's just what I needed to hear. 

I say if you can't change it, you better own it. 

~ A Charlie Gal

2001

The problem with growing up has little to do with becoming a mature adult. The real problem has to do with leaving your "childish" dreams behind you. You know, the ones where you are 15 again - you're falling in love with the guy who works at your favorite store and he's actually falling in love with you too. The 15 year-old who has someone to walk her to class, waits for her after dance team practice, and writes notes about nothing at all....but folds them in a way that you pray you'll be able to replicate. The problem with growing up, and becoming the person you say you've "always wanted to be" is the fact that sometimes when you get there, you lose all the other stuff. The funny guitar riffs you tried so hard to learn, the roof tops you sat on, the sky you gazed upon - it's just not the same. Birthday presents...wait you're 17 now?  You try to listen to  the songs the wind sang, and they don't sound anything like the way you remembered. July is still the saddest month. 


You find a box full of love - letters, mixtapes, and ticket stubs - and push it further under your bed. It was a different life - before you grew up.... 


It's a different world now. A world with text messages, iPhones and Facebook - and although you try to join that world with this world you, you just can't. You remember a city with a beach, convertible cars, and parks with rain...and all you can do is cry, fold them up, and hope that when the time comes you won't have to throw the entire box in a recycle bin. You just want those years, and you want them forever. 


Try as you may, you change and you grow, then eventually you grow up. Some change their name and others just change locations - that's the problem with growing up. 

~ ACG

Sent. Delivered. Read.

Well hello! I know it's been a while, and I promise my absence has come with good reason and not a case of reckless abandonment. 


SXSW was definitely different than any other. We worked, we played, and then worked a lot more. My days began with tacos and ended with tacos, and if I wasn't working or sleeping I either had a vodka in my hand or was screaming at someone (possibly about getting sleep or vodka). Shameful, I know. 


Each year after SX I have about a week before the annual AGbod Shut Down. This year, I had approximately 36 hours. Before I knew it I was leaving work and calling Mama. This year's shut down was a lot like this year's festival. MEGA. Even now, about three weeks later I'm still not 100%. (Reaches for inhaler....yes.)


Anywho, another year and another SX. I came, I saw, I conquered. Ohhhh and I texted. (cringe, that word still bugs me.)


In the land of iEverything, there has been an interesting development. iMessage. From my understanding, this is similar Blackberry Messenger. I've never had a blackberry, so I  really don't know. Nutshell: gives the sender the ability to see whether or not there messages were seen...or shall we say acknowledged. When I first learned of this nifty little feature I immediately hoped it was optional. 


I admit I can be a jerk, especially when I'm stressed, sleepy and/or hungry, however when it comes to texting I practice good manners. If you text me, I'll text you back. I take a whole 7 seconds to reply to the sender after I see the message. For the most part my response is immediate, if not it's because for some reason my phone is not attached to my hand and I get to it within a few hours. I'm not saying my response is always pleasant, but the point is I respond.


So why didn't I want iMessage? Because, it's just too much! It's a good way to get your feelings hurt for no reason. I don't want my feelings hurt, and I don't want to hurt someone else's feelings. I'm not into it. I'm also not into disappointing or being disappointed. Which all have happened since I updated my software and had iMessage. 

"Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise." 

Knowledge is power, but we don't need to know everything. There is a ton more that can be said about this subject, but I'm pretty sure you see where I stand. 


Settings > Messages > Send Read Receipts > OFF! 


Thou shalt not disappoint in the form of iMessage. (Or hopefully in any other form.) I can't help but think this is Apple's way of making sure we all live in some kind of Bravo reality show. #manerve

~ ACG