Leave This, Read That: "The Thing About All These New TV Shows About Girls"

I read "The Thing About All These TV New TV Shows About Girls" by Caitlin Abber this morning because I'm addicted to the show "New Girl" and (sadly) Zooey Deschanel's character. I shouldn't be, because I hate everything she does. It's too quirky. Too "I'm so cool." But her character on the show is a somewhat alone...forever type...which is the main reason why I think I'm drawn to the show. She's a mirror image of how I see myself and my alone...forever friends. She has a goofy set of friends that support her through all her mistakes and mix-ups. She desperately tries to forge a connection with men, but fails. Her inherent weirdness (uniqueness?) always keeps the people around her a little bit distant, confused, and at times, curious. She tries to bring people together, make people happy, while also searching for her own fruitless connections. She always means well. Which is what all of us alone...forevers try to do.

But besides my infatuation with television shows starring girls, what I found important about this read is that Abber goes into the new era of girls on the internet. We might not think we're any different than our 12 year-old selves discovering internet for the first time but in 2012 girls are quite different than they were in the early 2000s. There's no Xanga or Myspace, just girls using social media outlets as...well...outlets. Girls who blog. Girls who Tumblr. Pintrest. Tweet. Facebook-status- update. Girls who let you know what it's like to be uniquely themselves. Girls who argue. Who cry. Who let you know when they're happy. Who let you know when they're sad, brokenhearted or angry. I always hear my friends complaining "so-and-so is TMI on the Twitter." And as much as I want to agree, I know I'm right there with them. But...who cares. If I'm unfortunate enough to not see you everyday, I'd like you to know that sometimes things are not all right and that sometimes things are amazing. It's better to know someone in person, through conversation, but most of us just don't have the time in the day anymore (sadly). I feel connected with half of the people I call "girlfriends" simply by their Tumblrs and their Twitters. I learn from them. And I hope they learn (somehow through someway) from me...whether it be through this blog or my dramatic accounts of love being lost on Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr. I thank God when people are TMI on Twitter or Tumblr because it helps me realize that I'm not alone...forever in any of my experiences. That there are people who are right there with me, physically distant but socially close. People begrudge the TMI-ing on social media outlets because they wish they were brave enough to admit themselves to an emotional connection via the internet.

Anyways, here are two parts I thoroughly enjoyed. If you have some time, leave this and read that.

"Which is why if there was ever a time to start a blog or a YouTube channel about your clothes, your apartment, the things that piss you off, the career you are pursuing, or what acne treatment you are using and how you are 27 and love Justin Beiber, that time is now. So many of us consider ourselves writers (and/or bloggers) because we have a need to tell our stories that goes beyond what can easily be assumed of us. We may not be snowflakes, but we are all very different. The one thing we certainly have in common is how much we enjoy learning about each other."

Abber writes on...

"As much as we might feel attacked for not being the ideal upwardly-mobile young person, or for not being what the majority of society considers physically or morally acceptable for our demographic, or for blogging about our personal lives to begin with, we must remember that with every confession and truth we share about what it is like to be us, we are doing something great...And for that, we should all be very proud."

Read and carry on...