Anxiety Biscuits | Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Write a Blog.
Time 2021-11-20 08:24:03Web Name: Anxiety Biscuits | Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Write a Blog.
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keywords: description:Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Write a Blog. Skip to primary contentSkip to secondary contentGood evening. You didnt disappoint! In celebration of the continuation of the reign of Supreme Overlord Obama, and since youve all been so well behaved, Ive prepared a treat.
The treat is a picture of me.
It is not really a treat.
It is also not technically a picture of me.
Basically, despite winning best costume, I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, that my Halloween costume this year is deserving of international praise.
Here is what the kids call a Gross Portrait of Yourself, which is appropriate because I went as the Creature From the Black Lagoon, who is indeed gross.
In response to the inevitable questions; yes I did make it myself out of towels and fuzzy foam, and yes, I did say And I would have gotten away with it as well if it werent for you meddling kids. when I took it off.
Yours,
Old Man Witherbiscuits.
My follower Americans. Gaze upon my catchy title and despair.
I write today on behalf of the other six continents of the world, to have a chat about what you’re up to tomorrow.
Firstly, though, I don’t want this to be just about politics we’re more civil than that aren’t we? How are you? How’s your day been? What awful weather you’re having!1
Right, small talk over with, I urge you to at least consider the impact tomorrow’s election on us, the rest of the world. There’s a chance that with the storm raging outside and blowing uprooted campaign picket signs against your windows you tried to escape the election by taking to the internet and opting for a slice of Britain instead. Instead, you will be sorely disappointed, because you all vote on our collective behalf for the man who will become/stay the President of pretty much the Western World. So don’t blow it.
In order to represent my thoughts on the matter – which you are, as always, more than welcome to ignore, dismiss, sweep under the rug or print out and piss on as a gesture of badwill – allow me to tell you the story of my people.2 (It is not a very good story.)
The UK government is, at present, an impotent disappointment, or as it’s officially known, a Coalition Government, which was the outcome of two parties having to merge together to get a majority share of seats in Parliament. The Conservatives (right wing/the 1%) merged with the Liberal Democrats (neither as liberal nor as democratic as Labour) to oust the incumbents. The Conservatives don’t represent the majority of Britons and the government doesn’t even represent them.
You might have seen the pudgy over-privileged face of our current Prime Minister, a Mr. David Cameron. I did not vote for ‘Call me Dave ‘cause I’m just like you’ Cameron,3 but other people did, and that’s democracy. The whole country voted and instead we got a Parliament that nobody directly voted for. Progress!
However, I mention The Little Government That Nobody Wanted to illustrate a point; all Cameron had to do to get elected was to say ‘You know that guy? Well I’m not him.’ He did this by using the word ‘change’ quite a lot in his campaign. Your average voter won’t demand anything more from a politician, and thus change was effected.4
Anyway, the actual point: whatever your political leaning, I urge you not to be gullible.5 I understand your right wing news networks are depressingly effective at spreading what amounts to little more than the word ‘bullshit’ sung over and over again to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner.6 I am lucky to have a genuinely impartial broadcaster (the BBC) to provide me with my news, but in this day and age, a candidate’s public persona is by far their most important asset, and that’s controlled by the media in all its multifarious forms.
Fear of public disapproval guides far too many decisions to allow real progress in any direction, especially as it’s now easier than ever to have your voice heard. Elections are one of those rare occasions when everyone’s opinion is exactly as valuable as everyone else’s, regardless of what it’s based on or how well informed it is. And in theory, that’s marvelous.
In the last twenty years, pattern emerge in governments worldwide; most of the adventurous, genuinely revolutionary legislation happens at the end of the leader’s term of office, because they don’t have to save face in order to get re-elected. A new government’s main venture is usually just a redistribution of funding; big legislation won’t happen until there’s either a furore or a lull. It’s also worth noting (although perhaps this is less so in the States) that a different political party in power does not necessarily mean the entire cabinet changes hands. Most of the people who make decisions that will directly affect you – your Leslie Knope’s and your Ron Swanson’s – will keep their positions but have the priority of their jobs shuffled, and finances will follow accordingly.
If change is what you want, you’re (in principle) better off allowing the current government to carry out its full plan.
But then I would say that, because this:
The World Wants Obama to Win the US Election
I’m not obliquely trying to influence your vote, because I’m ultimately powerless, over here on my little island, typing my ignorable words, but please be aware that American Exceptionalism ends at your coastlines and you don’t want to look stupid in front of the United Nations. I imagine Mr. Romney will/would be devastated to learn that his UN diplomacy desk (complete with miniature flag!) is exactly the same size as everyone else’s and he’ll have to put his hand up to ask questions.7
***
I promise I won’t talk politics again, or at least that if I do, you won’t have to care because it won’t directly affect you, and that it will hopefully be funnier. I am really looking forward to yalls blogs as Election Day takes hold, whatever the outcome. Im genuinely excited to hear the experiences of actual Americans for the first time!
In less serious news, I went to see James Bond and he’s smashing.
1 The evil part of me is writing this whole post as an excuse to publish this abhorrently tasteless joke.
2 It’s interesting that I write this on November 5th, which, in the UK at least, is the commemorative day of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which some anarchists tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. A bloke called Guido ‘Guy’ Fawkes was found in the catacombs with the guilty match and 36 barrels of the stuff and was hung, drawn and quartered for his trouble. Us Brits set light to a straw man as a reminder that either what-we-now-call-terrorism will get you killed once and then burned again every year after, or that the government is accountable to us I’ve forgotten which.
You might recognise his distinctive face from it’s use as a mask in Alan Moores V for Vendetta, and more recently from the Occupy protests and the internet activists Anonymous. There’s been a slight shift in meaning to Guy’s face over the centuries, and it’s interesting to perhaps consider that all notoriety fades in time, and the meaning of a symbol is defined only by it’s popularity. I wonder which symbols of our current age will be slightly misappropriated in 400 years time?
3 If you would like to know more about UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s failure to properly achieve the one thing he was born and raised to do, please divert your attention to frighteningly cerebral stand-up Stewart Lee. Morrisey’s let himself go.
4 In a similar manner to Sandy’s raging along the US East Cost, David Cameron seized a marketing opportunity when floods hit the UK by popping on wellies and standing in a puddle and looking to the heavens as if asking ‘why?’ The answer was ‘The water cycle’ but he wasn’t looking for answers, he was looking for people to believe he was doing something about the floods whilst the incumbent PM did nothing. Neither man was, is or ever will be a Weather God, but this stunt apparently worked a treat. Let this be a lesson: on no account should Mitt Romney be aloud to win votes just because he owns wet weather gear.
6 Obama is not a Muslim, and is American. In fact – thisll annoy you – (and if you’re playing the race card in 2012 you deserve at least a little annoyance) two of my legally British friends are voting tomorrow, because they were born in Cincinnati, OH and Corpus Christi, TX and then emigrated. That’s all it takes, and Obama ticks that box.
6 As a rule, if the opposing argument would be equally effective if the word ‘AMERICA’ was dropped in at strategic points then it’s probably not worth listening to.
7 I don’t imagine he’d take well to climate change actually existing either. BOOM!
Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of year again where we gorge on sweets and/or alcohol and dress up as things that scare us get us laid, and we reaffirm our collective belief that statistically the scariest thing is a girl in a black leotard with whiskers drawn on her face calling herself a cat. Its sHalloween.
Earlier this year I wrote some deliberately bad fiction for a laugh and it seemed to go down OK, so Ive done it again because thats democracy. In the interest of public safety, I must advise you not to read this in the dark, partly because its spooktacular and partly because you will strain your eyes and we cant have that.
Part 1: The Beginning
It was a drab and drizzly Thursday afternoon, but the forecast or the evening wasnt looking much better. Our story begins with a bloke in a cloak striding purposefully towards your local library.
Upon arrival, the cloak bloke stood motionless in the foyer, rivulets of water dripping from the apex of his hood. The Librarian observed his hulking frame from her desk, silhouetted against the doorway, his shadow stretching across the greasy laminate flooring. After a few ominous seconds the man waved his arm in front of the faulty motion sensor and the automatic doors slithered open pathetically. The Visitor wriggled through the gap impatiently, composed himself and resumed his looming.
In the less-than-spooky gloom afforded by lacklustre strip lighting, The Visitor bristled with dark intent; he knew precisely what he was looking for. Nevertheless he didnt know where it was, so he had to ask at the help desk and consult the Dewey Decimal System which completely ruined his air of sinister mystique.
Im looking for the horror book section.
We dont go in the horror book section…
Why?
Because its shit. Have you seen what passes for horror these days?
The man chuckled, the chuckle became a snigger, the snigger became a guffaw. He leant back to unleash a roar of maniacal laughter but the Librarian shushed him so he stopped.1
He swept away, his cloak trailing like a bin bag in the wind, returning ten minutes later with a hefty tome.
Im afraid youll need a library card to check that book out.
From within the depths of the cloak came the pronounced exhalation of disgruntled lungs. Hed had just about enough of her attitude. Wordlessly, The Visitor opened up a portal to hell beneath the Librarians feet. He heard not her anguished screams because hed already left and put his iPod on.
Part 2: The Rest of The Story
It was now a dark and stormy night. The rain drenched down in an ominous way and the wind was similarly bad. It was also cold and smelt a bit and there was a creepy old cat out by the bins.
Anyway, The Visitor had taken the Occult Book back to his bedsit and had summoned the living dead for a laugh. There were loads of zombies. I mean really loads. Honestly, there were so many fucking zombies.
They killed The Visitor first, partly because he was there, partly because he was tasty and partly to eliminate the risk of any continuity errors later down the line. They ate the book too. If you really must raise the dead, dont think there wont be consequences.
From graveyards nationwide the living dead inexplicably found themselves able to move, sense things and tunnel through solid wood and six feet of impacted soil, which was no mean feat. Several zombies fell to pieces after coming into contact with air, but this was largely overlooked. Also; only people who had died recently got to come back it didnt work on decomposed people because that would just be silly and if theres one thing that zombies are famous for its for unwavering realism.
There were normal zombies, angry zombies, fast zombies, zoombies, zombies that can climb, zombies that cant climb, zombies that transfer zombie virus by bleeding on you, zombies that transfer zombie virus by breathing on you, zombies that transfer zombie virus by having sex with you and zombies that arent explicitly referred to as zombies and are instead called the infected or necromorphs or lurkers or roamers or night-crawlers or biters or bleeders or weepers or z-words or living impaired or deadheads or bleedy-bastards or bitey-face deady-dead nob-ends etc.2 There werent any vampires because vampires have been ruined.
The news networks did a broadcast thing where they said WATCH OUT: ZOMBIES ABOUT or some such and everyone in the world immediately went BATH SALTS LOL because that was the in joke of the day, but nobody actually laughed this time. (Well, one bloke actually laughed out loud but that just alerted the zombies to where he was and they got him.)
In the midst of all the fear, sense prevailed and many people barricaded themselves indoors through the use of walls, doors and locks. The zombies tried to get in through the windows but glass is difficult to smash at the best of times, let alone when hampered by decayed tendons and less than adequate hand-eye co-ordination,3 so the zombies just sort of smeared up against the glass like an eight year old or an excited dog and it actually looked quite funny. Oh how they all laughed! (The people not the zombies.)
However, despite very sound advice to stay indoors because zombies have lost the ability to use door handles from lack of dexterity, everyone who has seen a classic zombie film, or an its a zombie film with a modern (shit) twist, or read a classic novel that someone put zombies in for a laugh, or played a churned-out first person shooter video game, or spent any length of time on the internet4 thought they had what it takes to be a zombie troubleshooter. Ill spoil to for you now: they didnt. They died in droves.
Of course one side effect of a zombie epidemic was an increase in the amount of inexplicable unwarranted sexual tension. Love was in the air, alongside screams and flying limbs. Two particularly good-looking people locked eyes amidst the fray. He; tall, muscular and with a jawline you could hew rocks with, she; blonde, skimpy and irrepressibly bouncy in a way that sells cinema tickets. They hit it off immediately. I mean really immediately. So immediately did they hit it off, that theyd probably started hitting it off before theyd even met, just to save a bit of time, the filthy buggers.
As the cacophony of death and/or undeath reigned around them, they experienced a joint moment of contrived romanticism, and, recognising an opportunity when they saw one, got down to business.5 They died, not because the author thought they deserved to but because they stopped running away for a bit. The sex was at best moderate-to-fair because as well as humans, zombies are experts at killing both erections and the mood.
As the zombies claimed more ground, the surviving humans began to give up hope of ever being rescued, but then, conveniently, an emergency broadcast went out detailing a place of safety at a nearby army base. The survivors steeled themselves for the literal and figurative roads ahead. It would be a Last Stand, except theyd be moving, so it would be a Last Journey, which didnt sound like the most appealing of ventures. Someone had to leave a dying friend behind and it was a sad. His mate had to promise him everything would be OK but it wasnt OK because the zombies had got him.
Time passed, as did distance; thats physics. As the remaining humans approached the Army Base, a hush fell over the group. Did you hear that? said someone. Sounds like someone saying Did you here that chimed in some Smart Alec. It was then that the zombies descended. In a moment of high dramatic tension, one bloke made a noble self-sacrifice to allow the others to escape. It didnt work and he was killed needlessly because the walking dead dont care about your self-imposed narrative arcs.
Part 3: The End Bit
The early hours of the morning saw about a towns worth of people comparatively safe behind the walls of a heavily fortified army base, waiting for the dawn, which was a metaphor for rescue. Serf and Celebrity alike huddled together; people from all backgrounds and walks of life bonded as humanity took comfort in itself.
That said, there was a conspicuous lack of people of African descent. This is not because the author is racist, but because zombies are racist. Perhaps a brain with innate white liberal guilt doesnt taste very nice. It was an unfortunate phenomenon, but one thoroughly ingrained into horror fiction convention, and zombies are notorious sticklers for that sort of thing. Similarly, a quick glance over the perimeter wall showed predominantly previously-white zombies, as if crafted by the hand of a casting director who hadnt thought it through.
And as the last remnants of the human race mourned their humanity and contemplated their future, the director M. Night Shyamalan ventured forward, clearing his throat for attention. What if… he began, in a manner that was at once ominous and depressingly predictable, … we were the zombies all along, and that this plague was a message to make us repent out vacuous selfish ways?…
The director M. Night Shyamalan was randomly selected to be forcibly ejected from the camp as a peace offering, with the ceremonial raw meat hat of peace atop his oh-so-brainy head.
And as the director M. Night Shyamalan stood at the brow of the hill, awaiting the receipt of the peace offering, the sun came up, and he was cast in silhouette in a way not dissimilar to how that bloke in the cloak was at the start, which is prophetic imagery and is hence clever. A tranquility seemed to exhume itself from the Earth; as shafts of sunlight rent the boughs of trees and glinted in each dew drop on each blade of grass, fragrances of life and nature greeted the greedy nostrils of the living,6 and the dead conveniently crumbled to pieces.
And just like that, the word count was reached, and Paul McCartney turned up and played Hey Jude and everyone realised it was The End and they all went home for tea.
And then they woke up and it was all a dream.
And the zombies got them.
Happy Halloween!
1 Just to be clear, he was laughing ominously, because he was about to redefine horror for the SmartPhone generation, not laughing sardonically at the writing quality of the recent glut of bandwagon shiterature.
2 In colder climes, the zombies were referred to as Icy Dead People, but this excellent pun went unappreciated amidst all the chaos and that.
3Seriously, try sitting on your hand for five minutes and then try operating heavy machinery. It cant be done.
4 Theres a slight possibility that the internets zombie fascination has lead some stray viewers to this post. If so, this is for you: bacon, The Avengers, the sound of masturbation, cats with dreadful grammatical skills, two-punch observational comedy expressed in the Impact typeface which may or may not preclude the accompanying picture.
5 Sex, not accounts or anything.
6 With the exception of the director M. Night Shyamalan, who could only smell the stench of his ceremonial raw meat hat.
Raise the flag. Sound the trumpets. Light the beacons. Put the kettle on. I have returned.
My friends, I apologise for being away so long. Rather than making a start on all the grovelling and forgiveness-begging I am due, I have instead decided to jump straight back in with an actual post. In light of whats been keeping me stressful in absentia,1 I thought it might be interesting prudent to tell you all about what I actually do.
I am a trained and qualified Graphic Designer. Whenever I tell people this, I get a nod, and sometimes a ‘ah OK’, because whilst everybody has heard of the job title, nobody really knows what it means.
Put simply; it is visual communication. Its storytelling using pictures. If people realised how obvious this is we would not be able to charge the prices that we do. I am exceptionally lucky in that I am able to exercise my creative muscles on a daily basis and call it a career, and in many ways am really taking the piss by not being content with that and writing a humour blog and a sitcom on the side.
You will be pleased to know, however, that my career is yet another source of crippling insecurity on a daily basis. I have a cycle of worries regarding my job that go a little something like this:
***
I worry that as a visual person I am at heart tremendously superficial.
I indulge my other interests to become a fully-rounded, well-adjusted, multi-faceted, overly-adjectified person: write things, read things, see stand-up, buy records, attract hot babes, etc.2
I worry that I am neglecting my career.
I buy expensive design books and start another portfolio enhancing project like a poster series or animation.
I remember I am supposed to have some sort of social life.
I call up a friend, they ask what Ive been up to and I say nothing.
I take a long look at my life.
I worry I am worrying too much about everything.
I realise I’ve wasted too much time already worrying about worrying about worrying.
I go back to work to make up for lost time.
Repeat ad infinitum.
***
As well as this, design is a thankless job. It’s comparatively well-paying as a career, but this is a fair trade for the endless extra hours you will work (for no overtime) because the client wants it amended (changed entirely) and sent back before the end of the day. I’m sorry the display is exactly as dictated the agreed brief but you don’t like it anyway, I’ll just work another eight hours tonight (not an exaggeration) for your benefit for free. And yes I’m passive-aggressively hinting at YOU, property magnate in Manchester.
Because the nature of a good chunk of design is ephemeral (so slick you dont notice its there sometimes I don’t know why I bother) there isn’t a lot of respect for it as a usage of one’s time. My nan doesn’t think it’s a ‘real’ job, and thinks I’m an artist. This is inaccurate, and a little demeaning to both myself and any artists who might be reading this; artists express themselves, whilst designers express things on behalf of other people, and thus are at once creatively active and stifled, like a neutered dog in heat.
That said, I am uncomfortable calling myself a creative, even though its what I do all day every day. It sounds to me like one of those adjectives that is bestowed upon you by other people3, and is increasingly very difficult to quantify. Anyone with an Instagram app will call themselves a photographer, anyone who owns Photoshop will call themselves a designer and anyone whos been on Cracked.com and read something about fonts will shout Comic Sans! LOL and call themselves a typographer.
Its a shame that these once-respected avenues of expression are being eroded by trivialisation. Typography, as a subject is quite fascinating; theres so much consideration in making content readable and inflected with the right feel, and theres some genuinely interesting things to be learnt.
Youve got to draw a line somewhere and it might as well be between your dog and your third daughter
And whilst we’re on the subject, can we all get over the Comic Sans bashing? It was funny at one point but now it’s just sad. It’s been kidnapped by that odd group of people who mercilessly hate something and pretend it’s taste, like they did when Lynn Truss brought out ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’.
I dont really have a problem with Bieber, although his music isnt my thing hes very responsible and well-adjusted for someone at his level of fame. What I DO have a problem with is hype. If youre a Belieber and youre offended by this message, please consider that any resentment either of us may feel is entirely your fault. So there.
I got into graphic design because, like many of you here, I wanted to tell stories, and one day I hope to get out of it, for the same reason. I love the work – obviously – it’s exhilarating, but it’s a far from easy life, and there’s a reason why I have this other creative outlet here. If you should ever find yourself (and if you want it, I hope you do) in a situation where your income is a direct reflection of the frequency and quality of your ideas, I think you’ll see what I mean.
Allow me to sign off as the ungrateful prick I am clearly becoming. I’m off to have my cake, eat it, then take a chunk out of the hand that feeds. I reckon humble pie will be on the menu too.
Rant over. Bon appetit.
1 Good name for a bad song, that.
2 One of these is a deliberate lie, just to see if you’re paying attention. Answers on a postcard.
3 To illustrate my problem with these sort of words, Ill use it in a sentence; Oh no, I couldnt possibly get a job and contribute to society, I am a creative.
There are two things in this world that I cant stand: arrogance and pretension.
By the way, welcome back to my awesome blog thats all about me and and is my superb creative outlet for all my important, interesting problems.
I am here today to apologise for my absence. The Day Job demanded that I give it my undivided attention for six weeks or so, and I obeyed. I logged out of my WordPress account because yall are too interesting, and hence distracting.1
Anyway, I write to you today in humbleness. This is a problem because Ive actually spent the last six weeks working on something rather special and brilliant and Id like to tell you all about it.
Now, Ive done some comparatively awesome things in my short career. Many of them would be unappreciated outside of the industry, a few of them (TV work mainly) are limited to being impressive in this country, but the one so impressive and intense Ive had to stop blogging for is for the BBC.
Before you get excited, I was doing visual work for the radio arm of the BBC. My next project will be a nationwide ad campaign for chocolate teapots.2
That said, the work (still not finished, by the way) is currently being very well received and one finished component is circulating the Beebs social networking outlets. I made the BBCs Official Youtube Channel. I feel that this is legitimately quite cool.3
This is as much as I can show. This shelved cactus is such a minor feature that it didnt even get paid an appearance fee for its trouble.
***
Now, I cant abide bragging, but if there was ever a time to get into it, that time is now; however, I cant really talk about it in any further detail without giving my identity away. My secrecy is something I feel is important to this blog, as I would probably share much less if I thought someone could trace my tender side back to the real me.
What this means instead, is that whilst I want to tell the world that Ive done something Im actually proud of, I cant provide details, and so am limited to saying I am awesome, which makes my skin crawl. Part of me wants to numb it by instead suggesting that I am quite good at something, but newcomers to this here blog would still see that as arrogance, as they would not have the benefit of context.
What this work has enabled me to do, aside from enhance my portfolio, pay the bills, and make in-roads towards a career-move to television, is to finally blog about perhaps my biggest overarching anxiety the fear of being seen as a pompous, self-important prick. It took something awesome for me to be able to say I am awesome, but I only think Im alright. So dont hate me.
I find myself going out of my way to appear humble, and to appeal to peoples better nature, perhaps because I have always been a beta male. I know full well the extent of my talents, and am well aware that I have many faults and failings and have much to learn.4 I cant look at any of my work without seeing faults, for example. Perfectionism is a somewhat dirty word,5 but high standards for oneself are a double-edged sword. I would like to say that Im my own worst enemy, but I imagine that by saying that I would tempt fate into providing me with a arch-nemesis. Actually, Id love an arch-nemesis. Im my own worst enemy.
What I hope you understand, is that I dont intend to let this success change me. and for all of my achievements I am, in actuality, vehemently uncool. I am but one wisp of a man struggling against the winds of time, and cosmically speaking, I am next to nothing. I am flattered that you all think my thoughts are worth reading, and I that you feedback to me with comments is currently both a cause for delight and burning shame.
***
Fortunately for my schedule/sanity, I never promised a post a week or anything like that, but the thought of not posting once per month is unacceptable to me. I have, however, procrastinated even in this simple act, and am noticeably posting on the last possible day in September, to keep a promise I made as recently as the start of this paragraph. Im a fool to myself.
I hope to be blogging regularly again by mid-October. I will keep this promise because guilt is my best motivator. Theres a raft of material I need to take forward and give structure to, which Im particularly excited by and hopefully will be lauded to the high heavens as self-indulgence of the highest order good. I believe this is whats known as a teaser.
My apologies once again for leaving you in this chasmic lurch. I will respond to any and all comments the moment this work is signed off.
My thanks to the few new folks whove followed recently, Im so sorry for being neglectful, especially as many of you are WordPress heavyweights. What on Earth must you think of me?6 I will read up on blogs old and new as soon as possible.
Please bear with me, Ill see you soon.
1 Thats right, I referred to you all as yall. Evidently interacting with the Americas has its side-effects.
2 The first project I did at University that earned me industry attention genuinely involved selling ice to eskimos. One day I hope to design something sensible.
3 In the interest of full disclosure, the video has four dislikes, which means that legitimate coolness is either not for everyone, or that my work is neither legitimate nor cool, which would be a colossal waste of my time. I hate Youtubers.
4 Whilst Im not petulant/stupid/a fourteen-year-old enough to self-diagnose myself from Wikipedia, theres a psychological phenomenon I may be somewhat privy to called The Impostor Syndrome which feeds self-doubt into the assumption that youre actually a fraud, and that your inevitable unmasking is only moments away. This is a tortuously unpleasant way to live your life, and yet I appear to have described it in a manner similar to an episode of Scooby-Doo, which if anything just reveals that this writer/humorist schtick is similarly hokum.
5 Not as dirty as boobies, though.
6 Probably a stream of profanities according to taste, followed – somewhat ironically – by the word unfollowed!
Hello all. I am super-busy with work at the minute, and am likely to remain so for a while, so busy that I am unable to respond to comments from up to four posts back. (Not so busy as to not write a post, eh Mr. Busybiscuits?)
In the meantime, I have prepared this; the post I did about Facebook was a moderately popular one, so heres another highlight from my personal social archive. It concerns the time I met and did some work for arguably popular British RB sensation Lemar. It was quite sensational. Hes a sensation. Sensation. Yeah.
If you dont know who Lemar is, good. The ironic lack of celebrity will make it funnier.
If you look at the bottom, you will notice Comedy Terence showing up two days late with the wrong end of the stick, devoid of grammar, laughing at his own joke, and spelling the key word wrong. As per usual. That man is a stand-up, ladies and gentleman. I realise I havent written very much about him, so this as per usual schtick is largely ephemeral, but you get the gist.
Anyway, I hope you appreciate this lazy bit of filler candid sneak peak into what minor celebrities get up to, with specific reference to urination. Enjoy, and Ill get back to you all hopefully this week.
Ive just realised that instead of calling these quickies Quickies I could have called them Crumbs, which would have been a humorous allusion to the Biscuit part of my over-considered pun-based blog title, as well as an accurate metaphor for these minimal joke doses and a cheeky nod to the heritage of my particular brand of Brit wit.
I have also realised that by voicing this thought I cant out it into practice, because then I would have a post called Crumbs #7 Crumbs! and that would make me look like a blithering imbecile.
I think I will write and publish a book called Actual Proper Literature, so that people reading in public can silently admonish those with hack fad books simply by sitting next to them.
Alternatively, for much less effort, I could sell IM WITH STUPID t-shirts.
I have recently been forced on a walk down memory lane, taken an unsolicited journey of self discovery, and suffered a deeply personal history enema. That last metaphor is one of mine. I wonder if it’ll catch on?
If you’re blissfully unaware, the social networking giant Facebook has forced all its peons into a regimented new system. Some people are born with Timeline, some people achieve Timeline, and some people have Timeline foisted upon them. I am of the latter subset, and we’re all quite annoyed about it. We’re the upset subset.
Those for whom Social Networking is a fun, active pastime will already have jumped at the chance to have a big splash picture accompanying their head-in-a-square, but for the rest of us (the Resistant, the Hesitant and the Uninterested) Facebook Timeline is now the best option out of a choice of one. For someone who is depicted to be the face at the forefront of the future,1 Zuckerberg seems to be obsessed with the past specifically that time a few months ago before Faceberg went public and everyone could see exactly how financially ramshackle it is.2
Zuckerbook’s newest bright ideaTM charts your history on the site, as well as extending deep into the past to your birth, or if your parents are a particular type of Facebucker, your conception. It’s intent was presumably to provide users with a personal history book, celebrating their life’s achievements and zeniths and witty statuses and offering a nostalgic stream of highlights: your very own Greatest Hits record.
What it actually is is a perfect time-capsule of your lowest lows and most public failures.
I’m on Facebook, and I can just about stand it. I’ve avoided many of the archetypal Social Lepers that plague the site.3 I have my own uses for the network; my favourite thing about social networking is that it allows me to add a numeric value to my popularity and measure it accordingly.4
Now, however, I am confronted with all my past misdeeds, evidence of arseholery and endless, increasingly demoralizing photographs of my own nauseating face. According to the Grand Exulted Overlord Zuckerberg and all his little wizards, I had until August the 8th to systematically delete all that I’m ashamed of, which is everything.5
Through extensive research into the last five years, I have discovered that I am an astronomical prick.6
To be honest, I suspected this already, but I’ve learned that it’s true for for an entirely different set of reasons than previously thought. I’ve had to sit down and ask myself some very serious questions:
Why is past-me such a prat?When did I stop being such a prat?Will future-me look back at this in five years time and think that present-me is a prat? (Definitely.)Is there anything I can do to quell the righteous self-hatred of future-me in advance?Does voicing these thoughts make me look as mental as I think it does?Is future-me a delusional mental prat too?***
Anyway, you didn’t come here to read my witterings you came here for salacious secrets and uncomfortable truths.7 Without further ado; may I present what I believe is my first proper blog-list:
Uncomfortable Truths and Lessons Learnt About Myself due to Obligatory Facebook TimelineI joined Facebook to play a pirate game with my friend Paul. That game has escalated into a hideous social networking beast that I am unable to slay. I am not a pirate and neither is he, so on top of that, it was futile.Apparently, a relationship, however farcical, is a more important life event than meeting all but two of my best friends, living with said best friends, going to university, winning an award for my design work and meeting four of my heroes. A relationship is on par with being born.I was at one point deemed worthy of a relationship.I can now calculate precisely how long said relationships lasted for, and judge myself accordingly.My last girlfriend has managed to delete our existence as a Facebook-Official couple long before I had timeline forced on me. This is annoying because I wanted to do it.Alcohol does horrible things to me. (Refer to previous point.)I only learned to spell/communicate without resorting to slang in 2008, or maybe I was bring ironic. Irony does not age well, and I look like a moron.I twice did those bullrubbish cryptic statuses that dont mean anything. Fortunately no one cared.I cared about my old band for much longer than was necessary or welcome.The flyers that I designed for bands five years ago are so depressingly untalented that I deserve to be disemboweled, or at least sacked.McDonalds warrants a status update.It snows occasionally, and I recorded it for posterity. Nobody else ever does this so it’s a good job I did.I have only been funny since April 2010. Thanks to FB, my first joke told to the public is preserved for posterity. Unfortunately, it is topical, so it is no longer funny.8Here it is. It concerns the run-up to the last British general election. Gordon Brown was the Prime Minister Incumbent and The Mirror is a particularly unethical tabloid rag.In 2010, I thought this was funny:I still think thats funny. Im bringing it back.9In February 2011 I went to an art exhibition so shit it became a life event.Best Friend Dan and I had an impromptu hat making competition in honour of the Royal Wedding in April 2011. Mine was three feet tall and had a paper Will and Kate and a banner saying Eee! Its a Right Royal Wedding Celebration Hat on it and a tiny crown on a stick as its centrepiece. It was a hat so awesome it had its own hat. Dans was a plastic sandwich carton with some penlids in it stuck to his head with tape. I do not regret this at all.In late 2010 I spent four consecutive nights chronicling the adventures of the homeless people who camped in the band stand in the park over the road from my flat. They would do a lot of drugs and sing Lady Gaga and Bohemian Rhapsody til 3am. One of them shat in anothers sleeping bag.I have dreadful posture.I have dreadful haircuts.I have dreadful fashion sense.I have dreadful taste in everything.I am pathetic and have achieved nothing.
Thanks a lot, Zuckerballs.
1 Because Justin Timberlake said so, and as we all know, The Social Network was 100% accurate.
2 Can you smell that satire? It smells good doesn’t it. Want to come back to my place and take a sideways look at the week’s news?
3 Here’s a checklist: the Excitable Superfan, the Activist, the Evangelist, da GramMMartick CRimmiNul, the Over-Sharer, the Promoter, The Self-Fetishist, The Passive-Aggressive Problem Child, the Comedian LOL, the Fundamentally Unstable Relationship, the 24-Hour Party Person, the Chest-Exhibitor, the Twat, etc. Please comment and add your own!
4 ‘If the numbers go up, you’re having more fun!’ Calvin off of Calvin Hobbes.
5 I could leave, but I don’t hate Facebook nearly half as much as I do Twitter, and anyway, how else would I show all my nemeses and ex-girlfriends that I’M DOING FINE.
6 Not literally an astronomical prick would be hideous. It probably is a constellation though
7 Unless the opposite is true, in which case you’re about to be sorely disappointed.
8 This is another sample of satire, however, it is two years old. Satire does not age well. It still smells, but now it smells like a stale trump. Or Donald, as he’s known to his friends. HELLO! We’re back in the game!
9 Im also bringing back the phrase bringing it back.
Eep.
I have been Freshly Pressed. Its lovely. Hello to any and all new readers!
Even your blog stats are capable of giving you a middle finger salute.
Its an honour and a privilege to be included amongst the pantheon of actually-good writers out there, even if the success of my contribution was mainly due to being at the right place at the right time in a good mood.
I shant let this achievement go to my head ego can be a horrible beast however, I think its fair to say now that I am definitely The Best. The view from the upper echelons is spectacular. I can see my house from up here, which makes me realise that anyone can see my house from up here, which makes me want to move.
On Monday at stupid-o-clock-in-the-morning, I received an email from a lovely lady at WordPress HQ telling me how much she/they liked the post Id penned about the Olympics, and that more people should see it. This was a very nice thing for her to do. She even gave me a days head start to purge the grammatical errors, spruce up the necessary links and put out drinks and canapés and assorted nibbly bits for the influx of guests.
As well as being quite flattering, this alerted me to the thought Id not previously entertained about the WordPresidents. Theyre reading everything you write, and judging you accordingly. Whilst thats legitimately scary, the flip side is that its someones job to read everything you write, poor thing, which means you have an obligation to make it interesting for them. Lets all raise our collective game.
To my new followers, hello! Thank you for following! You are more than welcome, but I shall leave your jackets by the door for your inevitable swift exit when you realise that Im not actually very interesting. Youre my favourites. Henceforth you shall be known as Team A.
And to my old followers, nay, to my friends. Youre my favourites as well. You can be called The A Team.
Anyway, thanks to everyone. Theres a post about the agony of social networking going up in a bit, just as soon as Ive waded through all your notifications, comments and blogs to return the favours. Youre all most welcome.
Welcome to Anxiety Biscuits, a catalogue of my numerous, humorous insecurities. I hope you enjoy your stay. Freshly Pressed Latest Posts Crumbs #8 Trick orTreat A Foreigner Weighs In On An Election That Either Is or Isn’t Any of HisBusiness Horror-fic Horror Fiction The Day Job Here W-Ego Again Lifestyles of the Rich andFamous Crumbs #7 Crumbs! (Consider itdone!) Crumbs #6 Judging a Book by itsCover The Social Nitwit The First Post Post FreshlyPressed My Bloggy ChumsLuxs Love Letters Are DyingJanes WonderwimpCarly Beths CloudWhat a Silly GirlThe Very Single GirlLaces Life of CardsBeccas 25 To FlyIdiot-PrufsThe Illustrious Madame WeeblesThe Prestigious Carrie RubinThe Right Honourable Speaker 7The Distinguished Dotty HeadbangerWhat list is complete without Le Clown? Anxiety Biscuits Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Follow Following Anxiety Biscuits Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now. Anxiety Biscuits Customize Follow Following Sign up Log in Report this content View site in Reader Manage subscriptions Collapse this bar Loading Comments...TAGS:How Learned Or Anxiety Biscuits to Write Blog
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