Once upon a time, there was a place where anyone could go and talk about literally anything: themselves, their life, celebrities, television. A place they could say whatever they wanted because they knew nothing would happen. That place was tumblr.
Tumblr is a secret community website where you can post text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio, or video; and once upon a time, when it was one of the least-known social media sites, you could do any of these about anyone. Tumblr became a haven for people who were outcasts from reality - whether by choice or by chance. A place where television romances became the prologue of fan fiction; where aspiring artists and musicians could be heard; where victims of self-harm or abuse could confess their secrets and not worry about the people in their lives judging them.
And then MTV talked about tumblr and it exploded. Now it's a breeding ground for hipsters and hypocrites. Tumblr doesn't have any privacy anymore. I'm no longer the only person in my school who queues during the day and updates at night. People find blogs run by their friends and follow them, thinking that tumblr is just like Facebook or Twitter; hardly anyone understands that it began and thrived as a place of openness and privacy. The original users - pre-MTV exposure - have had to completely change their blogs and pay attention to what they post, so as to avoid something posted being brought up by someone during the day. Tumblr is no longer a private community where everyone cares about and understands each other; its become a world of hate messages and fake people gaining popularity by starting them.
Tumblr is like so many cultures - when they're invaded by someone else, they lose their original beauty and are forced to conform for survival.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
the (not so) secret world of tumblr
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Concussion Woes
I don't think I've been through a more bipolar time in my life. Having a concussion, I had to relax all the time and couldn't really do anything, which was a nice change; however, at the same time I knew I was falling behind and became increasingly stressed. It's been 2 months since I've been in school for a full day, taken a test, or written an essay. Taking 4 AP's definitely didn't help, considering the workload is already stressful without a concussion.
Teachers have been reacting differently to my situation: some understand, some don't as much. I've been warned about failing the class, not graduating, etc. This increased the stress I already had about falling behind - I hadn't even thought that teachers would consider something that was out of my control a cause for failure. I understand that I'm falling behind, but it isn't my choice to go home early, to not do homework, to sleep for 12-16 hours each day.
Now that I can go back and start catching up, I'm both anxious and excited for teachers' responses. I know some will be glad that I can start doing work again and get caught up, but I know others will give me all my work to be due at once, not even considering that I've also been missing 5 other classes.
I don't even know what chapter we're on in Statistics, or what labs we're doing in Physics; I've missed due dates for this blog and the discussions; Calculus I had no chance in before my concussion; Nutrition Concepts is a textbook (that I haven't opened in 2 months) to remember for 1 test; I have 6 or 7 (or 8) essays due for Lit; I haven't done any work for Gov, my only class based primarily on memorization.
Our culture's handling of concussions has changed significantly over the past 10-15 years, even the past 5 years. The baseline tests that every athlete must take is a prime example of our need for control over concussions. Though it's great that we've come to know so much about concussions over the past few years, this knowledge shouldn't only be kept among athletes and doctors, but should be shared with everyone. My boss, an ex-gymnast, didn't even understand why I haven't been able to spot. The severity of concussions and necessity of slow care and recovery should be common knowledge, not Snooki's baby's name or Mitt Romney's worth.