shameless self-promotion

I don't subscribe to the whole Myspace/Facebook culture. I made the decision when Myspace originated that I would never create one, and I take immense pride in the fact that I haven't caved. I didn't realize then that these "networking" sites would one day become so widespread that exchanging links to each others' pages would become more socially acceptable than exchanging phone numbers. What began as a cult has evolved into the norm, and I'm still waiting for the trend to die out.

A lot of people find my aversion to Myspace and Facebook off-putting. What-ev. I really don't mind that you spend so much time shooting and editing photos of yourselves in bathrooms, perfecting your angles, making pouty faces. I participate in this self-absorbed ritual, too. I wish I didn't, but I do. My name is Joanna and I take Myspace photos of myself. I just wish that people would stop deluding themselves and admit why they really created these pages - to judge and be judged.

We all want validation. Some people need to be told that they're beautiful, and they've figured out that by posting photos of themselves - in just the right lighting, or with just the right body parts cropped, or in just the right lingerie - someone is bound to take notice. Some people need to know that their ex-boyfriend's-new-girlfriend is far less attractive/successful/interesting than they are. And some people just want to make sure that somebody has gained more weight than they have since high school. For these reasons, Myspace and Facebook make sense. Just not enough sense for me to jump on the bandwagon. I already have a blog; what more do you want from me?

Anyway, my Myspace/Facebook rant does actually have a point. It just takes me a very long time to get to said point because I abuse any freedom that I'm allowed.

http://beatbybeatwftv.com

What's that, you ask? It's "Beat by Beat"! So, WTF is "Beat by Beat"? Don't worry. It's not porn. Well, not really. "Beat by Beat" is a student-produced reality web series competition featuring 15 screenwriters (yay, me!) who are divided into 4 teams to create a pilot episode for an original series. Every other week, a new episode will be added to the site, chronicling our journey. If you're not confused, I applaud you. Basically, no one knows what the screenwriting process entails, and this is our way of showing the world how fun and cute and quirky and hilarious and obnoxious and demented and twisted and pathetic and brilliant we really are.

All of us lil' screenwriters are whoring that site out to everyone we know. And those with Myspaces/Facebooks (i.e. everyone but me) have been able to reach a hell of a lot more people than I have by word of mouth alone. I initially thought that I was at a disadvantage because of my lack of technology-based networking capabilities, but then I thought, hey, my blog is just as good a place to whore out my work as any Myspace or Facebook. So, ha. I get to have my integrity cake and eat it, too.

commencement

I have arrived. I am officially welcoming myself to the glamorous and elusive world of blogging because, let's be honest, if I don't welcome myself, who will? Seriously, when people start these things, assuming they don't have 5,422 friends who already identify themselves as "bloggers," how do they know that someone will actually take the time to read? I guess you can badger your friends and family into reading (my current plan of action), but even then, it's a gamble. I'm sure a lot of people who "blog" (ugh, I still feel pretentious using that word as a verb, hence the quotes) claim to do so merely as a venting mechanism and if other people happen to care, it's just an additional pat on the back. I call bullshit. I cannot possibly imagine publishing the stories of my life and displaying them in a public forum for my own personal satisfaction.

Before "blogging" became a part of my vernacular, I "live-journaled." Unfortunately, my Live Journal is still in existence, floating around somewhere on the Internet, though I haven't touched it since 2003. Anyway, somehow, though I can't remember how (damn all those drugs!), people read it. And kept coming back to read new entries. And COMMENTED. Because I consider myself much more interesting and somewhat better at writing since the days of Live Journal, hopefully people will read this thing. I've built it, they're supposed to come now, right? Isn't that how it works? We shall see...