Saturday, January 23, 2010

Same Time Next Year

When I was a freshman in college, I subscribed to Cosmopolitan. It made sense. I was, after all, a small town girl who had traveled almost forty-five minutes to attend a state university in a rural area. If that doesn't scream 'cosmopolitan' I guess I don't know what does. Yep, I was a Cosmo Girl, all right. And not just because I slept with a lot of foreign exchange students. That's not really true. I didn't sleep with a lot of foreign exchange students till my first year of grad school - a year my roommate and I fondly referred to as 'Around the World in Eighty Lays'. That might not really be true, either. But it might. I don't know. There was a lot of tequila involved in my first year of grad school. But I've digressed.

Cosmopolitan. Ahem.

So I enjoyed my subscription for a year - learning how to please a man and new sex positions and recipes for seduction and stuff - stuff that would come in handy when I went to grad school. When my subscription came to an end, I renewed it. I figured there was probably a lot more to learn. I figured wrong. I found that the second year was very much just a rehash of the first. Same resolutions, same Valentine's Day secrets, same getting into bikini shape for summer... same, same same.

Tom had a subscription to Men's Health when I met him. That's right. When I met him, he was well on his way to rock hard abs and was privy to many secret ways to please a woman in the bedroom. Men's Health. Plus he had that helpful monthly reminder to 'Eat This, Not That' .

As I grew up and my interests shifted, I subscribed to many more publications and experienced very much the same phenomenon. Fun for a year - good ideas for a year - slight variations on the same ideas for the next year. I will still subscribe to a magazine when one comes along that looks interesting for whatever stage of my life I happen to be in, but I rarely - no - never extend them longer than a year.

I chalked it up to lazy journalism.

Until I passed the year mark on serious blogging. I find myself not only returning to the same seasonal themes, but sometimes even coming up with the same phrases I used a year ago and feeling like they're original thoughts until I read through the archives. Archives sounds stupid and a little pretentious. Past issues?

It's hard to avoid. Hard like Taylor Lautner's abs. Not that I've looked.

I promise that I shall endeavor to come up with fresh thoughts and ideas. When that fails, I might introduce a new feature: 'Drink This, Not That' - a monthly feature on which spirits will get you where you want to go and how fast. Perhaps throw in an article on how drinking till you puke can contribute to rock hard abs. Helpful phrases for seducing exchange students. I don't know. Stuff like that.

29 comments:

AmericanTribal said...

Ooooh, this post was AWESOME! My problem is the exact opposite. My blog started as a "trying to conceive" blog... turned into a cupcake debauchery blog... and now it is a weight loss blog. Oh, the confusion! :P

Cassie said...

Sounds good :o) I am so scattered most of the time when I post I'm not sure if repeat myself or not. Now I am too freaked out to go look :o)

Unknown said...

Sometimes I wonder if I am repeating myself or am I plagerizing another blog? Oh well, my thoughts seem original to me!

Mandy said...

Aren't we all writing "past issues" anyway? I mean, we all think we write something original and unique but chances are that someone, somewhere has written something similar. Depressing, yes. But true, probably.

Still, when we write in the present day we may have a different audience now. Or we may need reminder stories with a slightly different spin/twist on them, even if the topic has already been covered.

I guess what I'm saying is this: Your blog is one subscription that I plan to renew year after year. :-) And frankly I can't wait to hear about that foreign exchange story! :-P

Chris Mancini said...

Remember, even James Cameron doesn't come up with original stories, just flashier presentations.

Mike said...

It is tough sometimes not to repeat yourself, but also, there are some good things buried in the first 6 months of my blog that most people will never read, so maybe a little rehash is not a bad thing. Playboy does it every month!:)

JennyMac said...

Chris Mancini' comment is pricless. Love it.

JennyMac said...

wait..did I just type pricless...

sorry. PRICELESS.

Unknown said...

lmbo @ around the world in 80 lays that was hilarious.. As a SAHM many of my topics tend to be family oriented. But I hear ya about the same thing every year just a different color lol.

Charlene said...

I once said something similar in one of my blogging communities and someone gave me a great reminder that mostly likely we have many more readers now who didn't read the blog a year ago. And even still, we've grown... our perspective may be have changed, new experiences etc. So I wouldn't worry TOO much about it!

BONNIE K said...

I can relate. Sometimes I'll think oh- I can write a post on such-and-such topic. But there's this nagging at the back of my brain, telling me I've done it before. And I look thru the archives and yeah, I have done it before.

Sandy said...

Are there really any original thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I'll still read even if it's a repeat!!

Bibi @ Bibi's Culinary Journey said...

I wanted to blog my journey from misery to happiness, but most of the time it's about my kids and my life. I try to keep focused, but I ramble a lot

Traci said...

I love it! Around the World in Eighty Lays, huh? Sounds like there is a book in there someplace. And what you don't remember, make it up. It worked for James Frey.
:-)

Carma Sez said...

pretentious or not - I feel important now that I have 'archives' ;-)

Mama-Face said...

This is totally deep. Today when I posted I swear I've posted the same thing 100 times. oops. I have.

You do have the ability to look at given situations from different angles. Keep it coming. As a people, it is what we have in common that draws us together.

Tracie said...

'Around the world in 80 lays' - snort. I can relate to a tequilla filled year or two of college. I think.

I've not even been at this for a year and I pretty much do the same old schtick over and over again. Although I haven't delved into "How To Drive A Man Wild In Bed" or "What He's Really Thinking". Yet.

Becky said...

really...? You have had this problem? I find it frustrating that I have new readers and they don't know whats agoing on cause they never read the post on "such and such" and I don't want to repeat myself. That's the main problem I think, is I don't want to repeat myself , but I feel the need to...ugh!

I don't know, things are always changing around here, so it is always something new!

Liz Mays said...

There's good stuff in the past so drag it out and don't even apologize for it! I love whatever you write!

MaryRC said...

I've yet to feel rehashed by you.. My mother subscribed to Cosmo, I read too much at an all too early age whilst on the comode... Think Ill pick up a copy and rehash..

MaryRC said...

i also forgot to say that I always wonder if my blog is worth it. there are a gazillion makeup blogs out there. perhaps i am pretentious because I refuse to be one of them, although im not far off the mark. i also refuse to do makeup on myself in a vlog, like everyone else.

Badass Geek said...

That kid's abs are like a magnet for women's eyes, I swear to God. My wife even has a picture of them on her phone.

Macey said...

Lovely post...as usual. Then I got to the part about Taylor's abs and I completely lost track of everything else you were talking about. :)

Rosa said...

And tequila! Lots and lots of tequila.
And thank you!!! Had totally forgotten the 'Around the World' phrase but I really appreciate the reminder. LOL. Very funny!

Pam said...

I noticed the same thing about magazines years ago when I subscribed to parenting magazines. I've since let all my subscriptions run out. February will be my one year blogaversary, so I'll be sure to try to avoid repeating myself.

Allison said...

This post is awesome and proof that I don't care what you talk about, it's all good!

Still cracking up over the "Around the World in 80 Lays", so funny.

It's crazy how quickly I went from Cosmo to Glamour to Ladies' Home Journal. I'm such an old fogey now!

Gibby said...

I feel the same way about my blog. Blah, blah, blah. I look back on my year and I think...OMG, I'm repeating myself and frankly, it's all f*cking boring. I love your magazine subscription analogy. It's so right on.

Swine said...

A little late to this party, but hopefully not too late. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you blog-wise. Same dang thing, nuther day. And once my fractured vodka bone heals, I'll be right there with you on the drink this, drink that. That was the name of it, right? I'd hate to exclude any booze.