I Was Ally Sheedy in 'The Breakfast Club'

Nancy @ Soliloquy recently wrote a post called What Makes a Post "Legitimately Good"?. Please read it, it's a 'legitimately good' post :)

It totally took me back to high school art class. I like to consider myself an artist. Drawing is my forte, but I'm also a decent painter, sculptor, etc. (Do you hear that? That's the sound of me tooting my own horn.)

I loved art class. I couldn't believe they were actually giving me grades for something that I loved to do! It was like getting paid to sleep or paid to eat.

I'd work really hard on something, and really enjoy what I was working on. But when I turned it in to be graded, my mark would always be 95%.

95%?? What the hell else could I have done for the other 5%? It sure wasn't showing some skin, because I had a suspicion that my teacher was gay.

I'd look over at my friend Clara's art, and of course she received 100% on everything. She deserved it. Her art always looked like a professional's. Mine didn't even compare, even though it was good. So why would my art be only 5% less than hers? Why even have grades on it at all?? Not to mention that my art teacher always smelled of alcohol when he walked past. Maybe he just wasn't seeing my assignment as clearly as he should??

That's all hogwash, isn't it?

I said this in Nancy's comment section, but I'd like to say it again here.

Posts are like art. Posts ARE art. Anything you can put creativity into is art. And art isn't good or bad, it just IS. It's the culmination of what someone puts into it, and everyone's different. And it's funny, because when I read certain people's posts, I feel like I get a glance into who they are as people. Which is so cool! My judgements might be wrong, but they're fun to make anyway (and they're always positive, don't worry ;) )

Some people like to post very informative, very factual posts about plants. I like to imagine their closets are organized by colour and texture, and that their can labels in the pantry all face outwards like in a grocery store.

Some people post a plant picture with a one-line quote. I like to imagine that they were the ones who loved writing those interpretive papers in high school English class.

Some people ask a question at the end of every post. I imagine what they were like as children, always asking Mum 'Why?'

Some people tie all their garden posts to sex and football. I imagine that they're crazy hooligans that have nothing better to do than plant a few seeds in between pints.(I could be talking about myself or Idiot Gardener here, take your pick!)

Some people limit the use of photos in their posts. I imagine them as very confident people. It's hard to write a post about gardening without using pictures, and still hold the reader's interest.

Like right now. I feel kind of insecure and worried that no one will have read my post to this point. I tend to lean on pictures and humour to keep reader's interest. And I don't really consciously TRY to do this, that's just my style. I like to have a picture to illustrate the weird ideas that come out of my head...

What do I do in real life when I'm telling a story? There are no pictures or Youtube videos to emphasize my plot!

I'm the type of person who has to do all the voices and accents when I tell a story. If I have to get up and act my story out, I do it. I like to do impressions. I will look as silly as possible and not care, if it's true to the story. My personal 'meaning of life' is to make others laugh. I may not always succeed, but when I do, it's better than any drug on the planet. That's why I've never done drugs. Laughing so hard that I cry is way better than heroin. The only way laughter will put you on the street is when you're rolling around trying to breathe between guffaws.

Telling a story is art. Whether the post is filled pictures, quotes, facts, silliness or sadness. Whether you took 3 days to write it, or wrote it in 5 minutes before having to rush off to work or to your kid's soccer game.

But tell my competetive side that! Tell my inner, high school art student that! When she gets only one Pick on a post that meant a lot to her, she feels like she got a 95% on it.

Human beings are weird, aren't they? :P

I don't know what the answer really should be in regards to Blotanical's 'Pick' system. I've always been a fence sitter. Able to argue both sides of a thing. I don't like the idea of "Rating" a post with stars, that's for sure. Then I'd REALLY feel like I was in art class or being picked for a team in gym class ( I was always picked first by the way, thank goodness for some small miracles). But I like Picks in that they get my posts noticed, when they might otherwise get lost in the flurry of flower ferocity.

Thanks to Nancy, for taking me back to high school for an hour of my day :) I'm 11 years removed now, so that's quite a feat! :D

Ok, I can't resist.