After a week of sorting through the paper-bomb that exploded all over my desk, and nursing my sore wrists from three straight nights of court reporting, I’m finally back from the dead.

When I originally (and over-confidently) stated: “Let’s get this party started,” I was thinking of something along the lines of “casual dinner party”.  You know, some cheap wine, hot dogs and baked beans – the ambiance of Barry Manilow, maybe some Abba.  Instead it turned out to be one of those parties where people are doing keg stands on the roof, shaving the house cat, barfing in the Jacuzzi, throwing m-80’s in the neighbor’s mailbox, and lighting the bushes on fire.

Thanks for all of the awesome feedback from the people that dropped by.  It was a better party than expected…

Post Traumatic Pressed Disorder

If you’re hung up on being Freshly Pressed take my advice:  prepare yourself.  It’s a double-edged sword.  It’s a great experience, but when the story-wranglers finally push the launch button on you, your words will be put out in front of a lot more people than you’re accustomed to being exposed to.  I wasn’t ready for it.  At times it almost feels like strangers are walking through your home, playing with your knickknacks.  Criticism is inevitable too.  Personally, I take it really hard.  Everyone’s a critic though, right?  Opinions are like assholes?  It’s a tiny little glimpse of stardom, and a reminder of why I never want to be famous.

You’ll ask a lot of questions both during and after the experience about yourself, your writing, and your message.  After some time off to process the whole thing, I realized a lot about me, about my writing, and about the messages being cranked out of this noisy machine.

The whole thing made me realize that what I do is bigger than me.  It’s not just about me, it’s about taking advantage of the opportunity that this platform gives us all; the ability to reach across the world and communicate a message – good or bad.

My experience has been about opening up, making sense of my life, and figuring out how I fit into the bigger scheme.  When I started, I didn’t have my mind set on becoming some fucking celebrity goofball, or even making a modest living at it.  Writing is important to me because it’s the only way I know how to communicate something without stumbling.  I could never voice any of this without writing it first.  It would come out wrong and the message would be lost.

This is all really important stuff for me and many others.  Whether you’re a recovering or struggling alcoholic, dealing with anxiety or depression, coping with the loss of someone in your life, or just want to make people laugh, we all want to be heard, understood, validated, and learn from others that have managed to dig their way out of the ground.

That’s why I value conversation.  There are so many meaningful messages out there looking for an ear.  It’s not just about blogging, it’s about communicating.  Sometimes it’s one simple phrase that can change the course of a life for the better or for the worse.  Never underestimate the power of intent.

On a Lighter Note…Wtf is this place?

You might be wondering what you stumbled on here.  It’s not what you think it is.  This whole thing is sort of like Self-Help.  Sort of.  Not really.  For the most part, My Right to Bitch is just one big metaphor that continues to unravel.  Oftentimes, I’m the one doing the unraveling…

Don’t take most of it at face value.  It’s positive when you sort through all of the slang and fuck’s.  I look at it like fighting for the arm rest on a plane.  It’s my space too.  There’s a lot of meaning beneath all of the *ha-ha* stuff, and I always encourage people to dig deep to find it.  But, feel free to take from it what you’d like and throw the rest in the trash.

Sometimes it’s introspective; me working through some internal conflict, or finding a way to dig myself out of another depressive funk.  Sometimes it’s about sharing a personal experience with hard lessons.  Sometimes it’s a fresh perspective about something, and sometimes it’s just for fun.

I try to keep things in perspective.  Words to live and die by:  ”if you’re not looking at the big picture, you’re losing at life.”  A lot of this is *big picture* stuff.  It’s not right or wrong, it’s just me writing from my viewpoint and sharing.  I have this weird thing about making up shit on the fly though, so if you ever stumble on a word or phrase you’re not familiar with, make sure you check the Official MRTB Dictionary.  It’s corny. I know.

It’s not really protected under copyright law either.  I just like the way that little “©” looks.  I guess if you wanted to rip it off you could probably get away with it.  But don’t do that.  That would be kind of a douche bag thing to do.

One last thing before you go…

Drop a link in the comment section of your best post.  Give it a header too.  It can be funny, gut-wrenching, or a brutally honest rant.  I don’t care what it is.  Just make sure it’s something authentically you, and is something that you want people to hear.  If the comment tray won’t allow you to post a hyperlink, try removing the hyperlink and paste the address.  Any problems, let me know.

–Happy Blogging    \M/

P.S.  I’m gonna be answering some burning Hypothetical Questions sometime this week.  Make sure you bring a question of your own to the *ahem* party.

[Credit]  ”Who are you people and where’s my horse.”  is an excerpt borrowed from George Carlin’s, “It’s Bad for Ya.” stand-up performance. (2008)  I’m not the owner.  Just a fan.  

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