A New Trip, A New Blog

This summer I'll be heading to New York City! Woohoo!

For updates including planning as well as crazy exploits from the trip, follow my new blog: Maya in New York.

Expect lots of trip updates there (I even promise pictures!), as well as a more frequent update of this bad boy. I'm sure skipping around a crazy city is going to spawn lots of genius thoughts.

On Owning Cool Things

First, the circumstances in which these thoughts came about: my 6 year old Toshiba laptop mostly runs like a charm. Sure, the right clicker didn't work, and it occasionally froze, but overall all was good. Then I got a virus. This one. Ugh! I was locked out of my computer, frustrated and out of patience. I'd been thinking for a while about getting a new laptop for law school, and decided it was finally time to pick up a Mac - specifically, the MacBook Air (13 in., 256 GB, oh yeah).

Woohoo!

Note: I also recently bought a Google Nexus 4, so I've got some sweet new tech stacking up.

My boyfriend made a comment this morning (the morning after I bought computer): "It's so cool that you have this stuff," in reference to my new phone and new computer.

I paused to think for a second, then responded with a comment about how that sort of bothered me. I felt like his comment had unintentionally defined me by the things I own. That bothers me for a few reasons.

This may or may not be me. Just saying.

1. In the case of being a Mac or Google person - I think those labels are dumb. I wouldn't have bought a MacBook Air if I didn't believe it were the best product for my needs. I don't like buying things for their label, be it a purse or a computer. I did the research, I feel confident in my purchase regardless of the store I bought it from (Slight tangent - you can actually get student discounts in person at the Apple Store, not just online. I'm glad I found that out!).

2. I have joked about "going to the dark side," or being one of those Mac hipsters. Now that I own a Mac, I realize how much I hate that concept. I hereby vow to not judge books by their covers in this regard, and try to not make assumptions about people just because they use a certain brand of technology. I know I definitely do not identify with the hipster counter-culture stereotype that comes with storing your MacBook Air in your Etsy-sold bag, while walking around in skinny jeans and sporting round, thick-rimmed glasses. Because those are the things I do, and I think it's awesome.

3. I've said in the past I thought it was cool that we have certain items for the gym in our garage, like rubber plates, and two barbells. What I really meant was I think it's cool that my boyfriend made the decision to invest his money in those things, thus improving my experience in a place I spend a decent amount of time. Anyone could have spent the same amount of money to get those items, but he actually did it.

Thesis: Regardless of what you actually purchase, it's just money that is now tied up in an item. It's not the item that makes you cool - it's the decision to get it. 

Get Ready for Random

For a long time, I've been under the impression that a blog should have some consistent theme. If you have good enough ideas to post online for others to view, it's likely you will appeal to a certain audience. For example, someone blogging about fashion is likely to gain the following of a specific demographic. That following is likely different than the average person reading a weightlifting blog.

For a while, I have written with a certain audience in mind: my peers. Average 20-something-year-olds who are in to sports and could probably be considered average "young professionals." With every post, I have pictured a person like this reading it, and tried to use a certain style to cater to this imaginary reader. I consider what would make them smile, gasp in shock, etc. This is a skill worth practicing in any public writing, and one I have found carried over well to when I was writing at Skyd.

But I digress - my real point is I no longer care about who is reading this. How I define my audience has shifted, though it's possible the actual readers who fall within that definition stay the same. From now on, my target audience is those who care about what I think. 

I have so many random thoughts that pop in my head on a daily basis. So many of those would make good blog posts, but I haven't really considered this blog an outlet for most of those thoughts. The other day I decided that was dumb. I have good thoughts that I believe are worth sharing, and so from now on, I intend to do so. Some posts may be provocative, controversial or downright boring to you. If you have a problem with that, too bad, it's my blog.

Get ready for random, loyal readers. That's about all you can expect.