why?
Why do I keep staying up way too late, refreshing bloglines until my eyes bleed (or at least hurt and lose the ability to focus)?
Why do I turn my alarm off when I know perfectly well I’m not really about to get up?
Why do I still check my email and bloglines yet again when I finally do manage to wake up properly after I should already be in lab?
Why am I still not in a hurry to get out of the house?
Why does tidying my desk seem so much more urgent than preparing the talk I’m meant to give on Tuesday?
Why am I so reluctant to say anything to my therapist that might indicate that I’m not completely unaware of my feelings and motivations?
Why have I suddenly developed a whole new range of verbal tics? I know I’m impressionable enough to readily adopt the speech patterns of people (and fictional characters) around me and my writing has long been littered with annoyingly pointless qualifying phrases, but where did “all” come from (as in “I was all excited”)? And the sarcastic “excellent” in response to things that are clearly not? And why am I having trouble making myself include the personal pronouns (if that’s what they’re called; grammar was out of fashion when I was at school), as if I’m trying to dissociate myself from what I’m saying and avoid addressing anyone directly in case they think it presumptuous of me to be talking to them (eg “sorry, forgot about that”, “want to do something?”)?
posted by Lucy @ 12:33 PM
9
comments
9 Comments:
"all" is a valley girl thing (southern california, mid 80s?). Think Moon Unit Zappa, if you know who she is. "Excellent" sarcastically rings of a surger dude. Perhaps Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? I've not seen the movie, only the promos (also from the 80s, and I think california).
So, it seems to me you are developing an identity as a teenager in the 80s who, like, lives in california and who likes to surf 'n' shop.
Excellent.
I know, like, totally, dude! But why? I don't know anybody who talks like that. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk like that, except as a joke. At least I don't actually say "like" that much (I do more now than when I first arrived in the US, though).
Welcome to Americanization, Lucy. I hope you enjoy your, like, stay, dude.
but even the americans I know don't talk like that. I'd be less perplexed if I'd started saying "y'all" thanks to my southern housemates, but of course I only pick up the really irritating americanisms.
When I read this post, I was all like, whoa, procrastination central. You know?
for sure, Phantom, you are, like, totally right, you know?
I should, like, really, stop, like, writing like this, you know? Otherwise I'm going to end up, like, you know, talking like this for real and that would, like, totally suck, you know?
I'm just glad I'm in such good company .... especially with the procrastinating and alarm-avoiding.
Hey, I think that "all" is mine. I was wondering where it had gone. I'll trade you a "dude" (that has only gotten *worse* since I left California) for it.
um, you know, you can have your "all" back without offering anything in exchange. At least you've lived in California; I don't think I could pull off "dude" with my accent.
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