Book Smarts and the Single Girl

Hi internet,

I promised to update because well there is always a lot of silliness in my life.

And I’m going to try to be super positive.

So bear with me.

And no, not literally a bear.

I am going to tell you a story of how I became a 27 year-old who seems really smart but also at the same time appears to know nothing.

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So when I was a kid, all I liked to do is read and make art. And then I grew up and I discovered  like to read and make art.

I even chose to go to an all girls Catholic High School, because it had a better curriculum than the school near my house. I mean that is something teenage girls would pick… right? I know now that no teenage girl would probably pick to go to an all girls Catholic School, over a school littered with boys who wear their pants incorrectly. But I was a nerd who worked at a library, and this seemed like a sound decision to me. So basically, I was a teenager who read a lot and learned very little about boys.

I went to prom with a super wonderful gay friend, who danced with me to “Love Shack” by the B-52s. We giggled about music, and how he was an artist. And  other than that, I was basically a teenage shut-in. Preparing for being a gown up, who had a job… and could freely draw chickens or whatever I wanted to draw whenever I wanted to draw. And basically I was going to live life in an exciting city like “Caroline in the City”  and everything was just going to work out. I mean sitcoms are practically real… right? And well, at the time I was more concerned with learning and making really great lasting relationships with my bffs. Also, I was really into seeing punk rock bands, and buying all my accessories at Claires. Basically, from the stories people tell about me from being a teenager I was basically the Ferris Bueller of the middle class Catholic School world, making my own parties, and being asked to go on zany adventures from boys who would check out books from the library.

And I went to a college to get a degree, because I liked my brain smarts. I never really thought about relationships because well I was just a decent looking short girl… who was incredibly awkward with people in general, let alone cute guys. And so it went on like that. I would occasionally have a boyfriend, and then I wouldn’t…. and it never really meant much to me either way.

But now that I am a girl in my late 20s and kind of have it mostly together work wise. I realize maybe I should try to find someone who likes to go to museums and laugh at old NBC comedies like I do. (This is where I want to put in my TRL like shout out to “Wings” and “Scrubs”.)  And also I should probably go out more, because although my pets are great company they never seem to comprehend British humor. But now when I do strike into the world I find it hard to go out with anyone who isn’t more interested in my boobs, and or bragging that they are with someone who has boobs… I really just am not getting any of this. These guys are supposed to have evolved from this, I mean they are in their late 20s and early 30s. In fact, even just trying to share a story about working in a library before my office job constantly brings up comments about “sexy librarians” or mentioning where I went to highs school results in “do you still have the school uniform”?

And like, ew. Even though every girl likes to feel a little spicy hot sometimes. Please don’t make yourself sound like you are a weird pervert when i first meet you. I mean, I don’t ask if you still have the McDonald’s uniform. And I have never asked if fries could come with that shake…

So finally. Eww.

And the moral of the story is, I am so spectacularly bad at dating that I think I could make a sitcom about it. And my last few dates have literally made me think that becoming a shut-in or the world’s first architect/nun would be a thrilling way to spend the rest of my days.

I’m just going to return to my books now where no one will be rude or creepy…. to me. Also Parks & Recreation isn’t going to watch itself….

♥Lauren

I’m a little marshmallow

Image Courtesy of Inspired by Charm

Last night I realized it’s been so long since I have posted any doodle in this internetty world.

I guess it’s because I’ve been all out of sorts. I found most things in the last month turned all topsy-turvy. And for someone who’s life has been very boring and orderly for half a year…. I at first was beyond overwhelmed. Babies, health, my parents becoming utterly crazy people, my friends coming unhinged… and me becoming more responsible… SHUDDER.

And for most of the month I found myself worried about things I can’t control. Because there is nothing I can do for anybody. Not one single thing, except be my silly self.

Earlier today I heard my coworkers discussing the faces they put out to the world. They are different around friends, colleagues, their family. They have all these masks that they wear to fill in these different roles they create. I looked at them and didn’t understand, they responded by saying… but not you. “With Lauren… what you see is what you get.”

And I think I like that.

I’m a little too much. But sometimes you just need that little extra. And I think you should always be yourself… no matter where you are.

The only thing getting me through the last few days has been being myself and being okay with that. Also, I must add I do know some really great people. And when I think about them I can’t even help but smile… because they make me feel very wonderful. They make me feel like a gushy-gooey marshmallow… in the best way possible!

And that clearly segue’s into my gushy marshmallow doodle:

 

And that’s all I have to say. Be happy, love yourself, love everyone. And I hope that there is at least one thing today that makes your feel all gushy- gooey like a marshmallow.

♥Lauren

The Circus

Hi Everyone,

It’s Tuesday. My project is late, and of course the printer isn’t working.

There is are only 2 things I can do

1. Play Musical Printers and Try to get this drawing printed for my boss in the next 20 minutes.

2. Join the Circus

The silliest answer is the one I would most happily choose. Then people could discuss it when I don’t show up tomorrow. I can just imagine it….

Shocked Coworker #1: “Where is Lauren?”
Shocked Coworker #2: “She isn’t in? Did you wait longer for her to show up… she’s always late.”
Observant Coworker: “She left all her drawings, and the metal scale next to a strawberry stained note saying she’s left for the circus”
A hush spreads over the room.
Shocked Coworker #1: “She left food in the fridge. It’s mine.”
 

And then much like the conclusion to the tv series LOST, I will never be discussed again in the valleys of San Gabriel.

I will leave behind a hummingbird feeder, and assorted doodles of cats. I will take everything else… For my chic new gypsy wagon.

I would miss my big girl bed, and of course wi-fi. But I can always loiter at some circus adjacent starbucks after I master my new circus-y skill.

What would that skill be??? Well, I don’t really know. I don’t think I would trust me as a tightrope walker, or a juggler of swords. I could probably sit on an elephant like a champion. I am good at waving and climbing… so Elephant sitter on-er it is!

Let’s go with that thought… Lauren the Elephant Sitter. I would sell literally dozens of tickets.

Maybe I should stay with Architecture a little while longer.

Circus dreams

Happy Tuesday everyone. I hope your printers are working with gusto.

♥Lauren

Things that I am not super into (or into whatsoever)

The anticipation for this is incredible… isn’t it?

This past week I have been presented with things that I am so not into. I mean like legitimately made me laugh with how bad they truly are. And it made me think about things I don’t understand to the fact that I would say that I don’t like them, and would totally give them a thumbs down if I were on like a reality that gives thumbs down as an answer. I would be the nice judge, with incredible hair, who would have to give the thumbs down sometimes. And here are some of the following things my thumb would be pointing at the floor about:

Michael Bolton’s song “Can I touch you there?”

I am not one of those people who bashes people because they are not “cool.” I enjoy many “uncool” things, unironically even. And Michael Bolton may I say… has a fantastic voice, he has a voice that can sing almost anything. But this song… this song may be one of the worst things that has happened to the world. What happens when you add pan flutes, and a wraspy middle age man dressed like Model-T creator Henry Ford on vacation in the Amazon asking if he can touch you? Besides a highly specific nightmare for a traveling enthusiast after the terrifying combination of far too much world music, and falling asleep reading an inflight magazine. Well you get this song, and its corresponding video. And just in case you are curious… this song is powerful. It can ruin any situation. Do you want to ruin a romantic mood? You want someone to leave alone? Do you want your dentist to stop cleaning your teeth mid appointment to change the music station to something less creepy. Just play this song.

Strange Compliments

I don’t like when guys that you are not friends with give you strange and highly specific “compliments.” Like that your pants elongate your legs. Especially when this person should not be noticing your legs or anything about you for any reason. The thought of certain people staring at my clothes long enough to realize my legs look elongated in them makes me want to gag… big time. And much to their surprise does not whip me into a verbal frenzy. So they failed in many areas that there were trying to not fail in, in one statement.

I realized I don’t want to feel elongated.

The constant news reporting on anything Jennifer Anniston does

I am going to admit here that I read trashy supermarket magazines, albeit 2 months later when my sister is throwing them out and gives them to me in an over-sized plastic target bag. And when I tear into the meaty tales of Kardashian blood letting, and Hugh Jackman walking his dog… I am so sad when I see these ridiculous articles spun out of 1 really bad photo of Jennifer Aniston. Now, as someone who is not photogenic, photographers could have a field day with me if I were famous. (Lauren eats fish tacos to mask her sadness, would be a great story and would literally sell millions of magazines.) But the last photo I saw of her was her crying in her really expensive car after visiting the construction of her house, really took the cake. The article was 3 pages about what a horrible person/bridezilla she was and that she’s ruining Justin Theroux’s life (you know the cowboy from Romy & Michele) with her constant nagging and fretting… And all I could think of is in the world of architecture I have never see anybody react well when you tell them their project is delayed or that it’s overbudget. Or if it happens to be both, you may actually get them yelling at you. So I mean what was her reaction supposed to be? It was actually nice to me that she went to cry about it in her car, instead of throwing a fit and going off on the architect or the construction foreman. Was she supposed to hug them like she was just called to be the next contestant on the “price is right” after news of delays and budget problems? And does anybody know people who handle over budget and lateness like they just won a fabulous pricing game? If so I would like to be their designer, because when I finish on time and on budget I’m sure this person would be so happy they’d pay for me to have my own custom house, and for my masters, and for at least two pairs of unnecessary earrings.

I have a feeling if I were a super hero… I would make leaving Jennifer Aniston alone as one of my priorities. Can she not do anything without a million people knowing?

This thing I keep Hearing about Thigh Gaps

I am going to start as a preface that everyone should be proud of their bodies. And if you are naturally skinny… go for you! Wear really artsy clothes and be joyous. But, personally I am not skinny and I try to keep “gaping” as the least likely description of me. There is nothing on me I want to say is a “gap”. I do not want to bridge it, I do not want to fall into it, I do not want celebrities to sing about the great deals on vests they could get at it. Maybe I’m comfortable with my thighs that I aptly call “Wonder Woman thighs.” And find this whole you should have a large brooding gap between your legs. And actually I need you to focus more on this gap thing, apply that to any body part and I’m sure you can understand how I feel. How about this statement “Dang did you see Denise’s gaping front teeth”? “I’m so envious of Sylvia’s arm to body gap… she can literally hold a small chicken betwixt those two things.” “Edna’s legs are so far apart from each-other she could smuggle a Christmas ham during a marathon.” Let’s just say no to this.  And actually if your body is like this, I’m not going to say anything else about it, except please don’t take pictures of your gap with the sunset betwixt it. Actually no one should do that… ever.

The continent bridging thigh gap distance is the most coveted of all gaps.

I hope that was just enough joyous yet curmudgeonly complaints for the day. I hope you go out to the world and investigate some of the things you are just not getting either…

♥Lauren

By Design

The following doodle is just something I have to remind myself of every once in a while. Is this too early in the week for this kind of post?

It’s not a bummer or anything like that, it’s just an honest notion.

I remind myself of this when I am  with difficult people. I am just not everyone’s brand. I am a little too much in a lot of fields… and even a little too short for most people’s likings.

I think this is what makes the people who do actually like you so special.

And that is what this post is really about. The people who think you are amazing, are amazing people. And we should tell them more often. Because they deserve it.

I hope everyone has an wonderful week.  I’m going to work on posting more!

♥Lauren

Penguins & Thons… Oh my.

I have been having a blast this week!

The last two days have been fantastic…

I mean really honestly I can say that when certain peeps aren’t around… even work feels like a vacation. Which is great because I haven’t taken a vacation day since my family came into town in May. And I needed a stress free day or two.

I had to stop myself from bursting out into “La Isla Bonita” right now. I am just that thrilled. I feel like a penguin on Holiday… which is the best segue I could think to get to this little dude:

I feel like a summer penguin.

And also I know the trouble that I got into the last time I started photoshopping a coworker… but maybe this time it will end up differently. And with that I present to you my newest coworker, Thon in a Mara-thon:

This is my new favorite thing to photoshop. And in his hand is obviously a bud vase… never a solitary glass..

Happy Friday!

♥Lauren

Happy Zelda-versary!

Today I am very excited to share the majesty and sheer joy that it is Zelda Fitzgerald’s birthday!If your counting she would be 113 years old today.

And with all the F. Scott Fitzgerald hubub that happened earlier this year I think Zelda is due some time to be adored…

Last year when I decided to take up things that excite me even though I was feeling old, I found Zelda. A free wheeling, funky socialite… who was more brilliant and scathingly delicious than our current vapid Kardashians socialites . I immersed myself in knowledge of this lady who is the same age as my Great Grandmother, but lived such a different life than someone who lived on a farm most of her days. The more I read, the more Zelda and I had in common, drinking a little too much, partying just a little too long, painting without being so serious, and being a flapper (haven’t I told you guys I’m a world famous flapper???) . I found myself completely stunned by a lady who at 27 decided to become a professional ballerina.

So I studied her, read her work, and can thusly say… Zelda Fitzgerald was amazing.

And she would like to be told that in all forms of art, and since I cannot write as well as others… I certainly can doodle:

Happy birthday Zelda Fitzgerald!

She was also known to have said the following:

“She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring.”

I use that saying a lot in my life… in my head… when I know I should be doing something better with my time.

Anyways, I hope everyone is having one of those days that they wish they could remember forever. While I try to figure out how to spend my time…

♥Lauren

Friday is Wonderous!

Okay, so I never get the chance to post on here.

I’m like living the life of a doodle-less spinster… and I’m not into it.

So I have been trying to get into writing again. And I can’t even think about what I want to share… Does anyone want to know about me spilling all my ice cream all over me and my coworkers car like a small child?  How about falling so quickly out of like with someone that my head feels like its spinning round like a record? Or that when I was threatening one of my coworkers during lunch I started laughing so hard I snorted in front of 3 of the jerkiest people on this planet?

But that is no excuse. I love making posts, that is why I’ve been doing it so long. It just seems like so many other things are pre-occupying my time…

Like British television shows, trying to figure out why my hair refuses to look like I combed it, and the mystery of what ants are doing in the restroom at work…

And then there is all the things I would rather be doing. For example, in Sunny So-Cal there is this thing called Comic-Con happening. And I as you know am a fantastic nerd, and this place has Bruce Timm, Marvel, DC, Sherlock, Community and basically so many comic’s and artist’s I could die on cloud nine while strolling through it’s aisles. Fun Fact: I am notoriously good at strolling. Also, a bonus to that is I can stroll ever so happily because I have a horrid sense of smell and do not mind the smell of comic collectors, who are not always big fans of hygiene.

But I am not there right now.

I am at work.

I mean, I know I’m getting paid. But I’m thinking of the thrill of dressing up like a super hero for no reason, and eating pizza near the ocean, while collecting so many buttons about obscure comics and British television that I could coat my bed spread in them seems so alluring. I am allured by nerdiness.

So I made this doodle today on my computer while waiting for my prints to come. (I am not sorry for that printing pun.)

I’m just going to sit back, smile… and day dream about being dressed like Wonder Woman.

Have a super great weekend everybody. Dress like a superhero if you need to… I think I will tomorrow.

♥Lauren

P to the S: If you went to Comic-Con tell me about it… so I can live vicariously through you :)

Let it shine

I don’t really have a lot to write. But I have been missing posting things on this site like crazy.

Here is some word art I made while listening to the radio.

It was playing “Read My Mind” from the Killers and I wrote down the lyric “I don’t shine, if you don’t shine.”

It felt right. I mean so much of my happiness comes from leaving happiness other places, and hopefully sharing some joy along.

So I made it into a doodle.

That I hope makes you smile… just a little bit :)

I’m working on some other doodles too, that are less musical in nature. I hope I get to finish one soon.

And here’s the song that goes with it.

Happy Thursday!

♥Lauren