So I’m all stuck at work today. And outside couldn’t be more beautiful. I know this is true, because I saw it at lunchtime while eating pudding in my coworkers car. That isn’t a weird thing…
So how can you deal with this cruel peek at the beautiful world a then return to your bleak little cubicle? You can handle it the Lauren Way! I just sit in my cubicle and make things cuter than they actually appear!
For example: Your plain old boring stapler? Try to make it yellow and then coordinate everything you can to it!
This is my stapler… my nails match it now, and so does my post-its. Someday it will look like the sun is coming from my cubicle, true story!
And doodles… well, just make sure they make something cuter than it actually needs to be:
This is how I get through tough times… I draw regular items as even cuter then they actually appear.
Oh, and Indulge in your silliness. You may not think it’s the best thing, career wise…and it may not get you as far as someone with a total stick up their butt and a jacket with straight up lapels… BUT, you won’t get bogged down in the junkiness of a regular work day, either. And sometimes the carpet sample guy will bring you a big throw rug just because you make work fun (that is a true story!)
Can you expect anyone else to be giggly and happy for you?
And soon enough it will be 5pm and you can go home and dance until you pass out. Oh darn, I think I just gave away my plans. Also I should study and draw more cute things. #ALLMYDREAMSAREWEIRD
I’m in my cubicle right now. I am missing the days when I had time to type really dumb things on the internet and make a doodle to go with them. I have been so busy with no signs of a respite on my work horizons, that I may never get that kind of time again.
I’m still drawing, but I have barely been logging anything. I have a sick cat, and I’m a little tired of my work load. But today I realized, I might as well enjoy my day and week because… everyone is getting along at work. And everyone seems to be a little more kind this week than usual (we are currently missing our office grump). We even looked at Ryan Gosling memes this morning. And also on silver lining mode, I have stuff printed to study for my eternally ongoing ARE’s and seriously, I got to eat the world’s most delicious fishy burrito today.
Basically, I could high five a million Angels right now.
This doodle has nothing to do with anything except for sheer toast enthusiasm:
Today I was thinking about how I make a really fun game out of my short stature. My shortness is no surprise to people who know me in person. But I feel like I have to explain that on the site, because I write taller.
Well, since I am 5′ tall I try to make kids feel really excited about growing up by congratulating them when they reach my height. This usually happens between 9-12, sometimes I get worried about certain kids… But it always seems to work out for them…
Now onto my silly brain’s illustrated thoughts:
This is 254% truer than anything ever.
I congratulate everyone for being taller than me, unless you are not… then short people power!
One of my favorite songs in all of life is “Sittin’ By the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding.
I say this because although it’s not a catchy dance song, or crafted with recorders and office supplies, it still brings a smile to my face. I used to sing it like crazy when I was a child because… Well, I was really weird. I have since grown up and I’ve done the regular things people do, I grew my hair out longer than that standard bob all little girls had, I have tried to watch Twilight, I have eaten a load of pizza…
But I don’t spend my time on the dock of the bay anymore “wasting time”…
I don’t fit into my office. This is not a new secret. Like, I don’t fit in so bad that it’s nearly comical. It’s almost like I’m a mystical being stuck in a land of protocol and unyeilding emails. Actually that is almost exactly what it’s like, it’s hard to be a Lauren in a 9-5 kind of world.
And the best part of all of it… is that my boss hasn’t the slightest idea. And the worst part is… I think he’s such a nice boss, that I kind of never want him to know how hard it is to work with some of the other people in our tiny office space.
I’ve been tinking about it a lot lately. Have you ever thought that maybe Tinkerbell was really just tired of being treated poorly by the lost boys? And maybe she was tired of always being put in cages and treated like a weird sparkly decoration? I do. She was totally over it because she know she can do more than that.
Now several times last year I thought of quitting my job, without any back up plan. And not for reasons people usually do… No one ever has a great boss, and bad coworkers. No one has ever said that! And no one ever says when they are in a bad work environment that they love the work they create. Which… I do. I like the clients I deal with. I love the idea of something I draw being built and occupied by people who are learning, and working and changing the world with their existences and thoughts and dreams. Right now at this moment, that is what architecture means to me.
Things I don’t like about work is being harassed by coworkers, being asked to quit to make certain people feel better about themselves (several times, actually) and feeling totally unappreciated for all the actual effort I put into creating a product that we are proud to put our names on.
I have actually tried to think through these issues a lot in the last few days. How can you get past these kinds of work problems?
The first one… well I’ve tried a few things. Including ignoring, trying to talk it through, and finally giving up. And then I stumbled upon these little words from every cool chick’s homegirl, Tina Fey:
“So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.” -Tina Fey, Bossypants
I have taken these words to heart, and my days have felt so much lighter and brighter than they used to. I can do my work really well, and I will be in charge of a firm someday. And maybe I’m also better about this type of situation due to the fact I may (or may not) have concealed and color coordinated weapons on me pretty much at all times.
Basically this is me getting ready for work. Except I’m more partial to flats. Image Courtesy of: Photobucket & the Weinstein Company
And secondly, I’m not going to disappear to ease other people consciences. You are an adult, I am an adult, we make our own decisions. And I’m sticking around to get stuff done, and you can’t be rid of me so easily. Also you have no right to banish a good fairy, unless your name is on the business, which it is not.
No one ever to told Glinda to get the Heck out of Oz. She was just doing her thing and being sparkly. And that is how I want to be. Especially with that hat! Image Courtesy of: Photobucket & Warner Bros.
And well the other one…. Hmm, there isn’t much I can do about this. All bosses everywhere do this in some shape of form… I mean if you keep pulling off impossible deadlines for them, they think that you can do so much more. Sometimes to fulfill my boss’s requests I find myself alone in the office in the dark of the night clicking and clacking away at the computer just to meet the deadline. And then after it’s all printed, he will say, no lets go back to the other thing we were at a few days ago. And then I will smile and know I tried. This actually happens a lot, and it used to make me really mad. But now I think he requests crazy things because he believes I can make magic. So now instead of getting upset when my work is shelved… when I complete the impossible tasks he asks of me, I just feel a little bit magical.
And well all of the analogies in this post came from my truly desperate grasps at happiness. Online Quizzes. Yes, when I feel a little blue I take internet quizzes that tell me things like I should paint my walls blue… or eat a margherita pizza. So this time when I was feeling a little down I took an internet quiz about Fairy tales and even the internet agreed:
You Are the Fairy! You are charming, cheerful, and a little bit magical. You make other people’s lives better. You are a bit eccentric at times, but you truly care about people in your own way. You are hyper and restless. It drives you crazy to sit still, and you are usually the first to leave any event. You are unpredictable and flighty. No one can guess what you’ll be up to next … or where you’ll be! Image Courtesy of: Blogthings
And then I applied that knowledge to my actual existence, and found that it’s not really too far off. Eccentric, cheerful, probably coated in glitter. Maybe being a fairy isn’t so bad, as long as someone thinks you’re magical.
♥Lauren
p.s. Sorry Amber who reads this blog, but you know how it is ;)
I have not been posting lately and it’s because I don’t know what I should be posting. How can one little happy Lauren feel so feisty during this season. All I have wanted to do is just enjoy my family and a season where we cover everything in lights and sparkles.
But things keep happening:
-Like having to be around people who don’t like me… in a party setting.
-Being yelled at by a woman in the Disney story while picking up a present for my nieces. (I accidentally walked into the cashier line while I was looking at stuffed animals, she chastised me for my carelessness, and I thanked her for her holiday gratitude.) (Also, sorry Tony and Season… I already bought them more toys.)
-Having to witness grown people throwing fits about the “quality” of presents they are receiving. I don’t care if it’s not a designer… it is nice because someone thought of you when they found it… and not everyone can afford Cartier.
Thie following doodle was inspired by the mariachi my family has on Christmas eve at our family party. And I am dedicating a message to all you holiday kerfluffers:
It’s just so hard to like it, when it’s being a grinch!!!!
So even thought Santa is on vacation until next year…I’m just saying you should just be nice… or I’m going to shake a maraca in your face… And remember no one wants a maraca in their face before the new year!
I finished my sketchbook 176 pages front and back. A whole year of doodles. An entire year of my existence chronicled in my jazzy doodling style.
I am going to be partying and enjoying the fact that I actually finished something… instead of giving up at 90%. I’m feeling good about this and maybe I can actually finish all my other projects….
Oh wait… I didn’t finish them because I was doodling:
Thank you little sketchbook. You were amazing. And I highly suggest to anyone out there who likes to doodle to keep a book. It becomes part diary, part planner, and 100% thrilling to look over. Like for example July was an awful month for me. But November was really rad.
And your book can tell you so much about what was happening in your life! It was there when I found out what Shepard’s pie is. When Enrique Iglesias grabbed my butt. That time I really wanted pancakes, and the time I decided to live in a blanket for as long as possible. That night when my life became a romantic comedy. It was there for the finale of Mad Men. It was there when I couldn’t stop laughing, it was there when all I could do was cry. It was also there apparently when I was studying for tests, passing notes to my friends, and when I had to draw a rooster in love. It was an amazing doodle year.
Actually this year has kind of been amazing. And it’s all in my book. I know this post was a little braggy. But It’s an accomplishment for me. New book ahoy! Also Yonadab is right my book is full of secrets but it is a doodle cryptix.
This week I have started a craze in the office that is Michael Jackson themed.
I cannot for some reason get over the song “You wanna be Startin’ Something” Mostly because firstly it may be the catchiest thing ever recorded. Secondly it has the best insult in it of all time:
“You’re a vegetable”
It can be used in any conversation.
Ex.
Friend: So. Politically speaking….
You: You’re a vegetable!
—————
Boss: Can you file these papers?
You: You’re a vegetable
—————
Mailman: How are you today?
You: You’re a vegetable
—————
You: You’re a vegetable
Pee Wee Herman: I know you are. But what am I?
—————
Thank you Michael Jackson for making my life more fun than ever before:
And I didn’t color it because it doesn’t matter if it’s black or white!
This time of year is a really fabulous time. You get to see the world be a little cheerier.
But it is also a time of plentiful get together’s, parties, meet and greets… and the ever exclusive couples parties (that I attend in my own special unicorn fashion). These parties make me excited to get to see my friends, and pray that they are wearing a Christmas sweater that is enough to make Bill Cosby enviable. I always do something at these events (like fall into a planter, forget everyone’s name) and this helps me remember that I am an awkward goof.
Now being a goof is really great at certain times…. I can lighten up a family shindig. I can can tell an entertaining tale, I can have my friends in stitches (of laughter, I’m not violent). But not every party is just friends, and some parties are mandatory and full of people who rather don’t like you.
This is when I want to climb into my bedazzled cocoon, because no matter what I do these people will talk down to me. The will say cruel and unnecessary comments about my style, lifestyle, weight, and anything that strikes them at the moment. This is the very thing I dread each year about the holiday season.
But this year is different. This year, I really don’t care.
I would be a heart shaped peg if I was a peg… this is an amazing truth!
And the reason I don’t care is that…. I like me. And if you feel the same way about the holiday season… remember there is only ONE you for a reason (unless you are a multiple) and you being around is an awesome thing. So what if the people you have to spend time with don’t think you are that fantastic… somewhere out there other people do. I know I sound like a Hallmark Card, but if you are reading this you are an AWESOME person. Simply, because you are. So go around this holiday season being yourself around not so nice coworkers, or weird uncles, or mean mothers in line to buy toys for their children. So what if they don’t like you… Just like being yourself! I’m so awkward!
Be wonderful to everyone, especially if they don’t deserve it.
I’m so awkward!
Viciously Sweet 