Introducing the Late Show with Adri

After much contemplation, I have decided my blog needs a theme. I have spent the last few weeks curiouly exploring others' blogspots and I have seen quite the share of cutesy templates, idealized titles, and an overall committment to conveying a single theme. Needless to say, I feel left out. The feeling reminds me of something out of grade school where all of the other kids have jumped onto to some new playground trend, and I am the naive little kid who is meanwhile content with playing on the monkey bars. I realize I have reached a point in my life where I want to be a part of the larger group (at least to a small extent) instead of always trying to be against it.

Playground trend of my day...anyone remember POGS?

For those who aren't familiar with the antics of Adri, I am a weird person. I have an insane addiction for onions and garlic (I know...poor Justin!). I wear flip flops in the snow (I might add that this winter I chopped wood in flip flops in the snow). I refuse to take medications unless I am on my deathbed. And lastly, I am cheap--I refuse to buy anything new that I can get for 1/10 of the price at the thrift store...clothes, cooking pans, and art that teeters between cool retro and grandma's attic junk (come to think of it, one of my favorite pastimes as a teenager was "dumpster diving" with Mom through the ritzy neighborhoods of Mission Parkway in KCMO...ahh memories...). Anyways, like I was saying, I am a weird person.




So why would I feel the need to conform to convention and have a theme for my blog? The answer is simple. Growing older has made me more insecure about my individuality--which looking back I think I the reason I strived for individualism in my past was more out of lack of self confidence than because of it. Don't get me wrong, this won't be another Adriane self-pity session. But I do realize that I was very shy growing up (although my family will probably attest to me being otherwise) and I think I learned to channel that shyness into self differentiation. For example, when I was about 16 I went to a New Year's dance in Mesa with Brooke, Lindsey, and Sheena (I can't remember if Michelle and Shannon were there too?). While most 16 year olds were probably wearing the latest trends, I chose to wear a black body suit, jeans, high heels, and bright red lava lava with noticeable frays on the edges. Or, another example--when I was 18 I went through a stage of wearing sun dresses with Wellington boots (you know the kind you wear for irrigation?!). All I can say is, "What was I thinking?!!" Anyways, I hoped I have proved my point that I was trying to make like 500 words ago--which is I am anti-convention.

But after growing up, getting married, and taking on crazy new responsibilities, I have learned that not all conventional things are bad. Indeed, I remember Bucky telling me that after I got married, became a house mouse, and had a few kids (especially girls), I would like the color pink. At the time she told me this I was about 16 and I thought she was crazy, because from the age of about 13, I have really detested pink. But guess what, I have to say I actually like pink now--at least the dusty, rosy version of it. Who would of thought?! I guess I should have take my cue from Bucky's experience because she was once considered weird too and (I am guessing) she also prized herself on being un-conventional (I love you sis!).

Okay, okay, so where is all of this going? To quote my favorite teacher from community college, Doug Washer, "BUT I DIGRESS!" (Yes, I have a great weakness for digressing.) So, this is it. I have decided to conform to convention and choose a theme for my blog. If you have endured thus far into my blog, you are probably thinking, "Yeah, you said that in the first sentence!" But for reals, this is a major thing for me--it's like confessing my sins (that is, the sins of anti-conventionalism) to the Catholic priest for the first time...which first-time confessions are always long, emotional, and unclear...so please bear with me.


While the decision to have a theme for my blog seemed clear enough to me, the decision for what kind of theme has been less clear...until Friday that is. This past Friday I was reading over other people's blogs and then I returned to my own to see if there were any new comments to read. As I was looking over the past few entries, I realized I love making lists! Perhaps it is the inner multi-tasker in me, but lists really are the best way that I can convey what I am thinking into a somewhat logical format. So I have decided that the theme for my blog is the "Top 10___(fill in the blank)." Much like David Letterman's top 10 list, I am intending to use this blog as a forum for the most random, most Adri-like lists. This said, I have two disclaimers: 1) the lists may not always be 10 items--for example, lists about great food are bound to be over 10 items and lists about great celebrities are bound to be less, and 2) since this is the only blog I have committed myself to up-keeping, I still have to reserve some space for personal news. So, now that I have disclosed the theme for my blog, here is the first list:

Top 10 Reasons To Have A Theme For Your Blog

#10 Themes are a great remedy against "writers' block." Although many people mistakenly think that complete artistic freedom results in the best, truest writing (or music, or art, or just about anything), the truth is creativity, in any form, thrives from having some boundaries. Minimal as these boundaries may be, they are still necessary--for proof, refer to last week's blog about my struggle with my directionless college assignments.

#9 Themes make you appear smart without necessarily being so. Saying this, I realize I am admitting to this statement. So yes, themes give people (including myself) the appearance of organization, efficiency, and talent. I realize some people actually posses these qualities genuinely, but for the rest of us, themes are a great way to "fake it 'til we make it."


#8 Themes make you appear sophisticated without necessarily being so. This one follows the definition outlined in #9, but perhaps, more so. Having a theme is another way of saying, "You're cool!" Which sophistication and coolness, more so than smarts, is a subjective quality and consequently all about appearances.


#7 Themes are potentially lucrative. This claim is building off of the the previous two claims. A theme that people "buy into" as being smart and sophisticated, has the potential to turn into something bigger and better such as an editorial column in some bigtime newspaper, a TV show, or even a better blog. Which we all know, greater publicity=more money.

#6 Themes are memorable. This could also be phrased, "Themes encourage more publicity." For the benefits of more publicity see #7.

#5 Themed blogs invite other "cool" things such as themed templates, background music (which I am un-decided about), and perhaps a themed alias for myself such as "Lola." It's funny that creating one theme actually results in the creation in more themes (or perhaps sub-themes?).

#4 The use of themes help justify the costs of an education. Okay, so the whole "theme thing" is actually one of the many things you gained through your English classes that you thought would be useless to you after graduation. But reality check, the use of themes is beneficial in real life. For further explanation see #9, #8, and #7, especially.

#3 Themes reassure people in tough times. With all of the present uncertainty in society--the economy, warfare, Miley Cyrus's future--people need things they can depend on. Themed blogs offer just that. As a dependable source of entertainment, blogging consumers know that every time they "tune into" a themed blog they are getting exactly what they expect...I am not sure the same can be said for poor Miley.

#2 Sticking to a themed blog is a great form of exercise. Although I may refute some of the reasoning in #10 (themes are easier to stick to), sticking to a theme is hard work. True most of this work is mental, but some of it is physical. The fidgeting in the computer chair, the constant straightening of one's overly hunched back, and the walking back and forth to the fridge to get more ice cream so as to maintain one's optimum intellectual composure. It seems that the physical activities required to stick to a blogging theme is reason enough to become a "themogger."


#1 Themes are trendy. Okay, this ties into the whole useless conversation I had previously. Themes are a great way to be a part of the greater group--the trendy group, but ALSO maintaining some personal individuality. Thus, I am choosing to have a theme because I haven't resolved my childhood issues of shyness and un-popularity, but the composition of my theme (lists) is a way I can channel my individuality into greater things. In this way, I am giving in to convention so I can be more of an individual (if that makes any sense?!). Anyways, bottom line is: themes are a great way to have the best of both the conventional and un-conventional worlds.

--A