Review. EXPLETIVE! I'm In My 20's - Let's Commiserate.

For those not-in-the-know (as was I, not 10 minutes ago), the Tumblr--and so subsequent expletive--I'm referring to is FUCK! I'm In My 20's. Handwritten notes--writing large or small, dark or light somewhat like this but more parallel to whichever rise or plight Koenig modulates--illustrate the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly complexities faced (or that she still faces) in her 20's.

And similarly, mine. And similarly,

 my friend Sara's. And similarly, according to a NYT article and her book deal out Sept 1 to be sold at Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Shop Indie Bookstores ... apparently, everyone's. It's certainly uncanny, compellingly relatable, and mildly unnerving. Emma Koening--writing, illustrations, musings, & philosophies--gives perfect pitch to the voice of women, American, in their 20's. 

Before we take a glimpse of my 20's through her notes & illustrations let's discuss unnerving.

* * *

... IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ME!!!!!

In introducing her background, very first sentence, the Times article writes,    

AT 24, Emma Koenig has amassed all the accouterments of her generation: an expensive college degree; a string of low-paying (and no-paying) jobs, including coat-check girl, cashier at a sandwich shop and intern at a production company, the drudgery of which was punctuated by a series of degrading pseudo-romantic encounters; and the lease on an overpriced, undersize apartment in the East Village stuffed with a rotating cast of Craigslist roommates, which she eventually gave up to move back in with her parents.

This is ME!!!

I have 2 expensive college degrees, one I'm not totally using, and 1/4 of an Ivy League where only 3 of 15 credits transferred! At one point, I worked part of the day back in my high school's cafeteria while pursuing my Master's and, most recently, made minimum wage (ahem Barnes & Noble) with that Master's! And relationships!? Relationships!???! These are what compelled me to compulsively, ironically by hand (as I lacked a laptop), draft the virgin copies of my memoir. Relationships, you ask. Well as you regular readers well know, I haven't had a real one of those in the time it'd take me to get another Bachelor's Degree. Relationships. The apartment fiasco--in my case, a studio apartment on 106th, or Duke Ellington Blvd, between Riverside & Central Parks--whose 12 mo lease I broke to move back home for over 3 years in Rochester, NY is just salt in the cake. I mean, since Koenig is only 24 years old, whereas I'm 27, she clearly has spent her entire 20's copying me. 

* * *

...Right?

* * *

Well, not really. But now I'm going to do a lil' copying of & commenting on Koenig. Namely, the 6 notes in 3 pgs which I feel heart-achingly attached to. 

(Later, plan on my mind-exploding when I explore all of her pages. Expect to find post-it-notes, jewel-toned-neons, hastily emulating her soul-capturing examinations, strewn about my room like that time I was a junior in high school and spent all of one Saturday night fishing the Thoreuvian phrases & quotations, which did just the same, from Walden; Or, Life in the Woods.)

Page 1; Or, http://fuckiminmy20s.tumblr.com/

Could also be: Why are you taking anxiety medicine today? Why are you raging today?
(Esp. infuriating harassment from strangers. Add stop signs, particularly 4 way stops, to that list.)

Page 2; Or, http://fuckiminmy20s.tumblr.com/page/2

She understood that teeter-totter as a toddler.
This is proof.

OMG, ME TOOOOOO.
Cool version of what I should have been in school.

Page 3; Or, http://fuckiminmy20s.tumblr.com/page/3

Completely boggles this mind that this is an issue.
And starting to realize it might always be.
Why.

Another Bachelor's anyone???

When people, female & young to male & old, feel
threatened because I am
confident & honest & tactful & real.

* * *

When I read blogs, or micro-blogs, or memoirs, or articles about experiences similar to mine--for which I am penning a memoir--I know that I am part of a unique community & an individual with a new and dynamic layer to add to this emerging adulthood and the flavors it provokes. I just want to get there & do it before time takes its cache away. Because authenticity, well that never dies. But it also doesn't always sell.

* * *

Live the Life 

you

Dream
*

because
*

Dreams to 
Come True.

My cartoon confetti used to look just like that.
But without stars.
Think I'll add the stars.