Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Power of Saying Shit Out Loud, part deux

1. I would like to note that when you google the phrase "saying shit out loud," the first hit you get is "My Year of New Things."

2. One of the other hits you get is Kate's Book Blog, which is a blog about books, natch. Kate quotes an essay by Adele Wiseman:

"Unlike many writers I’ve met, I did not write constantly as a child. I kept no diaries, did not try to imitate what I was reading. I absorbed and pondered and dreamed and prepared myself. I put myself through a training with words and the way I felt about them. There were certain words that had such strong feelings attached to them that I had a hard time using them. But I knew that if I was going to be a writer I would have to have the whole world of words at my disposal, in spite of how my upbringing had taught me to feel about them. I could not go on being shocked at the words some people said so easily. So I stood in front of the mirror and practiced saying 'shit' out loud, 'shit Shit SHIT', trying not to cringe inside."

3. The reason I love this Adele Wiseman quote is because she's literally talking about saying the word "shit" out loud, which is what Uma originally thought I was talking about when I first wrote my post about The Power of Saying Shit Out Loud.

4. Of course, I wasn't talking about literally saying the word "shit" out loud, but I love that Uma thought I was. She's a funny canadian.

5. I would like to note that when you google the phrase "the power of saying shit out loud," the ONLY hit you get on google is My Year of New Things. I should copyright that shit, yo.

6. Speaking of the Power of Saying Shit Out Loud, ever since I wrote that post, I've discovered that it really is true. Say something--put it into the air--and it's like you start working with the cosmos or something. Case in point: last week, when I wrote about my credit card debt, I mentioned that I had a slow but steady plan to get out of said credit card debt. Well, when I said "slow but steady," I really did mean slow but steady. As in, after 5 months of paying nary a dime, I was planning on actually paying my bills again, but trying to pay twice the minimum every month, until it was gone. Maybe it wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan. It had momentum. It would eventually bring me to zero. Eventually. Okay, BUT: as soon as I said that I had a plan and I was working on it, my big credit card (I have three) (two of them are pretty manageable, one of them is not) (this was the unmanageable one) called me and offered me a settlement deal. If I pay 50% of the bill over the next 3 months, they'll "forgive" the other 50%, and I don't accumulate any more interest or late fees or nothin'. Sure, it goes on my credit report as "settled" (which is better than "bankrupt" but worse than "paid in full"), but I already have bad credit, and once it's gone I can move on with my life. I'm very excited. Cutting the debt in half is HUGE and even though paying 50% of the bill in the next three months might be difficult, as long as I money manage, it's totally do-able. And then the big credit card is gone.

7. Hallefreakinlujia.

8. The Power of Saying Shit Out Loud, people!

(Photo by oiwan, via flickr.)

15 comments:

christy said...

first!

christy said...

i'm about to blog about how 10 freakin' days after my interview, i called the unemployment office and was told NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE on my claim, and they put me through to this woman's voicemail, and that's all i get.

it's like, time to put my second two week claim in.

but i'm not getting any mail because someone freakin' dropped the ball.

and my pics STILL won't work.

i feel like i'm living in communist russia.

grumble grumble.

Anonymous said...

I've just found your blog, it's great. I have a question, though. Think you'll make 365 by the end of the year? LOL
Way to go on disclosure of something so personal as debt. Said aloud, it's real. And now you've done something about it. :)

Erik said...

christy--i've figured how to trick blogger into letting you post pictures even though it doesn't want to! for some reason, it won't let me post a picture once i have WORDS in the "Create Post" box, but it WILL let me post pictures if the "Create Post" box is empty. Now, I always add photos after I've already written my post, so that's a problem. BUT--if you post the picture in an empty "Create Post" box, then open the "edit html" box and copy the html and then paste it in your other window with the post, it should work. At least that's how I'm circumventing the system right now.

Erik said...

Anonymous, who are you??? I love new people finding my blog!

You're right, i am SOOOO unbelievably behind on my 365 new things, it's not even funny.

But I am nothing if not hopeful. About a lot of things.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that is fabulous news. I am really heartened that you are getting your financial house in order.
xo
Lindsay

Erik said...

Thank you, Lindsay! It feels really good to be getting my life on track. It's all part of MYONT.

xoxo

christy said...

erik, how in the world did you figure that out? you're a genius!

it only let me load 10, too! actually it let me load 11, but i accidentally loaded the same picture twice and deleted the second one, which i think tripped the radar that i was trying to post pictures!

thank you thank you thank you!

(i can't wait until you see the one pic!!!)

Erik said...

christy, blogger totally caught on to me and now it won't let me do that anymore, but it was glorious for an hour or so!

Anonymous said...

Merde.

Erik said...

Ha. Dork.

Anonymous said...

18th!

Anonymous said...

Not very original, anonymous PAM.

Anonymous said...

Hopeful is always a good thing. Kudos :)

Erik said...

Thank you, anon.