Posts Tagged "mindofchester"
In Which the Squirrel Climbed a Tree and Found a Friend
Lately my thoughts have felt rather reminiscent of tree houses. I didn’t have a terrific tree house as a kid, but I made friends with plenty of trees and spent a hearty portion of the 1980s up said foliage. It was not unusual in suburban Chicago to catch sight of an even scrawnier version of myself halfway up the neighborhood oak, Choose Your Own Adventure paperback held tight between my teeth and PF Flyers kicking free. That’s where I could escape and no one could reach me (even if they could see me through the leaves).
I am still frequently overwhelmed by the urge to shimmy up some branches as I make my way around the world. That’s not always an option, unfortunately. People don’t look too kindly on a grown woman scaling municipal trees. For example, Beverly Hills has amazing trees, and I exercised a non-human level of self control by not disappearing up one or two just off Rodeo. Well, this time, anyway.
Like I said, I didn’t have an awesome tree house, I just made do with whatever tree I happened by. But my best friend Katie had the best tree house ever. This wasn’t some rickety box her brothers threw together one weekend- this was a handcrafted, architectural masterpiece! The hardwood floors were sanded so smooth you could film an Olde English Pledge commercial there (I probably tried, come to think of it. That was about the same time the camcorder entered my life and I started writing Saturday morning comedies a la Saved by the Bell). The square footage alone could easily pull a couple G’s in Manhattan. It was spectacular.
So what’s got my head up in the trees today? It’s hard to say, but I think it has something to do with Twitter. It seems that the time I spend online lately leaves me feeling the same way I did after an afternoon hanging out in the tree house with my best friend, listening to music and laughing until it hurts.
See, the life of a writer can be lonely. We’re odd, moody creatures that simultaneously crave and loathe attention. We love to read people and struggle to understand them, but want to keep a measurable distance just out of reach of anyone trying to understand us. I don’t know, maybe it’s in the vain attempt of objectivity, but I think it’s mostly a defense mechanism (like I said, writers are odd ducks).
For me, writing is like climbing trees. It’s solitary observation a safe distance from the world below. Now what I’ve found is happening with Twitter of late, is that I’ve taken up with other writers of the tree climbing persuasion. We were all up on our branches, miles from each other, drawing the world as we want it to be. Then one day a Retweet catches your eye, and you see someone sitting in a tree somewhere just like you. Soon Tweets turn into conversations, and conversations to games. Next thing you know, you’ve built a tree house where you can hide with your friends, telling stories and laughing until it hurts.
Twitter has made a measurable impact on my life, but it’s not just because the stunning infrastructure invites play and conversation. It’s the people in the tree house with me. We can climb onto our respective TweetDecks and hide from the other 89% of the world, playing our games and making up new stories so that when it’s time to go home for dinner, we have things to chuckle about until we meet again.
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When Sarah Crisman isn’t climbing trees or trying to break into your kid’s tree house you can find her over at SarahCrisman.com or tweeting away on Twitter. Follow her! Don’t let me slap you!
More TWITDrawings! YAY!!!
Hey. I’m getting into this fun little groove where I draw pictures for my Twitter friends! It’s really fun and I hope they enjoy the drawings as much as I enjoy drawing them!!!
Remember – click to BIGIFY!
This twitdrawing was drawn for @AnitaKnight – surely we can all relate to those annoying CATCHPAs (those weird letters and numbers you have to enter every time you post too many comments on YouTube) – I think I once ran into a CATCHPA that threatened to kill my dog if I didn’t get it right.
So, me and @sarah_crisman from Hypeworthy decided to start the first ever Twitter indie band. Introducing, The Tweepies.
More TWITdrawings to come!! You can be next if you’re follwing me on Twitter!!
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