Mortified

I am going to write something in here for 7 days straight to get into a writing habit again. Mark my (written) words!

This is my highly recommended book o' the week:



Mortified takes real diary entries, letters to friends, school essays, etc. from real people and simply publishes them. There is little commentary added in by the authors, except for maybe to let the audiance know how the situation turned out in the end or give some background on the situation. For the most part, they speak for themselves, which I like because they don't really need that lame, condescending adult self pointing out the faults of that loser in junior high. We can read for ourselves what losers they are!

What do they say that makes me laugh so much? Well, the content alone is hilarious. There is priceless Duran Duran fanfiction, a diary addressed to the fat kids one friend, television character Mr. Belvedere, and imaginary sexual experiences that end in peeing. I also love the way junior high kids write. I haven't used the word french kissing (or even thought about how it was once even such a holy concept) and they must use it once per entry (several times if you're a girl). The k.i.t./l.o.l type of slang was not actually invented by the internet, but by bored teenagers in the 80's it seems.

I can't stop referring to it for all my adolescent angst needs, and have already bought a copy for my parents and lent it to Chris. When Chris is done, I will inflict it on others. It is based on a stageshow where people essentially read aloud these diaries, and we are gonna go in LA at the end of the month. Check it out at a town nearest you! I'm sure it'll be great http://www.getmortified.com/

Honestly, when I was home for the holidays, after reading this, I thought about peaking in old diaries and letters I have hanging around various drawers and I honestly couldn't bring myself to do it. Frankly, I thought I would just be too ashamed and embarassed, maybe even a little saddened (and yet I do stand-up, go figure!) I think Alexandra's bunk bed speaks for itself* (please tell me that still exists and hasn't been chopped into firewood) Thus, I give this entire social experiment even more credit because it actually is truly mortifying to read your 13 year old thoughts.

*where in elementary school and into junior high wrote our likes, dislikes, hearts, flowers, boys, tv shows, music, what's HOT, what's NOT on the wooden frame on the bottom of the top bunk