Bad Handwriting: Sitting Down with Rachel

Friends, Romans, Countrymen!

I am very excited about this blog post and I hope it will be the first of many more like it. One of the first nights of freshman festivities at BYU, I went back to my dorm because I was sick of empty, boring conversation. But, lo and behold, I met great conversation with a few girls in my hall! And one of those girls happens to be with us today! 

I feel like ever writer has a picture like this.

Rachel Dalrymple is a close friend, coworker (?), and writer in her own blog Volatile Opinions and My Bad Handwriting. As the inventor of the written selfie and a fellow blogger, I wanted to interview her. Because I can only be so witty for so long before I have to outsource...to Utah. And she interviewed me on her blog, too. 

This is groundbreaking in the blogging community. Never before has there been such communication between bloggers today. World, you're welcome!

A:What inspired you to start your blog? What subjects do you cover?

R: Honestly I think the deepest and truest reason anyone blogs is because way deep down, we are all egomaniacs who crave attention. That's the honest answer, but the answer I'm going to go with is that I was hanging out with my brother one night talking about how he started blogging a long time ago and it helped him discover what he was interested in as well as what type of writer he was and also just was good practice. I decided to follow his advice and start a blog because I love writing, and (this goes back to the egomaniac thing) I want to be good at the things I love.

A:My understanding is that you have a leadership role at the Student Review. (The Student Review is a newspaper not affiliated with BYU, but run by BYU students.) What exactly do you do and how has the Student Review affected your writing?

R: Writing for the Student Review makes me think about what an audience would be interested in. It makes me think a lot more about being entertaining while informative. It is a very different type of writing than what I've been doing as a hobby for so long. When I write for fun, I mostly write memoir-type stuff or I try to be funny or something. As for what I do there... Mostly I have just been involved with promoting the paper so far, through mostly social media.

A: You recently had foot surgery? How has this inspired you? R: It has made me insanely grateful for the health and physical ability I do have. As much as it sucks, I think everyone needs to have the things they love taken from them for some amount of time because the depth of your appreciation for those things will grow immensely. It seems like such a small and temporary struggle to deal with, but every trial, even the small ones, give you practice and make you better able to handle the next thing that comes your way.

A: Very deep, Rachel. I have heard that your brother looks like Kevin Bacon. Please elaborate. Haha he will think this is weird. But I think it's the shape of his face. Confession: I have never seen anything with Kevin Bacon in it.

A: Chica! Footloose, X-Men: First Class.....those are the only movies I know off hand. Watch them! What is a quote that you really like?

R: "The very least you can do in life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope." -Barbara Kingsolver. I love this quote because hope is an idea that is so close to my heart. In my opinion, it is really the only sure thing. But you can place it in whatever you want. Deciding what you want to hope for is imperative.

A:I understand you have a very high matching ratio on Tinder. Can you give us some advice on how to get more some? 

R: I will now and forever deny any affiliation with that app that teaches you how to build a campfire. That's what it is right? If I did know what Tinder was though, I would say you have two options: Be super hot or be super witty. The second option works just as well and does in fact take skill.

A: I fall under the "super hot" category, so I don't have to worry about developing a personality. Outside of blogging, what do you do? R: Sometimes I dance. I like watching good TV. I like to be in new places. This isn't the same thing as travelling. I don't like the actual act of travelling, but it is a necessary evil to see cool things. I eat peanut butter and bread. I daydream. A lot. I stay up late. I set my alarm for uneven numbers like 7:37 because 7:40 is too late and having a nice round number isn't worth it for those two minutes of less sleep.

A:Which post are you most proud of? R: I one time posted a poem I wrote about hope and it is the only poem I have posted for the public to see. I was talking about hope earlier and I'll just reiterate what I said there. The post is titled "The Word Written on my Heart" because if I could only have one word, my word would be hope. It's an important idea to me.

A: That's great! Hope is legit. Do you have any plans for your blog in the near future? R:Since I didn't say this in the earlier question about why I blog, I'll say it here. It is a secret wish of mine that my true love will find my blog and fall in love with me because I'm so eloquent and funny. So my plan is to keep writing until that happens. Before that can happen, I need to become eloquent and funny. So I plan to keep practicing and keep writing because it helps me discover things about myself and helps me to unlock emotion. This is something I need help doing because I have been called a robot before and every once in awhile I start to think it might be true. I'm always afraid of not being able to figure out those captchas that say "please prove you're not a robot". Writing helps me prove I'm real.
A: I believe in you! You're not a robot. Now, according to Facebook stalking, you were in California this summer. What are your thoughts on "bro" culture?

R: You know my first reaction to that question is that I can't stand bros because of their swaggering confidence and seeming lack of interest in anything that matters. They love to be "manly" in the traditional sense of the word, and perhaps it is my indignation at the fact that the traditional definition of manliness has been a huge contribution factor in the suppression of women through the ages. It is a celebration of physical strength and of being dominant. I don't mean to make this about feminism, but I actually didn't think about why "bros" bothered me so much until just now. 

According to a website titled "Jesus-is-Savior" under the article
"Feminism is Evil," this is the true face of feminism.

The root of my annoyance with that culture, though, is just myself being very judgmental and stereotyping people who like tank tops, hip hop, and working out. Heck, I like those things too. I mean come on, I-g-g-y? #whodat (I can't remember-was Fancy on your list of most annoying songs? Hopefully not, then I would be embarrassed haha)

A: Don't worry, Fancy was not on the list. But I was a bit disappointed when I learned that she says "First things first, I'm the realest." All this time I thought she was saying, "I'm a realist." I got excited because I though she was smart. BUT THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT IGGY. Anything else you want people to know about you or your blog? R: I would like everyone to know that the quickest way to my heart is by liking my blog. I would also like there to be people who are interested in finding out the quickest way to my heart. I would also like people to know that I am addicted to sugar. Legitimately addicted. The first step is admitting it

Thanks, Rachel! For more witty banter and Tinder tips, check out her blog! And don't forget to check out Rachel interviewing me!