Category Archives: i guess this is advice

How To Succeed (If I Had To Make A Guess)


I don’t claim to know anything about anything.

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. Now and then I like to share some advice or tongue-in-cheek wisdom and if you get something out of that I think that’s fantastic. But I don’t really know anything. One BIG thing that I do NOT know how to do is be successful. If I were successful then I wouldn’t be the dear struggling actress that I am (and to the reader who emailed me — I’m really not Kat Dennings, I promise. I’m sure she has her own blog; I know she has her own youtube.)

Back when I used to take ambien I would be seized with grand plans and things that I had to do as I was trying to drift off to sleep. This is why I don’t take ambien anymore. I would also see pictures or photographs moving. That’s another good reason not to take ambien. Once in my half-awake/half-asleep dreamlike place, I wrote a list titled:

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL

1. GET A TWIN! (Yes, I really did think this was a good idea, and no; I have no idea what it means either.)
2. GET PEOPLE TO CALL OTHER PEOPLE FOR ME, LIKE THEY WORK FOR ME. (???)
3. Hasgbjahg Fgsfs— (the writing got kind of difficult to read here.)

Listen, I don’t recommend doing anything on this list in the great name of success. And I think that deep down, I’m afraid of success, which is why I don’t attempt it. What if I actually do really well in life? Then what? I know, it’s weird, it’s like a Shannen Doherty complex or something.

But I think I have some general ideas as to how to be successful:

1. Do something that scares you. By which I mean, do NOT inject poison into your eyes or put a tarantula on your face, but rather do something outside of your comfort zone because it will help you grow. Using me as an example, with acting, I’ve been advised to go to an improv class because it could help me as an actor. Improv terrifies me, which is probably a good sign that it’s something I need to do. I used to be too scared to take an acting class; now I’ve been in and out of them for years, much like rehab. I’m kidding about the rehab part, and I’m sorry for joking about rehab, rehab is great!!!!

2. Don’t beat yourself up when you fuck up. Because it’s over with. If you could go back in time and change it, you would, and you know you would. Let that be enough. Realize that there is an ocean of time ahead of you that will give you many chances to not fuck up.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you don’t ask for help then the answer is always “No”!!!

4. Don’t be too polite. Do NOT be a miserable bitch. Do NOT throw hot coffee in peoples’ faces. DO NOT slash someones’ tires. What I mean by this is basically, stand up for yourself! The only one who can be your biggest defender is you. Unless you’re in court, then I would seriously get a lawyer. You never represent yourself, that’s Law & Order Rule #1. (Rule #2? “When I left, she was still alive!”). Eleanor Roosevelt once said something like, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Bitch was right! So when someone does you a favor say “Thank you” and move on. SAYING “THANK YOU” ONCE IS PLENTY IF YOU MEAN IT. Remember, desperation makes people nervous!

5. Don’t compare your progress to someone else’s. This one is hard for me because, as we all know, I am super jealous. If I were a super hero, jealousy would be my superpower. And what a dumb superpower, it wouldn’t even be able to help anyone! It’s tempting to want to look at Sally Mae and say, “Wow, Sally Mae has a boyfriend and a job and washboard abs” and then to cry about it, but don’t! Because for everything Sally Mae has, there’s something YOU have that SHE doesn’t. There always is! Because if she didn’t…SHE’D BE YOU. DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND? Really though, we’re all doing our best in this world and some people get there faster than others, but we all get there. Again, just look at the odds! Odds are by the time you die you’ll have done something great in your life! Even Phil Spector, who is now sitting in jail for murder, still changed music forever!! Wow!!

We’ll stop there for now. Decide to be successful! And just holler if you need me. I’m much better at giving my advice than taking my advice.

Succexy — Metric

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We Need To Talk About Your Boyfriend.


Hey Girl.

So you have a boyfriend. That’s great! You have someone’s lap to sit on at picnics. You have someone to take to your friend’s party. You don’t need to scout out guys at said party. Because you’ll be holding your boyfriend’s arm, tracing his veins with your fingertip, something all couples wind up doing without realizing it (watch for it next time). You have someone to force into couples costume for Halloween. You have someone all of your friends can look at and think, “Goddamn I’m jealous.” And that’s great!But girl unless your boyfriend is Captain Kirk, he ain’t going anywhere. You don’t need to spend every waking moment together. Or every sleeping moment either. And all of those cosmic moments in between. He’s always going to be there for you, and if he’s not, then he’s not a very good boyfriend and you should *NSYNC his ass (and I don’t know what this even means — am I referring to their hit “Bye Bye Bye” or their break-up or what? I don’t know guys, that’s the beauty of life!!).

I understand that in the beginning you’re going to be Lady GaGa for each other and that’s really great. It’s an exciting time.

But girl.

Girl.

Unless your boyfriend is Warren Beatty, from the above photo, from that exact era, I need to tell you something: He’s Not That Great.

Is this pure jealousy speaking? In some occasions, yes (see “Unless your boyfriend is Warren Beatty…” above). But most of the time, your boyfriend is going to be just like everybody else’s boyfriend. He’ll be there for you, yes, but will he be there for us? No, and that’s not his job. Your job, however, is to be there for us. Because you’re our friend. Not a Phoebe friend, because that woman was a goddamn bitch on the show “Friends” who acted like she was from goddamn outerspace, and was mean to Ross for no goddamn reason — I’m talking about real friendships, the kind that cannot fit into a Thursday night time slot.


Why are my references so 90s? But that’s not important right now.

What is important is that you stop and realize that girl, we’ve known you long before this dude did, unless you have some kind of Dawson/Joey situation. OK did VH1 just air an “I love the 90s” series that beamed directly into my brain? Anyway, we were there for you when you got your period on your pants in 8th grade and we loaned you our sweatshirt for you to tie around your waist. We were there for you when you first got drunk on cheap rum and we talked to you as you were barfing in the bathroom. We were there for you when you were in college and wondered, “What the hell am I going to do when I graduate”?

And where was he?

Just remember. It’s fine to be excited about your boyfriend, and we’re happy for you, but we need you too.

SO TEXT ME GODDAMNIT.

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What To Do When You’re Jealous.


If you’re like me, then you’re a jealous person. And if you’re more jealous than I am that makes me jealous. Does that give you some idea of how jealous I am?

Unfortunately it’s not cool to be jealous. If it were I would be like Chuck Bass…or…Brian Setzer…or whoever the fuck kids think is cool these days.

Therefore here are some tips on what to do when you get really, really jealous:

1.) Laugh. But not loudly like, “HA HA HA LOUD NOISES I LOVE LAMP!” More like, “Chuckle chuckle oh silly person so funny you should think I would even care about this information.”

Example:

“Did you hear? David just got signed with CAA!”

Your response: Smile, as sincerely as you can. Take a sip of your martini (P.S., now would be a good time to start drinking martinis, if you don’t already) and say, “That’s fantastic. David must be so excited! ” Then from here you can either:

a.) Change the subject like it’s your fucking job or
b.) Casually drop some unfortunate news about the aforementioned piece of news.

“Oh my God, have you seen the new Woody Allen movie?” is a line that works really well, if you’re going to go with option a.), because it doesn’t matter if you’ve actually seen it and he’s always cranking out movies. Or you could go with, b.), “I heard CAA just did a massive round of cutbacks; I hope David found a secure agent!” The more concerned you can sound the better you’ll look. Remember, you want people to think that you actually care.

2.) This is an oldie, but you can always bring up something awesome about yourself to counter something awesome that you friend brought to the table.

Example:

“My boobs got huge! Isn’t that weird? I had to go up 3 cup sizes!”
“Wow, Jennifer, that’s great! By the way did I tell you that I ran into Ben Stiller yesterday and introduced myself and now he’s hired me as an assistant? It’s crazy! Out of nowhere I got this awesome-paying job! I guess that’s LA for ya, huh?”

Also, I recommend lying. Think about it this way: would you rather look like a jealous maniac, or soothe it all over with a silly little lie that makes you feel better? You got it space dogs, go with the lie.

P.S. From what I may or may not have heard from a few sources you do not want to EVER be Ben Stiller’s assistant.

3.) This one is tricky to pull off, but here goes: be really, really happy for that person. But not deliriously happy; again, we’re going for realism. I’m talking about this kind of happy:

“Tom I am so happy to hear about your new record deal! Really, I am. Let’s celebrate! Why don’t you buy me another drink and I’ll spot you for the rest of the night? You rockstar, you!”

And there you go: you’ve got a free drink and hopefully after that drink you’ll feel much better about the whole situation and won’t wind up texting your mom while crying in the bathroom thinking that you have no prospects in your future.

If none of these works and you still feel jealous as hell, think about it this way: life is all about luck and numbers. Don’t let people tell you shit like, “You just gotta really want it.” That’s asshole talk. That’s lazy advice. It’s like, Oh really, asshole, you mean I have to actually *want* it? As opposed to not wanting it? Gee, thanks!

Most of life’s big breaks come about by being in the right place at the right time and not being a total moron. And when that fails you, look at the statistics. Statistically, you will at some point in your life get a steady job and a loving partner of your own. It’s not brain surgery (or rocket science, haha gosh I’m silly) — it’s just looking at it from the point of view as life as a series of percentages and probabilities, not as a great cosmic entity. Because numbers don’t lie.

And yes, I am very jealous of Jayne Mansfield, even though she’s dead.

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