Sarah's Journal: April 26, 2013

Sarah:  April 26, 2013

He was there again. I can’t believe it. Cracked23 appeared again after I commented on some ridiculous article. I think I’m just going to that site to talk to him. He’s so funny. He totally gets my sense of humor. His name is Will. He told me today. He doesn't have a last name apparently, “only Will.”
I asked if I googled “Will” would I find a picture of him?

“I don’t know. I've never done it before, but my face is all over the internet. I’m totally famous so it wouldn't surprise me,” he typed. “If a guy pops up, decent looking—dark hair, blue eyes, it’s probably me.”

I tried it and ended up with a list of will writing services. We both LOL’d. He kept commenting on how everyone needed a “Will.” He’s so self-assured that I’m starting to doubt the couch potato theory.

Hmm…dark hair and blue eyes—I can definitely work with that.

Sarah's Journal: April 18, 2013

Sarah: April 18, 2013

I visited the gossip site again today. I don’t know why I keep going back there. It’s like an addiction. I've never followed Hollywood, before. It seems so fake, so plastic. I think it’s the people who comment on the site that fascinate me the most. Some of them voice the narrowest thoughts, like they can’t see outside the glass in their houses to the outside world and could never put themselves in anyone else's shoes. Today I ran across a guy who wrote a 300 word blog comment on how celebrities deserved what they get from the press. The article linked to it was about a well-known comedian who got arrested after he smashed a guy’s phone. Apparently the guy had taken a picture of the comedian using the urinal before the incident, but the comedian still got arrested. The blogger’s point was that celebrities were paid a ton of money so they should have to put up with strangers snapping their photos. “It’s part of fame’s baggage.”

I posed the question, “Was the guy taking the picture paying the comedian?”

That’s when Cracked23 joined in and wrote, “Good point, Supermodel.”

It made me laugh. I couldn't believe he remembered me. I had to confess that I wasn't really a supermodel, and after that it seemed like we were in our own little chat room. I was on the website for another hour. If I hadn't had class today, which I ended up being late for, I would still be there.

Sarah's Journal: Crazy Net

(Excerpt taken from Sarah Austin's Journal. Austin is a fictional character in Schussler's book, Between the Raindrops.)

Sarah:  April 15, 2013

I finally finished my paper on the media’s manipulation of pop culture. That gossip site more than fulfilled my quota of crazies. There are some really messed up people in the world and the anonymity of the Internet just frees them to speak their minds—it’s scary. I wish I had known this subculture when I had my abnormal psychology class last semester. It would have provided hours of discussion fodder. The only bright spot in the whole experience was the guy I met, Cracked23. Crazy name—I know, but he was the only sane person on the entire site. He was hilarious and a bit of a flirt. I don’t know what got into me, but I ended up telling him I was a supermodel. If he had seen my face he would have known I was lying, but he just accepted it, like being a supermodel wasn't anything unusual.

Why did I do that? I’m normally such a good girl. I’m not that girl that flirts with strangers on the Internet. Maybe I wish I was that girl with no fear—like my friend, Megan. She gobbles men whole and spits out their bone. “No fear. No regret,” she always says. Not me. I’m not that girl. Not yet.