Carrie’s Crossword

Recently, I started doing crossword puzzles in the morning paper. I also started complaining that it’s too cold and that my back hurts, so apparently I’m turning 70 this year…

I used to try and finish every one I started, which would typically mean I would spend like 2-3 hours of my day trying to solve this stupid thing. I would start working on a crossword in the morning before work, and then come home and work on it during dinner. After a certain point, I would give up and would literally Googling things like “Rocky prominence crossword clue.” But after a while, I realized it was a huge waste of time, and all I was doing was filling in a puzzle with answers that Google already had. It was like doing the odd questions for homework in high school math class. I don’t know about everyone else, by my school used books that literally had the answers to all of the odd questions in the back of the book. Why they did that, I have no idea, but those answers and a little TI-89 programming is how I got a B+ in Calculus. Suck it, math.

I’ve given up trying to solve every crossword now. I just try to fill in as many answers as I can and then call it a day. Today, I had to figure out a 4-letter word with the hint “Not (a one).” I thought the answer might be “nary.” (This is where I need a Family Fued confirmation when someone gives a crappy answers, but everyone claps anyways and says,”….ok…Yea maybe that’s up there…good guess…” Just to make sure, I picked up an actual dictionary to check the spelling. I didn’t find it right away, but one word I did find was Nard. Yes…nard. Apparently it’s an ointment used by the ancients, but I always have heard it used by 13-year-old boys to describe testicles. But I do like the idea of it being used by bros to to describe anyone not chill. The English language is fun.

Most of my blogs are broken into 3 categories: Mostly Nonsense, Growing Pains, and Relationships. I’ve written about plenty of Nonsense in 2013, and I know I should write about Relationships, so let’s just go ahead and get that shit over with.

Last week, I was listening to a commercial for The Carrie Diaries. (For all of those not questioning my sexual preferences right now, it’s basically a show on the CW that’s a prequel to Sex In The City. Now that everyone is on the “wtf were you doing listening to that” train, I’ll proceed…)

The radio commercial touches on all of the things that it’s target demographic wants to hear: the social struggles of a young girl in a big city, gift-wrapped in fashion with a hint of angsty teen love. But one of the quotes in that commercial is “The pain of love is what truly changes us; It’s the losing of love that makes us who we are.” The individuals who created the marketing plan for this show should receive bonuses for the fact that the link goes to the Tumblr blog of an 18-year-old girl.

Back to the quote. I think a lot of people can look at this in a negative way, but realistically, it can be positively applied. I had a long conversation this weekend about the risk of love, and I’m a believer that the pain of love does change us. However, it shouldn’t make us curl up and say “I hate love.” I feel like that’s such a waste. Would you stop eating something that you loved just because it made you sick one time? The important thing is to make sure you watch what you’re putting in your mouth because you know the pain it can bring you (“insert” pun here). The same goes for love. Just because it’s hurt you before doesn’t mean that you should stop loving or shy away from the feeling. You just need to recognize who is worth giving it to, and know you are worthy of receiving it. Trust and love go hand-in-hand, and sometimes, we need confuse our ability to trust with our ability to love. Sometimes we just need to re-learn who is worth trusting. And the more open you are, I think the more it will come back to you.

Love can be such a cooling nard.

Anyways, that’s probably a good enough start. Thanks for reading.

– The B+ 18-year-old Girl