Category: Uncategorized

I’ve barely posted this year. It wasn’t deliberate. I just often feel like I don’t have a lot to say that people are interested in hearing. I’m sure everyone feels like that at times, or even all of the time. It’s not true. Everyone has something valuable to say.

I’ve been watching the collapse of Twitter, which is to the joy of some people and the sadness of others. I’m a mixed bag. I formed a Twitter account back in 2009, and used it as a fun place to chat and share news until about 2018, when it started turning into a real time suck for me. It gradually got overrun with negativity and anger – you couldn’t escape Donald Trump’s rambling nonsense and the people retweeting it, either to fawn and declare war on the “libs”, or to reply with a smug comment about just how wrong and dumb Trump was. (Important note, people: when you amplify horrible things by retweeting them, you promote those views. I’ve had to learn this lesson a dozen times, and I still don’t always get it. I try to make an effort now to amplify positive things and people I agree with, people who are achieving things. But the temptation to get mad at something shitty for likes is pretty strong. )

I was scrolling too much and I hated it, so I deleted my account completely. Then my username was promptly grabbed by an anti-trans dickhead who tweeted some yuck stuff before they got banned. So now my old username looks like I got booted for being awful. But whatever, I wasn’t exactly a high-interest person so no one really noticed too much when I left. And honestly, it was super freeing.

I came back to Twitter in 2022 and just lurked. I didn’t tweet as much, and just followed people I thought were cool. One of my besties got banned for complaining about men, which sucked because she was one of my main reasons for going on the damn site. It never really felt like a friendly spot anymore though, because my tweets vanished into the ether, with the algorithm deciding that as a new account, my tweets weren’t something my followers wanted to see.

So while I won’t miss Twitter, it will be a loss. It’s been a great site for activists and protesters. I follow people who depend on Twitter to advertise their art, who need their circle of friends on there because they’re isolated in real life, who have years and years of friendships and interesting things they’ve said. I feel for them because losing your community sucks, and there’s no real replacement online.

Mastodon seems okay, but I don’t know many people there. Hopefully it’ll grow. Facebook’s dead, which is annoying because I have events I need to promote (HI, COME TO THE SUMMER SHAKESPEARE 2023 PLEASE!), and because I liked the fun conversations I used to have before the algorithm prioritised memes and angry responses to news articles. Snapchat was great until it sold a few years back and just became hot garbage. Instagram is slowly going the same way, although it’s not too bad yet. I’m way too old for Tiktok.

What’s a mid-thirties girl to do?

I, like most people, want an online spot where you can talk to your friends, see what they’ve been up to, see fun pictures, and share events to the wider public. I want a community. But social networks don’t seem to be about that, which is super ironic. It sucks, because my friends are busy with their families and their jobs and everything else important. I like seeing the little bits of their lives that social media offers. It’s not high school anymore, so I don’t get to see them in person as much as I’d like, especially not with a toddler.

It’ll be interesting to see where it’s all at in 5 years. Maybe we’ll all give up and end up on Zuckerberg’s garbage metaverse. Maybe there’ll be something totally new. Maybe we’ll all be back on blogs like this. Hey, maybe Tom will bring MySpace back.

So my post about Dr Seuss blew up.

That was awesome, don’t get me wrong. My blog readership went from tens to hundreds to thousands. The Spinoff got in touch and published my piece on their site. It was the second-most read story that day, after Harry and Meghan. I don’t mind coming in second to a duchess.

It got me thinking, though (ugh, what a Carrie line. Sorry). Why do things like this set certain people off? It honestly seems like some people want to find things to get furious about. For some reason, they’ve decided “wokeness” is an enemy. That doesn’t even make sense. How does society becoming more aware become a bad thing? Haven’t these people been telling us all to wake up for years? Sometimes I feel like these people will just reflexively oppose anything just to go against the liberal grain. It seems quite counterintuitive. Kind of like the American Republicans who are defending the British monarchy – isn’t America founded on y’know, not liking those guys?

Among the many, many lovely messages from both teachers and normies, I received a few complainers who either hadn’t read the piece, or who read it and took away the most minor quibble. A couple of people didn’t like that I had used the word ‘white’ to describe someone, and called it a “racist attack”. They clearly didn’t click the link I posted that led to an article about actual racist attacks, but okay.

Another woman (from the teachers’ Facebook page and who was unaware she was one of the inspirations for the initial post!) seemed convinced that I or others were going to come for her Noddy books. Lady, I don’t give a damn what you read to yourself in the weekends. Just don’t read racist stuff to your students. They don’t get to choose their teacher. Don’t be a bad memory for the rest of their lives, okay?

Oh well. It was an interesting experience. It’s a shame I didn’t have more content on the blog for people to read! But I’m back at it now. Enjoy your week!

Hi, I’m Louise. You can call me Lou.

Boring way to start, I know. But starting has always been the hardest part for me. When I write plays I start in the middle, and come back to the start at the end. But that doesn’t make sense for a blog.

Why am I here?

This blog will serve as many things for me. Mostly, it’s a release. I love to write, but I really struggle with my creative writing, and find getting into the flow of things really painful. So having this blog allows me to write in a freer way about things I like. There’s fewer constraints than when I’m writing a play. Plays have a format – you write stage directions in italics, character names in capitals, then the dialogue in plain font. It’s fiddly. And for someone like me, who is either hyper-focused or completely inattentive (there is no middle ground), it involves either smashing out ten pages or screechily labouring over three sentences. This is easier. Plus, it gives me something productive to do when my baby’s asleep, so my stay-at-home mum life isn’t just a blur of chores and baby snuggles.

Outside of mumming and blogging, I’m a primary school teacher, I’m a playwright, I’m a copywriter for a software firm, I’m a theatre director, and I’m an actor. Actually, I don’t know if I qualify as that last one anymore, it’s been almost six years since I set foot onstage. I do miss it, but at the same time, I wasn’t very good, so it’s nice not to feel the pressure to memorise lines – something I always found really hard, even though I loved acting. I think what I loved most about acting was telling a story, which I can do better as a writer.

My son’s name is Leo. He’s three months old and he has lit up my life in a way I can’t describe but know other parents understand. 

My husband’s name is Josh. He’s an amazing artist, a crazy talented writer, and a great dad. He’s my best friend and I admire him more every day. I wish I had his dedication to artistic pursuits. I will probably plug his stuff regularly because it’s just that good. 

What will I be blogging about?

A whole ton of stuff. Parenting. Teaching. Trying to be eco-friendly. Fashion. Shoes. I don’t know. Building a house? We might do that this year. For me, this blog is a release, to get me writing again after one year of being pregnant and giving birth in the middle of a pandemic and four years prior of an intensely challenging but amazing job that ate my whole life and left me crying in a therapist’s chair because of the expectations I put on myself.

Why is this blog called Halfway There?

Because that’s how I feel, all the time. Kinda prepared, but also behind. Scrambling to catch up. Halfway to achieving my goals. And hey, maybe writing again will get me the whole way there.

Hope to see you around. Feel free to leave me a comment anytime, or follow me on Instagram @halfwaythere.lou