So, I’ve never actually met Lindsay which probably makes me a creeper and, well, that’s OK. I think one day her name popped up on my LinkedIn as one of those people I may know which then led me to scope out her blog, The Life Muse.  And, then, after some hey-I’m-a-blogger-and-you’re-a-blogger-and-we-should-chat moments, I figured it was time to show her some Twenties Unscripted love.

So, here’s Lindsay.

Name: Lindsay Simone

Age: 23

Current location: Our Nation’s Capital

Tell us about your blogging history. How did you get started and what led you to begin The Life Muse?

Five or six years ago, I started a verrrrry small blog entitled “Calendar Eats” that basically documented what I consumed on a daily basis. At the time I was really into Calendar Eats, but then my Freshman year of college happened and life as a collegiate took over. A year or so later, during my sophomore year at NYU, I began a new healthy living blog and this time around, called it “Position: Transition.” Again, this blog outlined my daily eats but rather than for fun, I started this second blog out of my need to create some sort of accountability as, at the time, I was living alone and battling bulimia. Not a great combination. A few months after I started Position: Transition, a good friend tried to commit suicide, I relapsed on my bulimia treatment, and I found out my pseudo boyfriend was cheating on me via a drunk butt dial on New Year’s Eve. It’s no wonder that, at the time, I felt the need to want to live closer to home, eventually deciding to transfer from New York University to the University of Maryland. With so much going on, Position: Transition came to a screeching halt. At the time, I thought my days as a blogger were over, but earlier this year, I heard the blogosphere call my name once more. So come March 2012, I began to blog once again.

“The Quote I Wrote” was a great jumping point for me. It gave me the confidence as a blogger to “be real” all the while allowing for my “special” humor to shine through. TQIW had a small-ish but nice following. I received emails from girls that I knew, and from those that I had never met, both of whom expressed their feelings of gratitude for my quotespiration. Nonetheless, TQIW was an emotional place; a place that winded me on a daily basis, and one that made me feel sad. I know TQIW was supposed to be about lifting people’s spirits up, but all of that personal talk really weighed me down. So, with the support of my then boyfriend (now fiancé), I decided to start a new blog that would be a place for fun, funny, and pure blogging joy. And, seeing how the then BF always told me I was his “life muse” since I always knew how to do everything a certain way (then again, he’s a guy and therefore knows how to do nothing), I decided to make this new blog, “The Life Muse,” about providing readers life tidbits one day, one topic, and one bad joke at a time!

 What’s your blogging philosophy? Find a niche that’s unique to you and run with it. Also, follow your gut. You know yourself best.

Finish this sentence: In ten years, I will be… Assuming I just got engaged, I’m thinking I will be married. With Children. And a dog. CEO of my own company. Author. Life Muse extraordinaire.

Three things you never leave home without:

1.)    A notebook and pen—you never know when a good idea is going to come to you.

2.)    My health insurance card. I know this one sounds a little crazy, but I just have this fear that god forbid the one day/time I would leave my apartment sans card that I’d get into some horrible accident and then be rushed to the hospital and essentially have to go through a bazillion hoops since I DIDN’T HAVE MY INSURANCE CARD ON ME. And yes, this does include everything from midnight CVS runs to a night out at a bar. Safety first!

3.)    Bobby pins are a must seeing how they’re so multi-functional, way beyond the realm of hair (think: make-shift paper clip, lock pick, bookmark, impromptu screwdriver, etc). There are literally twenty something bobby pins floating around in the bottom of my purse as we speak.

What are some of your favorite blogs? Man Repeller. I Spy DIY. Eat the Damn Cake.

What are you currently reading? Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass. I was a sociology major in college so this kind of stuff is beyond interesting to me.

Open Mic—anything else you want us to know? Ummmm, (cue shameless self promotion) read my posts on The Huffington Post: Becoming Fearless page?!

Where can we reach you? ,

 

I met Chris during the second semester of my junior year when we both performed in UMD’s first installment of . Since then, his prolific Twitter feed has kept me apprised of his adventures all the way on the left coast. He’s a creative soul, an energetic spirit, and just plain good people. Learn more in this cool kid’s profile.

Age: 24, Aquarius shawty

Current location: Oakland, California

 Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

 Undergrad: University of Maryland, College Park

Major: Sociology, Social Stratification

Graduate School: San Francisco State University

Area of Study: M.A. in Ethnic Studies, Africana Studies

Your blog has a quote from Fred Hampton, “I believe I’m going to die doing the things I was born to do.” What is it you were born to do?

 The quote from Fred Hampton is unique to me in that it reminds me daily to be inspired. Fred himself, was a young man in his twenties when he was assassinated, yet lived a life that has left an indelible mark on this world. I believe I was born to love on accident, live on purpose, to empower others, to be empowered by others, to create, and to be fearless in the pursuit of freedom for my people.

 Who are some of your favorite artists?

Some of my favorite artists huh?? Hahaha. There are SO many, but i guess I can give you eight. Kara Walker, Audre Lorde, Joshua Mays, Elle Varner, Kendrick Lamar, Marvin Gaye, and Emory Douglas, and Haile Gerima

 What’s your favorite piece you have ever written and why?

 There is not one particular piece that is my favorite. I believe that each piece has a purpose, and each word has its worth. So I don’t necessarily have a favorite piece, my favorite thing about poetry and spoken word is sharing. I believe that poetry is freedom in practice and everytime I share my practice of freedom with the world that is my favorite poem.

 What inspired the name for your blog, “ie the revolution?”

The name of my blog came from a line in my poem “My Dreams.” The line is “When you look up me, in the dictionary, it’s gonna say i.e. the revolution, cause I eat, I sleep, and I… breathe the revolution.” The term i.e. translated from Latin means “that is.” On my blog I would like for people in some way, shape or form to read any of the content on the blog and say to themselves “Hey, that is revolution.” Revolution meaning a lucid departure from the oppressive monotony that is this capitalistic American experience, that said, for a moment I hope that my readers find freedom in my phrases and liberation in my lines.

 What is something most people don’t know about you?

 There was a time when I was one of the top 100 Pokemon Trading Card players in Baltimore, D.C. Maryland, or Virginia.

 Any words you live by?

 Live life as if living is something you enjoy doing. Love is the only word that really means anything. Speak the truth. Forgive and remember. Pain will consume you until you release it. Black is bombastic and beautiful. My ancestors deserve my best; I have no choice but to do this. ← there are more phrases like this but these are some of the ones that are often on my heart and mind.

 What do you do for fun?

 I party and bullshit for fun. Like I really love to party. I kick it with my friends and classmates on the weekends to check out all the dope parts of the bay. Bars, clubs, art shows, community events, open mics, we do it all. I do exactly what I do everyday for fun. I read for fun. I write for fun. I teach for fun. And I breathe for fun.

 Where will you be in 10 years?

 In ten years. I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing. I’ll have this M.A. and PhD by then so that’ll be nice lol. I just know I want what I do to involve young people, art, culture, hiphop, education, and transformative change. Maybe Philly, maybe Oakland, maybe South Africa, maybe Baltimore, or maybe some new place that is created out of a revolution of oppressed peoples across the world. To be honest, I just want to be where freedom is.

 How long have you had the locs?

 11 years for the locs.

 What are you currently reading?

 I’m currently reading three things. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was reading just one book. I’m reading Decolonizing Methodologies by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde, and The Forbidden: Poems from Iran and Its Exiles edited by Sholeh Wolpe.

 Anything else we should know?

 If you are reading this I really have love for you; if not I have love for you as well. You are good enough. Tyece creating this space is amazing.  

Where can we find you? 

People can find my thoughts and my work at ietherevolution.wordpress.com and on twitter

Confessions of a Cool Kid is the Twenties Unscripted profile series that features, well, people doing cool things. If you or someone you know is a cool kid, hit me up at