Have you ever wondered what it would be like to meet another blogger? One you didn’t already know outside the blogging world. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if that blogger also wrote one of your favourite blogs, a blog that made you laugh out loud or gasp in horror? There are few blogs I love more than Sean Smithson’s. I love seeing that there’s another post there to read. And every time that little email notification comes through telling me “Sean Smithson” has liked one of my posts, I silently high-five myself and think, “Yes, Laura, today’s post was good.”
My blog, edgy as I like to imagine it is, has got nothing on Sean’s, which, by the way, is not his name. I’ll get onto that. Sean’s blog leaves mine in the dust. He gets stuck straight in, in a way that is almost-brave/almost-stupid. A fine example comes from his ‘How to stay single in your 30s’ post: “If you find that ladies are just drawn to you or that your friends absolutely insist on trying to set you up, then try the following β Be a mildly obnoxious asshole on dates. You need to get the balance just right so that sheβll sleep with you but wonβt want you to call her ever again.”
Honesty is definitely the best policy in Sean’s world. O yeh, so that’s totally not his name. But it’s close enough and easier to work out how to pronounce. It was certainly a new experience to be quite far into a conversation and have someone say, “O, by the way, wanna know my real name?”
I forget what was written about Fjaroabyaggo to prompt the joke that there was going to be a trip there but that is how it started. It somehow grew from that into a fully breathing, walking, talking person at the tube station. He didn’t look slightly loser-ish or studenty. He wasn’t clutching a crumpled balance sheet or accompanied by a hooker.
He was tall-ish, well-dressed and well-spoken. He was also courteous and eloquent, quite a surprise after the Sean of the blog. It’s not like I was expecting a total knob end but, you know, something a little more rough around the edges. The thing is, he is also the person in the blog, the person who lands himself in these brilliant/stupid situations. It’s not something you’d realise unless you knew the blog. And it’s kinda fun once you have realised it and he mentions calling hookers to come over to his parents’ house while they’re in bed.
What’s not to love?
The reason for this post is taking me forever to get to. I guess because I’m trying to make you realise how brilliant this man is so that by the time I get to my point, you’ll already like him.
Well, he’s writing a book. Could there be anything better than a good writer with no inhibitions telling you about all the most ridiculous situations he’s been in? A quick peek inside the book is going to look something like this email conversation we recently had:
Sean: “It’s going to be a book of short stories. That way, they can read about the time I was with a hooker on my mum’s living room floor while she slept upstairs on Tuesday’s tube journey. And perhaps on Thursday, they could read about the time I shit my pants before a date…”
Laura: “I would love to read about the time you shit your pants before a date. What’s the general gist of that story?”
Sean : “Just that I was on my way to a date and shit myself whilst trying to fart. Obviously things got a lot worse during the course of that day.”
Need I say anything more?
This book of utter fabulousness (that’s a word) will be out in January. Good job there’s Christmas inbetween to keep me entertained during the wait. And don’t you worry, I’ll do the remembering for you and keep reminding you about it π
Posted by That time when I met another blogger | The Office Inbetweener on November 24, 2013 at 20:24
[…] to stop now as I donβt really do too well with being complimented like that. But please check her blog […]
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 20:34
Damn, I’m jealous π Well, unless he tried to get you to give him a handjob in the tube station – then not so much π Linda.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:23
O, the handjob in the tube station. That old chestnut… π
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 21:26
I wouldn’t put anything past him π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:27
Add alcohol into the mix and I reckon there’s definitely a handjob in the station, if you proposed it to him?
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 21:29
Unfortunately (well, probably fortunately!), I live in Latvia so he’s out of luck for the moment π
Soooo, was he hot???
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:34
Yeh. And he’s good company. You need to make yourself a trip to England π
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 21:35
Ha ha! Dammit. Or I need to hope his book is a massive success and he can visit me in Riga π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:36
It obviously will be so start making Latvia-based plans!
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 21:39
Well, there are plenty of hookers here so I think he’ll be happy enough π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:39
What more could a boy want?
Posted by Expat Eye on November 24, 2013 at 21:41
Cheap beer, strip clubs and a fun Irish chick to party with – check, check, check π
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:41
π
Posted by CuriousEmily on November 24, 2013 at 21:50
Ha! An interesting insight, I love Sean’s blog too but I have always secretly (actually, not that secretly) suspected him to be a knob-end IRL too.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 21:54
Yeh. That’s a fairly safe assumption, given the blog. But he is surprisingly Hugh-Grant-like… wait a minute, did I say that? Or did he?
Posted by CuriousEmily on November 24, 2013 at 21:54
Maybe it’s the start of something beautiful. π
Posted by jaifeyboy on November 24, 2013 at 22:50
I say meet again… Add gin… Volume 2
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 22:53
Hmmm….
Posted by jaifeyboy on November 24, 2013 at 23:14
What’s the worst that could happen?…
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 24, 2013 at 23:24
Should I answer that?
Posted by jaifeyboy on November 24, 2013 at 23:28
No, let’s just wait for Volume 2.
Posted by Expat Eye on November 25, 2013 at 11:23
Seconded! π
Posted by Maggie O'C on November 25, 2013 at 16:44
I want to meet you and I want to know where you’re going in January? Did I miss the announcement? Am I a bad friend?
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 25, 2013 at 16:47
Sean’s book will be out in January. It’s ok. You’re still in good-friend territory. We should definitely meet up. There must be a way to make that happen x
Posted by Maggie O'C on November 25, 2013 at 17:04
I read too fast. I thought you wrote you would be out in January.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 25, 2013 at 18:48
No. For me, there will be no out-ing in January. Only coldness and post-Christmasness
Posted by honeydidyouseethat? on November 25, 2013 at 18:42
Followed your link from Sean’s blog. A fab tribute. Can’t wait to read his book.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 25, 2013 at 18:46
Me neither! I’m glad you enjoyed the post π
Posted by KippFu on November 27, 2013 at 04:21
sean sent me. so i am here. i feel you deserve a ‘like’ because i read this on seansmithson and since i liked what the author wrote and liked it there, i should like the origin too. shit, im out of likes.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on November 27, 2013 at 06:10
That’s a lot of liking you got going on there π
Posted by thehowlingfantogs on December 29, 2013 at 21:14
I think everyone is a tiny bit (okay, a lot) jealous. The boy is a legend.
Posted by lazylauramaisey on December 30, 2013 at 06:22
Indeed he is π
Posted by New Year’s Resuoltion no.3 | lazylauramaisey on January 3, 2014 at 11:07
[…] 12. Had a cold for a month. 13. Watched family jet off for a new life under the Australian sun. 14. Met a fellow blogger for the first […]