Tuesday, February 9

People, this snow thing here in DC is not making me happy! One of the strange things about working a three-day week is that I actually miss it when I don't get to go in. I enjoy most of the people I work with, and frankly I miss the conversations. There was a time when hideous weather like this would mean get-together's with the neighbors, group trips up to 7-11 or Whole Foods, playing with the dogs, helping to dig each others cars out, and generally making the best of things. Now, the walks to the store are perfunctory, the apartment silent except for when I break it with the hollow electronic sounds of the radio or television. This may sound like I'm simply being morose, but what I'm really doing is celebrating the time and people, I was lucky to have been surrounded by such a diverse and decent group of people.

Be that as it may, I was completely useless on Monday, the older I get the less effectively I improvise. I fully anticipated going to work, and when it was cancelled, I just sort of went blank and simply blew the day. Today was a skosh better, but I'm still under the spell of the unexpected, and while I did do some good work on the novel it wasn't a rich day.

Oh, just realized I haven't written since the Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, and when Tracy Porter snagged that INT for the touchdown I was in hog heaven. I have a long, and deeply rooted annoyance with the Colts, and seeing them beaten just warmed my heart. Schadenfreude never tasted so good.

Sunday, February 7

You know, I just scanned my most recent months of journals (well, spotty journals) and noticed what was once a good daily mini-meditation had pretty much just turned into reportage on my goals and approach to meeting them. It may've been a necessary evil, but I need to consciously shift back into observation and rumination. The box to the right will remain my daily check on myself, but unless I have some true revelation about achieving my goals, that's pretty much where it'll stay.

I had my weekly "writer's workshop" with my pal Lincoln, and if we hadn't had that get together scheduled, I wouldn't have gotten a damn thing done on the novel. But with the deadline in place, I cranked out a good chunk, and closed out (pretty well I might add) the first major act of the story. I also turned Lincoln on to "The Power of Myth", watching the first hour of the series together as a way of introducing the whole "mono-myth" thing. I always get stoked hearing Campbell speak, and today was no different.

With the two-foot snowfall I've been feeling a little cabin fever-y, so I took a walk to 7-11 for lack of a better destination. I hit Lee highway, not sure what I'd run into, and was blown away by the job the road crews had done. It's far from clear, but jesus, it was two feet of snow, those cats did a hell of a job. The walking was uneven, random spots totally clear, then slogging through snow up to my knees. Found myself ankle deep (just enough to fill my shoes) in some ice water, which made for some squishy walking. By the time I made it back, I'd decided I'm not going to mess with getting my truck out of the mess, that'll be a chore for Thursday, I'll just rely on the subway and my big ass feet till then.

Been watching "Californication" a few episodes at a time, and again find myself impressed with episodic television as a form. This is a comedic show, but it's developing characters that are rich and deep. Doesn't hurt that it's got Natascha McElhone, who is crazy beautiful, crazy. Whoops, looks like it's Super Bowl time, hope the Colts get whacked.

Saturday, February 6

God help me, I'm the king of procrastination, it's getting ridiculous! Discipline, once my close advisor, has become a long lost friend. My long bout of sickie got me into slovenly habits, and I'm having a devil of a time snapping out of it. Not being able to get to the gym isn't helping, that's my cornerstone activity and I miss is sorely. The two feet of snow that fell today isn't helping things, but dammit, doing the right thing when things are great is easy, it's only valuable when you do it when its tough.

So, here it is, 5:30 on Saturday night, I've got 0 words done on my novel this week, and I've got a meeting at noon tomorrow where I'm supposed to have 2100 words done. I'll let you know how I do!

Thursday, February 4

Ooops, missed 16 days of journaling, not stellar given the importance I'm giving this as an observing ego tool. But it's a good example of how things get away from one when you don't pay attention. The last journal I wrote was the day before big snow storm, and since then I've been involved with my nephew in getting a web site together, and experienced a lingering, very annoying cold/flu thing. Ran into someone in the hall at work yesterday, and the subject of my site came up, and she said something about me having a blog, which immediately shocked me into action.

I did get some good work in on the novel, a passage that's been a sticking point for a ridiculously long time, just "poof", resolved itself once I decided it didn't matter. Once I dropped the illusion that the entire book hinged on this scene, it almost wrote itself.

When I was sick, I spent an inordinate amount of time on the couch mainlining Netflix, but luckily stumbled across 30Rock and Dexter. Besides being entertaining, I was really taken with how well both creative teams attacked the challenge of episodic storytelling. Being a fan of comics from a young age, I've seen many very talented creative teams misfire, and both of these shows seem well positioned for longevity.

Speaking of snow storms, apparently we're in for a biggie tomorrow, but I've taken care of everything I need to, and I'm looking forward to a good, long day of writing tomorrow.