THE DAY
The day was remarkably without tsuris. That doesn’t mean I slept through the night; woke up a couple of times, but I was also able to get back to sleep pretty quickly, too. No heartburn to speak of, which was a good thing.
People in the house early and stuff that needed taking care of before family stuff this weekend (spoiler alert: when you need to be with family, the odds of getting any writing done fall to virtually zero; it’s worse this time around because I’ll be tied up until Monday night). When I finally could sit down to write, I had this odd moment of . . . screw it. Don’t write; don’t do anything.
But I have a very rigid superego and sense of self-discipline. This is both good and bad: good because this is how you get through medical school, but bad because if you’re not being productive, you feel somehow fraudulent. I have a relative who worked in business for awhile and then quit to live on stock dividends and a husband’s salary while raising the kids and doing a variety of volunteer things. As time has gone on, that person’s gotten back into some more professional stuff. But I also remember having a chat at one point and this relative saying that, well, if you don’t pull in money and don’t work, so what? You’re keeping the house running.
This is true. Things need to be “kept running,” I guess. But we’re not talking a plantation here and doing only that seems as waste of space. Like why are you taking up any if you’re not going to contribute something more than a martini and warm slippers? Yes, yes, I know it’s more complicated than that, and there are people who are perfectly fine running a house. I just can’t be.
Anyway, got myself settled down and working. Only had a relatively short period of time, too, but I was surprised that I managed a decent word count. Could be because I was feeling better, but I would also suspect it’s because I fleshed out a character that I hadn’t before today. So that was good. Felt like there’s more direction here.
Then did the gym thing, and got a little steamed. There’s a guy there–one of the staff–who’s probably not voting in the primary because he just doesn’t know who he could vote for. He’s “waiting to see what happens.” And I’m like . . . you moron, do you realize that people have died to give you this freedom? That people in other countries would kill to vote?
This is what comes of discussing politics in a gym: you want to throw a kettle bell at someone.
Oh, and made a very fine Old-Fashioned, just because. Didn’t do much but sip mine and then give the lion’s share to the husband. I’m feeling better. No point in courting disaster.
WRITING OUT LOUD
Dark Side of the Moon
Day 1: 4326 Day 11: 2500 Day 21: 1800 Day 31: 745
Day 2: 2085 Day 12: 500 Day 22: 0 Day 32: 0
Day 3: 3011 Day 13: 1000 Day 23: 2700 Day 33: 4000
Day 4: 2652. Day 14: 3700 Day 24: 3500 Day 34: 2800
Day 5: 3210 Day 15: 5630 Day 25: 1500 Day 35: 4500
Day 6: 3450 Day 16: 1060 Day 26: 0 Day 36: 4800
Day 7: 0 Day 17: 130 Day 27: 0 Day 37: 0
Day 8: 2756 Day 18: 0 Day 28: 380 Day 38: 450
Day 9: 4580 Day 19: 3000 Day 29: 390 Day 39: 1000
Day 10: 2670 Day 20: 2600 Day 30: 380 Day 40: 2500
Day 41: 2600 Day 51: 1000 Day 63: 4800 Day 73: 1500 (edit)
*Day 42: 830 Day 52: 1600 Day 64: 3300 Day 74: 250 (sick)
Day 43: 3600 Day 53: 2600 Day 65: 2500 Day 75: 3000 (edit)
Day 44: 5000 Day 54: 3600 Day 66: 1200 (edit) Day 76: 2500 (edit)
Day 45: 2600 Day 55: 3200 Day 67: 1000 (edit) Day 77: 2500 (edit)
Day 46: 3000 Day 56: 4000 Day 68: 3000 (edit) Day 78: 2000 (edit)
Day 47: 2800 Day 57: 1200 Day 69: 1000 (edit) Day 79: 2000 (edit)
Day 48: 2500 Day 58-60: 0 Day 70: 1000 (edit) Day 80: 4300 (edit)
Day 49: 1000 Day 61: 3500 Day 71: 1500 (edit) Day 81: 1000 (edit)
Day 50: 4600 Day 62: 3000 Day 72: 2500 (edit) Day 82: 2000 (edit)
Day 83: 1500 (edit)
Day 84: 2700 (edit)
Day 85: 1500 (edit)
Blog Post: 840
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What I’m Watching:
The Blacklist. James Spader has gotten dumpy, but haven’t we all? He’s still got that silken voice and terrific eyes. I would watch that man put on his socks.
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What I’m Reading:
To my chagrin…didn’t crack a spine last night. Just went straight to bed. Tonight will be the same; early morning tomorrow. Maybe a few pages of Troubled Waters or the sample of The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict by Austin Reed and Caleb Smith (heard about this on NPR, and it sounded fascinating, but I’m a little leery of spending $15 bucks on an ebook).
***
What I’m Listening to:
Took a break and listened to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Love that piece. The last time I heard it live was when I took the eldest to college and the college orchestra (really quite a fine one) performed for welcome weekend. What a treat. Tears in my eyes afterward. Love live classical. I love even more to sing in a symphony chorus. I find myself kind of leaning toward trying out for the community chorus even though it would cost me money to volunteer (to the tune of $150 a year!) and from what I’ve found on YouTube so far…they don’t always sing to an orchestra but to, you know, a pianist. Like we used to do in high school. I’m kinda spoiled from years of singing in a real symphony chorus with a REAL symphony and a REAL conductor. So I don’t know. I don’t want to spend money just for the privilege of getting pissed.
