Rational Jenn: Free Children

Rational Jenn: Free Children: "(No, the title of this post is not an advertisement offering up my children for free, but some days I would seriously entertain some offers!..."

None of the things I should be doing (2010, Updated 2016)

This post was originally posted in September 2010. And it was awful. Updates [the commentary in brackets] and graphics were added 2/26/2016].

None of the things I should be doing are getting done. In fact, many of them are things that I sat down to do. Even propped up the old getting work done pillows. Put up my getting work done lap table thingy. Settled the computer mouse onto its comfy mouse pad. Ahhh... What!!?? Where did two hours go? The internet is a trap or the Lotus Hotel.

The Lotus Hotel is a Percy Jackson reference. If you haven't read it... Just Do It! Especially if you are into Young Adult fiction. But even if you really aren't. [But whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances, see the movie. Just do not do it.]

Anyhoo. As is typical for me when I become motivated toward a new hobby, I have begun reading the blogs of others. Partly to inspire me about things to write about. Partly to kill time while I avoid other, more mandatory work. One conclusion that I have come to is that blogs are best done by people who have way too much damn time on their hands. But then, I guess that time and "doing things well" tend to go hand in hand. Perhaps one of my problems is that I engage in too many activities. So, then, I never have enough time to do any of them exceptionally. Is exceptional a goal? It seems that good enough has always been... well, good enough.

Speaking of hobbies. My book reading seems to have waned. [My goal for that year was to read 100 books, I only got to 96! So close, yet so far. Close only counts in horse grenades.] Which is disappointing because I have about 6 books checked out from the library that I actually want to read. I've started 3 of them.

The first is "The Things They Carried." Excellently written book about soldiers during the Vietnam War. I originally picked it up because its the Rochester Big Read book and there are several book groups reading it. But I'm pretty sure that all the groups I planned to attend are meeting on evenings where I'm booked for some child-related activity. Which really diminished my motivation to finish it. And it IS really good.

 

My second book likely to be abandoned is World War Z. A book recounting a Zombie war that threatened to wipe out mankind. I'm on page two. I really like it though or at least feel that I could really like it. [Update: I did actually abandon this book, which made me want to shoot myself after a while. I did not like the "oral history" account thing. I might actually see the movie, that's how much I didn't like the book. Serious.]

 

The 3rd book is Water for Elephants. I think I must have started it when the other two books were out of reach or something. I'm lazy enough to override my rule about starting more than one book at a time, apparently. The author has sucked me in. I really want to know what happens and how it ends. [Update: LOVED it, which obviously makes the movie OFF LIMITS. And is that Robert Pattenson. Urgh. No thanks.]

It would be awesome if the stories could just fly into my head. And speaking of fantasy, it would be great if that work would get done.


[book cover photos were taken from amazon pages. All other photos were found through general google search and may link to their sources.]

You're not talking about me. Are you?

Less than a year since my last post. Not too shabby.

I was thinking today about emailing a friend of mine. Now, what's the bid deal about that, you say? Well. In the last email he wrote to me, he was lamenting the curse of facebook. Ya know, there are people that you left far behind in your past and BAM!! There they are. Friend requesting you on some social networking hub and reminiscing about crap you NEVER meant to remember in the first place... and, now... I have to wonder if what he was really saying was that he's been trying to get rid of me for the last 15 years and I keep emailing him back. That's probably not it, though, right? I mean, he DID email me back last time... I'm sure I'm over thinking it.

I find myself completely over- scheduled. How do I manage to take on so much worthless crap? Not worthless so much as unpaid. Do other mothers who work full time struggle with over booking their volunteer- ready hours? Part of it is my guilt over throwing away all of the fund raising packets that come home. That fund raising shiz is for the birds, ya'll. Truth.

How Hard Could It Really Be?

I read a Chuck Palahniuk book today- Tell All. Not the best Chucky P book out there, in all honesty. But ok enough. I always feel like there are so many "good enough" books out there... and probably even more just plain crappy ones, that really, how hard could it be for me just to write one. All you need is a good story. Or, a good enough one. And some mastery of the language. And not even that, really.

But I get the sense that maybe it's not as easy as it sounds. Because people work so long on books. Really, what are they doing the whole time? Maybe I should just start something, anything, and see what happens... that was the basic premise of this blog entry... if you couldn't tell.

Other things that look easy but really aren't:

• Psychotherapy
• Taking artsy photos
• Making children do what you say
• Push-ups
• Running
• Cooking from scratch with or without a recipe
• Apologize when you don't think you're wrong
• Budget

Writing a Blog- Part I

The thought that has consumed me for the last two days is this: what the hell am I going to write in that damn blog? Should I write about things that have happened in my life? Present happenings? That would be a blog filled with nonsensical ramblings related to patients, children, and reading. Classes start next week so I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to make fun of my new students. Past happenings? I got nothing. Should I write about things that other people want to read? What do other people want to read about, anyway?

I asked Bobby about this... he was as much help as you would imagine. He sits around the house working and learning about all kinds of current events that happen in other countries from TV and podcasts. He's right when he says that if he gives me things to talk about, I won't know diddly about them. Mostly, I feel that I get enough real life current events leaving the house every day. I don't need to hear about the hell other people suffer from broadcast news. My blog is more Avoidance Art, anyway.

I read one blog on Sparkpeople.com that got him and me talking... I'll spare the details here, given that I don't think anyone will be reading this anyway... the end result is that we have been thinking of things that people (read: men) should wait until AFTER they have slept with a woman to tell her. Of course, people (read: women) will think they are things to know PRIOR to the big reveal. Bobby and I keep thinking of things that should go on the list. Here it is so far:

1. I usually prefer thinner women but don't really feel comfortable approaching them. (This was actually the thing posted in the blog I read.)

2. You're sister really is the hot one.

3. Hmmm, maybe I'm actually gay.

4. Episode One was a work of genius.

5. You'd be more attractive if you...  [lost weight, fixed your nose].

6. My ex-boyfriend is a little psycho... just don't look over there.

7. I'm a Republican. (or a Tory if you listen to a bunch of British crap like Bobby does)

8. I guess it wasn't the pants that made you look fat.

9.  My pet roaches are very nice if you just leave them alone. Wanna meet them?

10. I don't read. I'm not a fan of words.

11. I was lying about being... [rich, a lawyer, a movie producer]. But I AM a stockroom manager at... [Blockbuster, McDonalds, any pizza chain].

12. I'm still waiting for the test results to come back.

13. That's the blood bed. We can't have sex on that. (actual lines from a Kevin Smith podcast)

14. I make comics for a living.

15. I find Sesame Street to be a bit challenging, intellectually.

Bobby actually came up with the majority of these pretty quickly... I wonder what he's not telling me!?

( Wow. Blog from my phone. Schweeeet!! Just one more thing this new phone can do better than make actual calls. But then, when do I use it for actual calls anyway? Rarely.

Ahhh... here we are again.

I wonder how many times I’m going to come back to this blog. It's like so many other things: knitting, scrap booking, cross stitching. All great and wonderful pastimes that are made for people who need ways to pass their time. Apparently, I'm only sporadically one of those people. Like today.

This time, though, I'm a little surprised. I could have sworn that I wrote something here a few months ago. But the date stamp tells me that was over a year and a half ago. Either there is truth to the old "time flies" thing, or senility has started a bit early. I'm not ready to hang my hat on either option just yet.

Maybe I will be more active here, now that I have a job that requires fewer hours... at least on paper. I will also have a higher number of people to piss me off as I start teaching next week. Getting pissed off is a sure fire way to get into the writing mood. So... until next year... I mean... next time.

Update: April 16, 2015

Hahaha!!