Areas of Unrest

7 January 2001 - Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

QOTD: "Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run." - Mark Twain

Reading: Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone

Listening to: The Bobs, Coaster

It looks like we'll be going to a compressed work week within the next month or two. That means nine nine-hour days over two weeks and every other Friday off. I really like the idea, since it makes running errands simpler. And, of course, it makes it easier to go away for the weekend.

As for other catching up, my story did go pretty well at the Bards meeting. Basically, I had to change one detail and clean up the ending a little. But they gave me a good idea of how to make the transition I was struggling with. We had more trouble with trying to work out the order of the program. I think we've ended up with something solid, but I'll have a better idea at our next meeting when we do a complete run-through. I've also been invited to tell at the Women's History Month concert in Long Beach. I have a good idea of what I want to tell ("Grossabella and the Dust Bunny") but I haven't entirely decided yet.

My other obsessive activity lately seems to be walking and I drove down to Capistrano yesterday for a Volksmarch there. The part around the old town and the mission was particularly enjoyable. I was less crazy about a couple of long sections along major roads. Still, it got me out of the house.

Getting out of the house was something I was short on today. I got up early enough, but went back to bed after my weekly call to my mother, and slept until a little after noon. My usual round of errands seemed to take ages, too, which was my own fault for throwing in trips to a bookstore and toy store into the time for grocery shopping. (Not even successful trips at that. It is oddly difficult to find a general U.S.A. guidebook. Which is something I try to buy every several years for general reference purposes. And the toy store didn't have any of the action figures I was looking for.) But I'm not entirely sure what I did for a few hours after coming back. I could probably figure it out - reading a magazine, talking with Penny on the phone, a bit of housework - but it blends into this amorphous block of time. I'm sure my body needed the rest, but it still irritates me to be so unproductive.

Shameless Self-Promotion Department: Come see the Biona Bards in "Family Matters" on February 3rd, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. at Tales By the Sea. The concert is at the Malibu United Methodist Church, 31028 Morning View Drive, across from Zuma Beach. Doors open at 7 p.m.. For reservations or information, call Ann at 310-457-2385.