Just like most everyone, I’m a huge fan of days
off….holidays…long weekends…vacations…a little hooky. Time off is ahh-may-zing. Swoon!
But a notch even above that is time off between jobs. No BlackBerry buzzing in the background. No worrying about what you are going to walk
back into next Monday morning. No
worrying about the things on the perpetual To Do list that just didn’t get done
before vacation hit.
Nope. Nada. Zilch.
The week between jobs, other than pretty much being a total
necessity, is like a huge treat. A
little taste of what independent wealth, so I won’t have to work would feel
like. Sweet Freedom!
Yup. That’s what I’ve
named this week. Sweet Freedom. I gave it a theme, because that’s just what I
do. What can I say? I like to name my To
Do lists too. Because I’m a dork like
that. But try not to judge. There are far worse and far lamer things I
could be doing. Like LARP-ing for
instance. Don’t know what that is? No worries.
Just means you are even cooler than you realized.
But yes. I name
things. The same way I have a soundtrack
to my life. Certain songs running
through my head while things are happening to me – when I’m walking down the
street, out with friends, sitting in the park, laying awake at night because
sleep totally eludes me. For that
moment, “Dreamlike State” by Erasure is playing because that’s what was playing
when Brandon’s girlfriend was visiting him from Minnesota and snuck into his
room. I know. Cheesy. But for some reason that moment pops into my
head when I can’t sleep sometimes.
ANNNNNNYWAY…...So yes, I have music going just like I’m in a
movie (but not a lame montage mind you). Or like I’m on One Tree Hill. Feel like it
would be kind of cool to have music playing over me. Take right now – the soundtrack of my writing
would be "All My Days" by Alexi Murdoch. For one, because it’s a
great damn song. And for two, because it
is actually playing right now, so there’s that.
The one drawback of the whole Sweet Freedom naming – I of
course have that damn Michael McDonald song stuck in my head all week. UGH!!!!!! Nails on a chalkboard. Needles in my ears. So painful to listen to! I song I loathe as much as “Kokomo” or “Don’t
Worry, Be Happy”. Songs that *always*
make my Top 10 List of Worst.
Songs. Ever. Think VH-1 would do a countdown like
that? Songs I actually hate with a firey
passion. That would be good in an awful
way. But damn that stupid song!
I’ve been doing a good job of distracting myself from crap
music with TV. Lots and lots of TV. The fact that I have enough DVDs, streaming
video and a packed DVR that if I was under house arrest for a year I still
wouldn’t run out of things to watch, might not be something to brag about. But after what in hindsight has been a really
rough twelve months, the idea of getting lost in mindless stuff was crazy
appealing.
I always have such grand plans – I will go to museums and
work out religiously and clean and organize and write. I will write my ass off. I make that promise every time. And every time I fall a bit short. I am the queen of procrastinating.
So I found myself online window shopping…and sometimes
clicking…because after all doesn’t a new
job merit a few new pieces? A whole new
look? It’s a new season so why not a little something something new, even though I dread
the idea of months of humidity that lie ahead because not even the best of
dresses and heels are going to tame the curls that have already taken over my
head. (Bye-bye bangs. It’s been nice
knowing ya.)
Now I did actually do some other productive things this week - swear! - but won't bore you with the details. One women's productive can be very yawn producing to another. And conversations between friends over glasses of wine should stay between friends.
But as far as
The Legacy goes?! Full-blown manuscript neglect.
It’s embarrassing how bad I’ve been. Because I think about it pretty much daily. All the live long day sometimes. Yet it sits. Collecting dust. Resenting me like a neglected child. Or what I imagine my plants feel for me because I forget to water them sometimes and it's only when their leaves are all saggy and they are begging for water that I think - Crap! I should water those babies.
But I’m trying to reenergize myself.
People find inspiration in all sorts of places. But I’m doing a bit of
osmosis/watching-this-makes-me-want-to-write-this therapy. I will blame part of this crackpot scheme to the fact that the first few days of the week were rainy and humid and flat out miserable and were the kind of days that staying home and watching TV were BUILT FOR.
So I’ve officially caught up on The Killing - when you watch six episodes in one day, it’s
somehow more fun and totally gets you into things. I don’t have the ability to keep up with TV
(unless it’s Revenge…what can I say?
It’s just that good). But
any-AMC-creepy-crime-drama, I’m back into The
Killing….I’m back into figuring out who the hell killed Rosie Larson,
though there are so many damn characters I pretty much need to start my own
murder board just to keep up. And Billy Campbell is officially creeping me out, which is a shame because loved him on Once & Again.
I also submerged myself in episodes of Remington Steele. This is
one of those shows that’s so smart and witty and clever and I could watch over
and over again. And somehow I forget how well done it was because it's from a hundred years ago. It’s the kind of
show that when the soundtrack is playing I pretend that I could write something
like this. The one-liners and movie
references and on and on. Makes me appreciate great writing and makes me want
to write great things.
So this is me…watching to inspire. Hatching a plan to dig back into The Legacy and not give up on it. Not clean
the toilet instead of writing. Be the
Nike ad and just do it goddammit! There's a good story in there. And I'm not just saying that because it's mine.
But before I dig into all that, there’s totally this cute little jacket on
sale at Kate Spade that I kind of need to snatch up before it’s gone! But right after that. Swear!
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