Today was an incredibly long day. I had coffee this morning and I thought it would make it all right but my evening after work got dragged on and I ended up not getting home until seven. I hate when I come home later than normal. It feels like it throws my entire rhythm off.
We have two late nights this week at work and I am glad for that. Late nights mean that I can sleep in that morning. I like being able to sleep in. There is something about sleep and me in the mornings. Sleep is my friend. It doesn’t help that I am a night owl. I can stay up for hours but I hate getting up in the morning. It’s always a drag. I do it though because that’s what we get paid to do right?
Today on lunch the crew and I took a ride to the park. We were talking about Eddie Murphy and how he changed after he made Coming to America. I attributed it to his sudden crossover appeal with that film. The peanut gallery seemed to agree. Coming to America was a very funny movie though.
I need to be better organized. I am organizationally challenged. Well I shouldn’t say that. My room could be in a complete and total mess but I know exactly where everything is. My mom says that when your space is cluttered like that it is a reflection of the state of your mind. Well, I think my mind is pretty cluttered too. I’m trying to work on clearing some of the bullshit out.
Courtney said she is getting started on her New Year’s Resolutions early. I think I should start on mine early too simply because I will probably need a head start sticking with them.
Tonight Haikuboy made me smile. He says the sweetest things sometimes. I like the spontaneous IM hugs. I like them a lot. He still reads my site and analyzes my words to see if I am writing about him. I like that too. I think it’s funny when people ask me if I was referring to them when I wrote this or that. I wonder when they will stop trying to figure it out.
I’m going to come up with a new list of pseudonyms. Then no one will know who anyone is and everyone will be working their hardest trying to guess. And I am easily amused. Har.
Do they really have rehab for people who smoke marijuana? Can you really be rehabbed for smoking weed?
So my cousin Sportscaster and I issued a challenge to each other. We said we were both going to start keeping a better eye on the things that we put in our mouths, get more exercise and drink more water. We are supposed to report to each other on a daily basis to see how well we do. Now I’m really Bridget Jones cause I think I’m going to write about it in my journal too.
So today I got no exercise. I drank water but I also had a 20-oz Pepsi and a Venti Traditional at Starbucks. I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, a pop tart from the vending machine on my late afternoon break (I skipped lunch) and a bowl of ramen noodles for dinner. I am fully aware that this is not the route I should be taking. Tomorrow will be a better day I’m sure.
I need to come up with a list of resolutions. I said that already but I’m revisiting that thought. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what matters and what doesn’t. What I have time for in my life and what I don’t. Trying to distinguish between the two sets and let go of the things that are wastes of my time and energy. Letting go is hard though isn’t it?
I wrote an article for kinky thoughts. I was able to actually produce something that is in line with the caliber of writing I would like to continue producing for that part of the site. It’s my vision so to speak. I want to be able to write with clarity and make sense to a broader audience. I am working on polishing up my writing so this will be good practice for me. I actually dug out my old MLA handbook for that one.
The book was crowded into the top drawer of the computer desk which is already brimming over with hundreds of things (I mentioned my lack of organization) and when I pulled it out it was like welcoming home an old friend. Then I started reading through the book from the front page and I realized how much of a refresher I could use on some of those standard writing lessons. I saw many of the mistakes I commonly make. And then I saw a paragraph that spoke volumes to me about where I am as a writer.
From The Little, Brown Compact Handbook Third Edition by Jane E. Aaron:
Before you begin using this book, you may need to banish a very common misconception: that writing is only, or even mainly, a matter of correctness. True, any written message will find a more receptive audience if it is correct in grammar, punctuation, and similar matters. But these concerns should come late in the writing process, after you’ve allowed yourself to discover what you have to say, freeing yourself to make mistakes along the way. As one writer put it, you need to get the clay on the potter’s wheel before you can shape it into a bowl, and you need to shape it into a bowl before you can perfect it. So get your clay on the wheel and work with it until it looks like a bowl. Then worry about correctness.
I am still trying to learn that it doesn’t have to come out perfectly the first time around. I’m hoping this side journal will help me get the crap out. That’s the purpose of it anyway. Somewhere I can write in that random stream of consciousness style that I love so dearly. A lot of my writing ideas come from me just free-writing in a journal about any and everything. That’s how the majority of my haiku come about.
Anyway it’s time for bed. I’m yawning and the clock is edging closer to midnight.
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