squirrels – Of Bears and Boating

“Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. We don’t tell ourselves, ‘I’m never going to write my symphony.’ Instead we say, ‘I’m going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.’” – The War of Art – Steven Pressfield.

“The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.” – The War of Art – Steven Pressfield.

This week I learned:

…that listening to the Bee Gees or any other disco era music while working out on the elliptical, is dangerous. Not dangerous in that I might fall off and hurt myself, though that is always a possibility when we are talking about me. I was passed over when they were giving out the coordination gene. Case in point: I once fell off a ladder while painting my bathroom. I guess I shouldn’t have put the ladder IN the tub to paint. But that’s a blog for another time. No, it’s dangerous because I find myself strutting in time to the music. And when I say strutting think Tony Manero in the opening credits of Saturday Night Fever strutting.

It took me a while to figure out what everyone was staring at.

…that I am easily entertained and enjoy scoffing at the incompetence of others – when it doesn’t directly affect me. This is a character flaw that I’m not necessarily proud of and yet, I can’t seem to stop myself.

…that my belief that there is some unseen force sucking out the brains of the parents at my daughter’s middle school still holds true. This week there were no carpool line scuffles, but there was some interesting parallel parking going on. One lady tried, and failed, to squeeze her mini-van into a slot several times, before giving up. Instead, she opted for something similar to the photo below. I took this snapshot in 2004 while walking through the heart of downtown Rome, with my dear friend Manie. Somehow it was funnier in Rome.

…that I’ve successfully pissed away another holiday break with nothing to show for it. I was supposed to finish my novel – didn’t happen (though I didn’t really expect to finish and I did make some pretty good progress). I was supposed to clean out my flowerbeds and winterize – didn’t happen. I was supposed to finish Daniel Silva’s The Confessor – didn’t happen. I was supposed to finish working on my husband’s incorporation documents – didn’t happen. Oh well. There’s always Spring Break.

…that while I’ve been making word count progress on my novel, I find that I am increasingly frustrated with certain plot points. Major plot points. I’m going to have to work this out or I see myself going ahead with the ceremonial cleansing burn in the backyard. Who wants to bring the marshmallows?

…that Lisbeth Salander is still one of my all-time favorite fictional female characters. I was skeptical about the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I feel that we have become a society of reboots and remakes with very little originality coming out of Hollywood. I’ve read the book, seen the Swedish film, and I doubted that even the great David Fincher could make this story better. I was wrong.

***Warning! Pet Peeve of the Week***

…that it is very frustrating when someone forwards me an email and instructs me to inform them of associated deadlines when the deadlines are spelled out in the very first line of the forwarded email. I’m all for delegating, but good grief.

…and last but not least – this week’s awww moment is brought to you by this little guy who seems to be digging winter just as much as me.