1. Avoiding work.
2. Trying to run off the five pounds of cheese and cider currently clinging to my body. I think it’s working, but only time and kilometres will tell.
3. Trying to find new and exciting work, even in spite of my avoidance of it.
4. Agonizing over the massive holes in the plot of my novel. What happens next? And why did I write the ending before I knew all the bits in the middle? And even though I’m past 100 pages, which I think is pretty exciting (to me, I don’t expect anyone else to do cartwheels), when am I going to have this rush of creativity that will double that? Tomorrow? Next week? In August? I’d love a sign, please.
5. Thinking about booking a hotel in the mountains for two days, even though I just had a vacation but kind of need another one.
6. Experimenting with doggy stew. Not stew made from dogs - they’re still alive and well, and plus, ew - but the idea of taking stewing beef and making dog-friendly, gravy-filled meals with it. So far I’ve made one with turnip, parsnips and carrots (which tastes just like the stew my mom makes) and one with a tomato-based sauce. Both are hits, and I’m going to try the tomato-based sauce with ground beef this time, because I have about eight pounds of it in the freezer. I’ve even managed to secretly trick Ron into eating vegetables in the form of sauce. She still leaves the rice behind, though. All over the house. In nasty little rice-grain dunes that we track into every room. She’s sure showing me.
7. Digging Dexter. Serial killers scare the pants off me, normally, but Michael C. Hall is a fabulous actor, and this show is brilliant. Plus, he only kills bad people, so you’ve kind of gotta root for the guy who’ll take out the guy who just kills people randomly. I could do without the gore, though. My stomach is getting weaker and weaker every year. Pretty soon I’ll have to leave the room when a Band-Aid commercial comes on.
8. Looking for a barbecue. Then buying one. Then wishing it would stop raining so I can wheel the $400 lawn ornament around from the side of the house and actually fire it up. I thought this thing would pay for itself in no time, but we’re going to have to make two $200 meals on it for that to happen this summer. I’d better order the Kobe beef now.
9. Trying to stay off of Facebook. It’s oddly fascinating. I mean, I’m horrified by the thought of putting all my personal information on the internet (there’s a delightfully ironic statement for you, isn’t there?) but I also can’t look away. So far I’ve caught up with two old friends from high school that I haven’t seen in ages. Now I’m just waiting for the Minority-Report-type targeted advertising to start landing in my inbox.
10. Contemplating the idea of starting a niche blog, and then rejecting the concept because, let’s face it, I’m not enough of an expert on any one subject that I could write about it three times a week or more. I could write about writing, sure, but it’s not like I’m Stephen King or David Ogilvy. I love food blogs, but I’m not going to start one, because it’d have to be about what a crappy cook I am. Crappycook.com isn’t going to get many hits. Maybe I could write about Why You’re Better Than Me. What about Books I Should Have Read Five Years Ago….?
To hell with it. I think I’ll stick with being a generalist. It’s paid off so far.