Monthly Archives: April 2003

Coveting Electric

See, it’s times like this, when it’s quarter to one in the morning (oh, lord), when I wish that I had one of those silent Yamaha electric cellos, so I could plug in a set of earphones and practice without waking anyone up.

Two AA batteries not included, of course. And you have to supply your own headphones. But I’d never have to worry about people kicking my cello on the bus again, or fielding dumb comments about the big guitar that I’m carrying, now, would I.

Carrying an amp around with me might be problematic, though. I already have enough trouble with the full-size classic acoustic cello and a music stand.

The Ongoing Insomniac Saga

Nope. Still not sleepy.

Terribly thirsty, though.

I spent much of Friday moving things around – books, furniture, stuff like that – and by doubling up books on most of my shelves, I managed to not only find place for the stacks of books on the floor, but empty half a shelf. Just look at that, I thought to myself, all pleased. Now I have room for the books that will no doubtedly come my way throughout the next months. To celebrate, I stopped by the secondhand bookstore before heading out to the pub for various birthday celebrations, and wouldn’t you just know, in the philosophy/mythology section I found five books that I had to own. I mean honestly, a hand-bound copy of Joseph Campbell’s The Mythic Image? I teach this stuff, for heaven’s sake, how can I pass that up? And the book on creation myths around the world? And an original mass-market edition of Harner’s Way of the Shaman?

Needless to say, that half-shelf is no longer empty. But I’m still thrifty and virtuous – I paid less than thirty dollars for the lot of them. These days, the Campbell alone sells for about seventy-five dollars.

Already it brims with Post-It notes, ready for lecturing. (This is proof of my geekiness too, isn’t it, Skippy.)

Strapped For Content?

The Brunching Shuttlecocks may have slowed down a bit, but damn, this is funny:

The Apathetic Online Journal Entry Generator

Why use up precious time thinking of witty things to type into your web log? Use this handy-dandy entry generator to…

Wait a minute. Don’t most of us use these things as work-avoidance tactics? We turn to them with the intent to waste time.

Off and On

The past couple of days have been odd. I’ve been restless, moody, terribly social, terribly anti-social… I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but I’d like it to settle down. I slept a grand total of two and a half hours last night, then had a staff meeting this morning, managed to completely forget my god-daughter’s birthday family gathering this afternoon, arrived at said gathering with the hatchings of a migraine, left quietly two hours later, came home and hid under the covers for two hours of solid, blissful sleep. It got rid of the headache, but now I’m awake and my sleep schedule is even further off-kilter.

I’m now reading Virginia Woolf’s diaries, and I’m incredibly gratified to learn that if she wrote between fifty and two hundred fifty words per day, she considered herself successful (well, as successful as someone that self-critical can feel; perhaps ‘on-schedule’ would be a better term to use). If I pull off a minimum of two thousand per day, then, I’m doing just fine. Mind you, I entertain absolutely no notions that I’m any sort of a Virginia Woolf. None whatsoever. So no one needs to get nervous when I’m around water.