Haven't Missed a Beat
Some three days into my break, it's like I never left. I'm earning some extra monies hawking sweaters at the Gap and it really does feel like the summer, part II. Retail in the mornings, HBO at night - this is the life, right? before the books and the teaching and the taking the bus around Madison, this is all there was. Honestly, I don't regret my decision to lead a slightly more productive life and "contribute" (however I am currently contributing) but this really is not so bad, I almost like how easy and irresponsible and inconsequential it all feels.
I ended up finishing that last paper, late into the night, slept for an hour and came home. Since then, it's been a barrage of homecooked dinners, some working, and some quality time on the couch. It's nice to come back to HBO, I've watched
One Hour Photo and
Secretary, proof that quirky Independent cinema is alive and kicking in this country. I have to work again tonight - meaning that I haven't had a free day all to myself yet and won't until Christmas - but I have some real R&R time scheduled then, a plan to leave town, and live like an single urban sophisticate in a "real" city for a blink. Also, it would be nice to find some peace and quiet in there - the books are piling up - between my book reviews (due upon my return, and I really want them done before the semester starts) and at my sister's and everyone else's insistance, I really need to read this
Da Vinci Code everyone is buzzing about. To make matters worse, my copy of Proust's
Swann's Way arrived today as well. Lately memory / narration / forgetting seem to be hot academic topics for me, and until I read Proust, I am not really qualified to call myself a memory person... so, if as always, if there were more hours in the day, or I could find a way to use the hours I have more productively, I'd be much better off.
In other exciting news, I've worked out a deal with my parents wherein they'll purchase my laptop for a fair amount and I'll buy myself one of those slick new, and yet affordable, ibook G4s. The timing is very good because it's between semesters and I am taking a production class this Spring and will really enjoy editing at home instead of trying to sign up for editing rooms on campus... so I am very psyched, just trying to figure out when to order it as to get the best deal (now you can have free shipping and a printer) the free shipping is nice, but I already have a printer, I'd rather wait for free memory or something else I don't already have but would like getting free.
Anyway, I just got back from my one-stop Xmas shopping (I am so not into gift buying, not even so much into the getting part) this season and realized that I forgot to stop by the library to rent movies... that's a fun errand though, I don't mind going out again. Also, it is so nice to get places in a car instead of waiting in the cold for a bus.
posted by lmjasinski at 1:51 PM
