Lately I've been having difficulty writing papers. It's not that I'm not a good writer; in fact I've gotten top marks on all papers submitted so far. The problem is more one of timing. Namely, I read and research and reflect, sometimes even pre-write and outline, and then when I get to the actual paper I freak out. I sit and stare and manage to squeeze one sentence out of my brain every few minutes. I ultimately average (and this has been pretty much consistent since undergrad) about one page per hour. Talking to (and getting constructively scolded by) Brooke, I realize that that's not very fast. and that I could do better.
This past weekend was a doozy. Brooke and I were to head up North to do some relaxing (before I headed out East for a family vacation), BUT several things happened. I got sick and I had two papers to write over the weekend (plus plenty of assigned reading). So I did take a work day, and I got one good paper written (at the page-an-hour rate) and the other outlined, but that leaves me with a night class tonight at 5pm, one paper left unwritten, a vacation to pack for and an apartment to move out of.
So, why am I wasting time blogging? My goal here is to "warm up" with some train of thought writing. My biggest problem in writing is that I want it to be perfect coming out of my mind. But that's not how writing works. You edit to make it perfect. And I'm even a good editor!!! Sooooooo, I'm hoping to pump myself up to crank out 5 rough pages on my educational philosophy in an hour, do some laundry, come back and edit a bit, and so forth.
With my remaining three minutes...
One blog post I wanted to write last night would have been titled, "My Last Day Here and Noor Hooked Me Up with a Pizza." That blog would have discussed my upcoming move (to a new, nearby apartment - this one a studio: tiny but not shared with anyone), how this is my last day living in this apartment, how it was going to be a hectic day... AND how on this day that I would scarce find time to even feed myself, Noor left a nice box of Pizza Hut pizza on the table - up for grabs.
Another post that never materialized in days past spoke of new changes for me. Aside from the new apartment, last Wednesday I found out that I got a job that I had interviewed for - at North High School in North St. Paul. It will be 30-35 hours/week as an Education Assistant, presumably helping small groups of struggling teen get caught up on school work. The job sounds fun, the pay is considerably better than the bike shop job (which I quit several weeks ago), and though it is a solid 9 miles away, there is a beautiful rails-to-trails bike trail that takes me most of the way there. So life is good. As long as I can keep typing this quickly.
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