A Blog in 10 Minutes

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.

What Do These Two Things Have in Common?

Answer: They both help me study!

While things like Saving Papers For The Last Minute or Not Sleeping Enough detract from my efficacy as a student, repeated studies have shown that nothing helps me focus better than Beethoven's piano sonatas and a good ol' cup-o-joe.

[Today's blog was brought to you by Bodum, Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, and by the letter R!]

The News

Here are some headlines and news from my life today:

Homework, Job and "Having a Life" Combine to Make Young Man Anxious
I have so many assignments stacked up, job applications to fill out and gardening chores that I want to do that I literally didn't fall asleep for over an hour last night. Furthermore, I'm not doing a good job of prioritizing those good things in life that make it worth going through all the stressful times. I was planning to quit my job later this summer, but I may advance the expected last day by a few weeks.

Journalist Interviewed: Trying Times for Newspapers... and Photographers
I carpooled to a school tour with a colleague this morning and had the opportunity to hear some of his life story. He studied journalism in college (in the 80s) and got a job as a photojournalist for the St. Paul newspaper The Pioneer Press. Apparently no one reads newspapers any more. He was laid off in 2002, made it as a freelance photographer a number of years after that, and more recently couldn't even make it doing that. Now he's in his first semester at Hamline - same as me - getting licensed to teach communications.

Camping Gear Still Strewn About
I got off the water with Brooke and friends last Monday after a four-day canoe trip. It poured rain the last day out, so I hung up a makeshift clothesline in my room to dry stuff out. I've been slowly putting things away, but there's still plenty to go.

Craigslist Leads to Interesting and Potentially Helpful Guy
I have a new bike. His name is Jeconiah. Actually, he's just a new frame I bought with some birthday cash with all of my old components swapped over. I'm currently trying to sell some of the old parts that didn't transfer on Craigslist, and I missed a great trade opportunity by 4 hours. C.J. was the guy behind the almost trade and when I called him back today, he still took the time to ask about what I was looking for - a crank, long cage derailleur. He "knows people" and alerted me to the bargain finds to be had at local "swap meets." Apparently he trades for parts, builds up bikes and knows a lot of similar people. Though he only just met me over the phone, he'll "get back to me" with some potential used parts I'm looking for. Score(?).

Government Shut-down Foils Family Plans
Thanks to stubborn lawmakers in the State Capitol building that is just a few miles from my apartment the entire state government might shut down in 7 hours. News usually just passes in one ear and out the other, leaving me about as politically informed as my bicycle, but this story is hard to ignore. Several of my colleague are realizing they may not be getting paychecks this week - a sobering thought. Fortunately for me the worst direct impact on my life will be the closure of the state park Brooke, her family and I were going to relax in over the holiday weekend. One positive* side: perhaps the government contracted construction workers will stop loudly driving their bulldozers up and down my street while I'm trying to study.

New Study: Can Cookies Lead to Obesity?
My housemate Noor is apparently the lead researcher on this one. And I am the experimental group, n=1. He brought home a tray of 84 cookies that he received for free yesterday, and rather than eating them all he left a note reading "please, help yourself." Also, consider that Brooke and I are low on groceries and time to cook...

*really just for me. Again, mostly sobering for the actual workers.

Head Above Water

Turns out school is more difficult than I thought - at least when juggled with work, planning for a trip, job searching and having a life.

I'd write more, but notice how "blogging" didn't make the list of things with which I was juggling school.

Suffice it to say I have more [b]logs to post, I would like to keep blogging, and life is pretty busy right now. Presently I have some more Ed. Psych. to read before class tonight and a trip to the good ol' BWCAW slated for tomorrow.

[blub]

The [B]log: April 30, 2011 - Day 3

As I finished typing the last sentences of my last (for now) blog post somehow a little piece of my subconscious knew that I would receive my first SASE from my good friend Jonny, and that it would be very prompt. As if on cue, a letter did arrive from Jonny (and his wife Hannah) as quickly as the USPS made possible. After a long (and busy!) day at the shop, followed by a delicious Indian feast at a nearby restaurant I found the letter lying on the table just inside the door.

I wasn't really sure of what I was doing/planning when I unofficially announced that I planned to continue blogging... and then offered continued receipt of said [b]logs via SASE. First of all, I had no idea if anyone would even bother with the time and money (88¢ + 2 envelopes) involved. Also, I didn't have a ny particular writing plans... although these daily exercises have been nice and might as well be continued. And now that I have at least one paper log "subscriber" I have a greater purpose behind these thoughts... I am... a Logger!


Another more immediate effect of the letter (for a letter it was, as well as a SASE!) was to make me excited. I still have a few pen and paper correspondences, and I think half the reason for this is my innate love of tangible memorabilia and all things antiquated. I get this from both parents. I have a pocket watch (waiting on a fob), a physical ledger book, and an old cigar box with recipes on index cards. In high school I would collect paperback classic novels, half as much for the weathered artwork on the covers as for the literary value. And I love letters. So maybe, if I'm being honest with myself, a request for SASEs was partly a clever, subconscious trick to get mail! Score!


But also, as I read over Jonny's friendly words, this letter did well to remind me of the joy of paper correspondence. When I was composing the auto-reply "vacation responder" for my email account I was envisioning most of my communication during this time period as phone-centered. But hey, why not mail some letters too? Catch up on some correspondences? Yeah it costs money, but what's 44¢ these days? Sure it takes time (i.e. - is not instantaneous), but 2 days plus a few hours isn't really that long... So hooray for snail mail


Finally, I've just remembered that I wanted to make some predictions (not the right word) about this month. What do I fear? What do I think will be challenging? etc... One guess I had was that trivial searches would lose their appeal; so far that's been true. If googling an obscure law/fact/thing is no longer an option then the back of my mind will stop urging me to a computer throughout the day. I do think it will be difficult to get by without conveniences such as: apartment-searching, job-searching, obscure item purchasing (with home delivery!)... and checking the weather. Today I woke to pouring rain, psyched myself up, bundled up in rain gear, bike to work... and then couldn't fit all my rain gear into my small backpack when the ride home happened to be sunny and gorgeous. Who could have guessed?


I'll ponder more later. Now to bed! I've got some serious relaxing to do tomorrow!

The [B]log: April 29, 2011 - Day 2

Wow! Several days of cold weather and then today was gorgeous! Even by 9:20 when it came time for me to bike to work. One of my past computer addictions that I must now learn to live without is wunderground.com - the amazing weather site. The day looked beautiful - not a cloud in the sky - so I left for work with only a sweatshirt - not even a jacket in my trusty backpack. (Also of note: I broke down and bought a bike-specific map of the Twin Cities with my employee discount at work. I took a more "bike friendly" route this morning and was rewarded with prettier scenery, less traffic and few red lights!) By 6 PM it was raining buckets. Ah yes, that's what it feels like to not be able to read the weather's forecast... By 7 PM I somberly called for a ride from Brooke when I got off at 9. She arrived at 8:30 (with my sister - visiting for the weekend and wanting to check out the shop) and there was no rain to be found. The roads had even retained enough heat that all residual moisture on the roads had *evaporated*! Whoops! So I biked home in the end. Lesson learned: when you don't know what to expect from the weather, be prepared.

The [B]log: April 28, 2011 - Day 1

I woke up early today - not of my own accord like the last two days but because a construction worker bulldozing our street rang the doorbell to ask if it was my Silverado parked outside. (It wasn't.) And now I am up. The spot on my desk where my computer used to be looks strangely empty. (I disassembled my computer, putting battery and power cord in one drawer, computer elsewhere.) Last night I partially filled the space with my recipe box and my new ledger. Still, I keep automatically turning to that space - looking for something.

The first thing I did, once I decided that I wasn't going to fall asleep again, was actually to walk right past my desk and head upstairs for a pre-breakfast snack. Fortunately Noor - my housemate who works at Pizza Hut - brought home a pizza for sharing last night. I wandered back downstairs nibbling on a piece. Then what? Without a computer there's really nothing that draws me to my desk, other than the fact that my only chair is there. (I shouldn't say "only." I have a cushy chair that actually isn't that comfortable that I mostly use to drape articles of clothing on.) I sat down in the end and wondered what I should do. That wondering is kind of funny... like it's this void created by the sudden lack of this thing in my life. It's kind of like when you've been busy at school and you wake up to your first day of summer vacation. You wander out of your room, are encountered by the void your former routine has left and pronounce, "I'm bored." Hopefully I won't be bored for long. And actually, this may be the first time I've written in the morning. I kind of like it. But no I have some phone calls to make before work...