Friday, July 29, 2005

GOOD INTENTIONS

"In creating, the only hard thing's to begin;
A grass-blade's no easier to make than an oak."
John Russell Lowell 1819-1891 "A Fable for Critus." 1848

This was one of those days when my good intentions were completely grounded. I know this happens to other folks, so I shouldn't feel 'guilty' about it, but still...there was so much work I wanted to do and it just didn't happen. I somehow managed to laze away the entire day!

Yesterday I did several hours of notes for the next chapter of my novel. It was on my mind all day, even at the beach where I went for a few hours in the afternoon, and last night when I went out to listen to music and meet my friends. I had whole lines and paragraphs 'written' in my head as I walked home last night. But alas! All good intentions....

I had a free day today as my Memoir "Writing in the Park" was postponed til tomorrow. So I decided to rise early and go to waterfit. A good way to start the day, with some exercise at the pool. After that I went up the Drive, stopped for a bit of lunch at my favorite Italian coffee shop, did some grocery shopping and lugged everything home in my pull-along back-pack, also carrying a couple of bags. It was heavy. And the day was very hot!

By the time I'd walked home, and up the hill to my place, I was drenched and totally exhausted. I tried to compensate by having a wee nap, but only woke with a fuzzy brain. No way could I put together a sentence to begin a day of writing as I'd planned. So, basically I did nothing much all day long. Eventually sat out on my balcony with a salad, glass of wine and read a little. (I'm reading "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham, an interesting change of
pace for me as I'm usually reading historical fiction. I'm so far behind in my pleasure reading, and have wanted to read this book for some time. I'd also like to read some Virginia Woolf and this will be sure to prompt me.) Tonight I did nothing except play on the computer, watch the news (more mind-numbing activities) and now it's bed time but I am still very tired.

So, tomorrow's another day for running around town, going to my Memoir group (We're writing in a garden tomorrow), and then off to the beach. I must enjoy this sunshine while it lasts as they are already predicting more rain.

Somewhere over the weekend I will get back to my writing. At least I have all the notes done for the next chapter and have a good idea to where to begin. In the meantime, I write trivia on my other blog ("Conversations with Myself" at http://ruthakik.blogspot.com ) Yes, trivia.
But it's all part of this writer's life.

"Never do today what you can
Put off till tomorrow."
William Brighty Rands (Matthew Browne) 1823-1882 "Lilliput Lives"

a play on a quote by Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield 1694-1773
"No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."



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