Friday Rant
It's been a strange, messy week here in DIH land. You may have noticed I haven't been blogging much. Partly this is because I have been struggling with my mystery novel, the first draft of which is due Dec. 25. I know, I know. "Now tell us the one about the seven dwarves."
It's never a good idea to establish December 25 as the duedate for anything. Well, it was once. The Virgin Mary did just fine. But for us mere mortals... no, scratch that. For us lazy writer types Dec. 25th is a bad idea.
Just when you think you've got your subplot off the ground someone, usually the spouse, starts making liberal use of The Marital 'We.' E.g.:
"When are we putting the tree up this year?"
Translation: When are you putting the tree up?
"Are we doing anything special this year?"
[Did you get the Nutcracker tickets?]
"So, are we all set to visit relatives for Christmas?"
[Did you pack: my toothbrush, my razor, my clothes, the gifts, the iPod, the portable dvd player- oh, yeah, did you buy that yet?- and by the way did you go to the post office yet to have our mail held up, is the car tuned up, did you ever find out about ....."]
A friend (male) stopped by a few days ago for some "smart guy time" with the spouse. He has five daughters. I was asking him what it was like to live with all that femininity. He said, "It completely blows my circuits." he went on to explain that women just can't seem to focus on one thing at a time. This, he explained, is why there are no women Mozarts or Michaelangelos. Dames just don't have the focus.
An interesting theory. But the more I thought about it, the more one thing stood out: every time I get really, truly focussed on my work- writing- someone has come along and expected me to abandon it. Not in so many words, of course. Usually in more of a deep-sighing, shoulders sagging, disappointed look in the eyes way.
This is where the double whammy comes into play:
1. women usually are the nurturing part of the household, it actually is their job to see that people are fed and comfortable, and besides we like things that way
and
2. writing is a lonely occupation that most writers, even the best ones, dread to some extent, and the "someone needs me" is as good an excuse as you're going to get to turn away from the laptop for a while.
And yes, I do know all this is just an excuse. Suck it up and do both, I say.
I just wish I could do both a lot faster.
So that's my rant for today. All right, so it's more of a whine. Anyway. Back to work.
It's never a good idea to establish December 25 as the duedate for anything. Well, it was once. The Virgin Mary did just fine. But for us mere mortals... no, scratch that. For us lazy writer types Dec. 25th is a bad idea.
Just when you think you've got your subplot off the ground someone, usually the spouse, starts making liberal use of The Marital 'We.' E.g.:
"When are we putting the tree up this year?"
Translation: When are you putting the tree up?
"Are we doing anything special this year?"
[Did you get the Nutcracker tickets?]
"So, are we all set to visit relatives for Christmas?"
[Did you pack: my toothbrush, my razor, my clothes, the gifts, the iPod, the portable dvd player- oh, yeah, did you buy that yet?- and by the way did you go to the post office yet to have our mail held up, is the car tuned up, did you ever find out about ....."]
A friend (male) stopped by a few days ago for some "smart guy time" with the spouse. He has five daughters. I was asking him what it was like to live with all that femininity. He said, "It completely blows my circuits." he went on to explain that women just can't seem to focus on one thing at a time. This, he explained, is why there are no women Mozarts or Michaelangelos. Dames just don't have the focus.
An interesting theory. But the more I thought about it, the more one thing stood out: every time I get really, truly focussed on my work- writing- someone has come along and expected me to abandon it. Not in so many words, of course. Usually in more of a deep-sighing, shoulders sagging, disappointed look in the eyes way.
This is where the double whammy comes into play:
1. women usually are the nurturing part of the household, it actually is their job to see that people are fed and comfortable, and besides we like things that way
and
2. writing is a lonely occupation that most writers, even the best ones, dread to some extent, and the "someone needs me" is as good an excuse as you're going to get to turn away from the laptop for a while.
And yes, I do know all this is just an excuse. Suck it up and do both, I say.
I just wish I could do both a lot faster.
So that's my rant for today. All right, so it's more of a whine. Anyway. Back to work.
Of course we don't focus on one thing...while the men "focus" we women "get 'er done"! Bible Babe
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