Busy Bee, Wikipedian, Mountains and Other Molehills

It is Tuesday. Did a fair amount of work this weekend. I’m teaching a course for Andrea and Tina so I was listening to the previous run of the course and making an outline of the notes – the class starts on Thursday. Got a so-so draft done of the proposal for the next book. Just programmed my newsletter to send – should deploy in a few hours.

I’m really busy lately. Like crazy busy. Tons of tiny little details to track all over the place. I’m trying to invite at least 2 people to review my book every day. I need to get a little outlandish and invite people I don’t know or people I think are ‘above’ me. Isn’t it weird how we place ourselves in this strange caste system. “No Andy, it isn’t we. It’s you.” Ah well. I think I learned to be humble which can tumble into over-humility which turns into inner-humiliation – always placing yourself under other people. This of course means there’s a status game going on at all.

I get measured on Thursday. My eating this month has not been what it could be. Shocker: my energy is down when I don’t eat well. I figure I made half the progress that I did last month. We’ll see. I’m dragging Ron with me because I’m tired of hearing about how this is the week he starts eating better or tomorrow… and I’m guilty of the exact same thing. Did military press 70 with the barbell so that was a bit exciting. Of course I can’t clean-and-jerk it up successfully more than a couple times. I think that is a clean-and-jerk. I of course first heard that term in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Maybe it’s a snatch. Clean and jerk. Snatch. Heh.

Tara and I usually have Skype IM breaks throughout the day. We’ve found that just a few textual touches each day helps us feel less isolated. We used to talk on the phone but that tends to turn quickly off-topic. A quick snarky jab instant message only takes a few seconds to ingest. We have a few sayings we use as we coach eachother via IM throughout the day. My newest one is ‘MOLEHILLS!’ Which is what I IM when resist a very simple task for days (or weeks) and then do it and find that it only 30 seconds of my life or I am making a really big deal about something. It isn’t really being a drama queen per se because I’m not emoting or expounding about it – I’m just keep it all inside. I know that I have inherited the Worst Case Scenario Reflex from the generations before me. When you combine Mountains/Molehills with Worst Case Scenario you really have a good time and get relatively nothing done.

Hiring the virtual assistants was a great idea. It’s amazing. I give them a task and a few days later it’s done. “Yes, Andy it’s called running a frigging business.” I have them doing all my call transcripts right now. These guys in the Phillippines are doing a much better job than the other transcriptionist I had – who I think was French-Canadian – and I think was just running the audio through a voice recognition system.

24 is rocking my world. Ron manages to come up with new shtick each season. For example, he always says ‘The following takes place between whatever AM and whatver PM.’ along with Kiefer at the opening of each episode. Sometimes things get so tense that he does toe-touches during commercial breaks. I told him we should do a podcast recording during commercial breaks or a debrief after each episode. His latest shtick is when the numbers 24 come up on the screen – you know how they flicker and blink? Ron does a little set of hand movements – kind of like Vogue-ing but in a contained box in front of him with both hands while he chants ‘doo! doo! doo! doo!’ Totally hysterical. I think something my sister and I both learned from our parents is that laughter is essential – laughter is key. Ron and I see couples on the street and they look so morose and serious and we wonder what the hell they talk about or if they ever laugh.

I didn’t tell you that I’m in love. Last week, I had breakfast with Ron’s sister and the cutest little boy in the world: Ethan (Ron’s nephew). Ethan is 2 and is quiet as a churchmouse and plays a mean game of peekaboo. He’s mixed with Ron and his sister’s eyes and a big head of dark brown hair that I’m guessing will turn jet black in time (his dad is a redhead). It was great to meet some more of Ron’s family. Maybe we’ll get to have him for the weekend sometime. That’d be fun. Parade him around like a trophy baby. Ron already knows that Ethan is going to be hot when he’s older because he’s mixed white-asian and wonders how soon we can start him at the gym.

Latest Ron malaprop… Ron is on me about this proposal for a second book. Y’know, cuz mama needs a new pair of shoes. Of course by mama I mean Ron. Anyway he said ‘You know honey I don’t want to count the chicks before the eggs have opened.’ And then there’s the pause while he waits for me to react. What a dork. You’ve seen Trick right? And how the Tori Spelling character is singing the part of Dorcus the Maid? I now tell Ron he’s such a dorkus the maid.

Wow it is windy out there. I can hear the window panes shake.

Couch comes tomorrow!!! Dark chocolate leather loveseat. I got the lifetime leather protection plan which they say covers cat damage. I don’t believe it. I’m sure they’ll say ‘When we said lifetime we meant the couch’s lifetime – not yours – this couch is only supposed to last three years.’

My late night travels through Wikipedia continue: Rope (film), Alfred Hitchock, Prostitution, Raelians, Steroids, Ubermensch, Arundhati Roy, Dharma, Baccahe, Hitchcock Zoom, Louis Farrahkan, Mr and Mrs Smith, Mein Kemp, Montgomery Clift, Male Hustler, Marnie, Nation of Islam, Ripliad, Ripley Under Ground, Swastika (Buddhist), The Legend of Zelda Controversy, Sam Raimi, Strangers on a Train, Unproduced Hitchock Projects, Treaty of Versailles, The Basketball Diaries, Rentboy, Malcolm X.


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3 responses to “Busy Bee, Wikipedian, Mountains and Other Molehills”

  1. JB Avatar

    *Gasp* “Steroids”? Cheat!

  2. David Avatar

    Marnie! Love it.

  3. Lyle Lachmuth Avatar

    What’s with the eating thing?

    You are boffo the way you are!

    Geez, this frickin world is obsessed with fat.

    Donta ya know that ya gets the body ya gets.

    Focus on pleasure not fat!!

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