Sunday, August 14, 2005
I've turned on the alarm again. That means come tomorrow, sun comes up, it's Monday morning, back to work.
This has been a vacation that I have tried to do much by doing next to nothing. There were highlights. Kayaking for the first time this year. Enjoying some nice long walks with Olive the iPod. Hanging out, eating and drinking with friends. Watching (and recommending) the twisted French romantic black comedy Jeux d'enfants (Love Me If You Dare). Recharging the batteries.
I was happy with the progress toward the book proposal. I assembled a semi-cogent two-page proposal portion; the paragraphs are all pretty good but I haven't settled on how to order them. I fleshed out a section of my thesis from 18 to 23 pages into the requisite sample chapter, expanding and expounding some key passages. Now if only I could remember all the interesting tidbits that I either edited out or omitted in the thesis process. I was pleased as well with some of the chapter subheads I wrote, especially: Reporters scramble to cover the Gen X phenomenon; no one hurt but the New York Times Style section. (This being an allusion to the Great Grunge Speak Hoax of 1992.) Now I'm still waiting for the professor with the connection with the SUNY Press to hear back from the senior editor.
I gained furniture as well. A certain cat blogger and my brother had their new dining room set arrive, so I received her old dining room table and four chairs. Nothing extraordinarily fancy, but nice-looking and very functional. It's an upgrade from a dining-room table I had inherited, sans chairs, which can still serve as auxiliary space for entertaining extra-large parties. Not that I often do ... but it's good to be prepared. At some point you'd think I'd be too old to rely on free furniture offerings, but donated furnishings have always served me well.
The lowlight of vacation came on Tuesday. Still sore from kayaking, I went to pull-start the lawnmower and, perhaps not having the choke open all the way, met resistance and pain shot through my right arm. I pulled, strained or twisted something in my forearm and couldn't lift my pinky. At all. Finally, after trying a number of things, I pulled up on my ring finger and felt a pop. My pinky regained its full mobility again, albeit with some minor discomfort. Everything feels much better now, which is good because typing is an important part of the job.
Yes, the job. Tomorrow. From my rudderless existence of the last nine days, I reach for the oars again ... not to paddle a kayak, but to navigate the waters of work. But this was the pause that refreshed. Life is like a musical score, incorporating rests as well as beats. I've had my rest, and now it's time hit the beat again.
posted by Tim 11:24 AM
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