July 26.
I don't know where the hours go. I had some time to myself today, and even though I posted two episodes of the Rish Outcast, mowed the lawn, and sat down to perform a Fake Sean Connery song, the hours of the day were not enough, and it was night by the time I checked what time afternoon it was.
I did manage a little bit of writing, during lunch, and hopefully tonight, but I'm just as undisciplined as one of James Cameron's Colonial Marines.
But as I've said (what, ninety times now), maybe July was just a jumping-off point, and August can be truly productive, at least by comparison. I'm not in a race with you, I'm in a race with mys . . .
Oh, I just checked. It IS you. I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I'm a race with you. Sorry.
Words Today: 659
Total Words: 14,502
July 27.
Today, I decided it was time to head back to the library and force myself to write for an hour or two. After all, it is the end of the month, and though I did well three or four days this past week, I'm still pretty far from where I wanted to be. I thought I could write a whole novella this month, or a short story and part of a novel.
Well, I was on my way to the library when I ran into what I guess I have to consider the only friend I have left. I chatted with him for a few minutes, figuring I'd hit the library immediately after. But as the minutes became an hour, I started to wonder if I would miss my chance to hit the library and write*, and the bigger question occurred to me: is hanging out with my friend more or less important than going and getting my writing done?
I'm something of a recluse and a misanthrope, and living on my own in the big city showed me that I'm at least partially capable of being alone and just fine . . . but dude, it would be nice to have a friend or two, you dig?
So, I went to the library, and it was closing in just under an hour, and I sat at the first empty desk I came to and tried to make the most of it. I had made the mistake of stepping into the audiobook section and catching the eye of a helpful young man who, despite not being a library employee, asked me what I was looking for. I glanced to my left, saw the Veronica Roth books, and said, "Oh, there's a book by Patrick Rothfuss I've always meant to read. Just checking to see if it's here." The young man nodded. "Is it The Name of the Wind?" "That's right. But it's never here."
I went and sat down, booted up the computer, and managed just a few words before the helpful young man walked up to me. "Well," he said, "I looked it up in the computer, and there's no audio version." "Excuse me?" I asked. "The Name of the Wind. The library does have eight copies of the paper version of the book, but they're all checked out." Apparently, the chap had gone through the aisles looking for me to let me know. "Well, thanks, man," I said, still puzzled as to what was happening here. I suppose attractive young women get this kind of reception all the time, but for me, it's baffling. "You can put a hold on it," he said, ever helpful, "and when the library gets a copy in, they'll set it aside for you." I considered explaining that I never manage to read physical books, that I fall asleep, and that's why I wanted the audiobook, but instead, I just said, "I'll do that. Thanks again."
He walked away, ostensibly looking for old ladies to help cross the street, and I resumed writing. Or attempting to write, because despite having very little time before the building closed, the blind Japanese guy who seems to live there has some kind of device where you push a button and it screams, "THE TIME IS EIGHT TWENTY-ONE PM!!!!!!!!!" which, I suppose, is to help him know how much time he has left, but he just kept pushing it, and the machine announced it to everyone in a two-block radius. It just bothered me, that he'd push it, and two minutes later he'd push it again. And then the library did their actual announcement, and I guess their policy is, after they do the audio announcement, they flip the lights on and off, in case, I dunno, the Japanese blind guy has a Japanese deaf best pal with him. The second time they toggled the lights on and off, I actually said, "Fuckers!" out loud.
It's okay, I wasn't on the Quiet Floor.
Words Today: 144
Total Words: 14,646
*At one point, I mentioned my library intentions to him and he said, "Why don't you just go to Starbucks and write, like the rest of the jagoffs?" He may or may not have used the word "jagoff" (okay, he didn't; I just like the sound of it), but it was a good question. Why does it HAVE to be the library? Back before my laptop became, first a craptop, and now a gigantic piece of shit, I used to be able to take it to the park and write, or heck, just into the backyard for an hour or so, but now it constantly needs to be plugged in, so my options are limited.
Although I did take it to Arby's once, and that wasn't an unpleasant experience. Maybe I will again (though I'll definitely have to start donating plasma to afford to eat at Arby's. Either that or donate a kidney. That ought to cover my meals there for a good month or so).
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