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WORDS: books ++ about me & my site ART: ceramics ++ mosaic ++ photography PEOPLE: friends on the web ++ BHS 1985 PLACES: my Hawaii ++ hangouts |
Currently
READING
nothing right now
LISTENING
Face Value
Phil Collins
MAKING
plans for a barbeque
LUSTING
Titanium Powerbook
I'm happy for now.
Really happy.
AWAITING
time to breathe
Tuesday, September 04, 2001
It seems lately that if I haven't been busy slogging through my to-do list, I've been complaining about how much is on it. This week is no exception. But at least I'm feeling quite a bit more in control of the whole situation, and those who know me know that I'm all about control.
So, welcome to my personal to-do list for today, in no particular order of importance.
- Finish postcards for Mom.
Finish OSU alumni newsletter.
Updates for foodandwinebooks.com. (in process)
Letter to Papa.
Concrete proofs to Thomas. (done)
Proof & correct remaining Concrete papers. Send those puppies out to the authors.
Pick up library reserves.
Return overdue library books.
Update Sarah on Concrete status. (done)
OSU alumni board meeting announcement to officers and committee chairs.
Work on final Concrete paper.
See if Mac Made Easy has an ethernet crossover cable.
Update bookgroup page.
Update virtuallori.com, even if it means just posting my to-do list. (in process)
posted by Lori at 2:47 PM | permanent link
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
The project management strategy seems to be working. I've made a lot of progress on this book project this week, and have still managed to get a bunch of manini things done. This has been my game plan for most of the past 2 weeks:
- Do some small, 5-minute thing before going to work, assuming I have enough time. This morning, it was putting away the dishes I washed last night.
- Do some small, 10-minute thing at lunchtime. Yesterday, it was sorting through the newspapers and bundling the bits I don't need anymore for recycling. Then spend the rest of the time eating lunch and reading something unrelated to work of any kind. Or sometimes take a little nap.
- After getting home and taking care of the mail and anything else that needs to be done immediately, I set the kitchen timer for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and set to work on some house project(s). This gives my eyes a break from staring at the computer all day, before I start staring at it all night. Yesterday, I tackled a small pile of bags and shoes and other detritus that got dumped in a corner of the office closet after the move and had yet to be dealt with. And as a bonus, I found the bag I had promised to give to a friend.
- Then I gather up some dinner and plunge into the big project and set myself a time to stop. Most weekdays I get at least 4 hours in. I've found that with this current project, working in chunks of time rather than in the "finish-this-paper" mode is much more useful. I don't feel quite so overwhelmed, considering that some of these papers are ending up close to 100 finished pages long. And there are 11 of them.
- After time is up, I'll pop in a movie or take a short walk or just go to bed.
Yeah, it's all a bit overstructured for my taste, but it's getting me through this crazy time with some semblance of control. Otherwise, I'd still be wallowing in despair over how much there is that must get done, and wouldn't be accomplishing any of it. And I'm still taking time out to be social, although not as much as I was in the first week of August. The thought of September and knowing that I'll be done by then is what's keeping me afloat right now.
The scintillating details of my mundane life keep you all enthralled, I'm sure.
posted by Lori at 10:52 AM | permanent link
Thursday, August 09, 2001
Here's a gem from the better of the two local daily papers:
http://starbulletin.com/2001/08/08/news/story7.html
Go ahead. Take a moment to read it.
Now, somebody explain to me why the parents are so incredulous that "nobody called" them to say that their son was dead, when he carried no identification and no one had really missed him all that much.
Their son, for whatever reason, was living with his grandparents. The grandparents hadn't seen him since Tuesday, and were just kind of "wondering" why they hadn't seen him in a few days. The boy's cousins covered for his absence -- and I hope they rot in hell if they knew that he was dead when they told the family that he was with friends. The parents just had an "inkling" that something might be wrong when friends asked if the police had been to the house. Some grandparents. Some cousins. Some parents. Some friends.
This is obviously a family who had completely lost control of this kid, which is evident even without considering that he died when he smashed up a stolen car after a high-speed police chase. At 17. They don't seem particularly concerned when he goes missing for a couple of days. At 17.
My first instinct was to think that the kid got what he deserved, being a teenage troublemaker, stealing cars and leading police on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood. But the more I look at it, the more I have to think that this kid's so-called support system completely failed him. Now, I don't know them, or anything about them other than what I've read in the newspapers the last few days. Maybe the kid was just a bad apple, beyond anyone's control through no fault of their own. Those kids are out there. But here we have four layers of support -- grandparents, cousins, parents, friends -- none of which expressed much concern about the well-being of this kid.
Shame on all of them.
posted by Lori at 11:10 AM | permanent link