October 4

More procrastination, a poem, and a bunch of drawings

1979

Swan Dive

The time’s not right, 
the wind’s too slight.

The rest have flown,
I wait, alone.
 
(It’s one thing to dream, another to try.)

That perfect moment, I flew, 
slipping off the swing.
But not today.
Today I wait.

Was it only five years ago I sat watching the boats on the St. Lawrence and a poem about dreams came to me? Where did that feeling go? What am I afraid of now? Which is worse: trying and failing, or not trying? Right now, trying and failing, I think. I hope my fearless self comes back soon.

It’s so scary here on the edge.

Comment 2023

As I recall, this was the point at which I began to describe going to grad school as “jumping off a cliff”.

1983

The future article is finished and in the secretary’s inbox. What next? Time to take stock , I guess. I had hoped my most completed MS advisee would be finished by the time I was done with that article, and we would work on a piece together. Or Clarita and the eagles paper. Or maybe kids clothes with that other advisee. But no….have to look around for myself.

Possibilities:

- work on the book some more (it’s been on hold)
- finish time-management article
- Hazard thesis into an article for Threads?
- start researching men’s clothing production in Baltimore
- college history project

Well, time to get dressed. It’s going to be near 90 today, so I am not sure what to wear.

Comment 2023

I would love to read that “time management” article I didn’t write in 1983. What I did, as it turns out, was work on the kids clothes project by myself. And the rest is history.

1997

Essentially, the solution to my time management problem is more time at home. There’s only so much that has to be done on campus, especially now that I am no longer grad director. 

My ideal bio-day is:

Slow start (coffee, breakfast, shower, dress, exercise, newspaper) until 9:30
Focused effort on creative tasks (writing, research reading, note taking and planning) until lunchtime
Lunch, light reading and rest (about an hour midday)
Small to-do items and errands, phone calls (afternoon until family gets home)
Dinner (cook and eat), tidying (early evening)
Read for fun, play music, watch TV (until 10 pm)
Get ready for next day, go to bed, read a bit maybe. No later than 10:30

Comment 2023

Not much has changed. I do not wake up raring to go, but tend to ease into the day. Morning is the best time for anything requiring focus, especially writing. I have tried to write at other times, and for many years I had no choice. But it was neither fun nor productive. Evenings are slow and vegetative. I can do a pretty good imitation of a productive, engaged human in the afternoon.

Inktober 2018

Inktober 2021

Inktober 2022

2023

Inktober day 4: dodge.

This led me down a rabbit hole, a common occurrence in my life. I don’t mind; Wonderland is my second home.

This is my version of the original Dodge logo. Of course, there are various stories.

2024

Inktober - “exotic”. This was fun. And I am rewarding myself for a week well spent with a long bus ride to campus and points TBD. Really. Wandering along on public transportation is my version of a spa day.