Taking a breather
I just finished two reviews and now have to decide what do with the next 90 minutes: Do I do two more reviews? Or work on an essay? This MacBook has less memory than our iBook and booting up MSWord takes forever and makes everything slow. I hate to say it but it makes me hesitate before opening up any documents and I write the reviews directly online. I really need a new memory card.
One great thing about Brett getting laid off is that they’re letting workers take home pieces of the dismantled office. This happened last time he went through a lay-off, too, and it’s how we got all of our nice bookshelves. This time he’s trying to get things to help with my home office. Our house came with this old metal cubicle with glass windows across the top. It looks like something you might see in, say, The Philadelphia Story. It’s nifty but it’s in our dingy basement and I hate going down there to work. I need to get re-organized since my freelancing is stepping up and even if I’m not working down there every day, I need it to be a decent place for all of my stuff to live. (If I could figure out the lighting and the ergonomics, I’d be down there more.)
Today we’re meeting Jessica at Target so Madison can help pick out her birthday invitations. Jessica is really excited about planning the party and Madison is excited about the prospect of cake. To her, the birthday is all about cake. Well, really, the frosting on the cake.
She and Noah are really into Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. Noah will come into the room and say, “Madison! What did Charlie Parker play?”
And she’ll shout back, “Bebop!”
“What else?”
“Saxophone!”
“What kind of saxophone?”
“Alto saxophone!”
“And never leave your cat…?”
“Alone!”
I don’t own any Charlie Parker. I need to get some. I have other bebop but no Charlie Parker bebop. My favorite bebopper is Betty Carter and we like to dance fast to her singing “My Favorite Things.” This paragraph is dedicated to Kim.Kim: Overshoes, overshoes, overshoes, o, Reeti-footi, reeti-footi, reeti-footi, ree.
Did somebody mention my name?
Sheila Jordan, nobody scats better than Sheila. Well Ella holds her own but she’s in a league of her own, next door to Sarah that is. And Rachel Ferrel sings like an angel and can twist and turn like you never heard. Have you heard her sing “bye bye blackbird”?
You do need Charlie Parker, he is the master supreme. And talking of Supreme do you have John Coltrane too?
My grandfather left me an alto saxophone, the neighbours have had it too good, you have inspired me to start practising again.
Your house sounds like fun.
well, since we’re talking about scatting, let us not forget the late and great mel torme.
It’s really tough to work in an office you don’t like. At our old place, I actually had one in a kind of shed out back, which I thought would be fabulous but turned out to hate.
I think you have to sit down and really figure out why you don’t like to be down there and see if you can deal with it, for starters. And then you have to kind of vow to work there anyway, for 30 days–because that’s how long it takes to make a habit–and then see how you feel about it.
You kind of get in the habit of working somewher–bed, coffee shop, etc–and it’s hard to move. Or at least I do!
Good luck (I’m about to take my own advice and move out of that expensive coffee shop…)
Good luck on getting the workspace figured out for your home office.
Snuggle Bug is like Madison, he’s all about the birthday cake!
Hey, thanks for commenting on my wavering post. I do appreciate it!