The Inmates Run the Asylum

I've spent all day playing catch up and I think I'm pretty much there. I'm pretty sure that I can get the rest of what I need to get done over the next few days.

I knew I should have started this holiday stuff sooner. I do this every year, but it's always worse during the years that I end up making gifts. I know what I need to do and I'm always like, "yeah, I'll get to that this weekend" and then suddenly it's the weekend before Christmas and I'm scrambling.

At this point, it's like tradition to be pulling my hair out and cursing my own existance before the holidays. I'm not hair pulling at the moment, but I am cursing.

It's like a my own crass Christmas carol.

I cooked hamburgers on the grill for dinner tonight. The drippings in the bottom of the grill caught fire, the cheese got a little burnt, and I still have my eyebrows. A successful dinner for someone who shouldn't be anywhere near an open flame.

I finished editing my rewrite of "In the Dark". Though my To Do list seems neverending, it feels good to cross something off of it. Next up: "Dead Guy in an Elevator" edits and continuing progress on "Not Pretty".

I also finished In the Night Room by Peter Straub. I liked it better than Ghost Story for sure, but I'm still not sold on the guy. The actual story I liked quite a bit; it's his style I'm having trouble getting used to. Maybe I'll try him again sometime.

I put off all the chores I was going to do today because I thought it was going to be ungodly hot and rain. But, neither of these things came to fruition. And neither did me changing my mind about doing those chores. That's what tomorrow is for.

Carrie got her DragonCon magazine in the mail today. I looked through it, even though I've got one coming. Hey, she was asleep and I was semi-conscious. I win.

According to my phone's D-Day counter (reading instruction manuals DOES have benefits...I wouldn't have found this shiny on my own), we're a little over a month away from flying to Atlanta and I realized I haven't really begun preparing for it. No clue what I'm wearing, don't know if I'm taking costumes, I don't think I have travel bottles for anything, and I have no idea if all of this mystery stuff will fit in my suitcase.

Carrie on the other hand, has known everything to the last detail since, I don't know, February, and I think she's even packed her suitcase once just to make sure everything fits (though she's such a girl and keeps changing what shirts she's taking).

I suppose, once again, I'll have to have Carrie tell me what to pack because she'd probably fall over dead if I just did the whole day before "hey, this is clean" routine.

At least I know what I'll be putting in my messanger bag.

I realize it's not until the end of next month, but I have a terrible concept of time. I'm use to doing things at the last minute because that's usually when it dawns on me when things have to be done.

Carrie will strangle me, I think, if I do that with DragonCon.

Happy birthday, bibliotech. I celebrated by completely forgetting it until just a few minutes ago, despite you mentioning it in your journal yesterday and me writing it down on the calendar. This is why you will always and forever be more awesome than me.

I also spent the day avoiding working on "Spillway". Even though it's a short story, the prospect of major rewrites intimidates me. It's going to be a lot of work and I know that if I just start on it, I'll finish it without much trouble, but it's the getting started part that I balk on. I don't know why.

Instead, I spent the day rereading Monique's Skinny Women Are Evil and watching George Carlin specials. This helps to lessen the guilt.

And the reason why this entry is so short is because I don't want to miss the next special, which I've probably seen a hundred times.