I have decided to give up three things for lent: chocolate, soda, and internet gossip boards. Forsaking the third may actually prove more difficult than the first two. I spend way, way too much time reading about the love lives of complete strangers, and it occurred to me only this morning that I had yet to do anything special for lent. So the solution is simple: quit visiting gossip sites and read a real book for a change.

I felt so bad about the complete absence of literature in my life that last week I went to the Borders near my house with the intention of buying Dickens' "Great Expectations". They had nothing by Dickens. Nothing by Austen. Nothing authored before 1950, in fact, it seemed. Lots of Stephen King. Not a single copy of "The Stand", however. I ended up with a volume of his short stories.

I've also been feeling bad about the distinct lack of progress on the weight-loss front, so I've been walking a lot. Well, that is, when it's not coming down in torrents outside, which has been pretty much two solid weeks.

Where have I been since November, anyway? I didn't ever buy those gifts for the adults. My sister-in-law broke her ankle two weeks before Christmas, prompting a trip here by my mom, and the ensuing chaos sapped my energy. All the kids got sick. Then we quit the Lost podcast. And Ryan and I actually started spending time together. And we liked it. We got used to both going to bed at a normal human being hour and suddenly, it's mid-March and I have no idea where to start. Typical.

Deciding to quit the podcast was way more difficult than I imagined it'd be. Toward the end, I wanted to quit. I was burned out and pissed off and starting to actually hate watching Lost, and so when Ryan casually mentioned one night that he was thinking of quitting, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to record our "bye, bitches!" message.

We recorded the message. We waited for the inevitable emails. And I realized that I felt like I had just broken up with a whole bunch of people. I cried for two days. I asked Ryan if maybe he wanted to reconsider. I wrung my hands. I felt horrible.

I have to say, it's fun watching the show again, though.

in the ear: "Damn U" by Prince

Post a Comment