Canned Goods

So yeah, as I mentioned below, I've been getting up with the roosters lately--although, technically speaking, there are no roosters in my neighborhood, unless you count this one. I can't get up any earlier than 6 a.m., though I have tried. It's just impossible because that'd mean going to bed before Mr. Na and that's just not right.

The original intention for getting up at dawn was so I could sit in my office and write for a few hours before the force of nature known as Mr. Na goes into high gear. But I find myself finding more shit to read on the Internets and most of it (as evidenced with the post from this morning) is just plain garbage, so I'm filling my free time with CRAP instead of finishing this stupid book and it's driving me crazy!

I'm glad I'm not alone though. I heard Anne Lamott speak on Monday night and she mentioned how the little voice inside her head often tries to plead with her: "Just let me do this one load of laundry..." or "Just ten minutes of CNN..." The difference, though, between she and I (at least one of them) is that she is an accomplished author with 8 books under her belt and a regular column in Salon while I am a little maggot still making futile attempts at editing a novel that's taken way too long to finish.

I've often wondered what it'd be like if I could just leave town for a weekend and go to a place that doesn't have an Internet connection or a TV. Would I go completely crazy or would I actually get a lot of work done? Many of my friends who have done this have, in fact, finished books or other pieces and so I could see it working and I've asked a few fellow writers to join me for a weekend sometime in the fall. But until then, I've thought about having a solo writing session in Paris when we travel there next month. While I won't be able to get away for more than a few hours, I could see myself holing up in someplace like the Café de la Mairie on the Place Saint Sulpice, the Café de Flore and the Café Aux Deux Magots with many cups of espresso. Ah, the romance of it! We'll see what the reality will be like, though!

Meantime, send a little chutzpah my way to actually WORK ON MY BOOK in the mornings instead of surfin' the 'net. I'd appreciate it!