Saturday, November 06, 2004
Autumn wins me best
Autumn has finally taken Kentucky in a full embrace. Sweater weather is finally here to stay. I like it. I like it a lot. Whatever leaves would turn have already and crinkle and crackle underfoot. Maintenance is out in full force on campus today sweeping away any evidence that these autumnal leftovers ever existed. It is a fruitless endeavor. There are always more leaves. A bit like my schoolwork: There is always more.

What a beautiful day. And I’m sitting under a tree watching people pass by, rake leaves, walk their wiener dog as I sit here proofreading Greek tags. I’m blasting the Rushmore soundtrack as loud as the laptop speakers allow. It seems only appropriate on a fall day on such an academic grounds. The sun is so bright, though, I keep losing my mouse cursor. Oh well. Not everything can be perfect.

The writing process for is something like a mountainous knotted ball of twine. I tug a little on this piece at the top. Nothing. I tug a little on this bit at the bottom. Nothing. A little on this side. A little on that. Nowhere. Turn it over again. Let’s try here. Dead end. And then all of a sudden, a tug here and everything falls into place.

I had a five to six page paper due Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. on the relationship between personal and social holiness with integrity. By Tuesday evening I still had not started. So I am mulling over where to go with this, turning over the ball of twine, considering quotes, lecture materials, personal experience. A road to nowhere. By the time the epiphany moment finally hits, it is now 2 a.m. So, I feverishly tackle it for about half an hour before I realize I have two paths before me: either I shake off the oncoming sleep that my eyes are presently negotiating and plow through the wee morning hours or I call it a night, grab a couple of winks and set the alarm for early to wrap this sucker up. I opt for the latter option.

Alarm goes off at 5:30. That was three hours. I sleep walk through the motions of getting dressed, take the laptop to the library portico. I then realize it is really freaking cold at 5:30 in the dark. So, I rush inside and bundle myself in my coat. I am now huddled over the laptop, shivering in the frigid dawn air with the worst heartburn I have ever experienced. Curse that free cup of coffee at midnight. This is suddenly feeling like a very, very bad idea.

A wiser man than I once said you gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. I decide that this is the time to fold ‘em and I go back to bed.

I wake up at noon.

The paper got turned in the next day.

posted by Peter at 2:42 AM
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