Not Dead

I haven’t forgotten about the Writing Challenge. Just busy prepping for an impromptu two-week trip to Italy…where I will have lots of time to write. Promise.

300, Part 2: Days 3, 4, and 5

I wrote over 5000 words…just not for the WIP. The MBA strikes again! (And to think I’m considering getting a PhD.)

I’ll get back on track tomorrow.

300, Part 2: Days 1 and 2

Words written: 610

Kind of proud of myself since I still haven’t watched Arthur Christmas…but I watched a bunch of other things.

New Level of Laziness

So, my new boss lied to me when she said I would be crazy busy by now. I’m not. And I’m done annoying everyone I know by asking them if they need help. They all look at me suspiciously and wonder if I’m trying to steal their job. At this point, my new boss is wondering if I’m just not doing my job because my predecessor made it seem like she was always juggling twenty things at once and every request she received required monumental effort. The truth is, she was very busy and she did have to work long hours. But that’s because she’s not a computer geek and did everything the hard way. Me? I prefer to write a script to do the brainless tasks in any role. I don’t know about other people, but if I have the option between (1) manually keying in numbers and letters for eight hours every day or (2) writing a script to do it for me in minutes, I’m going to choose the latter. Sure, sometimes writing a script can take a lot longer than the manual process, but I think long-term. Spend eight hours automating something once so I can save eight hours every week or every month seems like a smart investment to me.

Also, I’m registered for two courses this semester; but it’s an MBA, not rocket science. And courses in strategy and finance? I can do those in my sleep.

While I am enjoying getting in three yoga classes every week, guilt is eating away at me because my productivity has sunk to a new low. Frankly, I don’t think watching every episode of every season of CSI: NY in a one-month time span is something of which to be proud. (Gary Sinise is no William Petersen, but he’s leaps and bounds better than David Caruso.)

Oy. (I’m Catholic, but some Jewish expressions transcend religion.)

While I have a 30-page paper to turn in next week, I think it’s time to reinstate The Writing Challenge. 300 words per day for the next 30 days should be sufficient to finish Once a Thief.

Right after I watch Arthur Christmas.

Edited to add: Starting word count is 32,450.

Aaron Swartz, RIP

Like most in the tech community, I found out about Aaron Swartz‘s death last Saturday morning and have been in mourning ever since.

Despite his young age, Aaron was a great contributor to the internet. If you use the internet today—and plan to do so tomorrow and beyond—you can thank him. I’m not going to go into his many accomplishments because numerous web sites have discussed them in detail. All I want to do is point one thing that’s making me see red when ignorant, lazy people comment on articles about the US federal hacking (BTW, it pains me to use the term hacking in this sense, but too many people don’t know the difference between hacking and cracking) charges against him: He downloaded ACADEMIC ARTICLES, most of which were written by academic researchers funded by PUBLIC dollars (and not just US public dollars), that were LEGALLY accessible to him. He did not drop a Trojan horse onto some unsuspecting network to steal credit card numbers or military secrets. He did not do anything that deserved a jail sentence, let alone 35 years. JSTOR, the victim, declined to press charges because it’s run by people who have COMMON SENSE and aren’t driven by political ambition.

*exhale*

And remember SOPA? Well, Aaron had a hand in defeating that bit of idiocy, too.

Nas and Amy Winehouse’s “Cherry Wine”

I haven’t listened to Nas in years and I forgot how much I love his lyrics. And, really, who doesn’t miss Amy Winehouse?

Zombies Make Everything Better

I’m in the fourth day of a block week course and my brain is done. In the space of four days, I’ve read two textbooks, listened to 28 hours of lectures, gave three presentations, and got 20 hours of sleep. I’m feeling a little wonky—and I still have another day of lectures, one more presentation, and two papers.

Ow, my head.

Since my brain is overloaded and I feel like I’m listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher, I’m going to work on the WIP. I fully expect to do some serious editing afterwards because nothing good can come out of writing while massively sleep-deprived and one brain cell away from being brain-dead. (Maybe a zombie will make a cameo and boost sales of the book.)