Busy signals

I'm going to use Donna's blog entry about busy days as license to gripe, and then I'll be done with it. Thanks for bearing with me.

I got to work around 9 a.m. I didn't leave until almost 9 p.m., and I left then only because I wanted a carryout supper from City Barbeque, which closes at 9. It's probably for the best because it gave me a reason to get out of the office and come home. I could feel bags forming under my eyes and a dull headache blossoming, yet I flirted with the idea of getting the food and going back to work. From when I stepped into the library--the station is in the basement--I don't think I saw outside until I departed for the day.

Although I know I accomplished something today, I don't feel like I'm that much closer to getting anywhere. Everything for the regular show we're taping tomorrow is finished. I laid down my voice for my worst of the year and honorable mentions packages. I wrote all the text for my top ten film blurbs, but I may need to trim some of them for time. I dubbed a lot of tapes and DVDs that will be needed for b-roll.

The biggest mistake I made was composing a list of what I need to do by next Monday, the day we're taping our special best and worst of 2006 and Academy Awards preview shows. That list looks awfully long. Discovering that the templates for these shows have been lost made me want to scream. I have enough to do without rebuilding the rundowns for programs we tape once a year.

I just need to tell myself that I'll get everything done and things will slow down after next Monday. I'm not sure I believe that my schedule will ease up, but if it gets me through the upcoming week, great. And what is this rash on my hand, and when did it appear? Seriously, I noticed it this afternoon and have no idea why it's there.

OK, that's the last you'll hear me complain about life in perpetual motion for awhile. I need to do it, but I know it's not very interesting for you and not very becoming of me. I shouldn't feel I have to apologize for it here of all places but I do.

During the holidays I noticed that when I moaned to my parents about how busy I had been and would be, their response could be summed up as, "It could be worse." I have a job. I have my health. Quit complaining. (Give my parents some credit. They weren't as harsh as that sounds.) It's one of those messages I'm sure I've internalized over time. While I imagine that the intent was to emphasize appreciation for what I have or not feeling sorry for myself, in practice it sounds like my problems aren't important. To be clear, I've never felt that directly, but it would explain why I sometimes feel like the complaining I do is unwarranted. Sometimes that may be true. I'll just blame it on the self-denial mindset lingering in my German ancestry.

In the comments to yesterday's post, Jennifer hoped that I wouldn't frog all of the scarf currently on the needles unless I wasn't happy with the width. She has the right instinct. I haven't done anything with it today, but I should probably practice frogging just a few rows instead of everything. If I don't get it, no problem. I think ripping it out is the best course of action, but this way maybe I can get the hang of something that I don't think I can do. When Kristin first told me about frogging, I thought it sounded horrible. Guess I got over that.

For all I know, my hang-up on the scarf's width might not be that big of a deal. After all, if I hadn't messed up, I'd still be knitting it at the current width. I'll see Kristin at a screening in the morning, so I've decided to leave the scarf alone for now and get a second opinion.

The sidebar will be seeing a few changes in the near future. I'll add some links. I've already added an e-mail address. If I'm feeling adventurous, perhaps I'll take the new Blogger template redesign tools for a spin.

If you're in need of a laugh, you might find one in an alleged humor piece I wrote for Kristin's site. I'll warn you, it's terribly nerdy stuff about punctuation and film titles. Now that you know what to expect, take a look at the newly published Hollywood to Blame for Punctuation Crisis and let me know what you think...unless you hate it. If you're eager for more, there's also The Disclaimer, which is even more conceptual and questionably humorous. It's dry, so I promise you won't hurt yourself from laughing.