Isolation drills

I can take satisfaction in all of the work I was able to finish this weekend, although it came at the expense of living like a hermit. I went to the grocery on Friday, a bad movie on Saturday morning, and opened the door to get my newspaper on Sunday. I've become more of a homebody since moving here, but this isn't typical.

Actually, it's been really strange, especially today. Time distorts. Rhythms are erased and restructured. (My sleeping pattern is going to be totally shot.) Eating habits become deplorable. While news headlines automatically scroll down in the computer's sidebar, it seems like I've been cut off from the world. The TV has been on occasionally as background noise, like a reminder that there's something outside my apartment's walls.

The upside of this isolation is that I cranked out four movie reviews, administrated everything for the critics group awards' final ballot, and squeezed in screeners of No End in Sight and The Savages so I'd be an informed voter on those films. It's been productive time that lessens the daunting workload that awaits this week. At the worst, if I only rewatch one film and write it up between now and Tuesday afternoon, I'll have done the minimum that I needed to achieve that doesn't involve time at the office. It could have been worse.

I'm grateful for the distraction because classes resume tomorrow. Even though I'm no longer a student, I tend to get nervous or antsy the night prior to the start of a new quarter. (Why is that?) I've been too preoccupied with the work in front of me to get agitated about the next term.

Sadly, knitting is one thing that has fallen by the wayside. I'd been trying to do a little bit each day, even if it was just a row, but I got sidetracked with everything else and have ignored the hat for two days now. I'd like nothing better than to take an afternoon to knit, but this is going to be a crazy week. I'll be lucky if I find an opening for it.

Is it next Saturday yet?