The Process, Dubliners Project, Phase One: Procrastination

That's right, internet cafe people. I am one of you now. 


I devolved a bit over spring break, fell back into old habits, regrew a tendency to stay up until 4 AM doing who-knows-what (I do, I was drawing and writing and reading), then sleep until ten or eleven the next day. I spent far too much time on the computer, and didn't do nearly as much schoolwork as I should have.

I hear a snort from my audience, from a vaguely Meerkatish direction. Never mind her, she's just upset that every time we made motions along the lines of writing something, schoolwork intervened. She is of the opinion that I have done quite enough schoolwork, thank-you-very-much. 


Is the work DONE, Meerkat? No it is not. Ergo I did not do enough.

Admittedly, my definition of "schoolwork" is a loose thing. Writing a story that a professor gave me the idea for? Classified "schoolwork". Reading a book a professor happened to recommend? Classified "schoolwork". Sitting around bitching about and drawing tiny cartoon versions of James Joyce? Classified "schoolwork". Reading mythology for the hell of it, with the drifting thought that it perhaps will lead at some point to some vestige of inspiration that may or may not be plugged into a story which then MIGHT be submitted to a fiction workshop? Classified "schoolwork", of course!

Actually sitting down and doing the project due Thursday? Ah, there's the rub. Classified "schoolwork", yes, but...

I've said it once and I'll say it again: procrastination is a very important part of the PROCESS, the mysterious means by which I acquire my ends. There is a given amount of time that needs be spent fuddling about poking at things and blatantly shooting off in other directions, academic and otherwise, before I can actually sit down and do the work in question. It's not MY fault that Wikipedia has all these fascinating little cross-links that can start you out reading peacefully about James Joyce and Dubliners and somehow end in you reading about the history of competitive weasel breeding.

...you just looked it up, didn't you. DIDN'T YOU. Don't lie, I see you sitting there all shamefaced.

In any case, the procrastination phase passed, and NOW I'm ready to work.. I already know the text forth-and backwards, it's just a matter of getting the information across in such a way that the professor will approve of it and not get that look he gets, the one that suggests that he's suppressing impolite commentary.

Of course, every once in awhile he randomly swings by this blog and skims, possibly for references to himself., possibly so he can see what I'm doing when I ought to be doing writing for him.

So probably he's got that look already.

TO WORK, TO WORK!