The blank page. The unforgiving blinking cursor. Staring you down. Daring you to take a stand, make a move, commit to something. Pick a topic, run with it. Only, that's not really happening. Like the page, my mind feels like a blank slate. I don't know where to start, I don't know where I'm going, so there's no way to figure out what comes in the middle.
The white screen offers for no reflection, offers no hints, offers no motive, no trends, no tracks, no help whatsoever.
My day? Even there, not so much to help. Awake, a movie, a drive, work. Typing, coffee, typing. Meeting with a whiteboard, impromptu inclusion of several others. Some surprises, some confusion. Some clarification, but still, some lack of resolution. Lunch. Manicotti, veggies, dip, a walk. Some Aaron Barnhart's podcasts and some music. And then back inside. Too warm. More email, more chatting. Off to Starbucks for a meeting. Casual, relaxed, a chance to chat with a new employee starting Monday. Back to the office. A prank, some work, some last minute details. Tidying the desk and then done. A drive, home, snacks and movie night. And then done too quickly and the kids were to bed. So now, more of the same. Wii walking and TV. FlashForward. Exciting like LOST used to be. Or was again on Tuesday. They're on a Ferris Wheel, they're on a Merry-Go-Round, mommy and daughter, seems like a nice day on the Santa Monica Pier. And that was the day to now.
And the week? Also not anything to write about. Quiet, calm, not as much done at work as I'd hoped. Quiet at home as well. A good thing. Even the power outage happened while I was at work.
So... how about the weekend? I don't see anything on the calendar. That is a good thing. The house is in good shape, but it can be better. If this weekend is truly unbusy, then I may get a lot done. Weather will be in the low-50s but no rain. Could be cold, but maybe I can get some more work done out front. I've got three bags of bark left, several bags of gravel in the backyard (though I think I need some benderboard), I have also have seven pier blocks my dad dropped off last Sunday. I have plans for them all, but I don't have the rest of the lumber I need, so that's probably not the project for tomorrow. Ultimately, though, I'm going to do some pretty cool stuff. Two blocks will be used to build a shed against the fence. When we built it, we put cement in every other hole, thinking that was sufficient. However, it turned out that wind can blow quite strongly down the hill, maybe why there was never a fence there. So now the fence leans. A shed at the fence will let me store stuff in the backyard and also stabilize the fence. Double-cool. I'll also use one block at the back of the yard (using the fence, at a corner for the other three points) and build a tiny little covered platform at the back of the yard. I want to also put a light in it. I don't want to call it a meditation shack because that sounds weird, but I do want it to be a small place where you can sit and read and be removed from everything and sheltered from the elements. It would be really small and eventually have some landscaping around it. Could be cool. And then the last four I'm thinking about using in the crawlspace. Right now, you go down some really poorly constructed stairs and then immediately have to step over the large sewer line, and then there's over 400 square feet of space that sport people like us can walk around in without stooping over. There's a lot of storage down there, but I think I can use the pier blocks to make a small platform so that you don't have to step over the sewer line. Not sure, though, might be too low there. But I could build a ramp or platform. That would be cool.
Right now we're watching some 30 Rock shorts. The Xfinity bits, though are stupid and painful. That whole name is awful. It sounds like a fake made-up name. Like Kabletown. What a different world this would be if Roberts hadn't won Comcast in a card game. Better? Who knows. Oh well.