Oy. That vacation was WERK<\/i>!<\/p>\n
You know I took the week off from writing to focus on the Organizing of Stuff. A lot of gear has sat heaped in garage, attic, closets, and laundry room these last two years while I’ve focused on home improvement. Some of it never really got unpacked after the move; some has accumulated since then.<\/p>\n
I blame garage sales. Accumulation is totally not my fault. Clutter and I are enemies. I figured: one week and clutter is dead<\/i>. I, Bold Clutter Slayer, will Overcome All.<\/p>\n
Sigh. I forgot that the Organizing of Stuff requires the Building of Shelves. Which requires the Painting and Trimming of Shelves. Which kept the house in chaos the whole time I was trying to slay chaos.<\/p>\n
I WERKed until I dropped into bed exhausted most nights, sweaty but too tired even to take a bath. I got a lot<\/i> done (including building several seriously large shelves in two rooms using scrounged materials and $15 worth of fasteners and trim). But I didn’t do a lot of what I was aiming to do. <\/p>\n
There was one glorious moment, though. On Monday morning when I woke up, I took a mental look behind me and I saw all deadlines completely met. I cast a mental look ahead and saw that I didn’t have a single commitment to anybody in the world. I didn’t so much as owe anybody an email. <\/p>\n
I only had to answer to me for one, solid week. I can’t tell you how light I felt.<\/p>\n
As the days went on, things began to pile up again, both in my inbox and my brain. But that couple of hours Monday morning was worth everything.<\/p>\n
Now onward …<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
An Aussie Red Dawn<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
I just watched Tomorrow When the War Began<\/i><\/a>, the 2010 film from the famous young-adult book by John Marsden<\/a>. Neither the book series nor the movie are exactly what you’d call Great Art. But their hearts are definitely in the right place.<\/p>\n Seven teenagers from a rural Australian town go off for a remote weekend campout. They return to find the country has been invaded, with their own area being one of three points of entry. All the adults have either been rounded up or killed, leaving these seven first to save their own lives then to become guerrilla fighters.<\/p>\n Definitely not great art, but some good characters. Self-reliant, resourceful country kids (and game townies). Decent character development. And the movie has some fine booms and crashes.<\/p>\n Can’t recall which freedomista turned me on to the book a couple of years ago, but thank you.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Cop frees a trapped dog. And then …<\/b><\/p>\n