Reasons Why I Suck

Number 1: As Kathryn pointed out in a comment, I have not posted in over a week.
Number 2: Once again, I have completely failed at keeping up with a weekly shout-out
Number 3: I have almost 2 months of Photos-of-the-Day that I have not posted.

I'm sorry.  Lately, I have not been able to screw up the motivation to do much of anything.  I can't get into a book, the thought of composing a blog post exhausts me more than a double shift, even watching tv is more than I care to do.  I don't facebook stalk.  I don't listen to music.  I had to force myself to make cupcakes last week.  I am, rather quickly, devolving into a vegetable.  I really don't know what I do with my time.

Actually, I do know: I work.  And when I'm not at work, I countdown the hours until I have to be at work.  Or, more recently, I work from home.  I am the newly appointed Local Store Marketing Coordinator for Uno Chicago Grill in Frederick.  What does this mean?  Well, I call a bunch of organizations and ask if they want to book a Dough Raiser with us.  I set up meetings to talk to schools about "adopting" them.  I attend two-hour-long marketing meetings with LSMs of other Uno's.  And I generally promote Uno's throughout the community.  At least, those are the goals.  I've only just started though, so I'm still getting warmed up.  Though, I have already booked three Dough Raisers, and need to set a date for a fourth.  I think that's pretty impressive, actually.

Anyway, point is, my life, and myself have become almost entirely unrecognizable.  I have always gotten a little, not depressed, but less energetic in the winter.  Cold weather makes me want to curl up and hibernate, always has.  But this year seems worse.  And I am so over it.

I have already taken a few steps towards getting my life back on track.  Last week, I went to lunch with my best friend Angela.  Also last week, I went to a movie with BFs Angela and Megan.  Tonight, I am attending "therapy" (aka $5 martini night at the Cellar Door restaurant) with BFs Angela and Megan again.  And this weekend Andrew is coming to visit.  So, my social life has been good.

I am going to force myself to engage in the activities I once loved.  This blog post is one.  When Andrew comes on Saturday, I am reuniting with a long-lost love: skiing.  I haven't been skiing in almost 5 years.  I love skiing, and miss it dearly.  So I am quite excited to once again hit the slopes.  Andrew has only been skiing once, so I'm glad to share an almost-new experience with him, and, should he need a refresher course, it will give me an excuse to hit the bunny slopes a few times to get all the kinks out.

Also, today I hit the library.  I went last week, but was thoroughly underwhelmed with the volumes I picked out.  Clearly, I need a little help in the literary department lately.  And since my last project--reading all the #1 NYT Bestsellers in hardcover fiction for 2011-- bombed (due to lack of availability of said novels in the library, and lack of funds to purchase them independently), I have devised a new scheme.  Thanks in part to a fellow blogger, www.artinthedeal.blogspot.com, I have decided to read all of Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of All Time.  The goal is to do it in one year.  That's approximately 2 books a week, and one of those books is Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce.  So I doubt I will actually accomplish this task, but a little over/under never hurt anyone.  Ok, perhaps when you're talking about bungee jumping, exacting timing and measurement is rather important.  But we're talking about a book list here, people.  If I need a little extra time, I'll take it, and brook no complaints from any of you.

So, today I printed out the list, which you can find here.  I'm going with the library's picks, not the reader's picks.  I took my list to the library and picked out three at random.  Ok, not at random.  I picked three that sounded like an easy start.  And guess what?!  All three were in the library--no wait!  So this plan will definitely be easier in that respect than my last.  I emerged with:

1. The Novels of Dashiell Hammett from which I will read The Maltese Falcon (saw the movie and liked it)
2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (my experience with Russian-sounding literature is limited to Anna Karenina so I am a little hesitant about this one)
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Rather unexpectedly, I am a fan of futuristic, faux-utopian literature.  1984, Anthem, The Giver, I expected to hate all, and instead, enjoyed them.  Thus, I have started with BNW)

I am quite excited about this venture, which means it is already working the way I wanted it to.  I will definitely keep you posted about my progress.  For real.  I am going to be better about this blogging thing.  I started off so well, and, now that I need some new life breathed into me, I hope to get back on track.

Apologies for my lameness once again.  But please find encouraging the fact that I am self-aware enough to acknowledge my epic failures and correct them.

Merci, mes amours!