Rusty

~ Laura

I just finished off a 1,500 word article. After taking the summer off, IT HURT! It took me a whole day to write the damn thing. Saddled with my chronic problem of excessive research (four interviews! Whew!), I had boil down all that info down to something that people would actually read. Sigh.

Writing isn’t easy. Well, writing blog posts is easy. Writing stuff for cash is hard. I’m going  to writing for other venues this fall, too, so I better get back on my game soon. I can’t do this every week.

Summer is nearly over. We’re buying back to school sneakers and new binders. The bus schedules have arrived. There was a cool nip in the air as I went for a run this morning. Another summer is done.

As we’re in the countdown until the end of the summer, I find myself assessing my use of time this summer. Did I get enough work done? Did we do all the fun things that we wanted to? No and no. Apparently, I can beat myself up for just about everything.

Since I put in a 15-hour day yesterday writing that article, I’m damn well not working today. So, I’m about to do a little searching for a camp site in upstate New York. I’m determined to sit in a tent this week and try out the hand-me-down kayak.

Whatcha y’all doing over Labor Day weekend?

Published by Laura

21 thoughts on “Rusty”

  1. We work on Labor Day. Yes, it sucks. I haven’t had a Labor Day weekend anything for the past 14 years.
    Where are you planning to kayak? In a lake? We were in Lake George last week, and that’s pretty nice. My favorite upstate camping is Russell Brook in Cooks Falls, NY, near the Roscoe Diner. But that’s nostalgia.And there are no kayaking places there.

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  2. School has started here for child 1, and we have no plans for labor day, either. I think we need the downtime, though. Child 1 had a very busy summer, with not too much downtime.

    Child 2 has headed off with neighborhood boys. e added a “meeting” to our calendar, and, when queried on what the meeting was about, said that he was planning on making a group podcast, in which 12yo boys talked about the life in general.

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  3. We will spend the weekend at our summer house. Some old friends are visiting for the weekend. Beach, sun, friends, books, alcohol–who could ask for more?

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  4. bj said:

    “Child 2 has headed off with neighborhood boys. e added a “meeting” to our calendar, and, when queried on what the meeting was about, said that he was planning on making a group podcast, in which 12yo boys talked about the life in general.”

    Adorable!

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  5. Some of us will be doing a board game night and one of us is doing a cake decorating class.

    Oh, and we’re potty training hard–apparently all the cool kids in the 4-year-old room are in underpants. (Baby T is still 3 something, so she’s one of the youngest in the group–she’ll be 4 in October.) I’ve got a cupboard full of All the Bribes.

    It had kind of slipped my mind that this was Labor Day weekend.

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  8. Just sent off a 90,000-word manuscript that I’ve been working on for 7 years. My boyfriend is out of town and I am emailing all of the friends I have neglected in the last month or so – while I have been in the final-proofing, chapter abstract-writing, image-selecting craziness – to set up drinking and coffee times. Also, yardwork.

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      2. My most recent favorite is Station Eleven, but all kinds of stuff. John Williams’ Stoner and Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend series are both great. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Or mysteries, like Nero Wolfe and First Ladies’ Detective Agency.

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      4. I loved Station Eleven. *sigh* I should reread. Anyway, I came across a review for this book that was mentioned as being enjoyed by fans of Station Eleven: The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Carey.

        Have you read Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein?

        How about Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce mysteries? I read the first one and didn’t love it, but I think your taste is a bit different from mine. For historical mysteries, I like the Victoria Thompson mysteries featuring Sarah Brandt, a midwife in turn of the century NYC.

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      1. y81, thanks! It covers historical and religious aspects of an obscure war; the topic is so specific that I would immediately un-anonymize myself were I to say more. So, a typical academic book (though bridging history and religious studies in a kind of new way, I think!). Lots and lots of translation work in a language not many people in religious studies know, so even if everyone thinks my arguments are wrong, at least they’ll be able to get some good information out of it.

        Thanks for the book suggestions, Wendy – those all look good. I’ve liked some of the Flavia de Luce books, but they can be a little cutesy for my taste. I loved Station Eleven so much that I’ve worked it into one of my courses, and several students have asked for recommendations for similar books, so I’m glad to have one.

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