So I’m out driving the other night, and as I’m waiting at a traffic light, I notice something’s wrong with my windshield.
A moment’s inspection reveals the problem: my parking sticker is not there. There is a perhaps one microsecond hesitation on my brain’s part, and then: “Oh, the parking sticker? The Sonoma State University parking sticker? The Sonoma State University parking sticker that you turned in on your last day of work?”
Oh yeah, that sticker.
Hey, I live in Boulder now! I’m a full-time writer!
Little reminders like that are cool.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Sort of like falling asleep at 6:00 PM and awakening at 7:30 PM thinking you’d slept through the night in your clothes. In your char. In front of your computer… But different.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
“Char” was supposed to be “chair”. I don’t smoke.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Yeah yeah, rub it in, you’re in Boulder now and I moved away…Seriously, it’s a great place to go to college, and my last apartment was in a hippie-ish block of Mapleton, where the costumed-bike-flash-mob used to ride by every thursday (did I hear the man shut that down?). Make friends with a physics student and make them take you to the top of the physics tower on a clear day. Truly as close to a religious experience as I’ll admit to.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Those little moments are great, indeed.
A few months ago I was having lunch with a very dear friend, from another State. She asked me if I could stay with her for the rest of the day. I was going to say “sorry, I can’t”, then I realized: “Hey, I’m a full time blogger, I don’t have ‘working-hours’, boss or punch clock”.
Freedom. It tastes good.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
More evidence that the brain is wired to detect the presence of stimuli, not the absence of it. Since you write full time now, I thought it would be OK to tag you.
You’re it, Phil: http://www.smugbaldy.com/?p=80
July 5th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I love those little “Oh Yeah” moments.
Beats the fire out of those “Oh NO” moments.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
are you gloating?
July 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Oh, yeah.
During these first few months as a freelancer, you get one of those moments when payday rolls along and there’s no paycheck. (That’s probably an “Oh, no” moment.)
Or when your royalty statement shows up in the mail and you get to see how much you earned over the past month/quarter/half-year/year. That could be “Oh, yeah!” or “Oh, no.” (I’ve been a freelance writer for the past 17 years and I can tell you that you’ll get lots of both moments on royalty day.)
Let’s hope your “Oh yeah” moments outnumber your “Oh no!” moments as a freelancer by a healthy margin!
July 5th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Working for yourself, the best thing ever. Yeah it can be stressful sometimes, but the good so much outweighs the bad…
July 5th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Ha! That just happened to me. I recently received my Masters Degree in Computer Science and I was thinking after work how to create a strategy for my coursework. OOPS! I don’t have coursework anymore!
I do love that although I feel a bit silly when it happens sometimes.
July 5th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I recently cut off my long pony tail (donated to Locks for Love). In the morning, I still go to tie my hair back and go, “Oh, yeah.”
Rob
July 5th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Gloating? No, just smiling to myself. it’s interesting, taking over the reins to your life. Of course, I am still beholden to a list of outside interests (like, Viking Press– hello! Book!) but as long as I produce, who cares if I wake up late, or have an extra glass of wine with dinner, or forget to put on pants one morning.
July 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
It goes to show that you need a new sticker, one that proclaims in bright red letters, Full-Time Writer!
July 5th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Or, how about, I’m at home and not wearing pants?
July 5th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Out of curiosity, what type of book are your writing?
July 6th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Death From the SkiesM (hopeful working title), about all the various and sundry ways the universe can destroy the planet and all life on it. Phil’s mentioned this before.
July 7th, 2007 at 4:50 am
Writers must be similar to DeadHeads,,,walking around withj no pants,,,
,,,oh, wait, that’s just old age and mad cow disease creeping in,,,never mind,,,
Gary 7