Why I Hate Top 40 Radio

The ladies in the front office have their radio on loud enough to for the rest of the office to hear, and I have heard the same song twice in two hours. It might not be so bad if they didn't also play it at least three times yesterday.

I am beginning to lose appreciation for Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats."

Developments

Dear readers, keep your fingers crossed and your prayers ascending: I interviewed in Baltimore today for a position with a medical publishing firm and did well enough that they want me back next week for (hopefully) the final round of interviews.

So medical publishing: would that fall under the patron saint of physicians or of writers? Or maybe St. Luke, who was a physician and a writer. ;)

Cool new blog

It's been around for a while, but it's new to me: Argent by the Tiber.

More Yorkisms

More Yorkisms
Originally uploaded by thstlenshmrock.

I discovered this on the back of the local phone book today. What exactly is a "fall down injury"?

Fridays at the Steno

Lacking much better to do, my officemate and I took up art:



Lacking much better to do, I likewise watched a teeney former cheerleader do random tumbling exercises down the hallway. I also watched a fellow, male, 30-something proofreader attempt a cartwheel down the hallway. Alas, there is no photo evidence for these events, but rest assured that they were visually compelling.

Oh, my.

Ignored

Or, what happened to Joshua Bell when he played at L'Enfant Plaza in D.C.

Truly saddening.

A thought. Not necessarily original.

I'm not sure if stealing chunks of other people's blogs and using them as writing prompts illustrates technological and pop culture saavy or a sad lack of originality, but when I saw Linny Jane wrote this, I had to swipe and expound on it:

I have so many obligations, and yet it feels as though I accomplish nothing.

Not sure what it's going to take for that to change. I can't imagine living life any other way. I'm scared I'd get bored or something. But maybe being bored isn't such a bad thing.

I run, unapologetically and freely chosen, all over the fair earth every week for a variety of reasons. I work full-time five days a week, teach three hours a night three days a week, take guitar lessons in an obscure corner of western Maryland on Saturdays, and often drive to Baltimore Sunday mornings for Mass. Friday or Saturday nights, I'm usually out with friends, most commonly of the "nowhere near where I live" variety. And if I'm not out for the heck of it, I'm performing somewhere.

I hate and love living like this. I hate feeling like I'm always running somewhere, to dubious benefit or value. I hate that I am stressed more often than not. I hate that I never have time to read or spin yarn or make rosaries or cook elaborately.

But I love going places. I love seeing people and things and accumulating new life experiences. I love the dangerous, precarious, beautiful life of a music teacher and performer. I love exploring. I love knowing that there is always something waiting for me to do.

I'm currently working on consolidating some of my life into one area, i.e., trying to relocate and find a job that will enable me to work 9 to 5 and then just go home. But I know that as soon as I've begun to settle in, I'll just start finding new ways of filling up my time. ;) Maybe I'll finally be able to practice both flute and guitar every night. ;)

MindSprocket Issue #5

If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out MindSprocket's April issue, featuring the literary stylings of Edward Atkinson and myself and introducing the fine work of Jacqueline Johnson to readers.

All three pieces are brilliantly illustrated by the talented Anatole Upart.

Definitely a good read.

--Anatole's link corrected 4/4.