Eccentric Flower:199903/focus and random
From Eccentric Flower
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three march focus and random As is apparently typical for those with the fatefully-misnamed Attention Deficit Disorder, I alternate between periods where my brain jumps all over the place, and periods where I concentrate so intensely that I don't notice body stimuli. Yesterday I woke up, showered, dressed, left the house, and got my usual large morning coffee. That was around nine a.m. In the early afternoon - two p.m. or so - I went home, to stop doing one kind of work and start doing another kind. I grabbed a few handfuls of barbecue Fritos - one of the few kinds of salty snack food I will occasionally indulge in - and ate those before I started working. It wasn't until I stopped to check email at about six p.m. that Rhonda's comments made me aware that I hadn't eaten anything but those Fritos all day. I didn't feel especially hungry, but I knew I should eat. If I hadn't been deep in what I was doing, I'd have felt hungry much earlier. If I see something that's worth concentrating on, I concentrate on it completely. If I don't see something worth concentrating on, I do the mental equivalent of channel-surfing, desperate for something that can hold my attention. I get bored easily, and when I'm bored, I make trouble. This is why the cat and I understand each other. I don't understand why ADD is considered detrimental. I think it's a really useful system. It helps you deal with information overload - you learn to switch through everything very quickly, find the one thing you want to focus on, and then tune out everything else. I realize there's a tendency toward hyperactivity, excessive worrying (it's the brain spinning in place), and other bad side effects - but those just mean you don't have enough to entertain you! More cat toys! At this point, I believe I have set out enough projects and recreations for myself that I will never run out of things to do. These days I only get bored during periods of enforced idleness, like waiting for a train. That's why I bring books with me. And my only worry is that I won't finish some of these projects. I hate thinking about all the great creative things I haven't done yet. If I told you how much is sitting in the half-finished files here, you wouldn't believe me. - - - Random Things: To my correspondent in Estonia: My mail to you was returned unsent this morning. The address was correct. Maybe it's because I mentioned the CIA. Speaking of correspondents, last night online I spoke to a person I had almost given up for dead. I really missed him, and I was so glad to see him again. It almost cancels out my worry about my friend in the hospital (see yesterday). What is with these new quarters that have "Delaware" on the back? Nonelvis brought home Girl Scout cookies last night. It's the peanut butter ones that are a problem. I went through half a box in one sitting. She brought home two boxes of peanut butter patties and she'll need to act fast if she wants any of them. I got several responses to my "I need an astronomer to sanity-check my SF" comment. Thank you all - I should have noted that I won't need a reader until after March at the earliest - but I am saving all the information you gave me. 2000 more words last night. This bubble will burst any minute, I can feel it .... Got an ICQ alert last night from someone who styles herself as the Harley Quinn character from the Paul Dini Batman continuity. I didn't know her. I looked up her email and explained that she surely had the wrong Columbine, as I was actually named for the flower. I explained that I was a plant/human hybrid. [This refers to my longtime MU* persona.] Given her sometime compatriot Dr. Isley, I'm sure she understood. Fun and games, but the odd thing (reflecting on it) is that I started out explaining to everyone that I took the name because of the Commedia character, not the flower. I had never seen a columbine when I adopted this name. But I liked the idea of playing a plant-hybrid, so gradually the answer changed. I don't know that I'm any less of an impudent wench, though (thank heavens). The essential Columbine personality remains intact, animal, vegetable, or mineral.
© columbine |
