I spent pretty much the whole morning and afternoon working on Hotter Than That: A Life of Louis Armstrong. The result was 2,000 polished words that carry Louis from 1905 to 1913–the formative years of his childhood. Not only am I hugely pleased with the day’s work, but I’m still hot enough that I could probably keep on pushing forward until two or three in the morning. Instead, I’ve decided to shut the shop down and resume work tomorrow afternoon. This cuts sharply against the grain of my workaholic nature, suggesting that it’s exactly what I ought to do.
No writing to do, no show to see, no dinner date…what will I do with myself? Well, here are four possibilities that sound especially good:
– Listen to the original soundtrack CD
of Bernard Herrmann’s dark, desperate score for Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground, which just arrived in today’s mail.
– Continue reading the bound galleys of The Lost Night: A Daughter’s Search for the Truth of Her Father’s Murder, a memoir by danceblogger Rachel Howard, which arrived on Saturday.
– Watch one of the remaining Gilmore Girls episodes stockpiled on the hard drive of my DVR.
– Turn the computer off now. Absolutely no more e-mail or blogging until tomorrow night.
What’s not to like? See you later. The next words you read will be somebody else’s….
P.S. Read this and smile. (He gets it, by the way.)