One Burnt Wienie

Have you ever done any barbecuing? (I'm talking the real thing now, not those lame gas grills!)

Ever dropped a hot dog down into the hot coals while you were cooking? Watched it turn black, split, crinkle and generally become a twisted charcoal covered mass of black and pink before you managed to drag the flacid, destroyed, chunk of pseudo-flesh out of the flames with your tongs?

Look closely at your mangled frankfurter: that's me right now.

I need some time off. I need to get away from work (which is still running me ragged!) and have a few days to just forget about responsibilities, deadlines, meetings, appointments and all the other crap that comes with a "grown-up" life. I need a few days to breath and remember that this is a very cool world and I have a reason for being in it (at least I hope I do!) beyond earning small slips of green paper that seem to disappear again as soon as I collect them!

I can't seem to catch a break though. Tomorrow the wife, boy, and I are participating in a 24 hour Walk-A-Thon for breast cancer research (the wife is a two-time survivor, so believe me when I tell you: I support this cause big time!) so no rest this weekend. We'll be walking in shifts with the entire team (mostly my wife's family and friends) from Saturday a.m. until Sunday. Next week, I am scheduled to teach five seminars, four new emplyees, and a load of other crap at work that has to be done, so it'll be extra hours every day. (Yay!) Next Saturday, we have a family reunion out in PA (about a 120 mile one-way trip) followed by my nephew's H.S. Graduation party the same night. Sunday is Father's Day (a day I've been counting on to take at least a small break!) but I found out as I walked out the door for work today that my youngest niece's birthday party is that day. I'm starting to sense a pattern here. Could it be a conspiracy? Is the wife running me into the ground so that she can collect the big life insurance payout? (I don't think so, but she has been feeding me a lot of pork chops and sausage lately. Hmmm . . .)

At least I've been good about keeping the writing going through all this. I added another 7,000 words to GS through type-in. I'm getting to it late at night (after 10:00 p.m.) because the boy has been on the computer each night working two reports for school. It's been rough -I'd much prefer to be in bed by 10:00- but what else to do? I refuse to let the writing die out this time! Something has to give though and I've been slacking on the exercise again (I hate that!) because I'm too tired to drag my chunky ass out of bed an hour early each morning before work. I haven't lost it completely, but I'm only doing one day out of four or so. Not very good, but better than nothing I guess.

Gonna try and get some more work done on "Fish" today. Not sure how that will go. As I've said before: it's an emotionally draining novel to write and my batteries are pretty much depleted at this point. Still, any words are better than no words, yes? Yes.

On a cheerier note, the boy brought home a copy of his school's literary magazine last night, in which he has a very well done poem. The boy is actually doing better than me in the publishing department! At this point I think he's had something like six or seven poems published in various school magazines and two national poetry compilations by students. For a boy of eleven, he's got a fantastic grasp of language and he really does some powerful imagery. Have I mentioned that he makes me proud?

Will I be posting this weekend? As usual: probably not. I do try (No, really: I do!) but home life on the weekends is usually running from one engagement to another, so I wouldn't count on it folks. (I know . . . you'll miss me, right? Hey! Stop laughing! That's very rude . . .)

In any event, have a happy Friday and a great weekend!

Later!