the view from the couch
honestly, the week that was kind of wore me out.
it wasn't because i was abnormally busy because i wasn't. it was just that most days i couldn't get up off the couch because i was so mentally exhausted. so, when i had to write stories on deadline, i wrote them in a slumped position on the couch with my laptop, uh, on my lap, and with my feet up on my teak coffee table. when i had to edit video, ditto. when i had to deal with my dad's doctors and caregivers, i sat up, put my feet on the hardwood floor, held the phone in one hand and my head in the other. and when it was time to eat, i pushed my computer to the left and repositioned my masai coffee table book to make room for the tray with my homemade vegetable soup and pita samwich.
i know, it sounds kind of pitiful, but it really wasn't. i was surrounded by my books, my cds, photos of friends and family, my masks, my art in a room awash with sunshine. it made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy in a one-flew-over-the-cuckoo's-nest-kind-of-way.
one day i watched three un-riveting hours of a pbs documentary on the royal family--because i had to--and then another six hours of cnn while my musician neighbor downstairs banged away on his drums. on another day i took a short nap, waking up just in time for "gossip girl," which has quickly become more than just the gulity pleasure it used to be.
when friends rang, i'd sometimes get a little animated and start pacing around the couch. at least i got up!
and on the day he rang--surprise, surprise--i got up--again--grabbed a bottle of wine out of the cooler, sat back down, put my feet back on the table, giggled and joked my way through a 40-minute conversation and then went back surfing the web for plane tickets to london.
ok, i did have fleeting thoughts of going on sabbatical (from the couch), hopping in the saab and heading north on the 5. but that would mean i would be without a couch for at least five hours.
i knew i couldn't deal with the separation anxiety in my fragile state.
then there was the day a friend from cincinnati rang and said she was in san francisco. that news caused me to jump up from the couch because i realized that i was supposed to be in SF, too. not to see her--i had no idea she'd be there--but to attend the "milk" premiere in the castro.
alas, since the film was starting in two hours there was really nothing i could do. i began pacing again, but was lured back to the couch by the couch.
"miki," the couch said. "come back. i am here for you. there's no need to worry about all those 'senior moments' you've been having lately. your career will survive. come. lay down. relax. have more soup. watch 'krazee eyz killah' for the 35th time. baby steps."
yes, i was indeed the prototype for the couch potato this week. but considering that i had day-long headaches nearly every day the week before, it was time well wasted.
i'll do the laundry next week.
it wasn't because i was abnormally busy because i wasn't. it was just that most days i couldn't get up off the couch because i was so mentally exhausted. so, when i had to write stories on deadline, i wrote them in a slumped position on the couch with my laptop, uh, on my lap, and with my feet up on my teak coffee table. when i had to edit video, ditto. when i had to deal with my dad's doctors and caregivers, i sat up, put my feet on the hardwood floor, held the phone in one hand and my head in the other. and when it was time to eat, i pushed my computer to the left and repositioned my masai coffee table book to make room for the tray with my homemade vegetable soup and pita samwich.
i know, it sounds kind of pitiful, but it really wasn't. i was surrounded by my books, my cds, photos of friends and family, my masks, my art in a room awash with sunshine. it made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy in a one-flew-over-the-cuckoo's-nest-kind-of-way.
one day i watched three un-riveting hours of a pbs documentary on the royal family--because i had to--and then another six hours of cnn while my musician neighbor downstairs banged away on his drums. on another day i took a short nap, waking up just in time for "gossip girl," which has quickly become more than just the gulity pleasure it used to be.
when friends rang, i'd sometimes get a little animated and start pacing around the couch. at least i got up!
and on the day he rang--surprise, surprise--i got up--again--grabbed a bottle of wine out of the cooler, sat back down, put my feet back on the table, giggled and joked my way through a 40-minute conversation and then went back surfing the web for plane tickets to london.
ok, i did have fleeting thoughts of going on sabbatical (from the couch), hopping in the saab and heading north on the 5. but that would mean i would be without a couch for at least five hours.
i knew i couldn't deal with the separation anxiety in my fragile state.
then there was the day a friend from cincinnati rang and said she was in san francisco. that news caused me to jump up from the couch because i realized that i was supposed to be in SF, too. not to see her--i had no idea she'd be there--but to attend the "milk" premiere in the castro.
alas, since the film was starting in two hours there was really nothing i could do. i began pacing again, but was lured back to the couch by the couch.
"miki," the couch said. "come back. i am here for you. there's no need to worry about all those 'senior moments' you've been having lately. your career will survive. come. lay down. relax. have more soup. watch 'krazee eyz killah' for the 35th time. baby steps."
yes, i was indeed the prototype for the couch potato this week. but considering that i had day-long headaches nearly every day the week before, it was time well wasted.
i'll do the laundry next week.
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