applying the wire brush of perspective...

[rmd]

so, i've been freaking out for part of today because my attempt to write a 5-7 page paper for my class has turned into a complete throwback to my previous kind of ADD-style study habits. i've been doing okay until now, and all of a sudden, when it moves from 'discuss' and 'read' to 'research and write', it's like NAILING JELLO TO THE FUCKING WALL. and then we had two rounds of monsoon. and then, i went downstairs to grab some big trash bags and i had a whole nother round of freakout because my basement had water in it (no higher than it's been in past floods - the sump pump was running but utterly overwhelmed). and i couldn't find the trash bags. and my house is a pit. and and and. *rmd flails around*

so, i went upstairs and had a moment of meltdown at clauclauclaudia. she asked if i'd seen the tree across the street. the what?

a very large tree (largest on the street, i think) across the street had come down on the two houses next to it. the powertool noises i'd been vaguely aware of were people chainsawing it apart. the damage was pretty much as minimal as could be hoped, considering -- had it fallen in any other direction, there would be damaged cars, or it would have taken down all the power/comm lines for the street.

but man, way to go, universe! that, right there, is how to serve up a big serving of perspective for me.

having finished my freakout and had a nice glass of water, i'm feeling much better. plus, a tree didn't fall on my house, so things could be much worse.

Comments

[lil-brown-bat.livejournal.com]

Not that I've put it to the test, but I feel like writing a paper would be a lot easier for me now than it would be in college. Of course, this may have to do with the fact that I have to research shit and churn content as part of my job, and also that I've worked as a writer on deadline post-college...but not just about writing, it seems to me that the stuff that was oh so hard in college would be a lot easier now. Yeah, it's differential equations. So what? But maybe I'm just kidding myself.

Srsly, I don't know your program, which I'm sure is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, but undergrad...man, it really would not be hard to stand head and shoulders tall above most of the young dipshits in college today.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oh yeah. i went back to school full time at 21 or 22 or so. and, yeah. i was way ahead of them. except for the whole ADD-type behaviors. ("i should work on this ... SHINY! OVER HERE")

i'm certainly not diagnostically ADD these days -- i do live on the suburbs of it, admittedly. but i think a lot of that is having learned really good coping skills. (working in the trades did a lot of it, too.)

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

If you ever need someone to talk you down, give me a buzz. As the only attention surplus (is that a term?) person in my household, I'm getting pretty good at it. I can't help with math at your level, but writing is no problem. You might also want to look at the Dragon Naturally Speaking software. I've found that almost any dictation format works best for J. All I need to do is keep up the prompts with "tell me the story" and "explain it to me".

Wet basement

[dhs.livejournal.com]

Can you get a higher-flow sump pump? Or is the bottleneck the pipe?

Re: Wet basement

[rmd.livejournal.com]

the bottleneck was the pipe. now it isn't, and things are flowing great. i'd done a mediocre job the first time, and had "oh, i should make that work better" on my list of things to do when i was feeling ahead of regular entropy. that task jumped the list after i got most of the water down to a reasonable level.

i'm glad i'm the sort of person who keeps random pvc parts and tubing around. it's the upside of being a packrat.

NAILING JELLO TO THE FUCKING WALL

[dhs.livejournal.com]

I've never actually tried to nail jello to a wall, but that might be an amusing party game. :-)

Good luck on the schoolwork.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Hooray for a tree not falling on your house.

[cz_unit]

Yeah, true. I'll have to say that I have a lot more perspective of what defines "bad" than I did in the younger days. Good to keep in mind.

That said, I will say that if I were to be in school again I'd definitely pop adderol. That stuff really makes my mind into a one-track "I have to do this" machine. Impressive stuff.

C

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, i have considered it. depending on how this goes, i may talk to my doc about it.

i'm hoping it's just "OH GOD IT'S LIKE THIS THING WE USED TO DO, THIS IS HOW WE DID IT BEFORE" panic that will settle down once i actually get started.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

how about i come over with a fifth of hootch and we'll get absolutely plastered and i'll help you with your homework ?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

nope. i'm covered with dirt and pvc cement and urethane foam bits, and now i'm gonna shower and go to bed and sleep like a brick.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

I wish I got offers like this when I'm flailing with my homework :-)

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

i'll keep that in mind !

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Er, I guess the lesson is to communicate the flailing?

I'll cheerfully help you with your homework too.

[flit.livejournal.com]

Eee I'm glad the tree didn't hit your house!

And that actually sounds like a lot to deal with all at once, even without the tree; a nice glass of water and a meltdown sounds like a reasonable response. :)

[kjc.livejournal.com]

If you need help with someone sitting next to you & reminding you of writing behaviors that are good for papers and also that work for ADD-types, let me know. (Outlining, quote scrounging, thesis writing, support statements, no new data in the conclusion, etc.)

I know you're mostly past the ADD stuff, but one trick that might help you is to time how long you can concentrate. And whatever it is (10 minutes, 20 minutes, 23.5 minutes), you can use that to work, then take a 3 minute break, then a work chunk, break, etc.

And I'm a professional now! My students all love me when I do this! It won't suck, I promise.

No charge of course. I owe you so much karma, I can't think of a metaphor big enough.

Also, WOOT! FOR NO TREE ON THE HOUSE nor downed power lines.

Second that strategy

[kellyjmf.livejournal.com]

That used to work for me as well. And we use that with Susan when she's in that dithery state. I suggest she set the timer for 20 minutes and she's able to (mostly) focus for that long. Then she sets the timer for a break, 5-15 minutes depending on how much she has to do and how well she's been doing so far. Sometimes I give her a choice of 5 minutes to do whatever or 15 minutes to clean her desk (she often chose to clean, which has the added bonus of making it easier to focus on the next round). But always with a timer.

[dfjdejulio.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, what do you *use* to write?

When I need to write a 7-page paper, I find that an unstructured WYSIWYG tool ends up paralyzing me. Using a structured writing tool (ie. outline processor) that *doesn't* look on my screen at all like it will on paper (or web or whatever) until after styles are applied (the last step) helps *me* get the job done (and has since the 1980s).

[rmd.livejournal.com]

oh, i can't generate a paper in a wysiwyg style tool. mostly i use emacs. occasionally vi. this also lets me use RCS to keep some kind of version control in case i completely nuke some section that i want to get back, later.

i may try mucking around with an outlining tool to better assemble my flow of ideas for this. i haven't used one for this purpose before.

[flabosib.livejournal.com]

We had several trees fall in dramatic fashion in our neighborhood and while several power lines came down, no house or car was damaged. Pretty amazing when we went out to gawk at things this morning while walking The Kid to school. We might not have power right now at home, but none of us are home right now and the cats don't really seem to care about having power. They have food and water and comfy beds to sleep on/in. Who needs power?

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you didn't get hit by a tree!

I'll be interested in homework buddies come the fall, or would having someone nearby writing and quietly cursing be too distracting for you?

And did you get it written?

[drwex]

'cause it'd be a shame to waste all that perspective.

Glad it didn't fall on anything too serious or yours-y, though.

[irilyth]

Is the wire brush of perspective the same as the wire brush of enlightenment?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

*exactly*

i wasn't sure what the veil of ignorance or lack-of-perspective or whatever would equate to, given my lack of the appropriate anatomy. :)

[muffyjo]

Yay for not being hit by a tree, nor your house being hit by one. :) I understand it from the Wicked Witch of the East that it can really have a bad impact on your day.

And don't sweat it, it's been the week for freak-outs. :)