Slow Twitch

Return to Ritual

2008-11-04T15:57:20Z

I'm not sure what good it does to figure out the secrets of writing. I can't seem to make use of them. Ritual, I discovered long ago, is one of the secrets of writing. Routine. Rhythm. Getting up at the same time each day, putting in a few hours ...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Palo Duro Canyon 20K

2008-10-22T02:06:43Z

Last week I took a break from my steady writing schedule, flew to Amarillo, visited my folks, and ran the Palo Duro Canyon 20K trail race. What a wild, gorgeous, lonely, and exhausting run.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Energy, Exhaustion, and Rest

2008-10-07T20:17:17Z

I've been thinking about energy management a lot lately. I'm not sure why I rented "The Devil Wears Prada," a forgettable film. But I found one thing to like about it besides the excellent clothes: Streep's interpretation of her high-powered exec...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

September: 54.25 hrs

2008-09-30T15:56:58Z

54.25. That's the number of hours I spent on research-related work in September. That's up from previous months. My monthly goal is to achieve about 55-60 hours (13.25 a week) until the book is out, but I often fall far short, since I do scholar...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

An Even Keel

2008-09-24T14:51:18Z

27.5 hours. That's how much research-related work I squeezed into the week of Sept 7-13. At the time, I was gaining a foothold. 8.5 hours. That was last week. I fell so far behind on my administrative and teaching duties that I couldn't even sque...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Gaining a Foothold

2008-09-11T04:16:20Z

This week I've spent 5-7 hours a day on research. At the cost of my day job and teaching, of course. But this month afforded a little more scheduling flexibility than usual, and next week has room for catch up. I needed a foothold: to dig into...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

What's a Blog to Do?

2008-08-29T15:20:43Z

I've been glancing over this blog, trying to figure it out. I think it has an identity crisis. It's random. Now that my research and writing is back on, I've been wondering what role this blog can play. I think from here on out I'll use it exclus...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Little Donks

2008-07-02T00:45:16Z

In the midst of my dark month, I escaped for a bit. On Matt's birthday, we biked out to Hamilton Pool, then tried to find our way down into Pedernales Falls State Park biking on private ranchland roads. We never got to Pedernales Falls, but we di...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Missing

2008-07-02T00:16:35Z

I've been missing. From this blog, from my writing, from my own head. Sometimes our lives get very difficult. We all cope in different ways. I tend to go missing. But I eventually have to find my way back. I get lost a lot. So I'm not here ye...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Run Your Dentate Gyrus

2008-05-23T02:44:48Z

I realize that "dentate gyrus" sounds like some sort of sadistic orthodontic device. But it's really a part of your brain that keeps you sharp. It's providing yet more evidence that running helps writing. Apparently running -- and aerobic exercis...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend