Saturday Night Fever

My cheesy chicken & rice casserole bakes in the oven; Frost battles Nixon in front of me on HBO; and I look over my notes on the SWCA in amazement of my Saturday night. A few weeks back, our professor joked about having an assignment due on a Saturday night, 11:59 PM, and if whether that would get in the way of our "nightlife". The answer I gave him then, is even more poignant now - after all I am writing this when I should very well be replicating Travolta, not in dance moves per se, but in living out my youth. I guess those days are over! Or, at least they will be, until I finish these damn degrees.

Today has been a microcosm of how I have attempted to research the SWCA. I deliberately scheduled my work for this week to be Friday and Saturday mornings, so I would have afternoons/evenings available for research and school work - possibly freeing my nights. Unfortunately, as Burns says it better than me, the best laid plans . . .

I have this unnerving need to often look up any subject that is brought to my attention. This is not such a good trait when you are attempting to read writing center theory. Such is my ADD mind: as CNN plays in the background, Pete Dominick appears with his new segment, and I start looking up Rick Sanchez; the host brings in Arianna Huffington as a contributor, and I start looking up her biography, the Huffington Post and read a blog by the Greek writer; as I read the Huff, I remember that she had been a panelist on Bill Maher, and I start looking up the controversial host; I watch clips of Real Times, hearing the cover up story of Pat Tillman from his brother Rich, and begin to look up the Tillman controversy; I feel the weight of the clock on my shoulders and realize I have just spent three hours looking up all these random topics - and confirm that really I can't lay out a plan for the life of me.

Not to be deterred - I was going to read these damn articles if they killed me - I decided to get out of the house and walk down to Starbucks, only a mile or so down the road. This was the life-saver for me, as it has been the most amazing weather, and during my walk, I realized that as much as I have organized the areas around me, I had still not "Aryanne-proofed" my apartment. I, unfortunately, am not strong willed enough to resist the crack-like temptation of the Internet, and thankfully the sterile location of the coffee shop allowed me to get about 4 hours of work done uninterrupted.

To ensure I did not relapse, I did not take my laptop, and as a result most of my notes are handwritten and in the margins of the text. This then will be what my Saturday night will be spent on: transcribing the 7 pages of handwritten notes and my interview from last Monday.

So, at last, au revoir to my Saturday nights - and bonjour to a different kind of fever.