Zen and the Art of Procrastination

As I think about going back to work in a few weeks, I, of course, thought of all of you! I hope everyone is doing well and ready to start school, also, in September. Maybe some of you already started. And I know many of you working. So, how does it feel to be out of school and in the 'real world' as an 'adult'? I hope to continue with the blogs with my classes this year and would love to have my freshman read some recent graduate stories.

I am glad to be back in LA and, to avoid getting right to planning, I took on some home decorating projects which turned into much more labor than I planned. Do you have any idea how much dust and mold gets trapped under a rug? With my carpets gone, I now sleep better knowing I am not breathing in all that toxicity. I am now exhausted, but very happy with what feels like a new apartment. I did take a break to go to the Reggae festival at the Hollywood Bowl with some colleagues from Garfield. If you have never been there, I recommend going; there are cheap tickets in the upper seats, it is easily accessible by bus/subway, and a great way to enjoy the LA summer evenings, all priorities, I think, for young adults just out of high school.

And today, giving advice to a friend who was feeling overwhelmed with life, I told her our class motto: think, fast, and wait. She said, "It is true. Except, when I say it, I think of it as 'think fast and wait.' And that doesn't help." See how important a comma is?! Then, in the book I am reading, Galapagos, by Kurt Vonnegut, there was a passage about how when humans are full, they lose all sense of urgency and perspective in what needs to be done. Which then brings up the issue of Quality, which was the focus on the book I read while traveling, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is what you might get if Siddhartha lived in the 20th century Midwest and wrote a manual about repairing motorcycles.