Hemlock B Bootsalotta

So as you know Bob, the weekend before last I dumped a pint of beer over my laptop. And last weekend, I followed up by doing something to my back. I have no idea what, mind you. I just know that I woke up so seized up that I had to crawl to shower on my hands and knees and run hot water over my lower back for 10 minutes before I could bend it enough to stand up.

So that kinda put an oar into my weekend plans.

A chiropractor visit and much stretching later, I'm almost back to normal. However this was also the week I was scheduled to have my stomach monitored. So this is how I showed up to work on Tuesday morning.

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I only had to wear it for 24 hours, but boy howdy was I sick of the fucking thing by the I showed up to have it removed. Apparently my swallowing muscles are unimpaired because every time I ate something the cord pulled painfully on my nose. So that was fun. On the plus side I got to gross out my co-workers.

Today is another beer-and-laptops session. So now hopefully I can make it through the entire weekend without breaking anything.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

—Ira Glass