First update...November???

In keeping with my extreme procrastinism (yes that would be a belief in the dogmas of procrastination), my first update from what I've actually been doing since Sept 2 is actually here, on Nov 8. Please continue to complain about not having enough blog updates from me. Believe it or not, it actually works -- or it at least makes me feel guilty.

Grad school is not too hard, but I just totally suck at studying. I'm trying to figure out if there's something I can do to read faster, or read more often, or procrastinate less, etc. I'm signed up to go on a trip over Thanksgiving break, but I don't know if I'm going to make it unless I can get ahead in my studies. Let's take a little case study on the last few potential trips I've had.

1) Oregon. Weekend before classes started. Status: went. Plusses: great time with friends, great memories, got to see Oregon. Minuses: didn't have any time to get ready for school.

As for the trip, I had a horrible first half, followed by a great second half. Averages out to a 3.5/5. Adam got a great picture of me (I still can't believe that's me), Fitty Centello -style, in front of Crater Lake. That pic makes it all worth it. That and the Chemult incident, which was paradoxically both the best and worst moment of my trip. However, my room in El Cerrito is still in boxes and bags; I am still not caught up on my finances; and I had to make time to fit in all the other stuff I had to do alongside work and school. So I didn't really get to rest until Reading Week.

2) Reading Week. After eighth week of classes. Status: reserved for studying, then devoted weekend to class reunion & Kathleen's wedding. Plusses: Had great adventure in Long Beach for Kathleen's wedding. Minuses: Everything else.

Reading Week started with a fun Saturday morning trip to San Francisco with Ken, Lawrence, Jen Wong, and Tim, to see the Red Bull Soapbox Derby. The Derby was fun to watch (what we could actually see over the 70,000 people there), but due to the effect of 70,000 cell phone customers in the same place at the same time, Tim and I didn't actually meet up with the others until well after the event was over. The next day was a fundraiser for DSTP, which this year was themed "An Evening In Spain," and which all DSPT students were invited to help out with. It took most of the day to do, but was very rewarding (in many ways) and helped me discover a little bit about how to implement my work ethic. (I was congratulated by one person for being "the hardest worker there" -- which blew me away.) I then drove to Sacramento to have a fun-filled night (and next morning) with Chris and Natalie, who were visiting from Simi Valley (near Ventura).

But since that was the weekend, I don't really count that as "Reading Week," since I would have had it anyway. What I do count as Reading Week starts with the breakfast with Chris, Natalie, Donna, and Deacon Clark. Well, it was fun, but it put me in El Cerrito about 1:00, and at 2:00 my customer called with some questions about the printing machine we'd shipped to him. So most of Monday was shot as far as homework was concerned. Then, Tuesday, I decided to be organized and came up with a plan. It went fine -- I didn't exactly follow it, but I got some stuff done, and had a very good conversation with my housemates, on the subject on which I will be writing one of my papers. Wednesday, I had no Plan; and it was completely and utterly wasted online. So Thursday I resolved to make a Plan, and things went great! Except that I still didn't get any reading done, and failed in my plan to go to daily Mass...so it actually wasn't that productive, but it felt a lot more productive! So, in summary: Mon/Wed = no plan = no work done; Tue/Thu = made plan = not much more work done, but felt better about it. So ... what do you make of that!?

3) Wednesdays. No classes. Status: usually used up doing housework, or thinking about doing housework. Plusses: Chance to catch up on house chore and reading. Minuses: Rarely do.

I still have to figure out how to do Wednesdays. I usually get a few house chores done, but more often than not don't really do much. I have gotten some work done when I got up early and went to campus to study. Did that once. Must do it more often.

4) Thanksgiving Week? No classes Wed-Fri. Status: possible Tijuana trip, but it also puts me straight into the last week of classes before exams. What to do?

Maybe I would do better if I had more activities to fill my time...but maybe I would do worse, too. Who knows.

I have always been a doer, and I hate lounging around the house doing nothing. I love life. I always look for fun things to do, new ways to educate myself, and things I can look back on with nostalgia. So I knew that Berkeley would be a great place to do that -- which kind of scares me. I came here to study -- and I want to study, above all. And in fact, I have been good about not signing up for a million and one extracurricular activities. Still, without even looking, I found a comedy improv group, and a church that needs an organ player -- and I know there's a capella groups, musical theatre companies, and swing dancing clubs out there. But I am afraid that if I can't manage my schcool load now, how can I when I have more stuff? Unless having more stuff will force me to organize my life better....

....and analyzing everything above, it seems, so far, that heaping more activities onto my plate doesn't really affect my ability to get the really necessary stuff done. I don't study, sleep, or pay bills whether or not I have anything else to do. So the only thing it really changes is that I get to do some other fun stuff while I'm not getting the important stuff done -- in other words, how I procrastinate.