It is Saturday, April 23, 2005

PROCRASTINATION STATION

To all the people I have told throughout my life that I don't like taking naps, today I am a liar. Not only did I sleep in until the ridiculous hour of 11:30 a.m., I also took two incredibly long naps. The truth still is that I do not like naps. I wake up like a lobotomy patient from them. Plus, it's 6 p.m. (CST). My day is shot. Ack.

But it all goes with today's post theme. Procrastination. I have been seeming slacker girl lately. So I'd like to redeem myself with a bit of info regarding what's been going on to make me such a procrastinator.

Work stuff. That's self-explanatory enough. We all have it, and it gets in the way of things. I'm talking my day job stuff. I love my job, though it can be taxing and rather a pain in the butt. We've been dealing with many changes during the past year, and it's been just weird. End of that story.

Health stuff. I was attacked by the plague within the past few months, and it ran me ragged. You probably know what I'm talking about ... the respiratory/flu/cold/nastiness that had taken over for a while. It was the type of being sick where you couldn't do a damn thing to really get over it and could hardly manage to get your daily tasks done, either. So book, Web site and magazine production stuff came to a near stand-still. On top of that, there were some family health scares. All is now well, but it was a little scary for a while. Also not conducive to book writing. Especially when you are writing a book about cemeteries and death. It was a little much for me at the time.

So those were the major things. Then I think I had a "third -of-life crisis" for a few days (I'm only 32). My husband and I and some friends went to see the Duran Duran concert on March 23 (whoa! a month ago today!). It was awesome. LOVED IT! They were just as amazing as I had always hoped they'd be. You see, though they were my all-time favorite band, this was the first time I'd seen them live. I was only 11 or 12 or so when they were huge, and we had no local concert venue of their caliber at the time. I never even thought about being able to see them live. My first concert wan't until years later.

Anyway, we went to see them. They sounded great, looked great. It was GREAT. I loved their new stuff ("Astronaut" is a killer album). I was reliving my music glory days and obsession with my favorite band. I bought a bunch of their CDs and DVDs that I never had growing up. It brought back the glory of the 80s and my best memories of the time for me. It was a blast! Then it started to hit me--this all happened 20 years ago. Twenty!!! Children have been born and raised into adults in that amount of time! My youth has become RETRO!!! I went in to a Hot Topic store at the mall to pick up a few things and saw a couple pairs of earrings for sale that I used to own in the 80s!

Now all of this is not really a big deal. I don't mind getting older. I really don't. Age is just a number and a symbol of pride--it means we've made it. We've made it through another year of change and growth. So this feeling was very different for me. It was probably due to being sick so long with the cold/flu from hell, having a health scare of my own and worrying about the health of my loved ones that got to me. And earlier this year I had knee surgery, so that was making me feel a bit decrepit. Knee surgery at 32, and it's not like I'm a decathalon athlete. My main physical activities include taking morning walks, photographing cemeteries and typing on my computer. What a wild life!

So it was bugging me. I would sit down to work, and have no motivation. I'd force myself, but that's not the way to write. Fortunately, I've gotten over it and have gotten my mojo back. Thank goodness! And then yesterday I realized that this year is my 15th high school reunion ... but I don't mind. I told you I'm over it. And I can hear all of you. "Ooh, 15th. Big deal! I've got my 25th/30th/35th coming up!" Don't worry. I'll get there.

Anyway, here are some updates regarding the book, magazine, etc.

- The book will most likely be out in the fall now. I'm wrapping up each of the chapters right now. Then I will pass it on to my two editors. I was freaking out over it not being "on time," but then I realized that it's no big deal. I'm SELF-publishing, for crying out loud! It's my timeline! In that case, there is no such thing as late. Plus, all my fans will be supportive and wait. ;-)

- The magazine is still plugging along. I'm still receiving submissions and advertisements. Editing will begin very soon. Production is just about ready. We are still shooting for July. Stay tuned! And keep sending us things! We've received great stuff so far!

- The site needs some updates. I plan to add more photos, but this will come once the final photos are selected for "Cemetery Walk." Please be patient. Other updates have been only posted once in a while. Things will pick up soon. Thank you for your support. More is coming soon.


That's what has been going on. Thank you for being so supportive and excited. Even on the tough days, all of you taphophiles keep me going!

All the best to all of you,
Minda

www.TheCemeteryClub.com