Saturday, January 26, 2013

Weekly Update: 1/26/13

No substitute jobs this week, so I spent almost 40 hours writing--and yes, that included Martin Luther King's Day.  My parents came over, and we watched The Hobbit.  Nice, advernturesome fantasy.  I finished Chapter 24 of my novel, which turned out to be a mamoth 10,600 words or 39 pages.  

But the big news of the week happened on Thursday.  I had my driver's exam.  And... I failed.

Stupid rain.  Here I live in Southern California, and the one day I schedule for an exam is the one day it happens to pour.  (Though, to be fair, it rained all weekend.)  I was so flustered about keeping to the speed limit and signaling properly and backing up along a curb that I completely forgot to de-fog my window--resulting in a prompt disqualification.  

I was mad, mostly at myself.  I didn't practice enough, I let nerves get the better of me, stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Since then, I've been practicing.  And since I hate it, you're going to be subjected to a rant.  Driving is a mix of monotonous and terrifying.  You're forced to use all your concentration muscles, never knowing if one careless moment can cause you an accident.  And believe me, I've had some careless moments.  If my mind starts to drift off even the slightest, suddenly I'm stopping at green lights or turning into the wrong lane.  Grrr.  So frustrating.

Aside from that, there's the reason I've put off driving so long, in that I don't see it as a symbol of freedom, but rather as a restraint.  You get a car and you need to pay for insurance, gas, and maintanence.  Where do you get the money?  You work.  You get stuck at a minimum wage job or you get roped into debt.  I mean, it's fine, but I spend hours a week just writing, without pay, so it's not exactly like I can afford it.  To me, a car is a symbol of the "real world" imposing on my dream.

Okay, rant over.  You can tell me how childish I'm being in the comments.

Hours Spent Writing: 39 (Novel: 30.5, Fanfiction/ Other: 8.5)
Hours Spent Driving: 9.5

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