Tuesday 22 January 2013

JUST LISTED

I like to make lists. Some people might call this procrastination. I like to think of it as inventory – the mental notes I post for myself before I begin making piles of things and shoving them into closets for later.

In addition to the typical To Do, I have lists of things like, Things I Have to Remember to Teach My Kids about Life, Things Not to Say to People When Their Life Implodes, and Songs I Want at My Funeral (Come Sail Away, by Styx – thanks for asking). Life is so much smoother when all your essentials are organized and easy to access.
In my day to day, I balance the fine arts of raising people and pushing rocks up a hill with an inordinate amount of time scheduled in for reflection. I spend a lot of time itemizing limits and consequences, plotting out exciting new routes to take to and from school, Googling things like, How to politely tell people to mind their own business, and Is it normal for a seven year old boy to invent his own language, with multi-syllabic words like ‘penisbuttcrackhead’, and going gray in the face and the hair trying to keep things folded. I’ve spent years trying to perfect the art of distraction – mental gymnastics to turn the mundane, repetitive, same thing every day, BORING, into something noble and enlightened and fun.  I think this is why people make cake pops and why they want their lipstick and nail polish to have catchy names – so that they don’t go crazy.
It is time to name my sink. I am compiling a list – so far the only name on it is Wilson. I am taking suggestions.

4 comments:

Jon Brandt said...

I feel like it might be a Georgina.

Tamara said...

Georgina is very elegant - I'm thinking more along the lines of a 'pool boy'.

Anonymous said...

i'm not usually a list-maker much, at least not comparatively speaking. but i must say, this and your other blog posts,made me smile. so, what did you name your sink? does that improve your mood when you have to spend time there?

Tamara said...

I named my sink Sisyphus, after the myth where he was sentenced to pushing a rock up a hill for eternity. I can't say that it has helped, but it has been a reminder to me that things go better when you bless them. I am looking for a new name - something more optimistic. Maybe 'Bubbles'.