Lazy Susan

No, by Lazy Susan, I'm not referring to the spinning condiment and spice holder some people have in their kitchens. I am referring to myself.

No sooner do I post a Fridge Note saying Send Book Proposal by June 24 than I decide I'm tired, it's a holiday weekend, I need a day of rest, I haven't read a book in weeks, etc. etc.

In other words, now that I've publicly set a writing goal, I'm afraid I will tire myself out before I even get started. More importantly, I set a big goal and then realize I have a million other unmet goals [fill out many State Farm itemized personal property forms, carefully review contractor's umpteen-page proposal, pitch magazine article ideas, pitch web reporting ideas, schedule Sugar's grooming appointment, get my fasting blood sugar test] that I should meet first before taking on a giant project. I've been there before. I'm a pro at this. Setting one goal helps you seize the others.

And, though I've gotten positive feedback on my short stories and even published one years ago, who am I to think I can write a whole novel? I've never written one before. What if I can't put myself into the heads of fictional characters and sustain their story for the length of a book? I know myself, I don't know them. In fact, at this point, I only have a vague idea of who the main character will be. But I will like her. I can tell.

Is Writing Lazy?
I don't know if it's fair or accurate to call writing a lazy activity, but my blog is becoming a problem. I would rather write in it than do my work. I try hard to finish all my dreary work before I move onto the unbearable lightness of blogging, but it doesn't always work out that way.

If a painter sits around mixing colors and dabbling on canvas instead of, say, cleaning her messy home, paying her bills or hunting down art commissions, is she a sloth? How about a sculptor who is up to her elbows in clay and loving it but hasn't finished the sculpture someone paid her to do? Um-hum. I thought you might say that.

But isn't it also true that every stroke on the canvas and pinch of the wet clay will make the artist's work for the paid customer better, more focused, more perceptive?

Maybe not, when it comes right down to it.

But Back to the Lazy Susan
First of all, why is it Lazy Susan, not Lazy Sam? Some men I know already get away with too much in the kitchen.

What about these other common terms that use female names?
1. Chatty Cathy
2. Shirley Temple
3. Steak Diane
4. Quiche Lorraine
5. Bloody Mary
6. Black-eyed Susan

Oh, okay, some phrases use male names too, so there goes my feminist argument:
1. Robbing Peter to pay Paul
2. Doubting Thomas
3. You don't know Jack
4. Sloppy Joe
5. Cuppa Joe
6. Manwich [most sexist of all?]

Enjoy your evening.

Signing off,
Lazy Susan