If you want a real eye opener, start a blog that chronicles your day-to-day existence. Chances are, you’ll discover that your routine is stupefying.
How’s this for mundane?
Friday, November 11
• I spend the morning at the dining room table, swilling instant coffee (since my exit from Crushed Soul, I’ve gone through a canister that makes, like, 287 cups), grinding through freelance projects and dabbling at networking.
• At lunchtime, I go to the Y and exercise with extreme caution so that I don’t inflame my gimpy groin.
• I return to my dining room table, where I swill instant coffee, grind through freelance projects and dabble at networking.
• I pick up Cole at school. On the way home, he calls my parenting into question because I won’t let him download rap songs from a suspect website.
• My friend Steve Pleli’s wife, Jane, is hosting a candle party or some such thing, and I go to their house to help Steve tend bar. This is a high point: I consume Steve’s provisions and chat with the delightful assortment of candle buyers.
• After getting home, I fall asleep while watching the world implode on CNN.
Saturday, November 12
• I spend the morning at the dining room table, swilling instant coffee, grinding through freelance projects and writing a song on my acoustic guitar that’s tentatively titled “Take Me Back.”
• At lunchtime, I go to the Y and exercise with extreme caution.
• I return to my dining room table, where I swill instant coffee, grind through freelance projects and record “Take Me Back” using my trusty TASCAM.
• As is our bimonthly tradition, Cassie and I go to a local tavern to meet up with some friends from our old neighborhood. This is another high point: We laugh all night, especially when we swap stories about the challenges of raising adolescent children.
• After getting home, I fall asleep while watching the world implode on CNN.
Sunday, November 13
• I spend the morning at the dining room table, swilling instant coffee, grinding through freelance projects and working on my novel, tentatively titled Harmony and Havoc: The Untold Journey of Pete Townshend’s Woodstock Guitar.
• Liv and I venture to the Y for an Indian Princess activity: kickboxing and yoga. This is not a high point, though only because gimpy groins and kickboxing/yoga aren’t a stellar combination.
• That night, I fall asleep while watching the world implode on CNN.
Monday, November 14
• Coffee swilling. Freelance grinding. Network dabbling.
• Cautious exercise.
• Cart kids to and fro. Parenting called into question due to restrictions I've imposed for this and for that.
• World implodes on CNN.
Tuesday, November 15
• Swilling. Grinding. Dabbling.
• We meet with Cole’s high school guidance counselor. This is a high point: She tells us Cole is terrific.
• Gimpy groin.
• Cart kids. Lousy parent.
• World implodes.
Wednesday, November 16
• Amid the swilling, grinding and dabbling, there’s some excitement: Our friend DC has a dog-walking business, and she stops by with a Husky in tow to pick something up from Cassie. Since Fluffy is a world-renowned tough guy, I figure he might want to gaze outside at this canine visitor, and I carry him to the door. Much to my surprise, he doesn’t try to burst through the storm window and go after this pantywaist Husky. Instead, he runs the other way—retreats, for crying out loud—as fast as he can. A few minutes later, his street cred is further diminished when he has an anxiety-induced asthma attack, which only a heaping plate of Fancy Feast can cure.
• My groin seems to be on the mend, and I exercise a little less cautiously at the Y. I’ll be back on the racquetball court with Bennett before I know it.
• Cart the kids. My parenting sucks.
• World implodes.
Pathetic as it may seem, that’s pretty much a week in my life circa fall 2011. But before you think, Wow, this guy’s a real tool, I dare you to chart your own routine for a typical week. You might be shocked by your findings. Whether we commute downtown or to our dining room table, whether we spend our days at an office or at home, we’re all creatures of habit.
In my old age, I've learned that routine isn't boredom but something to be embraced. Mainly because if the routine is disrupted, it's usually something very bad (or rarely good!). I think you have a very nice family. I enjoy reading your blog, no matter how routine you think your life is! What makes it interesting is the Wagner humor "and spin" in which you tell it! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
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