Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Righteous Brothers

Okay, we all saw it coming. We did.

All that energy and enthusiasm has waned and I am down to the very last paper I have to write as an undergraduate and I have lost that lovin' feeling. As I sit here at my laptop I am reminded of a scene in "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan is sitting at her laptop trying to figure out what she would have said to Tom Hanks' character, the mean Joe Fox, when he was being rude to her, and even as she sits there she gets this blank look and says, "Even now..." she doesn't know what to say/write. I'm there people. I have that forlorn look on my face, I'm dazed and confused, please don't make me do this, please, please, please?!

Define Young Adult Literature by isolating its various characteristics in the three novels you chose.

I have 3 pages. I need 7-9. It is due on Monday. At 9 a.m. [whining] Please, don't make me. I wish this professor posted our grades on blackboard, so that I could see what would happen if 1. I didn't turn the paper in at all, or 2. I completely bombed the paper.

That is it. I am taking matters into my own hands now (as if it were never in my hands in the first place), after an entire day of wishing I didn't have to write this paper, and feeling guilty for only writing 1 page the entire day today, I am letting it go. Go away little paper, fly like the wind, float away, and DON'T COME BACK UNTIL TOMORROW!

This 38-year-old senior is officially trunky. Okay, I am mixing college and mission metaphors here, I know this, who cares? I dare anyone to cross me right now, I dare you!!!

And, I don't have a car that will take me to Chevron where they have the right kind of ice, and Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, NOT COKE. Not the Chevron nearest my house, the one down on the other end of town. Why, oh why must I be stuck when I am having a crisis of faith?

4 comments:

mom/Janet said...

Really, Jeanna, I am just amazed by you. How you did this is a wonder to me. You have reason to be so proud and you just forget that paper until tomorrow. Can't wait to see you again.

mooney said...

First of all, I totally feel your pain! Even though I graduated more than a few years ago, I still have painful flashbacks of writing my Senior paper, all 40 pages of it. by the time I got to the 5th draft of it I hated everything to do with my topic, and everyone attatched to it.
Okay, now here is the cheering part of this comment....You CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are soooooo close, don't give up now, victory will be yours in less than 4 days!
Whew! How was that? Good luck with your paper, I am sure you will get it written and it will be wonderful...or at least passable. :)

Holley said...

You are in the home stretch! I know you can do it.

I will be in similar shoes in just a couple of weeks (not graduating, just doing finals). My creative writing prof. gave me some good tips for overcoming writers block.

Freewrite. Right this second, copy the following starter phrase and keep writing nonstop wherever it leads you: “What I really want to say in this piece is...”

Change your medium. If you’ve been stuck writing at the computer, sit down with a pad of paper or even a grocery bag. If you’ve been trying with a pen, try crayons.

Talk it out. Call a friend and tell her what you would say in writing if you could. When it’s flowing, hang up the phone and continue on the computer.

Do it wrongly. Try writing your piece very badly. You may find you’ve created a halfway decent version with hardly any effort.

You have a lot of fans and people who are praying for and rooting for you. Just draw on all the good vibes being sent your way. YOU CAN DO IT!

Cote Corner said...

i'm sure your grad. day will be one of the happiest days of your life! What an accomplishment! I wish I could go back to school when my kids get a bit older but I'm afraid that my brain has turned to mush! (full of barney and twinkle twinkle little star!)