While writing my last post I had a great idea for my next post. Paradoxically, that is the very reason there has been no posting here for some time. Sure I got busy, but I would have written a quick post at some point but nooooh, that’s not the great-big-killer next post the plan called for. I could have forced a short version of the great post in question, but that would have been even worse in the grand scheme of things. Now with the month ending, and no posts since the first of the month, I am basically writing an excuse. There’s nothing wrong with an excuse, if a good effort is shown.
About now I expected the Professor to hit me with some sage wisdom or thoughts on keeping it simple (I am keeping it simple, I’m writing this in lieu of listening to the “State of The Union Address.” They’re calling it the final one. I’m wondering if they mean the final one for this president, or do they mean that once you hear it you’ll realize the state is such that this will probably be the last one ever???). Instead he hit me with this:
“Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion toward men and toward objective things.”
So I was too ambitious. Sure, if the original idea was more from love of the idea I’d have found a way to do it right away. I just wanted the great post. (May I paraphrase Mark Anthony as recorded by W.S.? “Albert hath said he was ambitious, and Albert is an honorable man.”) Maybe I was too tired when I thought of it to do it justice (I’m stretching here, true insomniacs never are too tired to stay up once they’ve thought of something) Maybe I really got that busy (true, actually). This drew a reply
“I am being so terribly deluged with inquiries, invitations, and requests that at night I dream I am burning in hell and the mailman is the devil and is continually yelling at me, hurling a fresh bundle of letters at my head because I still haven’t answered the old ones”
I’m assuming the point is he kept doing what he did despite a hectic schedule imposed on him by the entire world, so he’s not impressed with my excuse. The truth is, excuses are great to tell other people, but they never work to convince yourself. They only work on your own self before the deed is done, to fan the flames of doing it. And all too often the only deed one is doing is procrastinating. You know, somebody should write about procrastination and I’m just the guy to do it. Tomorrow, or next week, sometime in February. Remember our motto “Procrastinate Soon.” Oh, wait, no, it’s “Never put off for tomorrow what you can get out of doing entirely!” Okay, great-incredible-killer post coming, sometime in 2008, or 9, this Millennium for sure!
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