Day Three…
Win! Ish…
Task Three: Clean Out the Car
I have cleared out the junk (don’t ask where it is now) and it’s considerably better than it was to start. What I’ve learned in the process is that my dog’s hair has the sticking power of Velcro. Obviously I’ve always known dog hair likes to stick to stuff, but I swear Lola’s hair must have barbs protruding from the hair shaft that actually latch on to other fibers. It’s ridiculous. My question is, why doesn’t the damn stuff just stick to her? It seems to trail off of her anywhere she wanders but then becomes suddenly irremovable by any means other than extra strength duct tape. There has to be enough still in the car, even after vacuuming, to make a whole other dog. I suppose I have been wanting to get her a friend…
Of course it doesn’t help that car carpet also has a very Velcro-like quality that likes to keep a firm grasp on leaves, grass, pebbles and the aforementioned barbed dog hair. I guess there’s a reason car washes have those giant vacuuming contraptions that look like they could pick up a 20-pound bass. I always thought they were just showing off. In order to really call this one a win, I should have found a car-wash-worthy vacuum (there’s one about a mile from my house) and made sure everything was done as well as humanly possible. Alas, I went to pick up a table from my friends, had a beer with them and then the sun came out. We all know what that adds up to: nap. Yes, I allowed my zeal for procrastination and my special zest for laziness to take over and I took a fabulous nap. Not a very long nap but, as they say, quality over quantity.
Clearly there was not a profound learning experience associated with this task (I have, believe it or not, cleaned a car before) but it does feel good to have it done. That said, tasks that are really just glorified chores are no longer allowed on the list. I think this was the only one that would fall under such a category but it’s something I’ll have to keep in mind going forward. Which is kind of a bummer because it seemed like such a novel way to motivate my lazy butt to get stuff done. Perhaps one challenge can be to think of a dozen ways to make chores challenging: yoga-vacuuming perhaps?
So that just leaves tomorrow’s agenda. It’s supposed to be 65 and sunny so something outside would be ideal. I’d like to say I’ll plant my herb garden but it’s likely that I’ll want to be outside with my friends and not elbow deep in dirt. That one can be saved for a weekend when they all have their various offspring. Tomorrow, then, I’m going to sketch a portrait. Possibly of a friend, likely of my dog, but a portrait nonetheless. Many years ago, in art school, I was forced to take a drawing class (I know it doesn’t seem unreasonable to require a drawing class in art school, but I wanted to be a photographer, not a sketch artist). To my and the professor’s surprise it turned out I had a bit of a knack for it, especially for figure drawing. I’m not about to ask any of my friends to pose nude (although a few of them probably would: several, actually) and faces were always the difficult part anyway so that’s what I’m aiming for.
So until then, have a happy and safe Saturday. When we meet again I’ll be covered in charcoal. Cheers!
