"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."

– William James

My mom and sister came to visit me on Thursday.

It was a good but long weekend. My sister had never been to Baltimore before, so we did the tourist thing all day, showed her Baltimore in all its glory and lack thereof. We took the MARC train to D.C. on Friday and did more touristy stuff, and then had a get together that night at my place. Saturday, we went shopping, and then to a drive-in movie at Bengie's, the largest theater screen in America. During this trip, they met some of my friends in the Baltimore/D.C. area. It was a good trip.

But now it's time to get back to the real world. I have a ton of homework to do, some of it before classes this week, some of it in the next couple of weeks. I have errands I need to run, and I have a bunch of shows I need to get caught up on. I have a lot to do in just a few weeks; it's stressful.

One of those stressful items on my to do list is to finish my hypertext story for this class. I've got one version (with two endings) written down, but I still have yet to write the other version. It's every bit as much work as I thought it would be, and more so. Is anyone else struggling to finish their assignments on time? Do you have any suggestions for how to block out the world and get shit done? After a work-free weekend, the last thing I want to do is homework.

But, unfortunately, it's the first thing I need to do. This should be fun...

"I believe that the so-called writing block is a product of some kind of disproportion between your standards and your performance...It doesn't make any difference if you are good or bad today. The assessment of the product is something that happens after you've done it."

– William Stafford

It's not that I have writer's block, per se; I just don't have time to write anything more than what's required of me for class. At least not in November, when NaNoWriMo starts up.

For one thing, I haven't had time to come up with a novel idea. I've had a few sparks but nothing that I could write 50,000 words on. If I'm going to participate in NaNoWriMo, I want to get some significant work done on a novel. So, I'm going to have to pass on it this year; maybe next summer I'll come up with a project to do next November.

As of now, I'm taking two classes, doing work study in O.T.S. at U.B., doing layout for the school paper (for which I get paid a very small stipend), and now (hopefully) working part-time at another place. I need the money, so I'm hoping that, when I get the call sometime this week, it's good news. The woman I interviewed with seemed very optimistic that she'll hire me. She was impressed with my résumé and fascinated by the story of how I came to be in a creative writing program. If things go well, I might actually have some spending money this holiday season – and subsequently, for that matter.

Having two part-time jobs, and one volunteer/stipend job that I'm using solely for publishing experience for my résumé, is far from ideal. I'd much rather have a full-time job but, as Samantha wrote recently, can't seem to find anything in (or close to) Baltimore.

I'll stick with this for a while, but sooner or later, I'll have to go back to the drawing board and find myself a career job.

"I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween."

– Unknown author/coiner, but I found it on Quote Garden

The fall equinox was exactly 31 days ago, and yet it's supposed to be 76 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday. Is this normal for Maryland? I don't remember what last year was like, but even so, that was only one year out of – well, since the beginning of temperature records in Maryland – and could have been a fluke. Is this year a fluke? I guess I'm not complaining. It's not exactly hot outside these days, and I've got visitors coming soon, so I'm hoping some of the warmth will actually stick around so we can go exploring in Baltimore and D.C. without freezing or sweating to death!

Meanwhile, Halloween is coming up next weekend, and I still don't know if I should dress up when we go to Fells on Saturday night – or what I want to be. It sucks being relatively poor, but I guess it encourages creativity; maybe I should just make something and/or use things I already have. And who says I have to be something? Couldn't I just embody Halloween itself?

"As for your fears that I will lose myself in these unknowne large waters, or be swallowed up in some stormie gust: abandon those childish fears, for worse then is past cannot happen, and there is as much danger to returne, as to proceed forward."

– Captain John Smith (yes, that John Smith)

The Waterfront Promenade was voted Best Place to Run in Baltimore. I had to double-check to make sure I was thinking of the right place, but I was (and maybe the whole of the harbor is considered Waterfront Promenade, but I'm unclear on that). This is the famous Inner Harbor area, where I do, in fact, see a lot of runners. And just last week, I was one of them. I had planned on going to U.B.'s kickboxing class on Saturday but didn't make it, so I decided to go for a brisk walk/run around the harbor instead.

I had no idea how big the harbor is. The Waterfront Promenade is, apparently, 7 miles long. I don't know what that includes (is that from the start of the Promenade, at Pratt and Light Streets, all the way around Tide Point Marina and Canton, and back to Pratt and Light?), but anyway, it's bigger than I had expected. Actually, I didn't know what to expect.

But when I went for my walk/run, I went up past The Rusty Scupper and into a really nice subdivision area. I don't know if it's apartments or condos or what, but they look really nice. I wound up passing the Domino Sugar factory, ending at Tide Point Marina, right by the Baltimore headquarters of world-famous Under Armour. From this marina, there's an excellent view of the harbor that I can't even convey with one picture (because it's so big), but I'll post one as a teaser.

I wish you could see the whole thing.

"I thank God I was raised Catholic, so sex will always be dirty."

– John Waters

Okay, when bulk trash pick-up is voted Baltimore's 3rd Best City Service – well, I think we need some new services.

Because how boring and gross is that? We might as well call Baltimore itself the world's biggest trash can because I think that's what "bulk trash" says to me: big trash, butt load of trash, Crap City. The world's dump. It's no wonder you see couches, tires, etc., on the streets of Baltimore every month.

Just below the #1 Charm City Circulator (which is great, don't get me wrong, but it has its drawbacks), we have single-stream recycling. Okay, in an increasingly greener world, that's pretty cool. But #3 needs to be something special to counteract all that boring...ness. How about a Metro subway with more than one line? Granted, the Red Line is all but official, but it won't be here and ready to use until at least 2016, and even then, it's only one new line. What do we do in the meantime? Apparently, we throw out our appliances and furniture.

I'm just glad rat eradication didn't make it into the top 3.

P.S. Why is it that, when I do a Google Image Search for "bulk trash Baltimore," John Waters appears on the first page?