Talking. About Everything.

I like just about everything. I think everything is neat and that everything is fascinating to somebody. One of my favorite aspects to writing articles for the college newspaper was talking to the people who were putting on various events, or who were trying to start a club, or who were behind some sort of student policy initiative. I love this because those people I interviewed were passionate and excited about the work they were doing and I found it infectious. I remember I was doing a short article for the newspaper about a fashion show the Black Student Alliance was hosting. After interviewing the person coordinating the event about it, I really wanted to go! I'm not into fashion and I wasn't a member of the Black Student Alliance, but the event coordinator was so energized about doing the event, about it's theme and about the people she was working in it. It was hard not to be part of her passion.

I'm Interested in Just About Everything

This quality is a good one. I work for a news app that released its first vertical news app, Inside Drones, and we're going to have two more coming out this week on two completely different topics. The week after or so, we're going to have another two or three coming out on two or three more different topics. By the end of the summer, we should have 11 vertical apps out as well as our main Inside news app, all available in the App Store for people to download. That is A LOT of topics, and that won't be the end of the line. The point is that being interested in everything is a good thing because Inside is going to cover everything ultimately, whether we do it in a vertical app or we feature the topic in our main app. My job involves sharing all the cool things we cover and getting people who love these topics into the right app(s). If I'm not interested in drones, then I certainly share the neat stories we feature or get drone enthusiasts using the app. They'll be able to tell a mile away and they'll just use a different app or website instead.

Right now, my job is primarily Inside Drones and the main app. But, come August or September, I'm gonna be doing this 11 times over across 11 different topics. So, really, my job isn't for someone who has already decided they know what they like or who isn't willing to learn about things they may have previously thought was gross or boring. I'm not lying. We cover EVERYTHING, which is a lot of things.

I Just Need to Start Talking, Reading and Writing

I just need to do those things and not be afraid. I need to not be afraid of not being good at any particular thing or of making people angry because I don't talk about the things they want to read about all the time. I need to stop being afraid of being criticized or of crazy people threatening to dox me or send me rape threats or something. Talking, reading and writing, both here on this blog and at work. I think that's really it. I need to do a whole bunch of little things, but talking, reading and writing are the main things. The little things can follow and can amplify the main things once the main things are actually on this blog and on the work blog and are actually being done.

As Seth Godin said, "the heart of real growth is a simple idea: people decide to tell other people. Start with that."

I Want to Talk About All the Things

When most beginners start blogging, all them blogging and social media gurus tell you that you gotta pick something. Nobody likes jacks- and janes-of-all-trades, so you need to pick something and specialize in it and build a community around that one topic you picked. It's easier that way. It's easier to attract a community. It's easier to position and present yourself. Besides, you can't be everything to everybody and you can't possibly do everything anyway. All those gurus forget to mention HOW HARD it is to pick. People are complicated and often have a variety of interests and passions, sometimes competing interests and passions. Other people just don't know what their passions are, or aren't sure among several different choices so they don't want to commit to one topic. Although clarity comes from engagement, not thought, as the great Marie Forleo says, at times it can take quite a bit of "engagement" for folks to figure out which passions and interests to spend their time on.

Therefore, I'm Going to Do All the Things

I'm just going to do all the things cause I want to do all the things and I'm going to be my own blogging and social media guru and make it work. I'm going to make it work because I think it's awesome and I think just about everything is awesome (except cockroaches, as they are not awesome). There's probably going to be a lot of app marketing, inbound marketing and content marketing in here as well because I know a lot about that stuff and I do it for a living so it's kind of hard not to have it seep into the rest of my life. After all, I have plenty of categories in my sidebar, which illustrate that I certainly love all the things and have already made previous attempts at doing all the things, even though I wouldn't have called any of those posts or categories attempts when I first created them. Never mind some of the stuff that I wrote about previously. Some of it I will iterate and bring it back and others I will not.

I'm Also Probably Going to Promote Apps Here as Well

I know! It makes me such a shrill to promote products or whatever on the blog or on the sidebar. But, first of all, it's part of my job. I love my job and I do love the apps that we create. Our apps cover all sorts of topics, and some of those topics I'm probably never going to talk about in depth on this blog. For example, our latest app is Inside Drones, which is about hobby drones, quadcopters, and how they're used in various industries. It features drones news and only drones news. so it won't ever have celebrity news or sports news or even topics more closely related like gadgets or tech news. I'm probably never ever going to talk about drones in a blog post. But, people are doing some pretty awesome things with drones, like this Drones Racing Championship that's happening next month. That just sounds darn cool. How do you not promote that and talk about that?

On a side note, I need to create my reading list for this website. I like to all sorts of books and I have plenty of favorites and recommendations, spanning all sorts of topics. You know what, if I like it I'm gonna promote it. Plain and simple. Marie Forleo does that with some of the guests she has on her show, and I've certainly bought the books and other products from some of her guests. One of my particular favorites is Sally Hogshead. Her research and ideas on fascination is just amazing.

Can I Just Be a News Expert?

Is there such a thing as a news expert? I ask because that's what I want to be. If it already does exist, then that's what I want to be and I want to know what it takes to become a news expert. If it doesn't yet exist, then I'll figure out what it means to be a news expert, do that, and then call myself a news expert. Perhaps expert isn't the best word, especially if I have to create this position or persona. I looked in the thesaurus (cause that's what I do), and I like the sound of "news specialist" and "news master". I think "news artist" also has a nice ring to it, but I do have a little trouble envisioning what the news artist does on a day-to-day basis.

The Mothership is Calling Me Home

The mothership called when I was checking on my application status with About.com. I applied to be the guide for the US Liberal Politics section months and months ago. It's so long ago I don't even remember when I applied. I checked on my status, only to find out once again that they haven't gotten around to may application yet. While browsing their list of available topics, I discovered that About.com was also accepting applications for their World News section! It's as if the Internet knows I'm in need of my mothership! I applied right away. I really don't know if I could handle both sections, but I'd love to do the World News section if I had a choice between the two. I'll be happy if I get one or the other.

I'm so glad to be doing news again. That was why I started my business. That was why I stopped freelancing. I didn't want to be stuck covering what someone else wanted me to cover or what other people thought was important. I wanted to cover what I thought was important and what I felt needed covering. I strayed from all that chasing marketing clients and using my marketing training to build an agency, even though I didn't really want an agency and had no intention of going into the marketing industry. I don't think I was really doing that work for the right reasons, and I don't think I ever had the confidence in myself to do marketing like I do to do the news. The news is just absolutely amazing! Each day you learn something new, and you never know what's going to happen next! It's truly a career path where every day is different. No two days on the job are exactly the same.

I'm Wondering How to Turn this Into a Business or Really Good Side Gig

I have two great news gigs right now, one with News Headquarters and another with a news app that's launching in January (when it launches, I can reveal the name of this app). I'm really enjoying the work I'm doing for both of them, and both of them also have room for advancement and additional work. If those opportunities come up, then I plan to take them and to drop some of my other clients if I have to. I'm absolutely happy to be reading and writing the news again. I'm thinking that what I might have to do is slug it out for the next year or two, working in the industry and figuring out where I can fill in what's missing. I'd like to use this blog and/or Stirring Media to do that, but I'm really not sure how without duplicating what's already being done. I don't want to just duplicate. I want to shake up the news industry with an innovative approach to reporting, delivering, and interpreting the news. I'm just not sure what that innovative approach is yet.

9 Empowering Songs for Kicking Ass and Taking Names

I first came up with this blog post idea a long time ago when, in my SuperBetter account, I created "listen to an empowering song" as a power-up. I had a few on my iPod, came across a few more, and decided it would be cool to put them all together in a list post. After all, empowerment is about getting ready to kick ass and to take names, so why not help others be able to do the same? In doing a little research for this post, I found lists and songs that were dedicated to empowering women after a breakup! It sends the message that a man will empower and validate us, so when we are without one, we have to find out how to do it on our own. I also found lists and songs that I didn't think were all that empowering at all, like Adele's Rolling in the Deep (Sorry Adele, but this does more fall into the 'empowerment after breakup' category). Besides, we shouldn't only be looking for empowerment and self-confidence when we're newly single. We should be doing that all the time and looking for ways to channel that energy besides being someone's girlfriend or wife. So, I'm changing that by creating my own list of empowering songs that are actually empowering (I fail to see how Somewhere Only We Know by Keane is empowering) and can actually be applied perhaps when we're in a happy relationships. Here are nine empowering songs for kicking ass and taking names. I know that some of these artists have done more than one empowering song, but I wanted to feature each artist only once.

Roar - Katy Perry

An obvious choice for an empowering song. I prefer the lyric video to the official one. I don't think the jungle theme showcases the message of the song all that well. I don't think Olivia Henken did it justice on season 5 of the Voice.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9SeJIgWRPk]

Hair - Lady Gaga

It's not one of her most popular hits, but this song is one of my favorites from her. I want someone to sing this on the Voice.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okq8xHrIZ8I]

#thatpower - will.i.am ft. Justin Bieber

Not only is this great song, but the music video is awesome too. The choreography is so deliberate, like what it takes to succeed in life.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGIgXP9SvB8]

Feeling Good - Nina Simone

The version by Michael Buble isn't bad either, but I do think the original has much more character and emotion to it. I also think that it would be harder to sing if you had to sing it live.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHs98TEYecM]

Counting Stars - OneRepublic

No more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars. Or, in my case, words. I want to be counting words.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT_nvWreIhg]

Try - P!nk

This song applies to love and relationships, as that's what P!nk is singing about, but you need to try in life also. You can't be afraid of failure or uncertainty. Well, you can be afraid of those things, but you shouldn't let your fear getting in the way of doing things. Let P!nk tell you all about it. Another video with great choreography.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCDVfMz15M]

Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys

Around the time this song came out, my cat accidentally lit his tail on fire by sweeping across a lit candle. My fiance and I put it out frantically, while my cat wasn't too pleased that we pet him the wrong way. Now, the lyric goes, "This kitty's on fire!"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J91ti_MpdHA]

Dog Days are Over - Florence + the Machine

Now, Pentatonix did this song justice when they performed it on the Sing Off. They made it their own while keeping the intensity and character of the song.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU]

Walk Tall - John Mellencamp

Not only is this an incredibly inspirational and empowering song, but the music video is beautiful too. Mellencamp may have been singing for a long, long time (although this song came out in the early 2000's), but this song is timeless.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjNn9_bfp6k]

Why Am I Here?

And How to Figure Out Why You're Here Too

I picked up a book from the library called, Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More than Your Peers Ever Will. It's kind of obvious from the title what it's about. I've read a few snippets here and there, and one of those snippets was the following exercise below. It's used at a non-profit to help kids who can't get beyond their current environment, and the author offers the exercise as a way to show if college is really necessary for someone's dream job. I think it's a worthwhile exercise to figure out what you really want to do with your life, what you want out of it, and what it might take to get there:

What are You Put on This Planet to Do?

This is to be a verb, always a verb, and just one verb. My verb is: to help.

What are Your 5 Greatest Gifts?

Your five greatest gifts are also verbs, and these verbs support your mission (the original verb above). These verbs help with your purpose, and they're not necessarily your biggest strengths or your strongest skills. My five greatest gifts are:

1. To write
2. To think
3. To represent
4. To ask
5. To organize

For Each Gift, Come Up with Two Ways that You Could Use it To Add Value to the World

Each way is supposed to be an occupation that uses this gift to add value to the world. Here are my 10 total ways that I can add value with each of my gifts:

To Write

• Columnist
• Publisher

To Think

• Researcher
• Consultant

To Represent

• Public Official i.e. State Senator, City Councillor etc.
• Non-Profit Director

To Ask

• Journalist
• Policy Analyst

To Organize

• Community Organizer
• Event Planner

Choose One Way, and Come Up with 5 Ways to Fortify the Gift in the Real World

Of the 10 occupations, pick one and come up with five ways to fortify the gift, or to be better at that occupation or that gift. I'm going to choose columnist for this, and here are five ways I can fortify my gift to write so that I could be a columnist (or a better columnist):

1. Start a blog
2. Pitch the idea to a publication
3. Go to an event to write about
4. Attend a writing or journalism seminar
5. Read a book by a career columnist

Now What?

From the book's perspective, the point of the exercise is to see if you really needed a college degree to be a columnist, in this case. The answer is no, for the most part, especially since it's so easily to start a blog or to pitch an idea to a publication. You might want to go to college to specialize in a subject i.e. biology, history etc. that would be helpful for the column, or to be able to work on the college newspaper or magazine to improve your writing skills, or even to go to college to start a column about college life. But, all of that's not necessarily going to college to be able to become a college because there isn't anything intrinsic about college that's needed to have a successful weekly column.

Overall, it's a good thing to do to get a sense of direction, and to come up with a few ideas for career choices and pursuing your career choices. It's also a great way to think about what you're good at , what you like to do, and what possibilities may exist that compliment those things. It's not always about going to school, which isn't all that bad because school is expensive and time-consuming.

Thinking about Being Awesome, and About Doing It

Lately, it's felt like I've lost identity capital, that I haven't done or accomplished much over the past few months. I've actually completed my SuperBetter quests to be more awesome (it was a very small Power Pack) and I don't think I'm any more awesome than I was before I started. Granted, I still haven't done the task to come out of my comfort zone, and that's probably part of the problem. But, that's certainly not the whole story here.

I Think I Need to Revisit My Empowering Beliefs

It's been a long time since I recited my empowering beliefs about money and my empowering beliefs about myself. I think I've lost touch with a lot of things, which is mainly why things have gotten a bit out of control. Yes, one of the things I lost touch with was time, but I think I lost touch with a lot of things over these past few months. To get back into gear, here are my empowering beliefs about myself, of which I need to read more often. At the very least, this establishes more control over my thoughts and self-confidence.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about myself. J
• I am awesome. I am an amazing human rights activist, a phenomenal writer, and an even better person. I am destined to change the world.
• I am agnesamurphy, a budding poker phenom who is constantly improving at everything she does. I am well-liked because I am lots of fun at the table and away from the table.
• I am a great businesswoman running a great business. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be unthinkable NOT to care about Stirring Media, LLC.
• Someone I don’t even know loves me right now. I do more for this world and for people close to me than I could ever imagine.

I Think I Need to Revisit Identity Capital Too

When that was the theme of this blog, things were going well here and I felt like I had a lot more to say too. I tried to change things up because I didn't like the idea of turning this into a personal diary, but in trying to change I haven't actually changed the scope all that much. I might go back to that topic, as there is something valuable there for people and something that I can discuss and chronicle in a way that's helpful and engaging. The idea of building identity capital is one more thing that I can add to my life to bring it back together and to go back to setting goals, revisiting my marketing plan, measuring what I'm doing, and improving my skills. I could also use a coaching session with my business coach for good measure, or even just a good lunch.

Building identity capital, one day at a time, isn't a bad idea right now for this blog (and my life).

Structuring My Time, Busting that Routine

In order to be more awesome and to spend more of my time doing awesome things, I chose to stop sticking to a routine. In thinking about how to bust my routine and not have one, I came up with a really good idea as I was going to bed the other night. I realized that one of my current problems with being productive and doing everything I want to do is that my time has lost structure. My days felt chaotic and out of control.

I lost this structure when I switched to my inferno of productivity game, when I put all my tasks on the point system. When I made this switch, I took away any sense of doing work at certain times, taking breaks at other times etc. My time was disorganized, so I wasn't maximizing my time or using it efficiently at all. To be more awesome while managing not to have a routine, I think structuring my time would be the best thing to do.

What Structuring Your Time Even Means

Structuring your time, in my opinion, is not the same as a routine. A routine is defined as, "a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program." Structuring and organizing your time isn't the regimented, as there isn't a sequence of actions or a fixed program. It's merely arranging it so that time is set aside to do work, to take a break, to play poker etc. It's not necessarily doing the same things each day, or doing certain things at certain times. It's making sure that you make the time to do what you need to do as well as what you want to do. This ensures that you don't waste time and that you don't let your time fly by without you.

How I'm Accomplishing This

One of the things I lost when I started my inferno of productivity was my planner. Since I moved my task list from the planner to the point cards, I stopped looking at my planner and I stopped using it organize my day in any way. I exacerbated this problem when I purchased a set of Day of the Week binder clips. This allowed me to create point cards for the next week, instead of just the next few days like I started. Doing so much in advanced actually made organizing my time harder, since I needed to have more in my head and I didn't have all that on paper. I've had those binder clips for several weeks now, and I think that's when things began to fall apart.

I'm fixing all this by bringing the planner back in, using it to create this structure while also using my point cards to keep track of what needs to be done. With the planner, I can also get a sense of the events and meetings coming out, and gauge how much time out of my day each of these events will take up. This prevents me from trying to cram too much and from stressing out because I didn't get as much done as I hoped.

I started this process today, and so far, I think it's working well. This organization gives me a good idea of what needs to done, as well as what's possible to get done during the day. It also puts me into a more productive, motivated, and coordinated mindset. I understand that it is a bit early to call things, so with just about every other thing I've tried, I'm going to give this several weeks and see if things improve.

Streamlining Your Awesome

Supposedly, there are only two things you do each day: things you like doing/are good at and things you hate doing/are not good at. Streamlining your awesome(ness) means thinking about the things that fall into the latter category and finding a way to do them less or to have someone else do them. As part of today's SuperBetter quest, I am to write down three things in each category, and for one thing in the hate/not good at category, I am to delegate it or stop doing it all together.

Three Tasks and Activities that I'm Good At/Like Doing

1. Blogging - I love writing and blogging, which is obvious. I wouldn't do it as a hobby, and for a living, if I didn't love it. I also wouldn't be able to make any money from it if I wasn't any good at it.
2. Poker - Naturally, poker would be on this list. I'm better than most, and I'm working very hard on improving my skills and building my bankroll. I do need to work on taking time to study the game, as I still need to finish Harrington on Hold 'Em, take time to review hands and work on my ranges.
3. Goal Setting - I love setting goals, thinking about the future, and taking small action steps toward my goals. Being driven and hopeful hasn't exactly been a problem for me.

Three Tasks and Activities that I'm Not Good At/Hate Doing

1. Accounting - I'm not too good at the bookkeeping when it comes to the business. I often miss an expense, and never have the final total quite right.
2. Setting and Keeping a Routine - I've never been one for routines, doing the same thing day in and day out and keeping myself to a structured schedule. It was easier to do while I was in school, since someone is expecting you to be there
3. Cooking - I'm not very good at cooking, and I'm not fond of doing it either. Never been all that interested in it, even when I went vegan and focused on changing my diet. Cooking makes a vegan diet easier to adhere too, but cooking often takes a lot of prep work. That's the part I really don't like.

What Will Be Delegated or Stopped

Well, I'm not delegating or stopping the cooking, that's for sure. Both are too expensive in the long run, and not cooking means I'll be eating out and eating processed foods. Either of those aren't all I can't stop the accounting either. I could delegate it to a virtual assistant or something, which wouldn't be too expensive, but that's money the business doesn't have right now. It's something that would be doing in the future. So, I guess that leaves the routine, which I feel is somehow the hardest to stop/delegate, even though it's the only option of the three listed.

Between stopping and delegating, I supposed I'm going to have to stop having a routine, which actually sounds confusing. It sounds like I'm going to have no schedule and no control over my time, which doesn't seem healthy or constructive in any way. I certainly can't delegate my routine, or delegate that task to someone else. It's a burden no one wants; keeping track of my schedule and telling me to do certain things and certain times. I don't think I have enough going on and enough strains on my time to have such an assistant.

So, how do you stop having a routine? There's still things that you have to do each day and have to do on certain days. I suppose I can change it up and do something new or different every day. But, if I did that every day, then doesn't it become routine as well? I don't know how this is going to work.

I Don't Think I Took a Big Enough Risk

As part of my new set of SuperBetter quests to be better at being awesome, I am to reflect on my experience coming out of my comfort zone. Quite frankly, I think I need to this whole thing over because I didn't take a big enough risk. I need a bigger risk, something that is a big more challenging to my comfort zone.

What I Actually Did

For my "risk" and 'coming-out-of-the-comfort-zone' task, I decided to go to Lab1500 for my early morning meeting. I haven't been to Lab1500 for a while, so going there has become something that would be out of my comfort zone. Also, my early morning meeting is also part of that as well, since I don't do much in the early morning and meetings are always nerve-wracking for me.

Even though my meeting went well, and was very auspicious about the future, the entire risk and task was awful. Since I've been on a night owl schedule for about four months now, doing anything at 8:30 a.m. is very difficult. It was especially difficult that day because I didn't really sleep. I got into bed and tossed and turned for several hours, only to give up, get up, and do what I need to do for this meeting. Because of this, I wasn't at Lab1500 for all that long. I was too tired to be productive, and I could tell. I felt tired, I acted tired, and I looked tired (that was the kicker that told me I needed to go home).

How It All Was

The meeting was totally worth it. I got some free coffee samples, of which I will review in the coming weeks and publishing onto Gateway Grounds. It's likely that I'll get some additional samples in the future, as well as some much-needed traffic as part of this partnership. Going to Lab1500 was also worth it, as I was able to sort out some event planning logistics for the St. Louis chapter of the Young Ambassadors for Opportunity. It was also nice to be back there, even for a just a short while, since I hadn't been there in a long time. Good things happened as a result of this 'risk', except for the lack of sleep. Emotionally and mentally, I was fine with the whole thing. I'll do it again, but I'd like to do something different and/or bigger that doesn't involve a lack of sleep or a huge disruption to my schedule.

What I'll Do for My Next Risk

What I did was a good start, and it would have been a better start if I committed to going three days in a row (which I still might do). However, I think I need to do something that's farther out of my comfort zone, as this last one was just a kind of coming out. I don't think it was really hard enough. I need to do something like go for a run at Tower Grove Park, or hop on the bus to review a coffee shop, or perhaps set up some phone interviews for some blog posts. All of those would be coming out of my comfort zone, as they've all been things I've been putting off or have been thinking about doing but haven't done yet. The magic happens when you venture outside your comfort zone. I need to do more magic and make more things happen.

Back on Track

I woke up today and committed to making today a productive, awesome day. I committed to making today a great day and to getting things done. Not only did I accomplish that, but I also found a dollar bill this morning on my way to the bus stop. It's the second dollar bill I've found in a three-day period. I hope I find more money on the sidewalk within the next few days, the next one being a 10 or a 20. You know it's going to be a good day when you find money on the ground, especially when the ground is covered in snow.

However, I'm Nervous

I applied for an Arch Grant about two months ago, and today is the day when they are notifying who moves on to the next round. Haven't heard anything yet, although they announced on Twitter three hours ago that the notifications will go out by the end of the day. It's less than an hour until the end of the day and I haven't heard anything. What's considered the end of the day? I'm nervous because if I don't get the grant, I will start on my project that I hoped to fund through the grant. If I do move on, then I will do the next round and go through the waiting game once more. Getting this grant will be huge, but I think my idea is even better, and I will want to make the idea a priority. However, I don't want to start on it if I do move to the next round. When will I hear something? Eeek!

Other Than That...

Today was a committed and productive day, and I will continue this by playing poker tonight (or maybe game night with the neighbors, as they haven't said anything yet). I played a SNG yesterday and lost, but I was incredibly spaced out. Before I knew it, I only had 2/3 of my original chip stack, and it felt like I hadn't played any hands or made any bad moves. I had no idea where the money went. Alas, I will play again tonight. It will be fun, and I will make the best decisions possible.

Poker, Poker, Poker

I need to practice for my Las Vegas trip, which is less than month away. I am super excited to go! I can't wait. I have this trip to look forward to as well as the Heartland Poker Tour in April. On Pokertube, they have videos of two separate HPT final tables. I plan to watch that to get a glimpse of how tough the competition is that these HPT events. I'm excited, and nervous. I feel my awesomeness exponentially growing. I want to be featured on Pokertube because that would be the coolest thing ever. I would be a semi Internet star. Also, if I happen to win big over the next few months, I could maybe make it out to the World Series of Poker to play one tournament or two. I want to play in the WSOP so bad, even though 2014 is probably when I'll make my first appearance. I need to win super huge to be able to play this year, even though a couple of events have a $1000 buy-in.

Finishing Up

I need to hurry and to finish this post because I want to catch the 5 p.m. bus. I was hoping to catch the 4:30 p.m. bus, but I took too long thinking of something to write about and then I got distracted with the Arch Grant announcement. I keep hitting refresh, hoping to see the notification, but a watched pot never boils. It'll probably come in while I'm on the bus, and then I'll get home and completely forget about it. Then, I won't see it until tomorrow morning or something. Why wouldn't it happen that way? It's usually how these sorts of things go.