christastrophe ([info]christastrophe) wrote,
@ 2006-06-20 15:51:00
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the idiot and his flying guitar
Yeah yeah.



Lately I've been really down on myself about being stupid. I don't know what it is. I have severely lapsed cognitive skills of late. (Those are a lot of big words for a little stupid girl like you)

I'm no good at money, see? Which is not to say I'm not good at math - I can be. I had a mind for it at one time, following in my father's footsteps towards advanced calculus. It was just one of those things that made sense to me, clear as day. Order.

But then it fell out of my head and I've never really gotten it back. I can organize things, but my abstract sense with numbers just utterly fails me. I'm no good with budgets. Also, I have no discipline. Spring has slightly more discipline, so she's in charge of this sort of thing now. She handles the bills because I forget. I go through the trouble of making fancy calendars and spreadsheets and then forget about them and they go wasted. Spring writes a note on the back of a printout of a 1940's pin-up and she never forgets. So it goes.

So yeah. We had a debacle with our paychecks this month. I've had to deposit everything into my account. So I'm in charge of the money. So, naturally, this is the first month we've been slapped with a penalty fee by our landlords. The details are boring. Suffice to say I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself for making a few really stupid mistakes (with our bank and otherwise). As I said to Spring, "I just want to go one day without doing something stupid." It hasn't happened yet, but here's hoping.

Anyway, somebody left a comment on my MySpace profile, so I went to look at it. Which is, of course, when I noticed that I had a gig coming up in a week (next Tuesday) that I totally forgot about. Coupled with the GlassHouse gig that we've got on Saturday night that I totally forgot about, because both of them were filed in my head under "things that are happening a long time away, like at the end of June or something". I kept thinking this right up until, well, the 20th day of June. This is how my brain works when I'm not paying full attention.

So I feel like a dumbass, although I'm not gonna count this as doing something stupid since I haven't actually done anything stupid today since the end of the act of forgetting can hardly be counting as something stupid. I should be commended, in fact.

I'm crossing my fingers. It's 4:03. Got a whole lot of day left to do something really stupid, or even moderately stupid. So far so good. Then I'll see if I can go two days, then maybe three. Then I'll see if I can show up at this gig on the right day at the right time and not wearing a duck suit.

(Also, I've decided that this gig is gonna be a lot quieter and sweeter than the last one. The last gig emphasized my guitar, this one emphasizes voice/songwriting. It should be a treat.)



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[info]motolove
2006-06-20 09:13 pm UTC (link)
your face?? what happened to your face???

(Reply to this)

oooh, oooh, I Know!!
(Anonymous)
2006-06-20 09:50 pm UTC (link)
Uh Oh - Here comes the cheerleader with some polly-anna advice.

Let me start by saying that I do stupid stuff ALL the time - like forget simple words in a sentence. And forgetting any skill (like Math) is totally normal if you don't use it - this coming from the woman whose husband reads calculus books for fun.

Also, I do the bills, too - because Brad is SUPER forgetful.

However he found a great way to stop being forgetful (and here comes the help) - GTD - Getting Things Done. It's a cult, really. No, it's a set of 'tapes' by this great guy that explains so much of how our brains work and how to organize ourselves into not forgetting how to get shit done.

Here's the deal. You're not stupid - you forget because your brain is too full. If you think "I need to do X" your brain will keep thinking about it (in the background) until you are done with X OR until you get it out of your head in another reliable manner - which this dude helps you figure out what works for you. It's an amazing system and now that I'm aware of it, and pay attention, I notice that "I have to do X" plays in the background of my mind cluttering things up, compounded with all the other "I have to do's" which crowds things and leaves no room for the actual tasks.

We downloaded (OK OK - "stole") and I'd be glad to send it along if you are interested. But regardless - you aren't stupid - just your brain is too full of mundane shit on TOP of the super important shit.

Watson

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[info]ladyshawn
2006-06-20 10:01 pm UTC (link)
CHRIS (whine)

I can NEVER tell Aaron all this.

He asks me at lunch what's going on in live journal and I try to tell him

but, this?
Ah - he'll read yours at home any way

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[info]squibbohere
2006-06-21 02:33 am UTC (link)
you went all the way up there to play some place on houston street? grandma's going to be pissed. if it's not the majestic, don't bother coming home for thanksgiving, por que we'll make you eat on the back porch with the dogs.

(Reply to this)

Not really stupid...
[info]mamaood
2006-06-21 04:10 am UTC (link)
Hmmmmmm...stupid...no
You might guess that my comment regarding your assessment of your stupidity would include the brain-cell killing potential of alcohol, but that wasn't what I got from your blog.

When I quit drinking, I certainly didn't get more organized. My house was a hell of a lot cleaner, but the alcohol was not responsible for my disorganization.

You might want to look into the fact that you are an artist, and by nature you get more pleasure from the right side of your brain. Unfortunately, the right side has minimal influence on the linear/organizational quadrant. In fact (and I'm only quoting my experience) the right side has always been the part that encourages "let's go play" rather than "let's do chores".

Chores. Work. Someone once said, "That's why they call it work. Because it isn't play." I don't totally agree but WTH.

Ah yes. My whole life has been spent getting organized/discipline. Just think. You could be writing this same e-mail to one of your children's friends - "many years from now" -

I still forget shit. I just quit beating myself up over it.

Smooches to you and your artist self,
Zelda
~*%=)

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love Watson
[info]springcentric
2006-06-21 04:40 pm UTC (link)
But my brain is filled with a vast and ever expanding nova of thoughts and philanthropic lust. And I don't forget anything, ever. But I did just loose my keys for the...eighth... time since you have known me, and for the second time today.

Oh god! Won't someone please love me!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: love Watson
[info]christastrophe
2006-06-21 05:36 pm UTC (link)
Please note, for all those interested, that philanthropic lust is the key to succeeding in a relationship with a self-torturing artiste.

You lost your keys again? Since this morning? You goof. I love you.

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