It was supposed to be today. Today, the first of February, I was to start writing the first word of the first sentence of my thesis.
I was up bright and early. I made coffee and sat down at my computer. First I checked my email (all three accounts). Then I read the online news – the New Zealand Herald, the New York Times, CNN (both editions), BBC, Slate. I read about bomb blasts and rape trials, Britney Spears and Barak Obama. Then I surveyed my favourite blogs. Oh, and I checked that dastardly Facebook, which is becoming more and more insufferable by the day. By this stage my stomach was pestering me so I ate yogurt and a slice of toast. And I refilled my coffee cup.
It was then time to get into my running clothes. Being winter I have to layer so this takes some time. As does repeatedly checking the outdoor thermometer hoping that the temperature gets above 4 degrees. I also stared repeatedly out the window at the squirrels playing in our garden and the pigeons conducting strange rituals in our leafless trees.
I rechecked my email.
I then proof-read, for the fourth time, an irate and slightly whiny letter I had written to our landlord about the lack of laundry facilities in our flat.
The sky outside was clear and blue and by this stage it was warm enough to run. I went along the Isis River, swift flowing and swollen with winter rain, and through the sleepy Christ Church meadow to the Magdalen Bridge all the time thinking that today I would start writing the first word of the first sentence of my thesis.
At home, aching and breathless, I ran a bath and luxuriously read the New Yorker until my toes were wrinkly. I smiled smugly, satisfied that today I would start writing the first word of the first sentence of my thesis. Once I had eaten lunch I took the bus into town where I posted the irate letter, stopped in at the local library (which mysteriously smells like a hospital) to borrow some fiction, and bought groceries for dinner. The checkout person at the supermarket tried to scan my library book which gave us a brief moment of amusement and I thought about how working in a supermarket wouldn’t be too bad.
I arrived home after four. By this time the sun was setting and it would soon be time to start making dinner. I could just fit in some time to work on my thesis.
I rechecked my email. Then I reread the online news. Britney was still losing her mind while paparazzi followed her menacingly using the tactics of faux-friendly school bullies.
There would be no point in starting to write my thesis now. After all, the moment words started flowing Boy would be home from work and they would be replaced by wine.
So instead I made a list of everything I would accomplish tomorrow. Item #1: start writing the first word of the first sentence of my thesis.
Lovely…