Last week, I was pleased to have Tara Burns stay with me again; she was only in Seattle for two nights, and was here the second one. She’s truly an amazing woman and an amazing activist, and I’m glad she feels comfortable asking to stay here when she passes through (a request for which the answer will always be “yes”). We probably should’ve had someone take a picture while she was here, but I really don’t have the photo bug and I often forget that I can and/or should take a picture of something until after the chance is passed. If I were less honest I might represent that as a personal rebellion against the urge to overdocument which is so common in the modern West, but the truth is it just doesn’t usually cross my mind unless somebody says “You ought to take a picture of this.” Or unless I happen to think I look especially alluring at the moment.
This week, on the other hand, has been dominated by things that haven’t happened yet. I’ve had several long phone calls to plan projects which won’t actually happen until the late winter (including Seattle’s Annual Sexwork Symposium [SASS], which I’m helping Savannah Sly to coordinate). This week is our December 17th vigil, accompanied by several associated events (such as a panel discussion in which I’m participating on Saturday). Of course I’ve also been busy buying Christmas presents and otherwise helping Santa, and Grace will be arriving a week from today and staying through January 3rd. Add to that juggling Jae’s various rehab appointments (of which there can be as many as 7 per week) and my professional dates, and writing this blog, and you begin to understand why I haven’t managed to finish either of the two books I’m trying to write. However, longtime readers who have expressed concern for my health will be glad to know that I’m making time for myself too; I’m trying to go to dinner with a friend at least once per week, and even (gasp!) relaxing alone for a few hours once or twice a week. I’m still not very good at it yet; my brain never stops unless something forces it to, and the number of things I’ve found that can accomplish that is very small indeed. But one has to start somewhere, and as I’ve explained in the past I have help. And maybe one day I’ll actually figure out how to create a schedule that I don’t have to force downtime into.
