4:30 PM: Penelope will leave from work, more or less dashing to her car, which is parked on the second level, about halfway up the slope, in the parking deck. The warm-glowiness of Ah, It is Friday will spread over shoulders.
4:45 PM: Will be still entrenched in inane local rush-hour traffic, refraining from any cursing. Because it is Friday. And we are grooving to The Shins.
5:00 PM: May be still entrenched in inane local rush-hour traffic where people DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE, but also still refraining from any cursing. Because it is Friday. And we are on our way to a picnic. And if you don't find the GAS PEDAL SOMETIME TODAY, well--no, nothing. Because it is Friday.
5:07 PM to approximately 6:30 PM: Penelope will eat free pickles. Oh, and some hot dogs, hamburgers, maybe some potato chips. We'll see what they got. It's an office picnic, for her guy's office. Which he hates. But that is another story. (And it is the office he hates, not the actual people, just to be clear. The people are sorta cool, so far.)
6:30 PM: On her way home, only one-beer tipsy. Because Penelope is Substance Sensitive, but also a Responsible Driver. Even in traffic only moving 25 miles per hour. Songs about being on one's way home play in mind, over The Shins: Simon & Garfunkel, some Enya maybe?
6:50 PM: Home. Really. It's true! Say hi to doggies.
7:00 PM: Work-outfit-to-pajama transformation.
7:02 PM: Couch awaits, but okay doggies, we'll play. Just to calm you down a bit.
7:20 PM: Couch! Finish watching America's Top Model, DVR'd* from yesterday afternoon. Because we don't get UPN in these parts, but CBS is kind enough to replay certain shows. But let's not talk about Amish in the City, because we completely missed that.
8:00 PM: Watch Joan of Arcadia, which is really, really smart and funny and good. It is no Touched by an Angel. It is not Pax. It appeals to this target 26-year-old, female audience.
8:59 PM: Mop up inevitable tears from Joan of Arcadia. Because it is SO. GOOD. Penny means it.
9:00 PM: Watch Degrassi: The Next Generation, new episode. But is it really new, or just new to the US and old hat to the Canadians? Hmmm. Anyway, DVR'd at 8:00 PM while watching J.o.A., and so here it is.
9:31 PM: Philosophical Crisis of Sorts.
What to do, what to do? Read Alice Hoffman book, watch more TV, catch up on all unread New Yorkers, pick a movie...write? Ha. Hmmm, let me ponder...let me wander 'round.
Here, ladies and gentleman, is where True Lethargy ensues. But the question is, if Penelope sits here and plans this evening out, even going so far as to blog it in Ivy Land, does the Planned Lethargy qualify as Legitimate Lethargy? That is, will she wake up feeling as though real time and effort was spent Doing Nothing? Because that, to be frank, is the goal. Some significant amount of time somewhere in this weekend where nothing of consequence is done and no bad feelings are experienced for doing so: In fact, bad feelings would be experienced only if it wasn't done.
These weekends are flying by, and it could be The Wedding Countdown, or it could be just the nature of this life and how break-neckingly fast it moves, particularly when times are good. Because let's face it: despite all these stresses and that stubborn thread of un-placeable, un-blameable melancholy, life overall right now is pretty darn good. (See: "Mantra" below.) The problem only comes when the weekend goes by so fast, filled with so many Things to be Accomplished, or even filled with great activities and people that are a whole lot of fun--it is the speed. And the lack of Down Time.
When life gets this hectic, I guess it is inevitable that Down Time must be a Scheduled Task. And so if accomplished correctly, it does have some value and will ideally make the blur of this passing weekend not quite so blurry.
But oh for those bouts of Down Time that just happen, and happen often. They are like naps on the couch while watching a movie or a show: Because you didn't plan it, because you weren't asking for it, because you weren't insisting upon it, that sleep is so much more deep.
10:02 PM, 10:10 PM, 11:36 PM, and all the other minutes in-between: Stone Phillips? Maybe. No. A new idea. Let's leave it undecided.
*Penelope and Time Warner Cable's answer to TiVo. And it totally rocks.
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