Work Like a Dog

Well, we're three weeks into the new year. I haven't come to any conclusions about where I am at or where I'm going, so there's that. If anything, I've become somewhat more confused about the whole thing, but I will do my best to work through it in the coming months, one way or another.

I finished Wanderlust. Not the same book the new movie is about, but one I read about in Elle and tried  for a long time to find used even though it's quite new and finally gave up and purchased from Amazon. I loved it for the first 15/16ths of the book (yes, I'm that specific), but by the time the tying-up rolled around, I was more sick of her antics than I imagine the people in her life were. While in the beginning I loved her free spirit, she finally struck me as a user, immature and self-serving. I didn't admire the way she handled herself, and I hope next time I can find another travel writer that at least professes to bring more to the lives of others than a girl to pine after once she inevitably leaves them. I can only hope that we're witnessing a growing-up type of transformation from the person she is in most of the book to the person I hope she realizes she wants to be - otherwise, the whole thing seems pointless to me.

Speaking of writing (and growing up), I began my "memoir". Okay, I'll quit it with the downsizing of myself and ambitions and remove the quotes. Memoir. I told my husband that I'm afraid this will end up being more of an essay than a book. I'm so used to trying to control my long-windedness that I end up wrapping up every story quickly, feeling that I am losing grasp of the imagined reader's interest and trying their waning patience with my droning on and on. My plan is to get the main ideas down, whether in ten pages or fifty, go back and organize, then try to flesh out the malnourished parts.


My project tonight was a print for my wall at work. I've been seeing this quote on pinterest.

It is attributed on the picture to a one "Sheamnessy", who, from my Google search, is simply a tumblr member. I searched "Look like a girl" and found the actual quote, by Caroline K. Simon, an American lawyer and politician born in 1900. The last line of the original quote reads "Work like a dog", which I tend to appreciate more, seeing as how I'm not trying to lord any type of boss-ness (wordsmithin' bitches!) over anyone, and, let's face it, sometimes bosses don't work any harder than anyone else. Thus, I embrace dog-ness, and reject boss-ness, even though it reminds me of this funny, wildly profane song.

Which brings us to my project tonight. I took the original quote, and added some clip art, to come up with this. I don't know if leaving off the attribution is unethical (this thought just occurred to me, and probably didn't before because, hell, the quote had already been butchered), but I will be sure to mention the original author to anyone who notices it in my office, where I intend to display it. Have I mentioned how much I love this color?

It takes me a long time to come up with a way to decorate a wall, quite a while to execute the project, and even longer to actually decide on a spot to hang it. Hopefully, I can find a special little spot for this one print to go, because I ordered it!