The awkward hush.

My latest obsession? Totem poles and shame poles. I spent a goodly chunk of time on Friday afternoon doing internet research, learning the basics about both types of poles, and even finding an artist who, for 1,000 Canadian dollars/foot, will custom-make totem poles.

So there you go.

I consider myself a more-or-less disciplined person: I clean the house once a week as a matter of habit, have begun flossing semi regularly, have curtailed my Dorito consumption, and so on, and so forth. Successful regulation of adult life. But there are some tasks which, despite the minimal amount of time and effort they would require, I just keep putting off. For example: I usually don't get my car's oil changed when an oil change is actually due; I invariably postpone said change until I'm afraid that the mechanic will shame me for taking such bad care of my car. (This happens about 1,000 to 2,000 miles after a scheduled oil change.) This weekend, I was cleaning my room (see? discipline) and happened to be dusting my boxes of letters when I thought, "Wow, I really should just buy one large storage box for all my letters." I've come to this realization many times since college, but never have I purchased the larger box. Is it because I prefer to store these letters in scattered, crappy-looking vessels?* No. Is it because a new box would be costly, or difficult to find? Probably not. So what's holding me back? I realize this is a trifling matter, and that I'm starting to talk at length here. It just perplexes me that there are certain tasks that, without fail, cause me to dig in my heels.

A hazy, meandering weekend. Worked a bit on a short story, but set it aside again because it's becoming an entirely different story, and I need to think about where it's going. Watched "Old School" for the first time (zow!) and a few Olympic events: women's marathon at home, Saturday night (it was awesome), equestrian stuff whilst at the gym. Oh, and men's swimming. Yes. Got some peaches at the farmers' market and am waiting for them to ripen. Rode my bike, with Ali, to Maple Farm Foods and bought some excellent grapes. Started reading Rabbit is Rich. Mailed letters.

It's starting to seem like fall.

*Most of my letters are divided among three Whitman's sampler boxes, emptied of their contents and cleaned with a damp cloth. I never especially liked Whitman's candies, but got the samplers for their boxes, which are sturdy and easily stacked.