Bladder: Go to the toilet.
Can’t. Sleepy.
Bladder: Go to the toilet.
Can’t. Sleepy.
Free will: Well sleep then.
Can’t. Bladder full.
Free will: Well you may as well check the internet on your iPad then.
Can’t. Sleepy.
Free will: Come on. It’s the internet. You like that.
Okay.
Bladder: Go to the toilet.
Can’t. Internet.
Free will: You should think about the thing you were going to write.
Can’t. Bladder full.
iPad: Shall we play a game?
Okay.
Bladder: Go to the toilet.
Can’t. Game.
Bladder: Go to the toilet. Seriously.
Okay.
iPad: Play again?
Okay.
Bladder: Go to the toilet!
Can’t. Game.
Free will: You really have to get cracking on that writing, and the laundry…
Can’t. Game.
Bladder: Are you listening to me? It’s been an hour already! Go to the toilet!
Okay.
iPad: Play again?
Okay.
Bladder: If you don’t go to the toilet soon I’m going to wet the bed and blame it on you.
Okay.
Free will: So about that writing…
Can’t. Toilet.
Free will: Just go to the computer when you’re done, alright?
Okay.
Free will: So how about a first line?
Can’t. Internet.
Legs: We’re cold. Can haz pants?
Can’t. Internet.
Free Will: So we were thinking about maybe writing about encoding and decoding of emotion in poetry…
Can’t. Cold legs.
Stomach: I don’t want to be rude or anything, but once you’ve got Legs sorted out, could we maybe eat breakfast?
Can’t. Internet.
Clock: Hey, it’s almost time to publish some writing.
Can’t. Not enough time.
Free will: But you could start…
Can’t. Cold legs.
Internet: Hey! You have a Kiva repayment. Let’s make a loan with it!
Okay.
Free will: Well, at least we got something good done. But seriously, you’d rather sit there cold, hungry and pantsless than write?
Can’t write. Cold and hungry.
Legs: If pants are not your thing, how about a nice warm shower?
Can’t. Internet.
Legs: Please?
Okay.
Internet: Hey, your friend says hi!
Tell her I have to take a shower.
Internet: She says she’s being lazy too! Oh, and she wanted to talk to you about that trip to the UK…
Okay.
Legs: Uh… you can’t feel us any more, but we’re still here.
Free will: When you’re done with that, could we get back to the computer and actually write something?
Okay.
Legs: Thanks for the shower! Now let’s get some pants on before we get cold again.
Can’t. Internet.
Stomach: Hey, I’m being patient and all, but have you finished with Legs yet? We could have lunch.
Can’t. Naked.
Legs: I think the pants are in the bedroom. We’ll take you there if you like.
Okay.
iPad: Play again?
Okay.
Free will: Uh… could you at least open the notepad on the iPad?
Can’t. Game.
Legs: We’re getting cold. How about those pants?
Can’t. Game.
Free will: You know, there’s a shiny new encyclopedia of poetics on the floor just there…
Can’t. Legs cold.
Free will: And while Legs are going on about pants, you know you need to do laundry before going to the UK, right?
Can’t. Game.
Legs: We’re getting really cold here! They don’t have to be clean pants. We won’t tell.
Okay.
iPad: Play again?
Okay.
Stomach: Hey, can you just do as Legs says so we can have afternoon tea? I don’t ask for much; just an apple will do.
Can’t. Game.
Stomach: Come on. An apple. You like apples. They’re like iPads but edible.
Okay.
Legs: Us first!
Okay.
Free will: Okay, now that you’ve eaten something, how about you gather up the dirty laundry and you can write something while it’s in the machine.
Can’t. Internet.
Stomach: Hey, thanks for the apple. Can I have another?
Can’t. Free will wants me for something.
Free will: Okay, so you’re going to gather up the laundry?
Okay.
Free will: Great! Now we just need to take the laundry downstairs and put it in the machine.
Okay.
Internet: Hey! Your other friend says hi.
Tell him I said hi.
Free will: You’re still going to take the laundry downstairs, right?
Can’t. Chatting.
Stomach: I was lying before. An apple isn’t really enough. Can I have another?
Okay.
Free will: This guy’s not saying anything important. How about we do the laundry?
Can’t. Eating.
Free will: How about now?
Okay.
Free will: Great! Now let’s start writing.
Can’t. Internet.
Internet: Hey, remember how you said you’d go vegan for a day for that guy’s wife’s birthday? This could be the day.
Okay.
Stomach: You know that means cooking something, not just stopping at two apples, right?
Okay.
Free will: You could find a nice vegan restaurant after the laundry’s finished, and write something while you’re eating. You know you like writing in restaurants.
Okay.
Stomach: But I’m hungry now! Cook something!
Can’t. Internet.
Stomach: Really? Look, just stick some stuff in a pot and you can look at the internet while you’re waiting.
Okay.
Clock: Hey, it’s time to get the laundry out of the machine.
Can’t. Cooking.
Clock: Hey, it’s time to get the laundry out of the machine.
Okay.
Free Will: Okay, so now hurry up and hang the laundry up so we can get on with this writing thing.
Can’t. Hungry. Cooking.
Stomach: Is it dinner time yet?
Clock: No
Stomach: How about now?
Clock: Yes
Stomach: Hey, dinner’s ready! Give me some dinner!
Can’t. Internet.
Stomach: But it’s ready! I’ve been talking with Legs and they’re okay with walking over to the stove to get it.
Okay. No need to growl at me.
Free will: Okay, so now can we write?
Can’t. Eating.
Free will: Well could we watch the videos of that concert so you can upload them?
Okay.
Internet: Hey, look at me!
Okay.
Free will: What about those videos, just while you’re eating?
Can’t. Finished eating.
Free will: Okay, so you’re going to write now? Or hang up the laundry?
Can’t. Internet.
Free will: Can you at least do some research on the internet so you’ll know more about the topics you’re going to write about?
Can’t. Stupid topics.
Free will: If we don’t get this done soon you’ll end up having to write about writing or something, and there’s no worse topic than that. You know, you could listen to things from the internet while you hang up the laundry. You could even jot down writing ideas on your iPad as you go.
Okay.
iPad: Play again?
Okay.
Free will: Hey, uh… laundry?
Okay.
Stomach: I’m still hungry. Can I have another spoonful, and you can finish this later?
Okay.
Internet: Hey, look at me!
Okay.
Free will: Oh, the computer, eh? You’re going to write something?
Can’t. Not enough time.
Free will: Giving up already? Then you may as well go to bed.
Can’t. Internet.
Free Will: But you said there wasn’t enough time! If you’re going to waste time, you may as well go to bed.
Okay.
Internet: Hey, another friend wants to talk to you about that trip to the UK!
Okay.
Clock: Hey, it’s time to go to bed.
Can’t. Chatting.
Free will: Seriously, you should go to bed. Just end the conversation.
Okay.
Free will: Now go to bed.
Can’t. Laundry.
Free will: Fine. Finish hanging the laundry.
Okay.
Free will: Now go to bed?
Okay.
Clock: Hey, it’s way past bedtime.
Can’t sleep. Computer clock too loud.
Free will: Go turn the sound off then.
Can’t. Sleepy.
Free will: Come on, you know you won’t be able to sleep if you leave it on anyway.
Okay.
Internet: Hey, look at me!
Okay.
Free will: No! Don’t look at that! Didn’t you hear the clock? Go back to bed.
Can’t. Internet.
Free will: Just stop looking at it.
Can’t. Sleepy.
Free will: Go to bed then!
Can’t. Internet.
Free will: That’s it. Go to bed or I’m leaving you.
Bye.
The deadline elves were out in force this Sunday. It’s not usually quite this bad, and I did get a lot of things (other than writing) done on Saturday. In case you’re wondering why I’d planned to write about the encoding of emotion, ‘encoding’ and ’emotion’ were the entries closest to ‘Emmental’ in my Princeton Companion to Mathematics and newly-acquired Princeton Encyclopaedia of Poetry and Poetics. Neither had an entry for Emmental itself.
I got this pack of cards in Bern last week, where I filmed the videos I mentioned uploading. They are of a Susie Asado concert. I did upload a few of them (that’s why I left my computer awake and able to tell me the time late at night, instead of putting it to sleep) but haven’t written my usual overly-verbose video descriptions yet, so the videos are still private. I’ll put a link here soon. In the mean time, here is a video of the Bern bears.
The trip to the UK I mention is to follow Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm around on tour again. I probably won’t publish anything next Sunday, since I’ll be busy getting from one show to the next, but I will get the three of them to each pick a card, so I can write about all three of them when I get back, like I did last time.
Creative Output 