Ann Lammot Book Response

"Then your mental illnesses arrive at the desk like your sickest, most secretive relatives. And they pull up chairs in a semicircle around the computer, and they try to be quiet but you know they are there with their weird coppery breath, leering at you behind your back." This quote found in the literature piece Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott appealed to me. This quote can be interpreted differently amongst readers. Applying the quote in my life Lamott was talking figuratively about the distractions that come up when I'm trying to write something for school.

When I try to write something that doesn't interest me and even at times when it does I have a hard time trying to separate the task in front of me from whatever else is going on in my head. When I sit down down in front of a blank piece of paper or in front my computer screen ready to write something, I often know what I want to say. I have a thesis and a couple of ideas for body paragraphs. My mind is focused and I'm ready to write. This is not where my mind is left open for my agenda for the day or the bills that are due soon to creep into my mind. No, that gap for mind to wonder comes when I'm stuck. What do I mean by stuck? I can't think of a word, a sentence, a good transition, the proper punctuation, a comma or a semi colon. I seem to have forgotten or maybe I never I learned it. I'm frustrated, maybe I can google it on the internet? I can't find the answer ugh. That's when I sit there and ask myself; How is my mom doing?

My mom is working and I wonder how she is doing. Is she flustered like I am now? Is she thinking about semi colons? No, she is probably teaching her class about human anatomy. The thought of human anatomy makes my mind wonder. I hope she is okay and shes not sick like that one time she got all delirious on the way home from work and ended up in the hospital for a month. I hated that, I had to worry about her bills the dogs being feed and walked. Getting my self to school and still having to make time to find away to see her in the hospital. She is probably fine sitting at work teaching and probably just fine. I'm the one sitting here procrastinating thinking about stuff that is totally irrelevant. Anyways, let me get back to what I am doing. I look at the clock to see how much time I squandered while I was day dreaming. Wow, its 3:00 I wasted twenty minutes. I sit down and look at what I have already wrote. I reread it and don't like the way it sounds and I reword what I already have. Then I get to the part that I was stuck at then, I sit their taping my foot. I feel my face is getting all red. I look at the time again another ten minutes have passed and I still have nothing except a very well written thesis. Looking at the clock reminds me of something else.

I have to go pick up my mom from work soon. I have to go let the dogs out to pee. Not to mention I have to get to cable vision