Monkey, monkey, underpants.

Where have I been for the last three and a half months? WORK! I have basically been in a hole, trying to finish (or start) a paper I planned to have drafted by November 1 (2006). It is FINALLY in the final stages of editing and should be released in the next week or so.

I was extremely disturbed to see the whole experience (and my mental process generally) so perfectly described in a recent episode of Gilmore Girls. If you go to minute 5:30 on this clip you can watch (don't read below if you are going to watch b/c something is lost in written word). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPKpTKyHYqM

Now, if you've watched, here is the transcript:

Rory: Maybe if you just put pen to paper.

Lorelai: I tried that. I thought I'll just sit down and write, whatever comes, no judgement, no inner critic. What was that a bad idea.

Rory: Really? Why?

Lorelai: My brain is a wild jungle full of scary gibberish. I'm writing a letter, I can't write a letter, why can't I write a letter? I'm wearing a green dress, I wish I was wearing my blue dress, my blue dress is at the cleaners. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue, 'Casablanca' is such a good movie. Casablanca, the White House, Bush. Why don't I drive a hybrid car? I should really drive a hybrid car. I should really take my bicycle to work. Bicycle, unicycle, unitard. Hockey puck, rattlesnake, monkey, monkey, underpants.

Rory: Hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey monkey underpants?

Lorelai: Exactly! That's what I'm saying, it's a big bag of weird up there.

Truer words have not been spoken since Berna diagnosised "you can't be a procrastinator AND a perfectionist!" (For the record, I am the living proof that you CAN, it just isn't a good idea.) But there you go ... it is a big bag of weird up there.