AJ: Mommy, why do you have those lines on your forehead?
Harriet: Because I�m old.
AJ: Why are you old?
Harriet: Because I just am.
AJ: But why?
Harriet: Maybe because you keep asking me these questions.

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This is the first day I�ve felt truly awake and on top of things since I got the flu a couple of weeks ago. Consequently I�ve been trying to do everything at once and, as is generally the case in these manic bursts of energy, nothing gets finished. Most alarming, of course, is the state of my paper, which I have to deliver for the first time on Friday. I can actually talk quite coherently off the cuff on this subject, but that is not the way it is done in my particular field. So a paper must be written, handouts must be put together and copied, and videos must be cued up. All within the next three days.

Part of the difficulty I�ve been having is that the subject I�ve been writing about � the way the use of music to depict sexuality in a particular film makes statements about the public view of working women musicians in the era in which the film was made � lends itself better to a more casual discussion than I am comfortable maintaining for the duration of a conference paper. Consequently, I find myself writing sentences about onscreen sex or the implication thereof using vocabulary that sounds fine when you�re talking to someone but comes off (at least to me) as overly coy. While the paper, film and subject are pretty humorous, I don�t want to come off as if I�m playing for laughs at the expense of any serious analysis. I haven�t ever tried to write a paper like this before and while it is kind of fun, I�m not sure I�m pulling it off at all well. I guess time will tell.

And speaking of time, I have only an hour remaining before I must pick up AJ from school. He will, no doubt be bouncing off the walls on a sugar high, as they are making ice cream sundaes in class today for their Valentine�s Day party. The children all arrived dressed up for the party. Nearly every boy in class (AJ included) was wearing a red sweater. The girls were covered in hearts from head to toe. Other parents were hauling in treat bags as I left. When did Valentine�s Day become such a huge holiday? I elected to bring Valentines alone. We�re still digging out of the sugar haul from the class Christmas party and I decided not to contribute to the Valentine�s diabetic coma, even though I am now feeling kind of Scroogy about it. We bought Snoopy Valentines and AJ carefully wrote his name inside every one and decorated them with flourishes of his magic marker. �Mommy, do you think someone will make a valentine for me?�

Oh, it starts early.

[I wrote a late entry yesterday. Click back if you want to hear me ramble on about nothing in particular.]

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