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By Jess, March 29, 2011 10:57 am

In an attempt to defend my non-writing in Gitnerblog, here is an example of a typical day in the life.

8:00-8:30AM – Arrive home. Play with dog, talk with roommates.

8:45 – Eat.

9:30 – Shower? Maybe. Catch up on internet.

10:30 – Send emails. Write? Play music? Listen to music? Any work-related writing trumps everything else, hence the sad state of the Gitnerblog. (And my progressively escalating guilt for not writing for Autostraddle.)

11:30 – Read Wall Street Journal (it’s a new thing) and/or book.

12:30-2:00PM – Go to sleep.

8:30 – Wake up. Catch up on email and the day’s news. Sometimes, I sleep until 10:30, which eliminates my precious “sitting” and catch-up time.

9:30 – Make coffee.

10:00 – Drink coffee. Sit.

11:00 – Sit some more.

11:30PM – 7:30AM – Work.

…and repeat.

Now, if there is a social event or concert thrown into the mix, I take a sleeping pill (may I pause to give a shout-out to Unisom?), forgo my morning time, and try to go to sleep as early as I can. But my productivity in other areas (reading, writing, ‘rithmetic [ok, not the last one]) plummets. Thus, I have a blog here that is neglected for weeks at a time.

Some still don’t quite get what my schedule means. For instance, my brother sent me a check in January and occasionally writes me semi-aggressive text messages. “Really? You haven’t cashed the check?” “I will, I will,” I say. “Haven’t had the chance.” I doubt he believes me, but I mean it. If you require my presence between the hours of 9AM and 5PM, even if you want to give me money, you’re in for a multi-month wait.

It’s now 10:57AM. In just over 7 hours, I’m heading out to a Kaki King concert. Only for you, Kaki. Only for you.

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By Jess, October 30, 2010 5:31 am

Here I am awake at 5AM on this Saturday morning. Unlike the past 4 weeks, I did not screech into normal person schedule after work last night. Instead, I went about business as usual. I hung out a bit after work, went to sleep when I was tired, and woke up when I felt rested (aka overslept my alarm). Unfortunately, that was at noon and 9PM, respectively.

5AM is an exciting hour during weekdays. Morning Edition goes live then, and it’s a little bit of a sprint to the finish. But today, 5AM is desolate and silent. There is no good TV on and even the internet is a sleepy place — been there, read that.

I could do productive things, like pick up my room, check off some writing to-do’s, or finish I Capture The Castle, but… I won’t put too much pressure on myself.

Here’s to hoping daylight comes and with it, sleepiness. Happy weekend.

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By Jess, August 4, 2010 12:41 am

Although the movie starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson is one of my favorites, it’s unfortunately not the topic of this brief post.

In the past two months, I’ve cooked more often and eaten better food than I have in quite some time. I’ve seen more of my friends, D.C. residents and visitors alike. I spent two glorious weeks sharing my apartment with Alex. I finally squeezed in an appointment for both the dentist and the doctor. And after a year of feeling haunted by what I read in Suze Orman’s Young, Fabulous & Broke, I finally took the time to apply for a credit card of my very own.

What I haven’t been doing is writing. Trust me, I’m feeling guilty and regretful: guilty that I’m not carrying my weight over at Autostraddle, and regretful that I’m not seizing this opportunity to write at my job and not documenting my feelings in this crazy post-college period. I don’t have time! This is what I tell myself. But I must! I must have time! If a CEO or talk show host can do a million things at once, then I must have time to write a blog post. So I have decided: Something’s gotta give.

The first thing that comes to mind to go on the chopping block is sleep. As much as I love it, I truly believe that I can never be successful until my wake-up call arrives by 6:30AM. I secretly fantasize about drinking coffee and reading the newspaper before work each morning. This is my recipe for success — only I have no idea what the other ingredients are. (Also, I haven’t actually taken real steps to wake up earlier, aside from pressing snooze on my alarm with more frequency, nor have I subscribed to a newspaper).

Regardless of these recent failures, I’ve managed to live to be 23 years old and I’m feeling pretty positive about the years that are behind me. For now, I will focus on the small stuff. I will floss and wear sunscreen daily. I will write.. maybe daily (?) but certainly more than I have been in recent weeks. And hopefully, I will sleep less. I hope it all adds up to something good.

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By Jess, May 29, 2008 10:50 am

For the past two weeks, I’ve been one of two places: the library and my room. After two terms of slacking off, I can’t really complain. But is 7 months of freedom worth 1 month of seclusion? Yes, yes it is. But I still think that I prefer the good ol’ balance of work and play at Georgetown.

So far I’ve taken one exam and have three left to go. June 3rd will be an excruciating six hours of test-taking and after that, I will feel more or less liberated despite having one to go. I have a nasty feeling of being trapped in school while everyone else’s summer has started, just as I had that idle feeling about starting school so late in October. My inbox is less full, friends are online less often. God, my reliance on the internet for happiness is alarming. Ha. (I deactivated facebook for the next 2 weeks, fyi).

One major cling to my sanity is Kate over in Lyon, France, but she leaves Europe on Monday and I know that I will have to combat the feeling of rising anxiety about being stuck alone on this continent without her. Ahh. What happened to Jared and the other Gtown crew? They’re still there… exuding masculinity and testosterone in full force. And let’s just say… I’ve reached my limits. I love them, but I am a girl god dammit. Sometimes, I want to watch The Notebook with a tissue box, or in my budget-constrained state, with a roll of toilet paper.

I’m ready for the estrogen-fest that will be my house in Burleith. Perhaps I will be singing a different tune in a few weeks. But until then… 6 girl-friends. Living in a house. I can’t wait! I somehow predict that I will take one step in the house and burst into tears of joy. But this is possibly my imagination running wild with dramatic homecoming scenes.

In good news, I’ve seen more climbing people thanks to actually studying around LSE. That’s one benefit of this exam period. Alright. Back to studying. Back to reading. June 3rd will be a good day once its over. Send me emails if you are inclined. Hope everyone is well!

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By Jess, October 23, 2007 11:23 am

I was having lunch at this cheap-ish sandwich place in the Covent Garden area sipping my white Cafe Americano, the closest thing to regular coffee at most places, and reading an article called “Too Funny to Fuck” in the newspaper when I heard the opening of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” These factors combined to create momentary euphoria and I remembered, although I had not actually forgotten, that I love life. These life-loving moments of mine are almost always accompanied by a song.

What else? I got a call from another outdoor company and scheduled an interview so, if for some reason the first doesn’t come through, I have a back-up. I feel pretty good about how all my classes are going. Everything seems learnable, except for Development Economics which is one big uphill battle. I feel a tad out of my league in many ways, mostly because everyone in the class has already taken Econometrics, but I think I can rise to the occasion rather than failing miserably.

Check out this video of our LSE Rock Climbing Captain on this weekend’s climbing trip. Now… I still don’t know much about climbing but I’m learning to climb 4a’s, 4b’s, and 4c’s. She’s climbing a 7a+. Norwegians… man. I’m secretly aiming to get good enough to go on the climbing trip to Morocco this winter, but I’m realistic: 7a’s are not in my sights.