Multi-tasking

So my favorite gift this year is one that I requested. My new laptop. I love it. It’s a thing of beauty. See we have a PC downstairs in our furnished basement and it’s in fine working condition and really there was very little justification for the purchase of another computer. However, I convinced myself and Matt that I needed one so that I could write more often. It’s difficult in the evenings when I’m home alone with the kids to get downstairs, or when I do get them downstairs then Aaron whines incessantly about playing Go Diego Go online. If he had his way he’d stare at that Nick Jr. website until the images were permanently burnt onto his retinas.

The theory was that it would be much more convenient to have a laptop that I could slap on the kitchen counter and be able to bang out a few paragraphs here and there in between dinner, bath, and the oft-occurring screaming fit and/or bloody contusion. The other advantage of a laptop would be that I could haul it with me to work and whip it out during lunch in the break room and type to my little heart’s content.

Today is the 2nd day I’ve brought it to work and I find that doing so serves three purposes. 1. it makes me more productive (with my personal goals of course, who really cares about work productivity). 2. It allowed me to remove personal files from my work computer and to discontinue typing up blog entries on there (even though I rarely if ever posted from work, it still wouldn’t look so great to see that I had 20 personal documents on there that were obviously written on company time) 3. It makes me look damn important when I whip this baby out and prop it open on that break room table, or perhaps it makes me look like an idiot for hauling in a computer to work on during my break when I’m already spending 8 hours sitting in front of one anyway. Hmm, well I’m going to go with "makes me look important" and leave it at that.

The best part about this laptop though is I can take it anywhere at home. I can have it on the kithchen counter, then move it into the living room while the kids are watching a video. I can take it to bed with me and type in my daily journal right before I go to sleep, and best of all, this laptop turns previously wasted moments on the toilet into productive and exciting experiences. I mean who doesn’t want to work on a short story while their body excretes waste? Who needs bathroom trivia or magazines when you can sit there and play a rousing game of Mine Sweeper?


The only thing that would be better is a stimulating internet search on the care and feeding of pygmy goats or maybe a good Google for sexy pics of Ewan McGregor. Alright, that pairing of topics sounds a little odd, but I’ve always wanted a cute little pygmy goat to feed and pet and take care of, and who doesn’t like a good Ewan McGregor fantasy? Not that the fantasy would include the goat too – okay I think I might be digging this hole even deeper – let’s move on. The point I’m trying to make is that unfortunately I don’t have a wireless modem yet so I'm unable to get online and do uhm, important research.

But I’m hoping that this laptop will make me a much more proficient writer, both for my blogging and for my personal writing goals. If nothing else though I should at least improve my Solitaire skills.