Today's Going to Be a Good Day

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the start of lent. I didn't really make any Lenten promises other than not buy junk food, so most of the promises I did end up making were made on the spot, on Wednesday, and I'm going to try very hard to make them stick. The following things to be done for lent:

1. No buying junk food: I thought this was a good thing to do instead of "no eating junkfood" - this means during birthdays and celebrations when junk food is offered, I can still be gracious and accept goodies.

2. No more long showers: My hair is really, really short - it takes ten seconds to get all wet, five seconds to lather up, and another ten seconds to rinse off. There is really no unselfish reason why, for the last year or so, my showers have tended to be ten to fifteen minutes long.

3. No more swearing: Unless I'm quoting someone, and even that in moderation. I decided that on Ash Wednesday when I quoted a character from The 40-Year-Old Virgin telling someone to, um, copulate with their mother, and the people around me all reacted in embarassed surprise. Hmmm....

4. Excercise everyday: Except for Tuesdays (the cleaning lady comes early) and Sundays.

5. Brush my teeth everyday: I know, like, what am I, ten? I still hate brushing my teeth - I'm so tired when I get to bed, that I just don't wanna bother, or floss, but I really should, because I hate going to dentist and having my gums torn apart by their pointy metal things.

6. Keep my room clean (and make my bed): This is primarily because I got a gorgeous new pink patchwork quilt, and the bed just looks nicer when it's made up all straight and perfect, and if the rest of the room's untidy it just looks out of place. Plus, while reading Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, one of her characters relates how she likes cleaning her room and making her bed because when she returns to it after a long day she can pretend a maid's made it up for her. I keep that image in mind when I do it.

But anyway, now having a clean room and starting a routine where everything is in place, things go so much easier. I like having a routine, a schedule, and managing to create and adhere to a schedule wear things go smoothly and on time is a very cheerful way to start my day. Before, I was always rushing out to catch the bus at the last minute, without a hat and with my (slightly longer at the time) hair still wet from the shower, so that it froze to my head like a stiff little helmet. Unpleasant.

Anyhoo, today, I'm expecting three good things: first, SEE Magazine is going to publish my interview with William Jans, so I can send them my very first freelance invoice for $40. Second, The Gateway will be publishing their "Ignored by the Oscar" nominations, and hopefully they've included the small piece I did on how Judd Apatow and Steve Carell, and their script for The 40-Year-Old Virgin should have been nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Third, two days ago, Amazon.ca let me know that my order has been shipped, so I should be receiving a big box full of Kate Elliot novels in the mail today.

Hopefully. Also, there's a new The Office and My Name is Earl and CSI on tonight. I've stopped watching TV on certain nights as of late (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, actually), so Thursday is the big TV night for me.