Sometimes it’s nice to be someone else.

My enthusiasm for this project is low today. That is to say, I used up all my mental fuel on a single challenge, and then didn’t have much left for the rest. And it shows.

Daily Challenges

Stretching	✓
1SE	✓
Intimate Time	?
Cooking	Today’s Menu: I started out with a breakfast shake, and then forgot to take food with me to the photo shoot, and then I didn’t eat after I got home like a normal person; due to some poor preparation, the meal plan I had in mind didn’t work out, and we ended up ordering food from Uneeda Burger up the hill. This is the fourth day in a row now that we have had food that wasn’t prepare by me, and the third of those days that it wasn’t sanctioned. I would say, we’ll get back on track tomorrow, but Monday is pizza night! I’m okay with all this because we’re still doing better than we were in September.
Reading (Poetry)	“Love is a Flame” by George Marion McClellan is a rhyming pair of quatrains commenting on the use of fiery imagery in connection with love (flame, burning, crucible). He contrasts that with the idea that love is soft and sympathetic, and then closes with the underlying truth that love is pain. I wouldn’t say the poem broke any new ground for me.
Reading (Fiction)	I spent longer than I intended to reading The Poisonwood Bible. It was about the only thing I had the energy for after my photo shoot.
Reading (Nonfiction)	The narrative of Maid was all I could handle again today, and I only read a few pages while I was drinking my breakfast. Tomorrow I think I’ll read about the Congo, though, so I have some more details in my head for The Poisonwood Bible to mingle with.
Music	If I really wanted to stretch the limits of the definition of “playing music,” I could say I played a little electric bass today. But really that consisted of me plucking randomly at different notes while having my photo taken, so….tomorrow. (I’m disappointed in myself for missing three days in a row, but not disappointed enough, I guess.)
Postcard Poem	I very seriously considered not writing a poem today, because I really wasn’t feeling it, but this is one of the few daily challenges I haven’t missed yet, and it seemed a shame to start now. So I challenged myself to write a limerick, to keep it short, keep it silly, and also give me a clear structure, saving me some crucial decision-making energy. It’s, um, a limerick, but I don’t quite know what happened to the “silly” part of things: When memory leaks like a sieve, And “present” becomes relative, Don’t give up hope Or reach for a rope Because there’s still life left to live! – Sarah Reebs 10/20/2019
Trash Pickup	Because the hours I kept today were so weird, and because I was gone for most of Howie’s walks, I didn’t end up gathering trash. I feel confident that I’ll get back to it tomorrow.

Today’s Challenges

I’ve only got three days left on my abs challenge, and then I’m considering never using my core muscles ever again.

The big challenge today was my Alter Ego photo shoot! The idea is to try on a different side of your personality, or to capture another character on camera. If you recall from Friday, when I did a test run on the hair, my vibe for the shoot was a rockabilly-vintage-pinup aesthetic, and I think I *nailed it.*

Even after practice, though, it took me an hour and a half to do my hair and makeup, and then the shoot itself was in Kirkland (~30 minutes away) and at the last moment, I drove the person who had the slot after me, so when all was said and done, I got home a little before 6:00 and just felt beat. Basically any challenge that wasn’t very quick or already half-started didn’t happen.

Fortunately, I had already begun writing about Kendall for my Humans of Interest feature. It’s Sunday, which means it’s my day to write about the people who influence me, and Kendall is someone who’s doing art-for-a-living and also breaking new ground. You should go read about them.

That’s it for today! I am tired and ready for a nap!

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