I have been thinking (and telling people) that this reading is on the 14th, but it’s not. Thursday, the 16th, two weeks from today!
So here’s a reminder for me (and you, too, if you live nearby):
https://sites.google.com/site/soulfoodpoetrynight/
The reading begins at 7:00 and includes an open mike. The other featured reader is Jennifer Bullis; I’ll be reading from Sparrow.
The real trick to getting work done is that my 15 minutes is very seldom only 15 minutes. It’s just the threshold.
If 15 minutes doesn’t work for you, imagine a lower threshold. Imagine 5 minutes. Imagine a broom handle lying across the floor. Fall over it.
Conversely, you may need an even number. So try 20 minutes. Many years ago when I was trying to get up early in the morning (before my infant twins were awake) to work on my doctoral dissertation, a friend suggested that I try getting up on the half-hour, when the clock’s hand was rising rather than falling. I don’t know why 4:30 was “better” than 5:00, but it worked.
Lowering the threshold will work for your other unresolutions, too. When I’m having trouble getting myself to the gym, I coax myself into merely putting on my workout clothes. Just put them on, you don’t have to go. Then once I’m at the gym (I’m dressed for it, so why not?), I tell myself, just get on the treadmill, just walk for a half mile, then you can quit. Once I get started, I almost never do less than my 2 1/4 miles. 
Lower the threshold. Stumble over it.
What if you didn’t make those huge resolutions this year? “Lose 20 pounds.” “Run a marathon.” “Write a novel.” What if instead, right now, you spent 15 minutes doing something small and…doable…like eating a piece of fruit, taking a walk around the block, or writing a single character sketch on the back of an envelope. What if your entire year was made up of 15 minute segments–small, good choices–and if you did blow 15 minutes on a not-so-good choice, you could still be totally, fully aware that the next 15 minutes is waiting?
You don’t need to buy a cool quarter-hourglass. You have a timer on your phone. Try it!
Someone has said, “Consciousness is commitment.” Well, probably more than one person has said it. And now I’ve said it, too.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,700 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.