A Good Weekday

5a
Awake refreshed.

5 - 5:20a
Walk dog. On ideal days I hang up his leash brimming with ideas.

5:20 - 5:23a
Feed dog.

5:24a
Convince dog to entertain self for the next two hours.

5:25 - 7:25a
Write or stare at screen, just don’t leave chair.

7:25 - 7:30a
Enter land of living. Kiss wife. Pet dog.

7:30 - 7:45a
Shower. Truly enter land of living. Allow dog to lick feet dry. Feel kind of weird about it. Pet dog.

7:45 - 8:00a
Make coffee. Make breakfast. Actually truly emerge from own head. Sometimes the most clarifying moment of writing for me occurs after I finish, when I’m grinding coffee beans or cracking an egg and some character’s similarly unthinking movement reveals itself.

8:00 - 8:15a
Walk dog again. This is the moment when, if the writing went well (and it did because it’s a good day), I realize that the rest of the day is just gravy.

8:15 - 8:30aish
Try and read a little. Maybe polish off this week’s New Yorker or something.

8:30 - 9:30a
Commute to work. Some mixture of driving, Metroing, reading, listening to podcasts, walking, and elevators.

9:30 - 12:00p
Work.

12:00 - 1:00p
Eat lunch while reading. I’ve always loved reading while eating.

1:00 - 5:00p
Work.

5:00 - 5:45p
Commute home. Indulgent music. Old favorites. Something with a beat. Pick up wife. Ask about day.

5:45 - 6:00p
Greet dog. When he emerges from his crate and sees us he starts wiggling fiercely, whipping his whole body into Cs. It’s heart-melting. Walk dog.

6:00 - 6:45p
Cook something delicious. Right now I’m adding smoked sesame seed oil to everything.

6:45 - 8:45p
Read, transcribe the day’s notes, drink red wine.

8:45 - 8:55p
The day’s last walk. Dog is calm and wanders. The breeze stirs fliers taped to the streetlights.

8:55 - 9:00p
Brush, floss, bed.