Today, the students in one of my composition classes asked me “if I wrote.”

I told them I was currently writing a dissertation.

They asked what a dissertation was.

I told them it was kind of like a book, but one that typically sucks because it’s typically your first and, if you’re like me, you’re learning how to write it while you’re writing it.

They asked what it was like to write something “that long.”

I told them it was like when I ran the 400 meter dash in high school. You start out strong on the first curve, stride along fine in the back stretch, pull around the second curve and start to feel the weight of your own body. By the time you get into the home stretch, that weight is like a bear on your back and it’s suddenly as if you’re running through mud. Or taffy. You can hear the crowd cheering. You can see the damn finish line. But it feels like it takes FOREVER to get there.

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That’s what I feel like right now. It also has a lot to do with why I haven’t been posting here. I’ll be back.

I’m much better at taking photos for my 2013 photo journal. Pictures don’t require writing (only what goes in the captions). I also copy these to my Twitterfeed and The Malarkey Bin Tumblr. I reblog lots of stuff on Tumblr, too. It’s easy. I don’t have to write anything there.