jugs of vinegar at cannard farm :: october 2007

i've been working hard(ish) on the research and outline for my first talk. i'm excited and really freaked out (and i'm perfecting the art of procrastination in the meantime, hence this blog post). just a couple of months ago, i decided that i wanted to focus on speaking as one of my main projects, and a few weeks later, i got an offer for a bona fide speaking gig at a conference in front of actual human beings.

i've been watching and re-watching ted talks, authors at google talks, and any other talks i can get my hands on in preparation. i've been reading speeches and thinking of how i can organize this thing so i don't put everyone to sleep in 45-90 minutes, and i've been bugging all of the fantastic speakers in my life with my neuroses and cajoling them into promising to read my drafts (when i get one done).

i've also had an epiphany--i know that most of the rest of the world already understands this, but it took me a lot of pain and stress to figure it out for myself: i can refine and reuse material. that's the whole point of the academic model, duh! i don't have to come up with something new each week. instead, i can take ideas and thoughts and essays and blog posts and themes i've been working on and use every publishing and speaking opportunity to tweak and refine what i'm thinking about until i've got it down. that's what my teachers do, that's what my role models do, and you know what else? that's what we do in the kitchen.

it all makes so much more sense now.

ok, back to the sequestration of my carrel.

p.s. watching maira kalman's ADD in action and loving every moment of it was super-calming for me since i sometimes have a hard time completing sentences.