Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Jack Bauer Syndrome

Sometimes I have days like Jack Bauer - commercials every ten minutes, terrorists around every corner and not enough TIME! If you are a fan of 24 and have watched over the years, you will be familiar with these phrases:

"There's not enough TIME!"

"We're running out of TIME!"

"I need more TIME!"

Jack is very obsessed with TIME. I always thought they would have made a killing had they created a talking Jack doll that said various TIME related phrases each time you pulled his string. The writers must have noticed all the jokes online about it because I don't think I've heard him say anything about needing more TIME, running out of TIME or not having enough TIME in this 24 hour segment.

Okay, back from the tangent...I sometimes suffer from Jack Bauer Syndrome. Today was one of them. Run here, meet this friend there, exercise with this friend here and before I knew it, I was out of TIME. It's now midnight and I am determined to get more writing in. I did squeeze maybe a hundred words in earlier, proving that you can always find TIME (and doesn't Jack always find TIME in the end?). Even when I'm out chasing terrorists, trying to immobilize detonators and saving the country from destruction, my story is on my mind. I knew exactly where I was going tonight. I even had dialogue ready to go! I'll likely get a half hour in before bed tonight. I learned from my days in television production that everything you write after a certain time in the evening has to be scrapped the next day. Sure, you think you're being hysterically funny at 1am because you're punchy and crashing from the late night Starbucks run the P.A. went on after dinner, but in the morning when you come crawling back in and read over what was "punched up" the night before, it all ends up in the trash. So I won't be writing too late tonight because it just makes for more work in the long...which will take up too much TIME.

Tomorrow will be another Jack Bauer Syndrome day. Hair appointment first thing in the morning and thinking of doing something dramatic with my hair (red with copper highlights perhaps?) so that will take a lot of TIME! My hair dresser is fun to gossip with so I'm sure I won't think of story much while I'm in the chair or being rinsed out or even styled. I have errands to run, a dog to walk, my own exercising to do, lots of things that will take up TIME! I'm hoping for some evening writing tomorrow...I'm so close to the end. To defusing the bomb, revealing the Russians diabolical plot and saving our President. Well, not quite THAT dramatic. Much more fantastic, though. If only I had more TIME...

3 comments:

  1. Um, can I just say I love that you're a 24 fan? I have no-one to tell that every time President Logan comes on screen I unconsciously say 'stupid Logan' with so much loathing you would think this was a *real* person who has done me a personal offence. It saddens me. On other writing related matters, at least you feel bad when you don't have the TIME to do writing, that must be a good sign, right?
    - Sophia.

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  2. Clarabella is at that age where she's not quite into independent play, but she doesn't quite need me to do stuff for her. What she does need me to do is sit on the floor and watch her. I shouldn't read or write--her books and toys quickly come and cover my things. She just wants me to watch her. So not only do I watch my gorgeous girl (which I cherish doing), I watch time slip idly by (which, oh, makes me so sad).

    So in a torturous (ha! torture! I knew I could work Jack Bauer in here somehow!) in a torturous way, I have an abundance of time; I just don't write in it. :(

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  3. Oh Sophia, Logan reminds me of a sleazy used car salesman. Not that I've ever met or dealt with a used car salesman in my life, but he's what I imagine them to be like. I take great pleasure in him getting his in the end. I just know Jack will find TIME for that.

    I locked myself out of the house this morning. Went to walk the dog, came home and found I had taken the wrong key. Now, you might these things happen, but let me explain the difference in the keys. The house key is rather large with a square head and SAN DIEGO CHARGERS all over it (along with lightening bolts in yellow, blue and white). The key I grabbed is a smaller golden key with a triangle shaped head that has DO NOT DUPLICATE written on it. I did this at the worst possible time. My bestfriend who lives three blocks away was on a fun adventure with her husband miles away and unreachable today. My husband had just gone into a meeting. I had to sit in the yard with my very confused dog (now is when you're supposed to feed me, mom! why are we still out here??) for an hour and a half until my husband got done with his meeting. Then he came home. I wasted a lot of TIME. I tried to think of my story while in the yard. I couldn't. I fought down panic attacks, pouted and felt sorry for myself like a two year old. I bet Clarabella would have handled the yard more maturely than I did!

    And speaking of Clarabella - that is such an adorable image. She loves mommy so much, she wants all your attention! I bet it is hard to watch time slip by knowing she's growing by the moment as well. What a sweet girl!

    It is now 9pm (aren't you glad I share SO MUCH of my life with you - waaaay more than you need to know), Vampire Diaries is over and I'm ready to actually focus back on my writing. We're going to retrieve that final item at last! Because my characters are having a Jack Bauer moment themselves and they too are running out of TIME!

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