Avoiding the Shitty First Draft

I'm reading this great book by Anne Lamott called Bird by Bird. It's instructions on writing, and really on living, too. She talks about writers needing to be unafraid to make that shitty first draft. Put it on paper, she says. No one will read it. So true.

So, I'm doing this idiotic quiz instead of publishing a shitty first draft. The first draft is about Sherlock and Earle. And you'll find it here in a few months.

Until then...

• Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says. "...The ride of my breasts..."
• Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first? Picutre of my nephew Seth.
• What is the last thing you watched on TV? Something inane.
• Without looking at the clock, guess what time it is: 9:09 p.m.
• Now look at the clock, what is the actual time? 9:11 p.m.
• With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? Air conditioning.
• When was the last time you stepped outside. When I got in my car to come to work.
• Before you came to this website, what did you look at? ebay.
• What are you wearing? denim shorts, flip-flops, tshirt.
• Did you dream last night? I dreamed that I got into a fight with Jenny Fines Cox about how to get to my house. So crazy!
• When did you last laugh? A moment ago on the phone w/ Angie, as the computer system I'm supposed to be writing scripts for is kaput.
• ** Correction ** What is on the walls of the room you are in? Office stuff. In my cube, there are pictures of almost everone I adore. Lola, Jenny, Allie, Laura, my fam, my niece and nephews, Christelicious, my brother.
• Seen anything weird lately? Not monumentally.
• What do you think of this quiz? It's kind of silly.
• What is the last film you saw? Cinema Paradiso.
• If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first? Plane tickets.
• Tell me something about you that I don’t know. Can't. I'm transparent. You know it all.
• If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Let people be generous.
• Do you like to dance? HELL YEAH!
• George Bush. Um, yes? He was our president right before Clinton was.
• Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? Charlene. Probably Charlie for short.
• Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? John-David.
• Would you ever consider living abroad? In Belize! Or, really, nearly anywhere.
• Name Four Bad Habits You Have: procrastinate, ignore things sometimes hoping they'll fix themselves, forgetting to write it down, still fixing money issues.
• Name Four Things That You Wish You Had: Stamina (working on that), loads of money, the first draft of an amazing novel, a resort in Italy.
• Name Four Scents You Love: clean laundry -- sheets specifically, linguicia, clean skin, a zillion kinds of flowers.
• Name Four Things You'd Never Wear: ugly shoes, uncomfortable bra, a bad haircut, cheap jewelry. Heehee.
• Name Four Things You Are Thinking About Now: How to change things, swimming tomorrow, finishing my work, calling Allie and Todd back.
• Name Four Things That You Have Done Today: cleaned my house, swam, took a nap, written this goofy quiz.
• Name the Last Four Things You Have Bought: dinner, cute shoes, eyeshadow, gasoline.
• Name Four Bands/Groups Most People Don't Know You Like: Y'all know 'em. Um, Cat Stevens, maybe you don't know that. Ohh, and Led Zeppelin. I still love them.
• Name Four Drinks You Regularly Drink: coffee, vodka, orange juice, water.