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Manic Monday: What Was I Doing ...



Hello My Happy People,


Well, today really is a Manic Monday. I thought I had already written this entire blog and just had to come on today and add a few bits and post it. Nope! I was wrong. The only thing I had written was "Hello My Happy People". So here we go ...


Ever wonder why it takes me so long to finish a novella? I will give you an idea of how my day has been going so far. I started that first paragraph of this blog about 9 am, it's now 4 pm. I realized I hadn't put my "Important Links" at the bottom of the page so I went to copy that form a previous blog post.


I noticed I did not have Lisa Sillaway's link in there and since we are getting our interview scheduled for the podcast, I thought I should add her link in. So, I went to Facebook to get her information and started talking to someone in messenger. We were talking about how I was a bit upset (jealous) that P.R. is going on a business trip and will be staying in a hotel with air conditioning while I am here at home without AC as we hit triple digits for the second time this summer. This prompted me to go look at portable air cooling units. These are not AC but have a water tank you put ice packs in to cool the air. They help but are not as good as AC. I found a good one to get for the apartment like we had discussed last month. This would give us two now so P.R. can have one in the room with him while he is working and I can have one in here with me.

After looking at the air cooling units, I noticed they had a QR code to read more information and I remembered I was wanting to find a QR Code generator to make some for Burckhardt Books. I did an internet search and found one I liked and proceeded to spend about an hour creating QR codes. I did remember I was working on the blog and came back here.


I decided I wanted to add a gallery to this blog and went to my Book Banter Interview Archive page to copy the one there. It didn't work. I started to recreate it, but I didn't like how it was turning out so I just gave up and deleted it. At this point, I took a break to go make some tea. My better half asked me to make him some lunch and gave me an envelope from my bank with my new bank card. The card has new features and I spent about 40 minutes slowly reading the German instructions to make sure I understood what it was telling me. I've lived here in Germany for 7 years now and my German "ist immer noch Mist" (it's still "poop").


Then I come back to the computer and start working on the blog again. I wanted to copy something from my Dianne Burckhardt page and when I went to that page I noticed the web address still had copy-of-dianne-burckhardt in the URL. Apparently I forgot to remove all the "copy-ofs" on all of the Dianne Burckhardt pages when I merged the StephenBurckhardt.com website with the DianneBurckhardt.com website to create BurckhardtBooks.com. So I fixed all of those. Then I remembered I STILL hadn't written this blog!


While I am 100% proud of everything I have accomplished in life since I had the accident in 2002 and survived all the brain surgeries in 2004, it is days like today when I cannot stay focused on any one thing that it just drives me insane to live with brain damage. One thing that adds to my stress when I go through days like this is when I tell people about my day and they tell me, "Oh, I know what you mean, I am the same way." Here is the thing. I remember what I was like before the accident. I would start doing something and get side tracked and do something else and have to come back to my task later. But the levels and the frequency of getting distracted are vastly different from before the accident and after.


Everyone has normal moments of distraction and forgetfulness, but when you have brain damage, it is very different. If you have never experienced it (and I hope none of you ever do) there is a very noticeable difference. I am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse that I remember how I functioned before the accident. I don't sit around mourning the loss of how I used to be, that is a complete waste of energy, but some days (like today) I think it would be less stressful if this was the only "norm" I knew. Remembering how I used to be able to stay on task most of the time just seems like my own brain is taunting me, or challenging me ... we'll go with challenging. It's less annoying and more inspirational.


But don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to change much about my life right now. I wouldn't mind having air conditioning again and I would be beyond thrilled if I was making a profit as a writer, having my student loan paid off would be great too, but other than those things, I'm pretty happy with me and where I am in life. We all have something to deal with and having a brain that will sometimes jump the rails is just part of what makes my life interesting.


Another thing that makes my life interesting is the incredible friends I have. Be sure to check out my podcast as more of my amazing friends join me for my podcast, Book Banter with Dianne Burckhardt. The interview with DJ Jamison is available in episodes 21 and 22. This week we have part one of my interview with Allie Alvis. Allie is a rare book curator and former librarian with the Smithsonian. Be sure to check out her links below. Allie is an incredible woman and has such a vast knowledge about book history, preservation, and publication. If you love books like we do, you will not want to miss her interview!


I think this classifies as an actual blog so I am going to call it done and read for a bit before I try to write on my word in progress, Into the West: Family Ties. It is coming soon!


Have a great day people!!

Dianne


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