That would be a pretty cool accomplishment and put me a few steps closer in my goal of transitioning from dead tree journalism and books to film and screenwriting. It’s certainly doable, except for one thing.

Fucking Facebook. And all those other stupid little Internet distractions.

Simply put, I am bonafide ADD - legitimately diagnosed and constantly struggling with it. So while it may seem pathetic that I actually need help in avoiding internet distractions, I do. And I suspect I’m not the only one; I suspect many of you know the drill. You set out with a goal: in the next X hours I will accomplish Y. You start by checking email, and see there’s some comments on a Facebook post you made. Plus a few personal emails to answer. You’ll get to those in a minute — first you check Google Reader and Twitter, then you head over to Facebook to leave that oh-so-crucial follow-up comment on the thread about whether or not douche bag is one word or two.

Before you know it you’ve killed an hour reading everyone’s not-so-witty takes on the weather, and you haven’t even checked Boston.com or logged in at Running Ahead. X has now become X minus an hour or two, and Adderrall or those other meds they like to give people like us won’t help — they only make you focus even more intently on the sites you wander off to.

So more than a year after first reading about it (I was sort of like the smoker in denial — I can quit anytime, or so I told myself) I finally downloaded LeechBlock today.

LeechBlock is a FireFox add-on that lets you block yourself from accessing those time-wasting Web sites during the times when you should be working. It’s easy to use: I had downloaded it, installed it and had set it up to block the biggest culprits in my browser history within a few minutes. The add-on not only lets you choose which sites to block, but when and how to block them.

For example, if I try to access Facebook between the hours of 8 am and 4:30 pm on weekdays now, I get a screen telling me the site has been blocked. I also have the option of limiting how much time I spend on a site during certain periods; while Facebook is completely off limits during work hours, I can access Twitter for 10 minutes every two hours — enough time to compose a few promotional tweets, but not enough time to scroll blindly through the long list of updates from people I follow.

The gadget does, however, require a modicum of will power by the user. If I really want to know that Julia changed her profile photo, Kerri “hates people who use song lyrics as their Facebook status updates” and Jacob is, well, a pretentious little fuck if you were to judge him solely by what he posts on Facebook (which I totally do), then there are ways around LeechBlock. It is, after all, a Firefox add-in, so I can simply open another browser, like Safari. Or — and I feel pathetic admitting this — I have Facebook for Blackberry and could get a fix on my phone.

But the only thing sadder than having Facebook for Blackberry is using it to circumvent something you added solely to avoid checking sites like Facebook.

The end result? I got in a rhythm and banged out 10 pages I can live with in less than two hours, so I stayed put and did another five. I’m going to continue to play around with it, and I’m not loving that if I suddenly feel productive at 10 o’clock at night, I need to reconfigure the settings of LeechBlock. But overall I can see this simple little step changing the way I work (for the better).

If I had been scheduled to teach freshman writing this year (as I did last year), I would certainly have more than a couple of Chelseas in each class (as it stands, I have one Chelsea among the 40 students in the three classes I have rosters for as of right now, and I’d bet good money she’s a sophomore).

That’s because most of my freshmen and many of my sophomores were born in the wake of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential election. The part that makes me feel old is that one of my own college professors noted in those heady, grungey months in my sophomore year that there would be a spike in girls named Chelsea in 1993 because people were downright giddy with his election. It’s scary because it just doesn’t seem like enough time has passed for people who were babies then to be young adults.

But I digress…

I won’t even get into the hair-brained idea that came out of an editors’ meeting in the week’s following the 2000 election, where some sad sap at a paper I was working at had to call hospitals to see if there was an increase in the number of baby boys named Chad (i.e. “hanging chads” from the Florida ballots). It’s not that it was a bad idea — some would argue there’s no such thing, and everything is worth checking out. The problem is bad editors often assume their ideas are fact, and get miffed when reporters go out and find there isn’t a story there. That’s where we get phrases like “commit journalism…”

Needless to say, I’d rather teach Chelsea than try to find Chad.

“…and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
- Jack Kerouac, On The Road

…and life really hasn’t been the same since. But at least I know what to get if I ever decide to get a tattoo.

Look it up, bitches: you’re not supposed to do that.

I realize this is how language evolves, but don’t we want it to evolve in a better direction? What’s wrong with “working on it” or “I’ll check with him and get back to you”? Efforting, as a one-word response, strikes me as dismissive and, frankly, implies a lack of effort.

I don’t know…am I getting bent out of shape over this? I haven’t gotten this frustrated over a word since 2004, when seemingly every actor tried to slip the word “veritas” into every interview they gave.

So I tell them stuff like this and hope for the best:

Where are you these days? Wondering if it may be easier to grab coffee and discuss….

In the mean time, however, it would be criminal of me to encourage you to pursue a career in a field you’re not 100% in love with — especially a field as bleak as publishing. You’re going to be entry level, wherever you end up and you’re going to be making crap money, so you might as well be making crap money doing something you like and/or something that will get you to where you want to be — 23 (?) is far too young to be this discouraged.

You can teach college with a master’s degree, although you’ll need a PhD to get anything close to full-time, tenure track. A lot of people become career adjuncts and end up teaching at 2-4 different schools. So they may teach three classes at BSC, three at Massassoit and three at Quincy College. And my experience, these people tend to be wretched and angry — they resent their students and feel over-worked and underpaid. Teaching is a burden — almost as big of a burden as sitting around all summer doing nothing because they have no money coming in.

I love teaching, but primarily because it’s only PART of what I do. It makes me a better writer but, because I still write for at least 50% of my income, I feel I’m a better teacher. I can manage all my classes, I know all my students by name and on most days I actually look forward to reading their work. I did, for the record, take a one-year, full-time professor’s job in the communications department this year, so it will be a test to see if I want/can make the leap to being more professor than writer.

But my gut also tells me the teaching jobs tend to go to people with some life experience: my master’s degree was a prerequisite, but I suspect I was ultimately hired because of my work experience, the book I published and all that stuff. So I could tell you to go get a master’s degree but you may just be in the same job hunt you’re in right now in another two years. I’d never discourage you from pursuing more education — especially if it got you back in the habit of writing regularly — but we’re in an economy where you have to consider the return on the investment you make in your education. You seem more than a little indecisive so a master’s degree seems like an expensive game of trial and error to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.

So here’s what I know about you: you’re a more talented writer than you give yourself credit for, and you particularly have a knack for writing short, witty posts (I’ve been following Stuck In The Mean Time in my RSS reader). That’s a compliment and a good thing, given the way people “read” these days. Based on your last email and what I know about you, I don’t see you being particularly happy in a nine-to-five, at least not as a permanent solution. I suspect you also want to call your own shots, but you’re young — convincing people you’re a competent freelancer or seasoned consultant may not work.

And you like food. Do you go out and start a food blog? Maybe….but you’re competing with thousands of other foodies who all hope their blog leads to big, lucrative assignments from the glossy food magazines (which are closing left and right and, as a result, hiring fewer people). This is just an idea based on the above description of how I see you, and what I know about restaurants (I like to cook and eat in high end places I can barely afford, and I also read a lot of food blogs).

I see a ton of Boston restaurants setting up Twitter accounts. Some are really good about updating them regularly (see Turner Fisheries and the Fireplace). But most just update them for a bit and then the posting frequency trails off. It’s the classic case of them knowing they need to have them but not really being sure what to do with them. Likewise, some of them are starting blogs by their chefs, the problem being that chefs are not writers (and, in my experience, tend to be really BAD writers) and most don’t have time to do much more than come up with the basic idea for a blog entry.

What if you were to contract yourself out to restaurants to manage their online marketing. You could help them compose and post witty Tweets a few times per day to alert followers of specials and make sure the number of followers is growing (you’d need to combine marketing info with useful info such as recipes, in-season vegetable posts, etc.) You could also help them set up and promote blogs, increase the number of followers. What if you found 4-8 restaurants that wanted these services and saw the value in it, and they were willing to pay you $200-$1,000 per month to manage their online presence? It’s actually not all that different than what you did in my class: once or twice a week you’d sit down and interview the chef and manager to find out what’s happening at the restaurant, as well as the Boston and national food scene. Then you’d use those interviews to compile a week’s worth of short, interesting and engaging blog posts, as well as Tweets that draw readers to the blog (which is presumably on the restaurant’s Web site).

A couple of potential drawbacks: 1) You’d need to market yourself, and, like most every writer I know, you’re a bit shy and a bit modest. 2) Not sure what technical experience you have, but you’d need at least a basic understanding of Web design, web marketing and blog.

And, perhaps most importantly, 3) you may have no interest in doing this at all. But it was just an off the cuff example to show you that people with your skills and goals are going to have to think outside of the box to make a job that works for them and that there are ways to combine all of your talents and interest.

I’m more than happy to continue this discussion via email or over coffee and try to help you brainstorm some solutions to your current state of flux. I’ve had a dozen or so students at BSC who are truly talented and should be doing something with those talents, and I count you among that group, so anything I can do to help you get off your ass is my pleasure….

Hope you’re enjoying you summer. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be teaching in the Communications Department this fall and have some classes you may be interested in taking if you still have holes in your schedule, including:

NEWS & POLITICS, Monday 1:50 pm - 4:30 pm: I’m still in the process of designing this class but it will focus on the importance of a free press in the Democratic process. Along the way we’ll be looking key historical moments in this often testy relationship, as well as the current state of journalism and how its weakness may be threatening some of our Democratic ideals. Because of the long meeting time I plan to make use of some top films on the subject, including “Wag The Dog” and “The Contender.” Readings will range from Hunter S. Thompson on the campaign trail to Woodward & Bernstein’s “All The President’s Men.”

INTRO TO JOURNALISM (ATTLEBORO CAMPUS), Monday 6-8:40 pm: I am also teaching this on the Bridgewater campus but that section is full; I can add 1-2 more people if you contact me ahead of time. A big emphasis in this course will be prepping people considering careers in journalism for the changing landscape of the industry. You’ll be expected to report and write news and also gain a grasp of the overall industry. Possible field trip to the Boston Globe’s offices.

FEATURE WRITING (Web-based class): Hang out with me without really hanging out with me. This class will focus on writing feature articles for magazines and, to a lesser extent, newspapers. For those of you who have taken ENGL 280 with me, there will be SOME overlap but it is a good chance to add two 1,500-word nonfiction feature articles to your portfolio before you tread into the waters. In addition to the articles you are expected to participate in online discussions via blackboards. Occasional, optional group chats and optional on-campus meetings may also be scheduled.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer and hope to see some of you in the fall.

This recipe came up when I googled “skinless chicken breasts” and “basil” and seemed too easy to not try. It’s just a simple marinade for grilled chicken. I’m also thinking the leftovers MAY go well with the whole wheat pasta and chunky marinara I’m making tomorrow night (six-mile run on Saturday morning), although I’m worrying the lemon may clash and thinking I may need to find a different protein.

I’ll worry about that tomorrow. For tonight, I’m serving this on a roasted garlic and brown rice pilaf and debating whether to go with fresh asparagus or frozen green beans as my vegetable (kind of tempted to save the asparagus for a risotto I want to make later in the week).

Why, you may be asking, all the recent cooking posts (and not much else)? Why not? I’m training for the New York City Marathon and, with that, not drinking at all and not eating out as much. I’m reading and writing a lot more than I was, but this is the only real passion I feel like sharing off the cuff here at the moment.

I am working on some more intense stuff in my down time, some of which may explain where I’ve disappeared to these past several months. But that’s the kind of stuff I want to polish and think about for awhile. And the blog usually isn’t the place to revise live.

So for now….bon appetit.

Update: On the whole, not a bad little dish. I’d probably scale back on the lemon juice, but even as is it’s delicate enough that I won’t have a problem reusing it tomorrow. And I went with asparagus, mainly because I wanted something fresh and have more than enough left over the risotto. I’ll even have a few to throw in my baked eggs this weekend.

And now almost none of the stuff is usable (aside from the skillet, which may be my favorite kitchen tool). The rubber ring on the juicer disintegrated when I was hand washing it, so the lip of the juice catcher chipped. A fruit stand that my ex- said we absolutely needed has mesh that hastens the decomposition of fresh fruit and produce. The corkscrew never really worked.

And most recently, this seldom-used wooden spoon — the one item I bought on that spree that I would consider a kitchen essential — just fell apart in the turkey chili I’m making tonight:

Is all their stuff this cheap and/or poorly designed or, as I have often suspected, do I just have really awful retail luck?

They’re in your pantry, in your freezer and maybe even in your fridge. Maybe you remember how they got there, maybe you just can’t quite place why you needed a can of fat-free refried beans. In some cases, you’re waiting for a charity event where you’ll be asked to donate canned goods (and let’s face it — the less fortunate get screwed because they always end up having to figure out the best ways to use our unwanted cans on baba ghanoush and our half-forgotten sacks of polenta).

For me, however, I’m done with screwing people who rely on food pantries for their meals. Yesterday I took an inventory of my freezer and my kitchen cabinets and found all the things that had been sitting there for the past several months (in some case, I’m pretty sure I moved some of this stuff over from Jamaica Plain last August).

I’ve also found myself with lots of fresh stuff that I’m not sure how I’m going to use before it expires. I have a standing, weekly appointment next to Wilson Farm in Lexington and find myself getting lulled in there to buy stuff that looks great — fresh pastas and mozzarella, jams, breads, sauces and, of course, the best damn produce you can imagine — but realize as I wash and store the stuff at home I have no idea how I’m going to use it.

The end result? A little ingenuity and a quick trip to Trader Joe’s this morning to buy some chicken stock and pizza dough (which, frankly, I could have made if I wanted to), and I have the next two weeks of meals (factoring in leftovers) planned and paid for. And I’m not going to be eating like a slouch, either. Among the items on the menu:

* gnocchi and bolognese (the sauce is homemade and has been sitting in the freezer for a few weeks)
* ravioli and tomato sauce
* pizza with fresh buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and onions
* brown rice and refried bean burrito
* shumai/gyoza
* Chicken tamales with black beans and rice
* Sweet-potato pancakes (which fits in well with recent cravings for breakfast-for-dinner)
* Stuffed flounder with sweet-pea risotto

I stuck that list on the fridge and that’s my menu. When I’m hungry or planning dinner, I figure out what I want off the list and make it. When I make something (like the turkey Reuben I made late last night after getting home from rock climbing), I cross it off the list. Nothing on the list takes much more than 45 minutes to make (and even the pizza’s active prep time is fairly short), and most of the stuff can be made in under 20.

I have plans to eat out here and there over the next several days. And I’ll probably make periodic trips to the store to get fresh produce (some of the above begs for a side salad and there really is no better time of the year than now to be snacking on fruit), and I do need the occasional carton of milk. But the bottom line is a half hour of thinking + <$10 at the store this morning = two weeks of pretty good eats.