Soft Smiles and Motivation

A happy birthday celebration with a honey-sweetened cake to A.A. Milne, creator of the 100-Acre wood and the fabulous Winnie-the-Pooh. This small story, Winnie-the-Pooh and the followup, The House at Pooh Corner, have delighted children and adults alike for more than eighty years. We all have our personal favorites, Pooh, Eyore, Tigger, Piglet, Roo, even Christopher Robin, and almost everyone knows about Pooh, even if they haven't actually read the books. At a time when the world was so flamboyant we were shown the way to a simpler life of trust and true friendship. Thank you, A.A. Milne.

I'm finding it very difficult to get motivated to do my standard work routine. I want to stay at home, bundled up in my blankie, and write, and write, and write. Oh, and do some artwork...and then write...again. Inventory is boring, customers who shoplift are annoying (actually a bit more than annoying, they actually anger me), and reading is sublime, but doesn't really accomplish much. It's cold. It's winter. And that is the traditional time to do indoor activities. What could be better fit to that definition than writing? Hmmm?

I didn't watch the first of the Lance Armstrong interviews last night, and probably won't watch the second one tonight. I'm angry. Not because he used performance enhancing drugs - everyone does in bicycle racing. No, I'm angry because he denied it, very vocally and through the courts, for years and years. I know he's not the only one, nor was his team the only team to dope. But he had the ability to say "No". It might have ruined his career, it might have ended it. It's a tough call, and he fell short. I'm very disappointed.