i am now and forever will be, a duckman

its been a few days now since i have made changes to the site. i updated the side links to include comments and also the labels for fast jumpage to different posts (i haven't always used tags, so i might go back to some ramblings and update them or i might not). i also included a fun section titled "time enhancers." i realize that the people who read this site do so for a bit of fun (or maybe annoyance?) while they're bored or they put off doing other things. [actually, come to think about it, my friend, kj, told me just that the other day. she said she was putting off work and didn't know what to do because she was "all caught up on my blog." (this may have also been a hint for me to update it more...he he)] so i thought, why not help you all? for the times when i haven't updated or you're just bored, or putting off things, or maybe even just want to browse the interwebs, check out the time enhancers section. oh, and if you have any suggestions for links to include, let me know.

i should thank kj for hinting that i write more but also because she actually helped validate myself. i wrote the other day about how i was putting off doing my resume and how i'm a procrastinator. she pointed a link to this article on cnn (a truly reputable source) and i realized "i'm not a procrsatinator! i may put things off, but i always get them done [save for my brothers scrapbook] and get them done well! i'm an incubator!" so check out this article and tell me what you think. are you a procrastinator or an incubator? or neither? above the fold? and its not just this article that is making me think this (although i am clearly smart enough to self-diagnose myself on any number of subjects such as this). i was lamenting to a shrink a few years ago about how i always feel bad putting things off, but i can't bring myself to do them until the absolute last minute. he asked "well, has it ever hurt you putting things off?" and i said "well, no, but..." and he kept asking questions and i told him this story about my freshman year of college... i had to write a 5-page paper for my english class and everyone in my dorm (the honors dorm, so we were all in the same honors english class) had been stressing about the paper for so long and most people had finished it long before it was due. the night before it was due, i told everyone that i was going to do the paper. i sat at my desk and got to work... work on IMing. i IMed people ALL night - this is back on icq and aol instant messenger (BEFOR AIM). i think i talked to high school friends in california, i downloaded songs on napster (yes, napster, created by a guy who lived in my dorm the year before me, btw) and did just about everything else before starting my paper. i pulled an all-nighter. my roommate went to her boyfriends room because i was up with lights on and music playing. finally, at 7:15 am i started my 5 page paper for my 9:15 class. this is after i showered to get ready for class. i typed it up vite-fait, printed it and ran to class. it was the last class of the semester and by that time i was kind of like "oh, fuck it. i'll just get whatever grade i get." i didnt really care. a few days later, i went with my friend, mr. salvo, to the professor's office to pick up our papers. he handed mr. salvo his paper and said "good paper, m." then he looked at me and handed me my paper and grabbed my hand and said, "and EXCE-LLENT paper, danielle." i was standing there thinking, "ok, you're obviously not a good teacher. it took me less than 2 hours to write that crap." my shrink pointed out that maybe i was a good writer. i maintain that the professor was smoking crack. but either way, this all points to me being an INCUBATOR. not a PROCRASTINATOR. i am so happy. i feel justified. its like when i learned i was an INTJ. people always think that i look at things differently. maybe heartless. its just because i'm a really logical person - way more logical than most people. i cant help it. so there.

i'm wondering what my mom will say to this news. just the other night i was telling her how i did my brother's fiance's resume in less than a half hour while at work. for some reason i feel bad working on my resume while at work, but not other people's. and my mom says to me, out of the blue, “god, you’re getting annoying.” i'm not kidding! my mother told me i was annoying. :) i wrote it down as soon as she said it because it was really funny. she's trying now to subtly remind me to work on my resume. normally, our sign off is “love you” “love you, too” “bye” “bye” that same night she said, "love you” and i said “love you, too” but then she said “resume. good bye.” and hung up! hint taken! i GET it. i need to work on my resume. blah.

in the vain of learning more about myself (which is very important, i believe), i saved this article from the happiness project. it talks about whether or not you are an abstainer or a moderator. in case you can't guess, i try very hard to be a moderator, but i'm really an abstainer. sometimes i dont fully abstain, understood, BUT if i really want to not do something, i have to not do it all the time rather than some of the time. that might be confusing. just read the article. in it, she says this:

"Perhaps this is the flip side of being an abstainer, but I’ve found that if I’m trying to make myself do something, I do better if I do that thing every day. When people ask me advice about keeping a blog, one of my recommendations is, “Post every day, or six days a week.” Weirdly, it’s easier to write a blog every day than it is to write it three or four times a week."

which i thought was so true! which is why you have seen quite a few rambles from me this week.... its easier to do things every day than some days. which, i think, is similar to the resume thing. if i were working on it every day (and doing smart things like updating linkedin and deleting facebook, and learning more things re: jobs, etc) then it would be easier for me than doing it once in a while.

so i'm going to post this while i incubate thinking about constantly working on my resume and job search...

what are you? procrastinator/incubator and moderator/abstainer?

[title post from the fabulous movie pretty in pink because, like ducky, i walk to the beat of my own drum.]