Distracted part 1 (Brownie Break!)

I have had so much trouble concentrating lately. I can't seem to buckle down and get my work done that I should. Even now, when I'm supposed to be getting the Carnival all ready to go I find myself looking for any old excuse.

Officially I'm blaming a girl named "Tiff." She sent in an entry for the Carnival of the Mundane, and I emailed back (if any future/past Carnival hosts read this, email the people back so they know you got it? How hard is that, geniuses?), and we got to talking about life, the universe, and whether she comes from the 1930s.

I was trying to distract myself from the fact that this is one of the saddest days of the year.

Anyway, here's my first thoughts on Distraction:

Have you seen that Simpsons where Marge writes a book? It's so funny! (Seriously; 2003-2004 was such a renaissance for them; people need to talk about this more.)

Anyway, I could talk about this episode for an hour, but two things I wanted to mention:

1) Homer is supposed to read Marge's novel, even though he doesn't want to. He tells himself "No more distractions." and then immediately gets distracted by the word "distracted."
"Distracted. That's a strange word. I wonder if anyone ever gets 'tracted'? I think I'll go call the Suicide Hotline and ask them."

2) Marge sits down to write her novel on the computer:
"Splash splash splash said the whale, paddling with his....paddlers." [Marge finishes typing the sentence and immediately says] "Brownie Break!"

That just kills me. It totally describes my approach to writing sometimes. I can't get motivated, so I reward myself. One more page and I'll have a popsicle. 350 more words and I can play a game (or 6) of Freecell.

But from now on, whenever I'm obviously wasting time, I'm going to yell out "Brownie Break!"

Do it with me.