I heard a remix of Ace of Base's seminal classic "All That She Wants" while in a restaurant in Bali tonight, and I thought a) who took the time to remix "All That She Wants"?!?!, and b) I'm sort of glad that the definitive song of my first expat experience (since that song was the song of the summer of 1993 in Ukraine) is still with me no matter where I go.
Even without that song, today would have been great. I've been itching to get back into the writing for awhile anyway, which probably explains some of why I was productive today - but it also helps that I don't have to clean, or cook, or do anything else to take care of myself other than to shower (which I do twice a day because working outside in the humidity makes me feel gross - and yes, I realize there's a big difference between 'working outside' on a covered roofdeck while people bring you iced coffees vs. 'working outside' in a rice paddy). And the restaurant meals are so relatively cheap here that any guilt I might feel over not cooking is immediately alleviated by being able to eat a perfect fried rice dish for less than $3.
So that's all a long way of saying that today went well from a productivity standpoint - I wrote five pages, which is better than I usually do when I'm just getting back into a story, and I hit my time goal for the day. So I'm reasonably hopeful that I can continue this - the change of scene has been good for me, and the setup is pretty conducive to getting stuff done.
But I took a break this evening to have dinner with Steph's friend Sue, who lives in Bali and owns a frozen yogurt company (which she started to fund her documentary filmmaking, which is interesting). We went to La Pacha Mama, which is where I went last night, and of course the staff all recognized me - but the food is awesome and I happily tried something else, and also had a couple of drinks because I was with Sue instead of by myself. She was lovely, and I'm hoping we'll hang out again while I'm here.
Then I came back to the hotel and it wasn't scary at all walking back in the dark, so that's good to know. And now I'm desperate for sleep - despite taking a nap this afternoon, I still need some more extra hours to make up for last week's depravity. Goodnight!
Even without that song, today would have been great. I've been itching to get back into the writing for awhile anyway, which probably explains some of why I was productive today - but it also helps that I don't have to clean, or cook, or do anything else to take care of myself other than to shower (which I do twice a day because working outside in the humidity makes me feel gross - and yes, I realize there's a big difference between 'working outside' on a covered roofdeck while people bring you iced coffees vs. 'working outside' in a rice paddy). And the restaurant meals are so relatively cheap here that any guilt I might feel over not cooking is immediately alleviated by being able to eat a perfect fried rice dish for less than $3.
So that's all a long way of saying that today went well from a productivity standpoint - I wrote five pages, which is better than I usually do when I'm just getting back into a story, and I hit my time goal for the day. So I'm reasonably hopeful that I can continue this - the change of scene has been good for me, and the setup is pretty conducive to getting stuff done.
But I took a break this evening to have dinner with Steph's friend Sue, who lives in Bali and owns a frozen yogurt company (which she started to fund her documentary filmmaking, which is interesting). We went to La Pacha Mama, which is where I went last night, and of course the staff all recognized me - but the food is awesome and I happily tried something else, and also had a couple of drinks because I was with Sue instead of by myself. She was lovely, and I'm hoping we'll hang out again while I'm here.
Then I came back to the hotel and it wasn't scary at all walking back in the dark, so that's good to know. And now I'm desperate for sleep - despite taking a nap this afternoon, I still need some more extra hours to make up for last week's depravity. Goodnight!
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