absolutely glorious weather out there, and the dashing has been good - maybe it's payday, or maybe the college is approaching finals time, but the nights are hopping, and i'm doing a lot of running around. most of the time i drive around with windows open. and the phone keeps dinging.

but that's just temporary, the way i see it, and dash has a built-in way of making sure it covers all the orders - it shoots for having a few too many dashers so there are always people sitting around. that will be me, much of the time; i'm tricked into signing up for hours or logging on at times when it slows down dramatically. i have a theory that there's plenty of dashing around, but the problem is more that there are way too many pikers like me out there trying to pick up the orders.

so i should be working on my novel = one of several that i've started and let go, or better yet, a new one, but i've had trouble in that department. it's partly the traveling frame of mind keeps me from concentrating while i'm sitting here. i can do blogs, i can do marketing, i can do anything interruptable, but i don't seem to want to apply myself to any of the novels. the three most needing to be finished are 1) a texas one, involving guns and red-dirt musicians; 2) an esl one, set in carbondale; and 3) one set in dedham, mass., revealing some of what i've learned in historical studies. i'm beginning to think what i ought to do is just plan and write, straight up, a fourth one. perhaps the reason i'm stuck on these three is something personal, like an unwillingness to reveal aspects of the past, or uncomfortability with reliving it.

i don't even write much haiku these days, though dash is the perfect place to do it. i'm sitting in my car, paper down in the door beside me, and waiting for an order, having put myself in a place where i'm most likely to get it. sometimes things are slow; you can't force an order out of thin air. i could be writing haiku, as that's what i used to do - but i'm not. even home here, i'm hesitant. i don't know what's going on.

if we can get our house going that will free up some of my time, and i can get going. i have history and biography books to write too.