For the Birds!

This morning, Will and I collapsed on the couch with the remnants of last night's dinner and a Wonderdog, watching Nature's Engineers 2 on the History Channel.  We learned about Trapdoor Spiders and Naked Mole Rats, but it was really the behavior of the Great Hornbill that I found the most intriguing. 

According the show, when building a nest, the Hornbill creates a cavity in the trunk of a tree with its impressive beak.  While the female waits at home, the male goes out, swallows mud, and regurgitates it b to the female.  She will then mud-vomit to seal the opening to the nest, proving that nature is eerily similar to a sitcom family where mom knows best and dad's just a buffoon mud-puker.

The female Hornbill leaves only a small slit in the opening to protect her brood from the outside world, while dad is charged with the responsibility of finding food and bringing it back to the nest.  Mom can stay inside for up to three to four months.

How does she not go crazy? I ask Will.

So you don't want me to go out and swallow mud?

I thought about it for a second. Y'know, with the kids it sounds like a hostage situation.  Without, it sounds like heaven.

...

Things have been teetering on the edge of crazy here a Slack World Headquarters.  Remember how I wrote the other day about losing my freelance job?  I managed to pick up another freelance gig with them.  But it's one where time is of the essence, and I'm essentially on-call.  My friend S. also hooked me up with her husband's company, making sales calls and helping them with their online marketing.

Nina's List of Jobs:

1. Gym, part-time at the front desk.
2. Bill Foundation, Volunteer Coordinator.
3. Unnamed Website, Customer Service Rep.
4. Phone Sales, medical software.
5. Online Marketing, medical software.
6. Printing scripts, mailing scripts, emailing people about upcoming pilots, pitches, etc.

Nina's List of Blogs:

1. The Slack Daily.
2. The Post-Apocalyptic Workout. (With accompanying workout)
3. New blog, to premiere soon, half Geeks' Guide to Girls  and half Social Networking Yenta.

What Nina should really be doing:

1. Writing.
2. Writing.
3. Writing.

I've wondered to myself if it would make more sense to just get a regular full-time job, and write on the side instead of trying to fit it into the various nooks and crannies that I now use to sleep.  Except that finding a full-time job is a full-time endeavor.  While there are things that I think I can apply my skill set to, there are plenty of people that don't believe that it translates.  I've dug myself into odd little hole of a whole bunch of odd jobs.  Which pretty much makes me like the majority of writers out there: figuring out a way to balance earning a living and making time to write.

Will said I reminded him of Hey, Mon:

So I'm here, I swear.  I'm trying to keep up with your blogs and your twitters and your email, but mostly? I'm just working.