Things that Robert is thinking about that keep him from accomplishing anything.

 
Bonsai Bobby
Perhaps this is just my little tribute to the 20th anniversary of The Karate Kid, but I have decided to start my own set of bonsai trees. I am tempting the botanical gods, of course, but such is the hubris that sets in when one hasn't killed a plant in the current calendar year.

My primary specimens are a dwarf Japanese juniper (which is probably cheating because it's already designed to grow small), a Japanese maple (I bought a whole tree, but I took a cutting to start with so I will have a ready source of replacements when this one fails), and a magnolia (clipped from the front of my apartment complex).

If all goes well, I'll be able to turn it into an article, which is something I find myself saying more and more these days. "I just walked down the street. You know, there's probably an article in that." The real art will be turning an article about how I've killed three plants into something interesting.

Speaking of which, no word yet on when my sausage article appears in the Tennessean. And no acknowledgment yet on my feature writing job apps. On the plus side, I've found some good jobs at Northwestern to apply for as a hedge against uncertainty about my Vanderbilt funding. I'll keep you updated.
posted by RSaunders at 3:07 PM ⇒