"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

Quote from Henry James, a 19th century American-turned-British author who I would say is probably most well known for The Portrait of a Lady, but he also wrote The American and The Europeans which might be of equal familiarity. Regardless as to how you know him, no one can deny that he definitely knew what he was talking about with summer.



Oh the lazy days of summer. I have rediscovered the joy of never setting an alarm, laying on the couch all day long, and feeling like I have the power to do anything I want. It's amazing.....mostly.

You might ask why, after so many posts over the year of looking forward to a summer off and free from responsibility I have suddenly declared that it's not completely satisfying. Well folks, I'm bored. It's only been 2 weeks, but I'm already bored with doing nothing. Now, I realize that I'm blessed with a life right now that most people would be dying to live, but my always-busy-go-go-go lifestyle has taken over and I seem to forget how to really enjoy being stagnant. Some days I am content to do nothing and other days I feel like if I don't have some sort of a project to work on I might just lose my mind. Truth be told, I haven't been bored enough to go into my office and work on things for next year, but I've thought about it and the idea gets more tantalizing with each hour that passes.

I won't be doomed to a summer of sitting in my apartment day in and day out with nothing going on. Most of my summer will actually be spent jet-setting from one place to another, it's just getting through this first part that's turned out to be....well, a bitch. I have even contemplated going on a random roadtrip to a state I've never been before because #1, I've never been and it's closer to me now than it was before, making it a much more realistic possibility; #2, I enjoy random roadtrips and I actually enjoy being alone so doing it by myself doesn't bother me; #3, I can be pretty random about life and this just seems to fit with me perfectly. The things that stop me include the fact that gas is ridiculously expensive, the weather is making me sluggish, and I can only imagine what people would say if they knew that I preferred to do this alone rather than trying to convince people to go with me.

Instead (at least for the time being) I will sit and daydream about what the rest of my summer will look like. I'm cramming in a whole lot of fun in a small amount of time, and I've been presented with the possibility of including even MORE fun in my summer - I've been invited to visit a friend whom I haven't seen in many years, a friend who lives in an incredibly fun place I've never been. The responsible side of me tells me to not try and push my luck with more trips and entertainment, but the reckless kid inside says that I'm an idiot to pass this up. I'll let the mental battle continue while I lay on the couch eating bon-bons and thinking fondly of all of you out there who still sit in your offices, hard at work :)