Driving While Braindead
Mar 16th 2007
Claudia DainOn Writing!
Life is closing in around my edges.
I have a book due in a little over a month. I’m going to England for a 10 day trip in exactly a month. I’m not great at math, but even I can figure out that I have very few weeks left to finish this book. I should probably count down to my deadline in days, but that’s too scary.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’ve entered the Land Of “Huh?”
It’s that place where life as it’s lived in the Real World fades to gray and the World of the Book takes over. The Land of “Huh?”
Here’s what I’m talking about: a couple of days ago, my editor at Berkley called. I didn’t recognize her voice. I didn’t recognize her name for a full five seconds. The Land of Huh?
Yeah, it can get embarrassing.
I can’t sleep. I forget to eat. I don’t know what day it is. I forget where the kids are supposed to be. I’ll get in the car and hop on the freeway and forget where I was heading.
Huh?
I’m a bit dangerous right now, I can admit that, but I don’t think I’m alone in this. Even without a deadline, there are ways to enter the Land of “Huh?” Ways to get lost, to lose yourself in something so vivid and entertaining that you don’t want the Real World to intrude.
What is your passport into the World of Huh? What movie, book, song, or person can take you out of this world?
26 Comments »
26 Responses to “Driving While Braindead”
Karen Rose on 16 Mar 2007 at 8:15 am #
Claudia, HA! This happens to me with every book. Last year when I was teaching high school and writing at the same time, it became humorous for my students and wily devils that they were, they took advantage. I tag each scene with the date and time and typically my books only take place over a week or so. The day of the book I’m writing, becomes the day of the week for me, even when it’s not.
Me: Okay class (blearily gazing at them as I’d been writing all night). You have a test today. It’s Tuesday.
Class: (blankly gazing back). No it’s not. It’s Friday.
Me: Oh. So did I assign homework? (which I always did)
Class: Of course not.
Me: Oh. Good. Well, then, let’s commence.
Sometimes I would call them by the names of the characters in the book. They got great amusement when I was in the Land of Huh.
terrio on 16 Mar 2007 at 8:32 am #
I’m thinking I might live in this land. It is a common occurance for me to walk down the hall at work and have no idea where I was going or why. I’ve actually walked into someone’s office, they look up, and my mind is blank. I have no idea why I am there. My co-workers find this highly amusing.
I blame the beer. I better explain that. From the ages of 19 to 22, I partied. This may be an understatement. Let’s just say, I had LOTS of fun and have some really great anecdotes from that time. But when people said beer would burn your brain cells, I didn’t believe them. So I’ve somehow gone from having a photographic memory in HS to suffering from CRS after college. Like I said, I blame the beer.
Karen Hawkins on 16 Mar 2007 at 9:53 am #
I’d answer this but … who is Claudia Dain and why is that name so familiar? Huh?
Claudia, that’s the PERFECT description of my life. I can’t remember dates, names, people I ned to call or people I’ve already called. I’m just … Huhing all the time.
The only thing that gets me out of it is 1) turn in due book, 2) watch two days of HGTV, 3) go to Lowe’s and buy paint/spackle/other decorating project items, 4) take them home and put them in my closet for ‘when I have time to really get it done right,’ and then 5) start on proposal for next book.
I have a lot of spackle.
Ronlyn on 16 Mar 2007 at 10:29 am #
Gosh, and I’ve been calling it “pregnancy brain.” Which then evolves into “Baby brain.” Seriously (I have a 3 year old and am pregnant with #2) I have found the milk in the pantry and the cereal in the linen closet. I was halfway to work the other morning and realized I forgot my purse, but had the full collection of Wiggles books & CDs with me. It’s frightening.
Add in a good book and my family knows that I’m out of it for at least 2 days. LOL
terrio on 16 Mar 2007 at 10:32 am #
Ronlyn, that reminds me, my daughter is 7 and I’m so excited I haven’t forgotten her anywhere yet. Notice I say yet. *rolls eyes*
Ronlyn on 16 Mar 2007 at 10:59 am #
LOL…yeah, I think my 3 year old is simply too loud and independant to allow me to forget him anywhere. I’m sure that’s been my saving grace so far.
He’s very good at the “Wait for me!!!” LOL.
I forgot to mention I found the keys IN the cereal box the other morning. I’m trying to pass the blame on that one off onto the 3 year old, but I’m not sure my husband is buying it.
Kay on 16 Mar 2007 at 11:31 am #
That’s great. Ronlyn, at least you found the keys. I have 3 sets of keys, and play musical keys with them. Sometimes they all wind up in my purse, or coat pocket. Sometimes I can’t find any of them. I have a set of hooks over the desk for all of the keys, and the kids know to put them there if they find them in a strang place, like in a plant or on the piano bench.
My true mommy land of Huh? struck when my kids where one and four, someone asked me if I could help with a project in October. I lookd at her and said,”What month is it now?” I’m sure she thought I was a complete flake, but whenever I am in the land of Huh?, my Mom can tell and she gets a laugh out of asking what month is it?
It’s good to know I’m not the only one.
Suzanne Enoch on 16 Mar 2007 at 12:20 pm #
My neighbor came over the other evening to ask if I had a stick of butter. I actually had to stop for a minute to think where I keep the butter. Luckily it was in the fridge and not in the utensil drawer, and luckily I eventually remembered that.
DebMarlowe on 16 Mar 2007 at 12:23 pm #
OMG, Terrio–I am so with you. Somedays I think it’s a miracle I haven’t left one of the kids anywhere. Like Nicole, I depend on my lists to keep me somewhat in line.
They do get on me if I am one of the last in line at carpool. Really, what do I answer to that: Sorry, my hero’s best friend was murdered today while he was being seduced by an accomplice? Nah.
At one time I felt guilty about the time I don’t spend seeing to their *every* whim, but that ended about the time the youngest one told me he couldn’t possibly pick up his socks or get his own snack because Avatar was on.
Avatar is a really good show, though, I have to admit….but that’s another whole discussion!
Deb
Karen Hawkins on 16 Mar 2007 at 12:25 pm #
Car keys! I like Kay’s More Is Better Theory. Like you, I’d probably have them all … or none.
I think there’s an Evil Car Key Fairie out there who steals our keys and then hides and watches us frantically hunt for them. What’s really embarrassing is when I come out into the parking lot and realize that I don’t know where my car even is — then I look for it, walking ’round and ’round only to realize I was looking for the Honda, but I drove the Jeep.
Oh yeah, Claudia. The World of Huh is scary.
krissyinva on 16 Mar 2007 at 12:49 pm #
I don’t really have this problem, but everyone else in my house does. I am however still missing my MP3 player I lost in November. I was cleaning out thr Fridge at 2 am, and I put it up, but I have no clue where. My son will take the trash to his room, he has also walked out the front door only to realize that it wasn’t his room, he’s 12 and never quite “here”.
terrio on 16 Mar 2007 at 1:07 pm #
I finally solved the car key problem. I have a small bookshelf right inside my front door and on the top is a small glass bowl. My keys go in that bowl everytime I walk through the door. If they are not there, I’ve been known to panic. Since I’m never on time for anything, taking the time to search is not good.
I’m forever putting something somewhere so that I won’t forget it and then forget where I put it. Gah! That makes me crazy. I was excited the other day because I got some candle stuff for Xmas ‘05 and haven’t been able to find it since. I found it last week in a spot I was sure I had checked several times in the last year. I’m positive it was hiding and just decided to come back out.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Claudia Dain on 16 Mar 2007 at 1:26 pm #
Huh moment: I had just flown into some city for the RWA conference (I think it was Denver, but don’t press me on that) and was waiting for my luggage to come down the chute and appear on the whirlygig-thingy.
So, I’ve got other stuff on my mind, ya know? Like, am I wearing the right shoes? Did my hair hold up on the plane? Will I manage to finish the book during quiet moments in the hotel room I’m sharing with other (raucous) writers.
I can hear you laughing, KarenH! At least my roommates weren’t in the nude! Much.
Anyway, all the luggage has been collected and all the people leave and my luggage is missing! How am I going to ‘do’ the conference without my clothes!?
So the woman I’m traveling with keeps asking me if I can spot my suitcase. Of course not! Would we still be standing here if my suitcase were on the whirly-thing?
One, lonely black suitcase keeps spinning. Around and around, all alone. It’s not mine. I can plainly see that it’s not mine.
It was mine.
Sabrina Jeffries on 16 Mar 2007 at 2:41 pm #
I don’t know what’s wrong with you people. My keys are always where I put them, and I never put the cereal in the fridge. No, really.
Okay, DebM and Claudia, stop laughing.
Yes, I live in a Huh stage most of the time. It’s worse when the book is in its final throes, but it happens most of the time, anyway. I have often stood at a counter blinking while a salesperson asked me what I wanted to order and my head was in another place so totally I didn’t hear her.
And I wonder why my orders so often get messed up!
SuzyQ on 16 Mar 2007 at 2:42 pm #
Here’s a huh moment. I was out to dinner with my husband and needed to go to the bathroom to get a tissue. I just had hot soup and had no tissues with me. So into the bathroom I go, get some toilet paper for my nose and while I’m there start to fix my hair, face, etc. You know, those things we all do. I hear someone in one of the stalls clear their throat. I think nothing of it. Then someone walks in and stands against the wall. Yes, you guessed it - I was in the men’s room! The blue walls should have tipped me off. I looked into the mirror and actually said out loud, “OMG! I’m in the Men’s room!” The man in the stall starts laughing. I run out as fast a I can.
Now here’s just one more reason why we women go in pairs to the bathroom. One of us should know which door to go through.
Ronlyn on 16 Mar 2007 at 2:55 pm #
LMAO SuzyQ!
Brandy on 16 Mar 2007 at 3:00 pm #
I brought a book downstairs and set in on the shelf we have FACING the stairs in the hallway. Then I couldn’t find my book. Want to guess where I found it? *g*
Susan K on 16 Mar 2007 at 3:24 pm #
Okay, these stories just made me laugh! Especially SuzyQ. I can’t say I’ve ever been so absent minded to walk into the men’s room but who’s to say it won’t happen at some point.
I am constantly in a state of “huh”. Just this afternoon I was sitting here at my desk working away. My boss walked by and said Hi. So of course I turned to say Hi and then turn back to my computer. And suddenly I couldn’t remember what I was doing before. I just sat there staring at my computer. When my boss walked by again on the way back to her desk she must have seen the blank look on my face cause she asked what was wrong. I told her I couldn’t remember what I had been doing. She just busted out laughing. I’ve been doing stuff like that all day.
Of course at home I’m not much better. I’m constantly “misplacing” things that end up being right in front of my face! My fiance just looks at me like he doesn’t know what to do with me.
Karen Hawkins on 16 Mar 2007 at 3:27 pm #
SuzyQ, I’ve been in the men’s room about as often as I’ve been in the women’s room.
Wait. That didn’t sound right.
What I MEANT to say was, “I hear you, girlfriend!” Really, sometimes it’s Ladies and Gents and sometimes it’s Women and Men and sometimes it’s just a stick figure with a dress or without one. At one rib place (Fat Matt’s Rib Shack in Atlanta, GA) there’s a picture of a hotdog on the mens’ room and pineapple slice with a hole in the middle on the women’s room.
No WONDER I get confused!
Claudia, I’ve done the same thing — where I take my NEW suitcase on a trip and then somehow they’ve managed to switch it for my OLD suitcase so, of course!, I don’t recognize it ’cause I wasn’t looking for THAT one.
The tricks those luggage handlers will play on you.
I’m not going to comment on the nekkid roomie at conference thing. I know who you room with and I don’t want a bad case of TMI, thankyouverymuch.
Claudia Dain on 16 Mar 2007 at 3:39 pm #
I KNEW I wasn’t alone in Huh Land!
I’m blaming my “huh” moments on having book deadlines; that’s the trick. You have to find something serious and important to blame these moments on. Otherwise, people just think you’re loopy.
We know that can’t be it.
Susan K on 16 Mar 2007 at 4:00 pm #
Well this week I’m blaming all my “huh” moments on the fact that I spent all day tuesday in a funeral home, didn’t sleep that night, and then spent wednesday morning back at the funeral, then in a graveyard and cried so much I got a migraine. I figure that is great grounds for all my “huh” moments this week.
Nicole Jordan on 16 Mar 2007 at 5:17 pm #
SusanK, you darn well deserve a “huh” moment. Hope it gets better soon.
I don’t have any excuse for my huh moments. But for the past year my dh and I have been calling them “mudroom” moments… cause when we remodeled the laundry room to hold fleeces, more coats, riding boots, hiking boots, and ski boots a year ago, we would frequently find ourselves going in there and stopping cause we couldn’t remeber what we were doing there! Same thing with the pantry… Go there, open door, and stare at the shelves.
And poor Claudia, that’s even when we don’t have deadline dementia, lol.
NicoleJ
dbrown3400 on 16 Mar 2007 at 7:29 pm #
I’m a pharmacy tech and we have a little program we can run when a customer comes in and wants to know the cash cost of a med if they don’t have insurance. I just had an Rx filled and wanted to know how much it would have cost if I had to pay cash for it. When I asked the pharmicist if we had a way to figure out how much a med would cost for cash, she looked at me as if I were nuts. Huh!
Donna
Kelly Ann on 16 Mar 2007 at 10:56 pm #
I live in a different world (as my family calls is), or the land of “huh” all the time. Fortunately I’m very happy there!
Judy F on 17 Mar 2007 at 1:27 pm #
I have them huh moments a lot lately. I told a coworker Thursday I needed a keeper. My only excuse was I was off sick the day before and my poor head is so stuffed up. I thought I could remember from my desk to the other side of the room what date I needed to look for in the files. Nope. Then I got up and just stood in the work room cause I didn’t remember what I got up for.
Earlier today I handed my two prescriptions to the tech at the pharmacy with my new ins card. Then I asked him if he had my ins card. LOL He gave me such a look.
I always put my keys on the arm of the chair by the door but every once in awhile I leave them in the door or my coat. LOL
I feel a nap coming on.
TheNightPoet on 20 Mar 2007 at 11:32 pm #
I’m having trouble thinking of a specific huh moment, but lately I’ve noticed that I forget things easily. I think it’s because I’m stressed with school. Tonight is a good example. I was at work and answering a customer’s question on the phone, when I came back to her to answer it, I totally forgot what I was going to tell her. I felt so embarrassed. She had to help me in jogging my memory. Luckily she was nice about it and said she is the same way at times, but I couldn’t believe that I had forgotten what I was going to say.
Any romance books I read take me away. And any song I like, takes me away. I can be taken away with Hanson songs. I can put in their cds and let everything fall away from me and just dream. Lifehouse’s cds do that to me too. There are a lot of other musicians and songs that take me away. When I write, I’m taken away as well.
Andrea