Wasting my time

Twice in my life, I've taken three-month breaks from the daily grind. Twice, I've entered my family leave convinced I would use the time to do something wonderful and productive, like turning one of the brilliant ideas I've been playing with into the Great American Novel or, at the very least, catching up on my reading.

Twice, I've discovered that my brain apparently stops working when I leave the office.

The first time I had a long, uninterrupted period of free time was when TheBoy was born. I did get some reading done during that stint, but it was the trashy, Patricia Cornwell, don't-make-me-think kind. This time around, I've managed to get not quite halfway through an 800-page biography of the Beatles. And writing? Ha. You've seen how productive -- cough, cough -- Judybat and I have been here since TheGirl was born.

So how the heck am I passing the time, besides doing my every three hour duty as the nipple mom? Mostly by raiding the SciFi section at our friendly neighborhood video store. I've gone through all four "Alien" movies -- skipping "Alien vs. Predator" for obvious reasons -- "V for Vendetta," the Matrix trilogy, 2001, 2010, several Star Trek and Star Wars films -- including one of the more recent trilogy, but don't ask me why. I revisited "Dark City" and "Blade Runner," and for the umpteenth time found myself asleep before the final showdown. Blasphemy, I know.

I'm not sure why I have the brain for science fiction right now and nothing else. Clearly, I need to go back to work soon. Because one of these days, there's going to be nothing left on the shelf except "Starship Troopers." And I don't think a responsible parent would expose their newborn to that kind of garbage.