Diary entry #6 - drafted

I've had one of those restless mornings, the kind where you sit there at the computer with good intentions but in reality you are really doing nothing. Except: looking up stuff on Wikipedia (well, I read up on Bret Easton Ellis' first two published novels, which I've been told to check out, so that can be classed as research); sending inane emails to friends; guiltily slipping on to Facebook, shaking my head as the same cats fill the homepage with the same idle drivel; trying to book tickets to see a bunch of top-notch Aussie male artists' take of The Beatles' White Album later in the year, and being disappointed when it's sold out... and checking out scenes from The Big Lebowski on youtube. I tell you what, if there's a more surefire way of feeling like a waster than watching the biggest time-suckage character of them all, The Dude, let me know. I still laughed like a guffawing school boy though. There's several playlists where you can get your f-word fix from that film. My favourite is 'The Big Lebowski - the f**king short version'. At least I had Word open while I watched it, twice. Anyway, I'll be busier this afternoon. I'm a little chuffed after 'finishing' a draft of my novel. It's actually a rewrite, but the first time around was basically ideas thrown down, now it's tightened and fleshed out more. So yesterday I sent it off to Jeremy my mentor, who is going to do his best to give me a reader's report of sorts by early next week, so I can tweak, fix, adjust, make better, in time for the Vogel award deadline of 31st May. Which is a Sunday, so it needs to get there by Friday. And it needs to get to NSW, so I'll be posting it on Wednesday, the 27th. One week away. Why do these things always have to be so tight? I meant to give it to Jeremy late last week but life got in the way, and some of the finishing touches of the rewrite took longer than I'd planned. Grammar consistencies... head-nipping chore. Changing Irish and Scottish characters' accents... a 'quick' eternity (why does the little clock at the bottom right of my screen skip forward two hours?). Even something as seemingly harmless as a spellcheck took forever. I only have myself to blame. My informal writing style (present tense, and second person POV in this instance) gives rise to both fragmented and flowery sentences that need double-checking and/or punctuation. Comma or semi-colon, sir?
Anyway, as that outdated band Morcheeba (who I thought were cool at the time as I danced to their cool beats, revved to the eyeballs in a cheap disco shirt either bought for 2 quid from an op-shop or stolen from the hostel 'lost and found') sing on their signature tune: 'it's all part of the process'.