Tao of Pauly

23 Hours

I've been up for 23 straight hours. I tried to crash around 5am but ended up laying in bed until 6am and decided sleep was not an option. Again. I don't forsee myself getting to crash for another 14-15 hours either.

I had too much work to do and after writing for about ten hours on Tuesday, my mind was scrambled and I needed a break. I read for most of the morning before I headed out to do laundry. I have a haircut scheduled with Vinny the Barber in a few minutes and a lengthy trip to the post office ahead of me surrounded by grumpy customers. If I can, I will go to the bank and then to a drug store to round out my last few errands before I leave NYC. I wish I had an intern and/or an assistant to do shit like that for me.

At least I'll be able to pawn off a $50 bill that I got in the ATM yesterday. Ever since Grubby told me that $50 bills were bad luck, I stopped carrying them.

I tired and have been fighting off a cold the last three days. I'm not sick but I feel as though my body has been invaded by an infection and war is being waged in my bloodstream as we sepeak.

I have to pack later tonight for 5-6 weeks on the road which includes figuring out what to bring to Australia. It's summer down there. So at some point during the day, I'll brainstorm a list.

Friends keep asking me about being excited about Australia. My standard answer has been an aloof, an uninspired, and an unexcitable, "Not really."

I have been spoiled with a ton of travel in 2006. Plus, I've trained myself to live in the moment and focus on the now while doing my best to avoid worrying about the future. And Australia is not even my next trip. I have to fly out to LA, then I'm driving up to San Francisco over the weekend for New Year's Eve. My mind is focused on getting to LA since that's the next leg in my journey. I'll then worry about SF when I get to California and after New Years... that's when I'll start thinking about Australia.

At the same time, I'm not looking forward to a 16 hour flight from LAX to Sydney (on United Airlines, ughhh) and having to work 16-18 hour days for 10 straight days. Half of this trip is for business and covering poker thournaments can be a tedious chore. I won't really get to explore Australia until after the Aussie Millions tournament is complete. I am excited to see Tool play a show in Melbourne and my buddy Brandon will be in Australia at the same time and had some great ideas for side trips.

And I can't worry about Australia because I'm still in NYC and I have a ton of writing to complete before I skip town. I make a ton of sacrifices as a writer which includes writing for several hours on holidays such as Christmas. Discipline is what got me to where I am today... and I can't slack enough even now.

I would love to do nothing more than sit around and get high, listen to music, and play poker for ten hours straight or watch a dozen of bad DVD rentals... but if I did that, then the work will pile up (freelance assignments, updating the multi-blogs, Truckin', etc.) and I'd have to be writing columns while on holiday in Asutralia.

There's an expression in sports about closing out the half strong. Some teams play tough for most of the first half then let up for the last thirty seconds of play in hockey, basketball, or football. Athletes get lazy and let down their mental toughness. I told myself to close out the year strong and stay focused even in the wake of stressful holidays and upcoming travel.