one of these days i'm going to run out of gas.

hey. that could be a metaphor. i guess these late nights might catch up with me (as they began to last night, see my last post). i've been web editing late nights, and really i don't have to. i could have it all done by 11:30 if my time management skills were a little stronger.

but they're not. and that means sometimes, well, sometimes i finish work at quarter of 3 in the morning. sometimes that's before i begin my homework, which requires me to read about 225 pages of text and write something substantive about it. sometimes that's because i've had the assignment for weeks and have put it off to a mere 10 hours before it's due.

i should ask quentin how he dealt with it. i'm starting to resemble him: i come home at odd hours of the morning after a long day in the newsroom; my facial hair is getting unruly (that's not fair - quentin's was always quite ruly); i slept here the other night; i don't see my roommates near as much as i'd like.

and despite my busy schedule, despite my late nights and my time mismanagement, i still manage to make time for that most important of daily practices - that wonderful nightly phone call.

i need to get myself in gear. i need to use my free time to work on my thesis. or study for the gre. or prepare for any of the three major papers that will be due in november or december (erm... four, maybe? crap i can't remember). or apply to graduate school. or read for class tomorrow so i don't have to cram before the upcoming tests.

if i don't start with a strict schedule, which will include getting up reasonably early, even on days when i don't have class until 2:30, then this is all going to come to a head. i'll have no energy left and i will have hit a wall. i should do something about this, before it gets serious.

what i really meant, though, is that my car is on 'e.' the last time i filled up was somewhere east of des moines a couple of weeks ago. it was about 3am and i was making my way back from a semi-secret rendezvous in chicago.

every time i drive to or from campus - which may be 2 miles from my house, if that far - i imagine what i'd do if i ran out of gas.

i guess i'd just walk home. i probably can't do that if i run out of that metaphorical gas.