somebody give me another assignment, with possibility of prizes

I am now feeling decidedly uncompelled to write a post everyday, when just last week it was feeling as easy as pie (which, honestly, is not all that easy; I've never really understood that simile, unless it's talking about how easy it is to eat pie). Anyway. It's not even that I can't think of anything to write about (though you may suspect that from this asinine beginning), it is the simple fact that I will not do much without an absolute deadline or mandate.

Nearly everything I've ever written has been done the night before it was due. The one time I skipped school (and it was only a couple of classes in the middle of the day) was to finish a paper for my College Prep English class. How embarrassingly nerdy can one be, right? I actually completed a term paper in college two weeks before I could turn it in, and I just about had a nervous breakdown looking it over every day, editing and revising and editing some more. I never finished early again.

On a strangely related note, I have had a bunion on each foot for a few years. I never really noticed them until my dad, who had had one removed, pointed out what they were. Once I knew they were there, I realized these things had indeed been causing me a bit of pain every now & then. But it wasn't actually excruciating pain; I could handle it, and I always felt fine after taking off my shoes. At Stu's insistence, I asked my doctor about how to best deal with them. Fifty minutes and a $20 copay later, I had the same information I'd gotten from WebMd - A bunion can cause discomfort and pain and may make it difficult to walk; Shoes may rub on the bunion, causing pain, blisters, calluses, or sores; Surgery generally is not considered unless you have already tried making changes in footwear and other nonsurgical treatments; The effectiveness of surgery for bunions has not been widely studied. I was as bored as you are, though I also got to be highly irritated at having spent a week's worth of Starbucks cash for nothing.

The point is if my doctor had said "YES YOU NEED SURGERY FOR YOUR BUNIONS," I'd have done it. Apparently, I need An Authority Figure and/or Peer Pressure coupled with the possibility of prizes (praise from a respected teacher, fun handmade stuff, pats on the back from my beloved readers, flowers/pedicure/spa day/chocolate by the bushel) to make my moves.

I do, indeed, know how sad that sounds. Go ahead, tell me to do something and see what happens.