These days, I’m wearing a little thin.

I think I’ve said that I do pretty well in times of conflict and/or calamity, right? The day-to-day, calamity-free reality of that is that I’m happiest when something New, Interesting, or Challenging happens regularly. When it doesn’t, I get a little bored or a little peevish about the status quo, which can apply to —

• work, unless the status quo at work is to be periodically New, Interesting, or Challenging;
• winter, if it drags on without something extreme to figure out, like two blizzards a week; and/or
• Washington, if the political climate is such that I question our grip on reality.

These are the kinds of weeks during which I develop new projects that may or may not come to fruition, new plans that may disappear in a flash or become part of who I am. This is when I try something new or revisit something old and see if it fulfills my need for a new challenge.

I start running (or get a little more serious about it). I buy a bike in anticipation of more clement weather. I plan my garden, even though I can’t plant anything for two months. I look for new blogs to read, even though I sometimes suspect the internet is all out of funny.

This, generally, is when I change something that I can change, to make up for things that I may not be able to change.

I have a hair appointment tomorrow, is what I’m saying.