I Eat M&Ms in Color Order

I do eat M&Ms in color order (but only when no one is looking). I place each 30-pack can of Budweiser in the refrigerator in careful alignment with the label facing forward. I count stairs. My books at home are organized alphabetically, by genre. My books in the office, however, are arranged by size of volume (within genre), rather than alphabetically. I don't want my colleagues or visitors to think I am anal-retentive.

I was appalled when I read Sarah Floyd's entry on thinking of the process of writing first drafts as "throwing up on paper." It's not the throwing-up part that bothered me. I have done my share over the years. And I agree with her point about the fear-inducing effect of a blank page when it's time to write. But the idea of just typing out my thoughts, whatever comes to mind, letting my mind go without worrying about spelling, grammar, or organization for the first draft--I couldn't bear it.

I am a one-draft writer. (I mean, to the extent that I write I am a one-draft writer. I'm hardly a "writer.") I write a sentence, and if I don't like it I rewrite it immediately. I finish a paragraph and fiddle with it before I go on. As I write subsequent sentences and paragraphs I find myself stopping and going back to previous ones to fiddle some more. I worry constantly about spelling, grammar, and organization--even formatting. I cannot go on if I realize I have misspelled a word. It's just too much for me to bear. My first draft is always my final draft.

Then I submit my perfect one-draft work to Jason and Sarah for editing -- and every time it comes back cleaner, clearer, more concise, more compelling.

Damn I find that frustrating.

For the record (because I know the way you people draw inferences and extend logic), I do not fold my dirty clothes before putting them in the hamper.

I don't do laundry.