(no subject)

A few weeks ago I played chess with my mother for the first time in at least 40 years. I rarely play chess and hadn't played a human opponent in decades. Observations of how I behave in a chess game:

It's my turn. I think, hmm, nothing in imminent danger so how am I going to advance my position this turn? I could move my knight out. But, oh no, out it the middle of the board, my knight might be in DANGER! I love my knight! Anxiety, anxiety... So maybe I could move that bishop out. But, oh no, out it the middle of the board, my bishop might be in DANGER! I need my bishops! Anxiety, anxiety... The queen has a clear path to move out. But, oh no, out it the middle of the board, my queen might be in DANGER! I would just die if I stupidly lost the queen! Anxiety, anxiety... Hmm, well, I can advance a pawn. Sure, one of the pawns out on the edge of the board, where nothing is happening. Someday I will want to move out a rook. Someday... So I move a pawn, w00t, 2 spaces forward.

My mother (though a more experienced chess player than I am) is similarly over-cautious. It had to be the most timid, plodding chess game ever.

It occurred to me that the way I play chess probably says a lot about my personality, and the way I live my life, the life choices I make. Always too timid to make a big daring move, just trying to get somewhere through tiny, incremental, safe steps.

Maybe I should try to stop being like that, and try to make a bigger move sometimes?

(no subject)

Relevant to trying to not be that person who's too anxious to ever move a bishop, knight, or queen out into the middle of the board, I'm planning to spontaneously do a bit of extra traveling. At first I thought "this is going to be so hard" but the plan is coming together, maybe it won't be that hard.

Original plan was to take the bus organized by 350.org to get to D.C. for the Climate March on April 29. Then I found out about a conference happening in D.C. on April 27 and 28. I showed the information about the conference to Sophia, and she encouraged me to go. It's on the subject of what circadian biology has found out about the sleep schedules of teenagers, why this dictates that schools should have later start times, and how to go about making that change. So not only is it vaguely work-related for me (enough that I believe I can count time at this conference as "days worked" because God knows I am running out of vacation days for the year) but it's on an issue that Sophia is passionate about.

So now my plan is to somehow get to D.C. on the 26th (I have to look at trains.) First I have to get my mother and bring her and her car to my place so she can care for Sophia while I'm in D.C. for that trip. Take the train (hopefully) to D.C., check into a cheap AirBNB, go to the conference on Thursday and Friday. Then Friday evening, find a FedEx office and have most of my luggage shipped back-- especially my computer-- because the next morning I have to check out of the AirBNB and go to the Climate March, and I don't want to be lugging stuff around with me at the Climate March. After the March-- since I still have the bus ticket-- find the bus that I was supposed to be on originally to get to D.C., and ride that back to the Boston area. Arrive back here, fall over, then return my mother and her car to her place.

I have already spoken to my mother about these plans, booked the AirBNB, registered for the conference, and asked for the contact information for the bus captain. Still to do to make this happen:
* Transportation TO D.C.? Train is my first choice; a bus would be less comfortable and flying probably wicked expensive if planned at the last minute like this. Or if anyone reading this wants a spontaneous couple of days' vacation in the D.C. area I could carpool. I am not willing to drive that distance by myself.
* Find out if AirBNB host is OK with my getting in late if I'm on a late train on Wednesday
* Get in touch with someone, anyone, who will be on the bus that I have tickets for. My nightmare is that it's the evening of the 29th and I can't find the bus that I have a ticket for because I wasn't on the bus on the trip there and thus didn't get the information on where to meet the bus at the end of the day. Not trusting that the 350.org organizer is going to get back to me with the contact info for the bus captain, as she must be frantically busy these days. So, reach out to all the environmental activists in J.P. and Brookline to find someone else who will be on the bus and can thus communicate with the bus captain on my behalf and keep me posted on where the bus is.
* Find out are there restrictions on having bags at the March? Maybe if having a big opaque backpack is permitted, I could keep my laptop with me for the day and save the expense of having it FedEx'ed back. The restrictions on bags at the Women's March were draconian, but I haven't seen anything like that for this one, perhaps due to the smaller expected turn-out.
* Get folding money in hand to deal with complications and contingencies. When there's a big protest march, do food trucks show up to feed the crowd?
* Figure out how to pack as light as possible for 3 days in D.C.; of concern because I'm dreading how much it will cost to have FedEx take my stuff home.
* Finish cleaning my apartment so my mother is not too grossed out staying here. (Actually I've made a lot of progress and it's pretty close to being habitable.)

Is this a healthy level of spontaneity, or have I gone off my rocker?