I recently read a survey of writers–their work process, their habits, their daily routines. And one thing I read both startled me and thrilled me. According to the survey, the number one “time-waster” for the authors surveyed was (drumroll please…) computer solitaire!
You might think that’s crazy, but to me it was an unexpected, very much appreciated validation. Because the answer let me know that, thankfully, I am not alone in my weakness.
Yes, I’m a classic writer procrastinator. I’ll loudly proclaim it now that I know I am among such fine company.
For me, however, it’s not solitaire, it’s spider solitaire. I became addicted a few years ago and quickly became obsessed. I’d open the game to play a few hands, then glance at the clock and realize a few hours had gone by! It got so bad that I ended up deleting the game off every computer in the house.
Then I bought a laptop. And the illicit allure of the spider allure sucked me in again. 
Repeat. Delete. Back on track.
Then I dropped a table on my laptop (don’t ask) and bought another one.
Care to take a guess about how quickly I checked the hard drive to see if that wicked game was lurking in its depths? Of course it was.
I gave myself 24 hours to enjoy it. Then it bit the dust.
This sounds so stupid, I know. I’m a fully grown, intelligent woman and I understand the importance of meeting deadlines and fulfilling responsibilities. So why I can pull up a stupid computer game and waste an entire day playing it is beyond my comprehension
One thing I do know: I MUST remove temptation, because I am so not good at resisting it. Whether it’s chips when I’m on a diet, a nice bottle of chardonnay when I shouldn’t be drinking, a credit card with a low balance and high limit when I’m shopping…yeah. Those things are pure trouble. As is the spider.
So, for me, better safe than sorry. It’s much better to delete it than have the seductive siren tempting me to just “play a few hands” whenever I hit a tough patch with my wip.
If only I could take a hammer to the internal network card that enables me to hop onto the internet and “just check a few emails” or “just surf by a blog site or two” when I should be working. I haven’t worked up the nerve to yank that card out, but believe me, there are days when I’m tempted to stick my wireless router in my daughter’s backpack and make her take it to school with her. Anything to avoid getting sucked into the internet world and letting 5-6 much-needed work hours drift away through my fingertips on the keyboard.
Enter not into Temptation? Hmm…in my case, it should really be Get Temptation The Heck Out Of The House!
How about you? Anything you simply can’t resist?
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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It isn’t solitaire for me, it’s the Internet and the laptop. If I’m home, it’s always on, always right near me. Without it I go into major anxiety … Those addictions and temptations … So sad. So pathetic. So true, Les! :p
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Blogs! OMG, I am seriously addicted. It’s a good thing I’m not a writer because I’d never get any work done….
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Ice cream and a good book! (I’m not sure in which order!!)
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Oooh, I feel so guilty, feeding people’s blog addictions. Ah, well. Welcome to the club. I’m the same way. My Internet addiction is horrible as verfiied by the fact that I’m in a hotel room right now paying $12.95 A DAY to get wireless so I can keep up with the world! That and chocolate…oh, my…did you know there is a Hershey store right across from American Girl in Chicago…catty corner from Ghirardelli? More about that this week…
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Has to be the internet. I love the blogs that I read as well as our own TARA loops. Believe me those can keep you going for a while. As far as food, well that would have to be ice cream. If I have it in the house I’m going to eat it and eat it everyday until it’s gone. Oh I don’t eat it all at one time but some everyday, trying to tell myself that it’s not that bad to have a little everyday.
Julie – you’re in Chicago. Okay, if you have time you must absolutely must go to Garret’s downtown and get some popcorn. All flavors are great but the Carmel is to die for. Popcorn you say, how great can it be you ask? Trust me on this one. People at my office said the same thing until we had a tin shipped. One bit and they were all saying the say thing…oh my god…that is the best popcorn in the world. So if you have time you must get some. Let me know if you do and if you like it.
:)
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Hmmm, mine is definately the internet too. Even when I was working full time and staring at a computer screen all day at work, I would still come home and power up the laptop or computer. Now that I am a SAHM it is even worse. LOL!! But my other temptations are Cookie dough ice cream, and without a doubt COFFEE!!! (c)
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Books, magazines, chocolate, 80′s music and movies, contests *g*, and bad boys! :p
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The internet…..blogs being the most recent obsession. Spend way too much time there but I am afraid I will miss something important if I don’t visit my haunts on a daily basis.
Other addiction is Starbucks coffee. Have to go at least once a day…lol. I did miss Saturday last week so that is something.
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Mine is definatly the internet. I just recently started becoming a blogomaniac as well. I have to have my blog fix.
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Leslie, I am so with you. Spider solitaire is my downfall! I restore pictures that are usually somewhere between fifty to hundred fifty years old and scratched, torn and/or marred by the toll age takes on them. When I start to get a little bleary eyed I promise myself I will only play one game. Right, as if I have ever been able to do that, then when I look at the statistics it is more like fifteen to twenty games later. Unlike you, I cannot bring myself to delete it, which makes you a hero in my eyes! :)
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Okay I would have to say the Internet is my big addiction. I can spend hours surfing, checking blogs, and things. Then when I get ready to shut down for the day, I have Bejeweled 2 Deluxe installed on the computer and I think I should treat myself to two games……….but there is no such thing as just 2 games……….it is always just one more and then I will go……..Yeah right!!! And my other addiction is Coffee, coffee and more coffee………not just one cup but a pot does nicely. :)
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I had to laugh at this entry! I disconnected my husband’s “Spider Solitare” AND I cancelled our daily newspaper because he was spending all of his time with the Soduku puzzle. I am only addicted to sleep and chocolate…with three boys aged 6 and under, give me a nice nap anytime (and add some truffles) and I am good to go! Although, right now I am raiding my son’s M and M stash…. :)
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Yes, the Internet cannot be ignored on any day unless I am traveling! Then there is Jill Shalvis blog, the Plot Monkeys, eHarlequin, books, chocolate, ice cream (especially Haagen Daz Rocky Road), brownies, chocolate chip cookies! That is enough confessing for now! :)
Donna M
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solitaire too. i need my beef jerky and sunflower seeds
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I can pass up almost anything but a good book and jelly beans.
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Yes, the internet can suck HOURS out of my day! One day last week the phone lines went down because someone cut through some major the optic cables, and that meant no email or internet because we have DSL. Imagine my horror and panic when I called the phone company (from my cellphone, of course!) to find out when the phone service would be restored, only to be told that it could take up to FIVE DAYS to fix the problem! Five days without email. Five days without the internet. I felt so lost and I almost had an anxiety attack! I do EVERYTHING through email, and on the internet. It’s such a huge part of my life — and every one else’s in this household! I scouted out all the places near my house that offered wi-fi, and I planned on spending my days between Panera Bread and Starbucks so I could download email on my laptop, and get on the internet!
Luckily, service was only down for a day. Whew! It really made me realize just how much we rely on email and the internet! :d
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Vicki! Of course we’re going to Garrett’s…ask Janelle, it’s one of my favorite things! I love the caramel mixed with the cheddar cheese. I know it sounds weird, but it’s delish!
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Well, the usual internet. . . but when I’m trying to do other stuff, it’s the news. Heck, my tv is for the most part always on CNN, with a little bit of MSNBC and practically every big country newspaper on my ancient PDA. I’m such a gosh darn news junkie I’m addicted. LOL
Lois
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Cant resist chocolate and desserts. And reading whenever I get the free time. I also love to play cards.
I too just started on spider solitaire – even won a hand or two on the 2nd level. Not up to 3rd level yet.
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Thought I’d fix my name, LOL!
Lois, do you ever listen to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” the NPR news quiz show on Saturdays? For news junkies (like me…except when I’m travelling or on deadline) like me, you’ll will laugh so hard you cry. This week they did a thing on Kaavya the word thief and it was so funny…said she was going to write a hard-hitting, raw, uncensored autobiography…and call it A MILLION LITTLE PIECES. I cried!
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Julie—that’s the exact popcorn tin that I received at work. My boss is going there this week and I told him how yummy it was so he had a tin sent to me. :) I let everyone try it and brought the rest home, however once Paul tasted it well, let’s just say it didn’t last a long time. But it was good while it did.
Glad you are getting some…popcorn. Now there’s a line that could be said many ways
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Give me Dunkin’ Donuts, Classic Coke, my books and classic rock CDs, and the Internet, and I’m set to go – I get panicky if I can’t get access to them all. Going away for a long weekend the end of this month and thinking of snatching my niece’s laptop to feed my net addiction, lol.
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;( Internet! Who would’ve thought years ago that we couldn’t live without it now.
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I’m SOOO grateful that my Mac doesn’t come with Spider Solitaire because I love that silly game. But not using a PC doesn’t mean I’m immune to distraction. Bloglines, which I use to read syndication feeds from various blogs, tempts me hourly with new reading material. And Bookworm… well, that web-game can last for days!
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Spider Solitaire is a total weakness that is on my desktop but not the laptop, so guess where I write now? Yep, the laptop. But that dang internet is my weakness on the laptop so……..I can’t win!!!!
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The internet. I spend toooo much time on the internet. I love the blogs, chatting, the contests, playing spider solitaire and finding new books to read. Now I need more time to read those books!! lol And I love chocolate and I have to have that first cup of coffee in the morning even before I get on line! lol