I Should Be Writing...

... but not here. I'm supposed to be writing a paper for my first business school class. If I can get it done by tomorrow night, I won't have to write it while I'm on vacation. I think I've made it through the hardest part: I found a topic. Which is more than I've ever been able to do for this blog.

At first, I had no idea how to write a paper for a class about project management. I wasn't quite sure that I would be able to expound on the fine art of budgeting for six double-spaced pages. And I quickly discovered that I wouldn't. Time for a "change in scope."

So I decided to write about negotiation and conflict resolution, figuring that I could lump them both together in case I ran out of steam with one before I made it to the page limit. But I am quite proud to say that I don't think my cop-out tactic will be necessary. I found some pretty interesting research on conflict resolution styles that should do the trick. Especially since it involves illustrations, which will fill both space in my paper and slides in the PowerPoint presentation that I probably will have to do while I'm on vacation. Having a netbook with eight hours of battery life, however, means that I can work from the comfort of my lounge chair. If only they had WiFi on the beach, I might never have to leave.

I'm hanging out at Republic Coffee, substituting a nonfat vanilla latte for the cheap-draft-beer-in-a-plastic-cup that I used to drink while attempting to write papers in college. Last night I stopped by Starbucks and had the somewhat unusual experience of contemplating my paper while sitting next to a guy who was grading papers. Maybe I should have asked him for some tips. I just hope I don't have him for class next semester; I didn't see very many A's.