Round two

» Written on January 13, 2011 at 5:31 PM «

Was supposed to be preceded by a bell. Something. Certainly not just several inches of snow and mush, blistering cold, and a general feel of gloominess settling over the Redmond landscape.

Holidays always flew by whenever I was in an educational institution of some sort, and my most recent winter break has been no exception. Already, the three weeks of salvation (of which one week could have been considered less so, as my mom was living with me) have been depleted, as it were, and the mad rush of drawing deus ex has, once again, risen from the churning depths of despair.

I’d be lying if I said I was prepared.

Most people I know usually enjoy their holidays. For me, though, especially in recent years, most of the times it’s been quite the exact opposite.

I used to consider myself lucky if I got to sleep at midnight on school days. During the holidays (for the first 2 weeks, at least), I was lucky if I got to sleep more than 4 hours at a time at all, working on a top-secret project, as it were. Well, not really, especially if you consider the fact that I don’t exactly go to great lengths to hide it. If you can find it (hint: it’s somewhere on the domain), well done. If not, settle for this:

Nothing hugely impressive, really: truth be told, it’s still at the conceptual stage at this point. And if my past history with projects is anything to go by, it’ll probably only see the light of day in my overactive imagination. I had originally planned to have had this little project done within the 3 weeks of my holidays; now, I think I’ll be lucky to get even a working prototype out.

The best part of my holidays so far, surprisingly, has been the support of my US contact here. I’ve been invited to parties, houses, and outings more than I thought I would have garnered, especially with my inability to cook, drink or otherwise contribute in any meaningful manner. I do my best, of course to solve any technological idiosyncrasies they may encounter (the one useful skill I have that is relevant to them), though, but that hardly requires a modicum of effort on my part. It’s almost surreal, to see myself receiving this much assistance from people who barely know me, and me them, and it never ceases to amaze me how she and her husband manage to juggle their pile of duties, especially with the decidedly boisterous sons they have.

Conversely, the most frustrating part of my sleepless nights was actually trying to get myself to draw, after the stress of having a parent over and the general mayhem that resulted from it. It’s really surprising how much a state of mind affects drawing, much more than any other type of work I’ve tried over the course of my life. It’s slightly disconcerting, to be honest, as the only remedy for it at the moment appears to be sleep, more than anything else.

Which, I think I shall prescribe more of at this very moment, as I have classes tomorrow, and the night seems to have run much later than I would have preferred. Such are the consequences of doing work.

   

Search

Extended Life

On the tubes

Archives

By date

By category

View all