I had originally intended to give my semi-annual report on the geek fest immediately after it ended, while it was fresh in my brain. Alas, I fell ill the day after and spent the remaining four days of my vacation suffering sporadic sneezing fits strong enough to give me headaches, late night coughing which prevented me from returning to slumber, and a nose that oozed green slime whenever I decided to crawl out of my bed long enough to interact with other humans.
So now that I've recovered, I can report what little I remember of PAX: there were people everywhere, I spent the majority of my time standing in lines (or standing in line to get in line), and I've eaten enough Cheesecake Factory to last me a year.
It doesn't sound very entertaining, but believe it or not, I had a blast. I got to visit with friends I haven't seen in a year or more, and the mere idea of doing something not work related had me walking on air. Stuffy, stale air that reeked of b.o. and doritos.
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| Because some gamer stereotypes are real. |
And then it was over, and I found myself experiencing a common phenomenon called the Post-vacation Blues., wherein you realize that the party's over, and you now have to return to the mindless drudgery of your miserable life. Much like a hangover after a rowdy night of tequila shots, it hits you like a stampede of elephants-- elephants who also had a long night of tequila shots. In my case, I felt the jubilant energy quickly seep away from me like a leaky balloon.
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| "Some night, eh?" |
Going back to work was hard. I had two weeks worth of emails to catch up on, which I still haven't gotten around to. I already know that at least one of them is from my boss, asking me to pick up some extra shifts to help out. Now, I'm not adverse to helping the team-- when it doesn't inconvenience me-- and considering I only work three days a week now, it's entirely understandable to ask me. I have intentionally not opened that email.
Because to put it bluntly: No. I don't wanna.
Fast forward to the present day, a week after the end of PAX and my vacation. My birthday is a mere 9 days away, and like always, I'm not looking forward to it. Not because I'm getting older; I've made peace with that-- though I have noticed a few grey hairs in my beard, which does cause some concern-- rather, it's because it represents another year of my life that has been spent doing nothing of importance. I can't recall a single thing I've done in the past year that was truly exciting or exceptional.
I should probably work on that.
Today I found myself with time for a rare moment of introspection. I had no work today, no D&D game, and no plans of any kind. My PS4 has been on for the last 13 hours downloading the latest expansion for Destiny, so I couldn't even play that.
As I sat in my room, bored, lamenting the poor choices I've made and my inability to correct them, my gaze happened upon a slip of paper that has been sitting next to my laptop for the better part of a year. Having forgotten what was written on it, I unfolded it.
It said, "Change enough of the little pictures and you'll find you've changed the big picture."
I have no idea where that quote came from, but it seems like sound advice. Plus I had nothing better to do, so why not? So I started with something simple: I cleaned my room.
My room hadn't been properly cleaned once since I moved in. The last week of June. That's not saying it was a pigsty either; I just haven't gotten around to unpacking all the boxes. Or dusting. Or vacuuming.
Shut up.
Once my room was neat and free of debris, I sat down and wrote out a few character outlines for a story I'm going to be working on.
Okay, I lied. I didn't actually write them out. But I did think about writing them out, which is pretty much the same thing, right?
It's some kind of progress, dammit. Don't judge me.
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