good break, but no luck

The geekend went great. The Indy movie was okay, not great, but okay. Balticon was fun in a low-key kind of way. The days of staying up all night are long gone. I enjoyed the panels, the movies and anime I saw, and just hanging out with friends and family. As usually happens when I go to Cons, I now have a renewed desire to write. It usually fades pretty quickly.

Problem is, my elbow isn't much better, despite the rest. I went to the doctor yesterday, to get my referral, and am going to the orthopedist today. But I pretty much know the drill-- rest,and type less. Right now, while I am feeling the urge to write (which I can only accomplish by typing, no longhand for me), this is particularly frustrating. And of course, I have huge projects looming at work, and no end of keyboard time in my future.

Still, I loved the break.

taking a break, geekstyle

I took a few days off, to rest my RSI-riddled elbow and fingers. So I have 5 and a half straight days of leave. Tonight, it's dinner with friends, followed by Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Tomorrow afternoon, we take off for Hunt Valley and Balticon 42. WHOOO-HOOOO! Total geekfest. I'm gonna just take it easy, try not to do much with the computer for 5 straight days. Oh, and our WII FIT arrived yesterday...so I might do some pseudo-exercise/game playing with that.

good luck senator!

Send some good thoughts Teddy Kennedy's way. He hasn't always been a good guy. But he has always been a truly great Senator. He has tirelessly fought for the poor, for the disabled, for equal rights for all, for protection for the disenfranchised. He is a true "liberal", and I think that's high praise.

I wish him all the best as he battles cancer.

gray gray day

It is raining in Maryland again. This is the soggiest May we've ever had. I think it's really affecting my mood. Normally, I am a glass half-full kind of person. I think things work out, generally. Today, I was bummed enough to start looking at my short-term disabilities benefits.

The thing is, I have an RSI -- tennis elbow caused by typing. I am sitting in my office with a heat wrap on my elbow. Two days ago I had x-rays taken of my right hand. I also had lots and lots of blood tests, to look for arthritis, lupus, etc. Pretty much everything checked out fine. But I wake up every morning with the fingers of my right hand swollen at the joint, and very very sore. Guess what? Another RSI... seems my tendons dislike typing. A LOT.

So my work is hurting me. It's not damaging me. Nothing like carpal tunnel, where the affects get worse and can become permanent. Nope, this is just pain. But it is discouraging. I should really take a few weeks off, and let everything rest. But I don't want to burn sick leave for what is basically an owie. Ditto with short-term disability. I'd rather not use it for something this minor.

It's a gray, gray day.

got my new toy

I got my new toy -- an Asus EEE PC. It's a fully-functioning laptop, running Linux. It weighs less than two pounds, cost less than $300, and is about the size of a paper-back book. It has built-in wifi and a very small qwerty keyboard. I got it for checking email, surfing the web and taking notes in class. It will also be my main travel PC.

I can't do programming on it. It really isn't suited to photoshop, typing for long stretches of time, or really serious work. So it's perfect.

http://event.asus.com/eeepc/microsites/en/index.htm

that after the deadline feeling

I turned my paper in on time, although it truly sucked. No amount of extra time would have improved it though -- I just don't do fact-based research papers very well. I like philosophy, literature, stuff where I can spin theories and prove my point.

Now that the paper is turned in, I have that feeling -- the after the deadline feeling. Depleted, aimless. I can't really seem to focus on anything, just want to drift in the sea of "done". Read some trash. Watch bad TV. Sit on the front porch and have a beer in the sunshine.

I guess its nature's way of forcing a re-charge. You just don't have the energy or the impulse to do anything for a while.

happy mother's day

To all the moms -- happy mother's day!

Being a mom is one of the two smartest things I ever did (and yes, the other one was marrying my hubby). Beats out going to college, getting into computers, absolutely everything.

It's funny -- I don't see myself as traditional, and I'm definitely no girly-girl -- but wife and mother are my top two.

same old song

I am still working on my paper on greek mythology. When I first started studying the myths, I thought the greek gods were outrageous in their misbehavior. Larger than life figures with larger than life failings.

I thought so, but recent news articles made me re-think that. Recently, an Austrian man was arrested for keeping his daughter imprisoned for over 15 years, and fathering six children by her. Persephone, maybe? Olympian incest?

A Baltimore teen was just convicted of raping and murdering his 4 year old cousin. Truly a headline plucked from Greek tragedy.

A polygamous sect was raided, in trouble for their practice of forcibly marrying off young girls to older men. Again, right at home in Athens, 500 BCE....

So do we ever progress? Are we stuck in the same place as our Greek and Roman forbears? Do we sing the same old song, over and over and over?