Saturday - March 17, 2001
[Piro] - 11:56:00 - [link here]
Last Saturday was pretty depressing. I was facing not only having to work that weekend, but i was well aware of the fact that i had to work late every night all week, and more than likely all of the following weekend. Knowing that my little world would consist of little more than my work area at the office every day for the next week or so was just downright depressing. Not horrifying, mind you (i like my job), but depressing because of what it would take away from all of the other things in my life.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with working hard - a certain level of masochism is required to work in my profession. Actually, working an 8 hr day and then coming home to spend 6 hours drawing up and posting a comic is a pretty good indication that i am not necessarily a 'lazy' person. We've all had to do overtime, had to stay late to finish projects, time after school, etc. It can be a good feeling, actually - you feel like you are accomplishing something (if the reason for the overtime is to complete a task, not just more work on never-ending tasks) I suppose this is why you have to be careful about the tasks you 'add' to your so-called free time.
When i was fresh out of college, working till midnight for a whole week was no big deal at all. I had no girlfriend, i had no pressing activities, i had nothing to do, i had no life. It was a great excuse to wear casual duff to the office and kick around with the radio blaring Front 242 and Robyn Hitchcock tunes. As a matter of fact, i tended to enjoy working late.
These days it's different. I have a nice apartment (i seem to remember what it looks like), a girlfriend, a couple of deviant cats, a fairly successful webcomic, and plenty of little side projects that I am dying to work on. When i work overtime these days, it takes time away from them. With the exception of the cats, they are all understanding, but it is still depressing.
(y'know, i was thinking.... that's why employers like to hire younger folks. They can take advantage of all that extra energy you have that you haven't been able to focus on your own life yet. Kinda sad, really.)
I've been worried about MT. Everyone remembers last month - it was a tough one. I got emails from people stating that it must be nice having to only draw 2 comics a month. ^^;; Then I realize that i'd be holed up till the 20th with other projects... yea, i was worried. I know that 95% of all of you are understanding and supportive - and i appreciate that. But it doesn't change the fact that to ME i feel a certain responsibility to maintain a level of work here. It's a personal thing.
Well, it's Saturday morning again. I know i have to go into work today and tomorrow, in fact, i know that tomorrow night in particular is going to be a long evening. But the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is visible. (and yes, it probably is a train heading towards me) Next week things get back to normal - and I am very much looking forward to it.
Oddly enough, Seraphim is scheduled to take the GRE on the 20th as well. So we are both under the gun until then. I was pretty happy with Friday's comic. It was going to be just another 'dead piro day' strip. When i started drawing, the idea for it fell into place. Largo and I knocked it around, and by the time my computer stopped crashing (i am so sick of this goddamn thing. It is flat-out going to die on me one of these days) Friday's comic was a real honest-to-goodness strip.
With luck, i can pull a strip off for Monday too. Thanks for being patient, thank you for all your emails (1500 and counting). I *really* need to get a 'fan support' section up and running... we'll see how next week goes.
Monday - March 19, 2001
[Largo] - 23:19:00 - [link here]
NOTE: There will not be a comic on Tuesday. Due to circumstances beyond our control, Piro is dead. Er, I mean he's busy at work again. So we'll resume on Wednesday with our normal happy schedule.
I hate flying with a passion.
Now before you start, it's not that I have a fear of flying - it's just that whenever I fly, I'm positive that my plane is going to crash into an ocean, mountain, or a Starbucks.
It's not that I mind the idea of death, as a point of fact - I consider him a very polite houseguest. Where was I? Oh yeah - falling from the sky at thirty-thousand feet after enjoying a last meal which will have consisted of a sample pack of beer nuts and what the airline attempts to pass off as food.
It's been my belief that airlines feed us with the remains of what America sends to third world countries. Either that, or we're eating what the third world countries sent back to us.
Since I'm going on a trip, I need some new stuff. I went out with my good friend, Joe. To start with - I needed some new luggage. We made the mistake of first going to a luggage specialty store. These bags cost more then my car payment, the store turned out to be one of those places for the mega-rich types. The manager was friendly enough, and didn't realize we'd have needed a loan in order to buy his stuff. So he showed us around his shop and tried to sell me an authentic baby sealskin duffle bag. We quickly left the store when the manager wanted to know if we could join them in a thrilling game of hunting human for sport on the weekend.
We then headed down to the Eddie Bauer store where I selected a sweet(read affordable) bag and some accessories. I went ahead and only got the essentials, you know - duffle bag, umbrella, metal booze flask, some new socks, etc. After leaving the store, we both had so much junk with Eddie Bauer written on it, we felt like walking advertisements.
There I was, packing my bags and making ready for my journey to another bloated reminder that bigger isn't always better, New York City. It's about this time that a thought hits me. Since I'm flying there, I once again run the risk of having my plane crash, or worse - run out of booze.
So here it is, my last will and testament for all the world to read:
1. I want to be buried with a copy of Neverwinter Nights. Now I realize that NWN won't be coming out for almost a year, so in the meantime, my body is be kept in Piro's fridge - next to his fresh orange juice.
2. Eventually someone will need to call up John Romero so he can resurrect me. I figure he ought to have that kind of power if he can bring Ionstorm back from the dead.
Ok, so maybe I'm being a bit silly about all this, I mean it's not like the airlines are cost cutting merchants of death. I... uhoh.
My overreacting aside, it still ought to bother some of you that many people are traveling on planes older then they are. Still, I won't let that bother me, I will bravely venture into the airport, ignoring the cold medicine drowsy pilots and meth addicted air traffic controllers, I'll make my way to a plane that's older then pong and not give it a second thought. I'll do all these things, because I'm an idiot.
Well, that's about it for me, I'll see you guys later this week, if not - I'll be seeing Piro's orange juice.
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