Sunday, February 14, 2010

Snowpocalypse 2010!

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I have tried a few "staycations" and they tend to become just as overscheduled as my workweeks! What I envision being a blissful week of free time becomes consumed by errands and social obligations. I was beginning to think the only way I could achieve the solitude I craved for artistic pursuits would be to stage my own death. But fortunately Mother Nature blessed me with a creative retreat this week. Though I have felt badly for fellow DC-area residents left without power, this week of imposed hibernation has been truly a gift for me! During four days without the day job I managed to:

  • Finish a remix for the re-release of Pursuit of Happiness and send it off to the mastering master!

  • Complete the cover art for the above CD

  • Figure out how to use a joystick to send midi commands to Audio Mulch, a program I plan to use for a live performance in June

  • Edit video for the same gig

  • Start some noodling for the next CD

  • Did my taxes
I also managed to "work from home"--(this included a conference call with consultants!) so my inbox wasn't out of control when I reported back to work.

I felt like this was how life must be like for lottery winners who can quit their day jobs and sleep in every morning. However in the back of my mind I knew at some point it inevitably would start to become too much of a good thing. I was also starting to run out of things--namely hummus and coffee!!

Inexplicably on Thursday night the opm.gov website, which I had been checking in anticipation for closure updates each evening, reported that Federal workers were due back to work on Friday. It seemed that metro's understandably slow recovery from the storm was NOT factored into this decision. After sensing the futility of waiting on a crowded platform for packed trains in the bitter cold Friday morning, I took a bus and two trains to work, for a commuting time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. On the way home from work on Friday, the realization hit that most of my neighborhood's pedestrian real estate is trapped under dirty snow. My surroundings had changed from a winter wonderland to an icy obstacle course that forced confrontations with inconsiderate motorists.

So it has been fun, but I am ready for the ice to melt. Let the countdown to spring begin!!

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