I Told Myself I Wouldn't Do This on LJ...
...but you know, it's been a rough week or two.
My old car, of which I'm quite fond, has finally entered the final leg of the race, and after $700-odd dollars of stopgap repair work, it is running well enough to get me back and forth between work and home until I can trade it in for a new car. Shopping for something big like that on my own is really stressful for me. Little failures of my financial maintenance also begin to rear their ugly heads.
Meanwhile, I've been in a huge crunch at work, as my daily duties remain constant and my oh-crap-the-card-set-needs-to-go-to-the-translator duties hit their peak. That was yesterday, but it took a lot out of me--especially since I only sort of know what I'm doing, and needed the senior editor to pick up after me a little more than I would have liked.
Add in some minor emotional crises, vague health issues, and a general restlessness for flavor.
I started today off by editing Matt Cavotta's tribute to Glen Angus, a Magic artist who recently passed away. I didn't know the guy, but he was a wonderful illustrator and he sounds like a wonderful person. He died suddenly in his mid-thirties, leaving a wife and two kids, one with autism. His web site, www.gangus.net, hasn't been updated; it still talks about what he's up to lately and sports a smiling cartoon self-portrait, which is why I didn't link to it in the article. The whole thing is just... sad, really sad. I'm very glad we did a tribute, but it was taxing to help put it together--and it must have been vastly worse for Matt, who knew Glen.
Not only was that a rough way to start my day, it also visibly brought down anyone I had to ask for help with it. Walking up to the sole member of the Creative team who's not at ComicCon or U.S. Nationals in the middle of a playtest (fun!) and asking him which of his dead colleagues's illustrations would make a good tribute gallery is not the most fun thing I've ever done at work.
On July 5, my train back from Portland was delayed because a train ahead of us struck and killed a pedestrian, and we had to wait while the paperwork was sorted out and all the procedures followed. Some of the people in my car were complaining loudly about how awful the whole thing was, having to sit there for an hour, but I just... couldn't. I was an extra hour and change late for work, but I wasn't dead, wasn't getting the call to come identify the body of a loved one...
This is the same sort of thing. I found editing that tribute to be pretty emotional, and I never met Glen or even forged a particularly strong connection with his illustrations. My heart goes out to those who knew and loved him.
I'm feeling very drained and a little overwhelmed in general.
Did I mention I leave for Baltimore tomorrow? I just got back from San Diego, it seems like (I'm actually writing about that, I swear, since I do have some tales to tell), but U.S. Nationals is this weekend. Ordinarily my travels are a weird sort of stressful break, but this is just Baltimore. I purposefully cut it as short as possible, given how soon it is after San Diego, how it compares as a destination to the usual fare, and how much other stuff I have going on. But this is certainly not going to be the working Vacation that San Diego was.
Anyway, I'm not complaining, not really. Nothing's being asked of me that isn't asked of anybody from time to time, and in fact I've got it pretty good. As my friend Andrea likes to remind me, I'm alive, I'm healthy, and I work at Wizards of the Coast. How bad can it be?
Quote of the Day:
As you know
I've never been a praying man
I don't need a God to make me feel alright
But if you wonder why I never wrote you a song
it's because happiness writes white
-Harvey Danger, "Happiness Writes White"
My old car, of which I'm quite fond, has finally entered the final leg of the race, and after $700-odd dollars of stopgap repair work, it is running well enough to get me back and forth between work and home until I can trade it in for a new car. Shopping for something big like that on my own is really stressful for me. Little failures of my financial maintenance also begin to rear their ugly heads.
Meanwhile, I've been in a huge crunch at work, as my daily duties remain constant and my oh-crap-the-card-set-needs-to-go-to-the-translator duties hit their peak. That was yesterday, but it took a lot out of me--especially since I only sort of know what I'm doing, and needed the senior editor to pick up after me a little more than I would have liked.
Add in some minor emotional crises, vague health issues, and a general restlessness for flavor.
I started today off by editing Matt Cavotta's tribute to Glen Angus, a Magic artist who recently passed away. I didn't know the guy, but he was a wonderful illustrator and he sounds like a wonderful person. He died suddenly in his mid-thirties, leaving a wife and two kids, one with autism. His web site, www.gangus.net, hasn't been updated; it still talks about what he's up to lately and sports a smiling cartoon self-portrait, which is why I didn't link to it in the article. The whole thing is just... sad, really sad. I'm very glad we did a tribute, but it was taxing to help put it together--and it must have been vastly worse for Matt, who knew Glen.
Not only was that a rough way to start my day, it also visibly brought down anyone I had to ask for help with it. Walking up to the sole member of the Creative team who's not at ComicCon or U.S. Nationals in the middle of a playtest (fun!) and asking him which of his dead colleagues's illustrations would make a good tribute gallery is not the most fun thing I've ever done at work.
On July 5, my train back from Portland was delayed because a train ahead of us struck and killed a pedestrian, and we had to wait while the paperwork was sorted out and all the procedures followed. Some of the people in my car were complaining loudly about how awful the whole thing was, having to sit there for an hour, but I just... couldn't. I was an extra hour and change late for work, but I wasn't dead, wasn't getting the call to come identify the body of a loved one...
This is the same sort of thing. I found editing that tribute to be pretty emotional, and I never met Glen or even forged a particularly strong connection with his illustrations. My heart goes out to those who knew and loved him.
I'm feeling very drained and a little overwhelmed in general.
Did I mention I leave for Baltimore tomorrow? I just got back from San Diego, it seems like (I'm actually writing about that, I swear, since I do have some tales to tell), but U.S. Nationals is this weekend. Ordinarily my travels are a weird sort of stressful break, but this is just Baltimore. I purposefully cut it as short as possible, given how soon it is after San Diego, how it compares as a destination to the usual fare, and how much other stuff I have going on. But this is certainly not going to be the working Vacation that San Diego was.
Anyway, I'm not complaining, not really. Nothing's being asked of me that isn't asked of anybody from time to time, and in fact I've got it pretty good. As my friend Andrea likes to remind me, I'm alive, I'm healthy, and I work at Wizards of the Coast. How bad can it be?
Quote of the Day:
As you know
I've never been a praying man
I don't need a God to make me feel alright
But if you wonder why I never wrote you a song
it's because happiness writes white
-Harvey Danger, "Happiness Writes White"