Home sweet home

It is good to get away for awhile, and it is good to come home again.

I spent the greater part of eight of the last ten days feeling as though I had been removed from society while at the film festival. Life had been reduced to an ant-like series of tasks. Crawl into a hole. Emerge to find food. Repeat.

In some ways it was nice not to think about anything other than responding to immediate needs, whether getting to the proper auditorium in time or finding something to eat. Work could mostly be put out of mind. There was relief from the Presidential election that I needed in the worst way. I was untethered from the internet except for some brief time upon returning to the hotel and after waking up in the morning. Sleep took a major hit, but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make for these days.

What are some of the lessons I learned during this time? I found that when I spend very little time talking to people--a substantial portion of these recent days--I can get very talkative when a conversation is initiated. I discovered that scented hand soap in movie theater bathrooms is worthy of appreciation. (I tend to rest my chin in one hand when watching movies.)

I learned that finding almost nothing but spam e-mails about "male enhancements" and expensive watches in my inboxes takes the enjoyment out of checking messages. I found that rolling up my coat a little bit made for a nice headrest on top of my seat and kept my head from bobbing if I dozed off for a few seconds.

And I learned that I am very eager to have some time at home. I ran around at a ridiculous pace. After watching 43 films in my eight days at the festival, I'm ready to stay home and relax on the couch.