Vapors

In the last two months I took a little vacation time from work to go to film festivals. I needed the days away from the office and enjoyed what I did, but as I'm finding now, it wasn't exactly restful time off.

Sleep was at a premium, and I felt deadline pressure to write and post online about what I was seeing at these events. (With a few of those days still not blogged, they continue to hang over me.) Granted, the writing was a significant element of what I was doing--press passes weren't just handed out for kicks--but mixing pleasure and business (of a sort) didn't make for the most relaxing time.

I'm not complaining...exactly. Fun was had, and the passes are one of the few indirect compensations I've received for doing that specialized writing. Nevertheless, right about now, with five weeks remaining until work shifts into summer mode, I can tell that I'm badly in need of a break, even if it's just the reduced workload that comes outside of the regular academic year. This is the time when the students start to show the strain. What they don't know is that those of us on the other side feel the same way too, perhaps moreso.