Work vs. Aromas

Usually, when I have a lot of work, my thoughts go something like this:

Wow, I have a lot of work.  Well, if I get this much finished by 3:00, then I'll go to Aromas.  I'll still have loads of work, but at least I'll be at Aromas.

Aromas is a little coffee shop a few minutes from my home.  Not only is the coffee excellent, but the soft music and dark paneled walls create a serene atmosphere that makes me bubble over with happiness.  So it's great to reward myself with a trip to Aromas -- though, admittedly, it's not great to reward myself midway through my work, especially because my work would continue at Aromas.

Which means I'd ruin the sanctity of the place -- and yes, to me it's a holy place.  Normally I'm there for my personal life -- to meet up with friends, to sip coffee while perusing a good book, and most frequently, to write.  These pleasant activities have turned Aromas into a safe haven, if you will.  So when I sit down with a whole bunch of spreadsheets, that's bad.  Really bad.  The very presence of "real work" chips away at Aromas's sacred nature.  But I really wanted to go to Aromas, so I went anyway -- and as expected, those spreadsheets didn't stay out too long.  I surrendered, and settled back with a book instead.  Lesson learned.

Do you have any "sacred" places?  Favorite writing spots?

Goin' Patchy

So I've been absent from the blog for a long while -- and unfortunately, I predict I'll be absent for a bit longer.

For the past two weeks I had been losing vision in my left eye.  Not too concerning, at first, since it wasn't consistent:  some days I dealt with strange shadows, but on others I could see almost perfectly, so I avoided a doctor until Friday.

On Saturday I rushed to Richmond, VA, for emergency surgery.  Turns out I could've gone blind if I waited too much longer.

The wonderful doctors saved my vision, but it won't entirely return for a whole year.  So for now I'm stuck with 20/70 vision in my left eye -- and that's with glasses.  Frankly, my vision in that eye is so wonky, I have to wear an eyepatch to keep it from interfering with my right eye.  Otherwise it'd be like going through life wearing only one contact -- and when your prescription is in the double digits, that's more than uncomfortable.

So, eyepatch it is.