I often miss the thrill of writing my own software.

It's not that I don't often have the opportunity to write software at all. Work provides amble opportunities to code applications at my own discretion. In fact, late this week I was prodding at an java application that parsed, and translated message formats. It's an interesting piece of coding, but I wouldn't necessarily call it "fun".

You might have noticed that I've been writing a bit more often the last week. Granted, they haven't been the highest quality entries, but there is a purpose behind them. While I've been trying to determine the cause of my creative doldrums, the simple fact is that I'm not writing, drawing, or coding things I enjoy. The obvious solution then, is to write, draw, and code more.

Narrator of Cosmos: "The rings of Uranus were first detected in 1977."

Tess: "They have yet to be treated by a reputable physician."

Two nights ago my vacation started. I've set aside two weeks of time away from work, away from software training and IT consulting. I'll be spending part of it with a friend in Seattle, and the other half at home. You would think that I'd be thrilled for this opportunity to relax, to unwind, to recharge for the next round of professional tasks. You'd think that.

Instead, I'm absolutely dreading it.

I was wasting time this afternoon after my workout as any internet-addicted tech head would -- by repeatedly clicking the Stumble! link on my browser toolbar. After a few clicks, it came across one of those ubiquitous design sites that frequent my StumpleUpon surfing. 

I had an unusually dream intensive night. This happens to me occasionally, when I'm on progesterone and I'm fortunate enough to have a proper night's rest. The downside, of course, is that I typically only have nightmares.

This time I was lucky. While several threatened to become nightmares, none of them reached that point, save for one. The dream itself was verging on being frightening, a state that I can often recognize in the dream and force myself awake. I tried to force my eyes open, I chanted to myself, "Wake up. Wake up!" Usually this has results within minutes.