Random Thoughts at Three in the Morning.*
*Now close to 4:30 in the morning….
Takes a short sip of Zero Cola
I know I should have some water, but it’s 3:28AM and I need all the caffeine. Badly.
“Elf needs caffeine badly.” With that I just aged myself.
I’m at work, staying up all night so others can rest and have a wonderful weekend experience. It’s my fourth year doing this, not a bad way to spend time at work. After the lights are out and people are asleep or on their phones, no judgment, I spend the night and morning listening to music, maybe watching a movie or TV show, although most times I’m just drawing or writing until it’s time to go home.
Tonight’s drawing has been a bit of a mixed bag. I’m tired, I feel gravity pull at my eye lids, and I’m not satisfied with anything I’ve done. And that’s cool because I’m rarely satisfied with any drawings, like Prince’s Momma if she was a cartoonist. If I was home I’d be sleeping, or maybe just waking up as I do some early mornings. This is not my usual time putting pencil to paper. It’s unreasonable to think I’d be on my MD Bright or Jack Kirby right now. I did manage to play with some colored pencils and draw one of my favorite superheroes, Milestone Media’s Hardware. I’ll take that victory as coloring is not my strong suit and getting out of my comfort zone has been a major goal over the last few years.
Since leaving social media, save Messenger in case someone wants to reach out or LinkedIn for the articles, I have been enjoying my day-to-day life. The first thing I noticed is that the annoyance levels are pretty low. Not seeing a lot of doom and gloom is wonderful for your day. Even when people aren’t posting it directly, the constant bombardment of chaos is a lot. Not to mention how nearly everything is designed to raise your stress level at the same time designed to give you weak dopamine fixes. Once I have a few months under my belt, I’ll circle back on this.
I felt like Bruce Banner on Sakaar. Everything is designed to stress me out. But look, it’s a party over there!!!
Takes another sip.
Another benefit is feeling like I don’t have to consume. Information, “news,” photos, fake social media lifestyles, and the urge to buy things… I’m good just being. I can research the news instead of seeing a square box with BREAKING NEWS telling me what I should feel. There is no celebrity junk clogging my timeline, IDGAF about the majority of those people and I was learning about things without my consent. I miss seeing people’s art work. And it’s also true that I don’t have as much “imposter syndrome” as I once felt. And I’m watching TV and films without a phone in my hand.
The biggest bonus is I’m writing up a storm. Hand writing, I like the feel of putting pen to paper. It makes it feel real. Some were just random thoughts that turned to a topic. Another is a pretty lengthy essay (is it an essay or a think piece?) on live service games and the impact it has on the industry. Once I get the numbers I want to use a source, I’ll type it up and put it out for the world.
This I’m typing. I have zero trust in my handwriting right now.
This is around the time, four something in the morning, I switch my energy to watching something. That’s the plan, watch something until 6 and then coast until it’s time to go home.
Take it easy.