69:23

I'm tired. So tired. I'd be in bed right now if not for the three Dr. Peppers I had to have this afternoon and evening to keep me working on the big project at work. And despite my strong-to-a-fault work ethic, I managed to have a little bit of a life this week.

I managed to keep up on my TV shows, thanks mostly to that glorious invention called the DVR. I got almost all of my season finales this week, and I've got only two left to go, and both are on tomorrow night (Heroes and 24). It's funny how my TV shows wrap up for the season just in time for the final sprint to the finish line on the big project.

I left work Sunday night with 75% of my work ready for the client to proof. That only leaves 10% more that I know I can work on, and the other 15% left I have no information whatsoever on...and we gotta start printing on Wednesday. 67 8-page sections with a 2-page insert. 100 hours of press time at the quickest. And I've only got another week left of hearing my boss bitch about having to work on Memorial Day before having to hear him bitch for the next two weeks about having to work on Memorial Day in the past tense.

I had originally made plans to be at the office by noon on Saturday. That plan gave me plenty of time to take care of all my laundry first thing before heading downtown to hear Three Penny Upright play at the Blue Dome Arts Festival. Well, that turned into seeing Cairde Na Gael play at Mayfest at 12:30, and wandering around with my friends taking in the sights.

For those who don't know, Mayfest is Tulsa's annual outdoor festival showcasing local musicians (good and bad) and not-so-local artists who seem to have made a killing selling their wares to Days Inns across the country. I find myself looking at most of the (cough) artwork, not so much admiring the craftsmanship as I am looking for the holes in the frames for mounting on the wall with theft deterrant security screws.

The Blue Dome Arts Festival is a bit different. It has a little more of a hippie vibe, a little more local flavor, and much better beer thanks to our friends at Arnie's Bar setting up a few outside taps. The beauty of the Blue Dome Arts Festival, from the standpoint of planning, comes from the fact that it's set up two blocks away from Mayfest, at the same time as Mayfest, and located between Mayfest and the only free parking lots downtown. Their success stems from people passing through on their way to Mayfest, then realizing that Mayfest kinda sucks, and coming back through on their way back to their cars.


I went back into the office around 3:30 and left close to 9:00. During that time, I got a lot of work done, got caught up on my CSI: DVDs and really lamented not wearing sunblock while at Mayfest. I decided to call it a night when I found myself trying to match my skinburn color with a Pantone swatch book...I was somewhere around a 182 red uncoated.

I went down to McNellie's to catch Larkin's show Saturday night, and I'll admit it, it was mostly to spend time with a girl I'm interested in. It's a tough situation to read. I know I kinda like this girl, and I have a feeling she kinda likes me. It's enough to make me want to break my no-dating vow, but with my work schedule being like it is, it sounds a bit off-putting to ask someone out with the provision that it be sometime after the 10th of June when things will start to ease down at my job. In the meantime, I paid for some of her drinks, and ended the night with a hug and a split-second kiss.


This morning, I slept in and went back into work around noon. I clocked out around 7:30 with 69 hours and 23 minutes for the week. This was par for the course this time of year, but the difference this year is, I'm not trying to reach this amount of work as a goal. Instead, I'm just working until I can't bring myself to work anymore, and figuring out my hours at the end of the week. Normally when I reach this level, it means I'm getting burned out by the routine. Not the case this time. There's nothing routine about my job anymore. Sure, I get kinda bogged down, but I can't plan any of this shit out longer than a couple hours in advance. Shit keeps changing at a moment's notice, and the only choice I have is to just roll with it.

On the other hand, I found myself listening to an episode of CSI: and they found a sign with a saying that they pointed out was also above the gates at Auchwitz: Work will set you free. When I heard them recite that phrase, I didn't quite think of it from the viewpoint that the prisoners did, and that frightened me. It was at that moment, I decided to shut down my computer and go home.