Not just writing advice
I seem to have been in a mood to Dispense Advice these past few days. Odd.
But there's more to life than writing advice. Tomorrow morning I'm flying up to SeaTac; I'll drive up to Seattle for the afternoon to see an old friend from college and her sweetie (but sadly won't have time to see either of the other college friends who live in Seattle), then down to Tacoma in the evening. Sunday morning is the memorial service for my grandfather, followed by family gathering all afternoon. Then I'll get on a plane and fly home. So don't expect much in the way of electronic communication from me for the next couple days.
(In typical Jed fashion, I failed to arrange for a place to stay tomorrow night 'til tonight; fortunately, it turns out my father has space to put me up.)
Been an odd week. I've continued to be tense and glum more often than would be ideal. Fretting, irritable. Part of it is doubtless the season; today was lovely and sunny and warm, but mostly it's been grey skies when I've been outside, and of course increasingly long nights. (I should dig up one of my full-spectrum light bulbs and install it in the dining-room light fixture.) Part of it is probably being a little touch-starved; I really like tactile contact (that's not a euphemism; it doesn't have to be sexual; hugs and back rubs are great regardless of sexual content), but most of the people I'm most comfortable touching are far away. Part of it may be that I've had a fair bit more contact (email and phone) than usual, the past week or two, with faraway friends, and I miss them. Part of it may be awareness of all the things I ought to be doing but haven't gotten done this week. Part is various interpersonal dynamics I'm not gonna go into.
On the plus side, the nice thing about mood swings is that sometimes you get some good moods too. I was listening to a really pretty Patty Larkin song earlier which, although it's all about being far away from someone, cheered me up immensely, at least for a bit.
A couple of my co-workers were saying at lunch that it was time for them to get some new furniture. I got the impression that every so often they get restless about their furniture and decide to replace it. I don't think I have that—I think for me a similar feeling manifests as gadget-purchasing. For the past couple weeks, every day on the way home from work I've been tempted to stop at the Apple Store and pick up an iPod and/or a digital camera. I have to keep reminding myself that neither technology is quite where I want it to be yet, that an upcoming generation (sometime in the next year or so, most likely) will be a much better idea for what I want.
Anyway. I'd better go try to get some editing done. Not to mention packing.