I am on the beach, as they say in my line of work. I usually feel quite a few different things while on the beach - the first couple days, rather ecstatic happiness at coming "home", pent-up exhaustion, and finally relief at the opportunity to recuperate; followed by slight boredom and diligence in searching for new studies; then, if still unstaffed, extreme boredom and slight panic at the prospect that I might get staffed on something that stinks.
Between calling around, brushing up on a few things, catching up socially, and reorganizing my life, though, there isn't much to do. I buy groceries and cook my dinners, and I take long walks through the city. Tennis, random activities on weekends; drinking and eating at nights.
I remember some years ago a few webpages popped up stating that they were "the end of the internet". I now believe I reach the end of the internet daily. I don't understand people who can count web surfing as their hobby; it's really boring! I usually look at a few pop-culture mags, a few pseudo-intellectual pubs, and sometimes a little Amazon or other shopping. I look up recipes and food articles. I try to read the news faithfully, though I realize that as soon as I started feeling rootless, current events feel less interesting and increasingly irrelevant. I have large kicked my AIM/MSN/etc. habits and don't miss them. All the rest, at a leisurely pace, takes maybe 2 hours each day.
I have, however, become rather unhealthily infatuated with two sites lately. I say "unhealthily" because - I think - they are related to my previously unknown desire to have kids. There is one video on
youtube.com whereby three young boys are liquiding. As soon as I saw the first two kids, I realized that I was looking at who I hope to be my future sons. The first boy is adorable and sweet-natured, I assume, and the second one is adorable and a brat.
The second site I am infatuated with is
cuteoverload.com, from which I took the pictures below of a baby hedgehog. The unusual animals section on the left side of the cuteoverload homepage is my favorite. Little soft animals stir some sort of maternal instinct. My grandma's precious puppy has replaced all the human kids as the object of her & my mom's affections, photo galleries, and other signs of familial fealty. (Michi the dog is no longer adorable, having inevitably succumbed to the plight of plumpness.)
