The Week in Monochrome

Written on Friday 1 September 2006

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September. Autumn. Another summer lost to history.

It crept up on me; I barely noticed until today. To think, a mere five years ago I’d have been spending this weekend getting ready for a new school year. These days, it’s just the coming of autumn. In a way, I think that might be worse.

For all that it is the death of the year, autumn brings out some good things, the quiet things in people. Autumn is time to think, time to dream, and time to write. It’s no coincidence I suppose that September is the busiest month of the year for publishers.

Today was also the first time I woke up before the dawn twilight - the world outside my windows was black. For six months, the colour of things to come. Time for insular things, calm things, personal things. Time for wind and rain.

So, without further ado, as today’s calm skies darken overhead: This week in Monochrome.

I remember not so long ago hearing an interview with an author on the radio, and hearing her describe how unglamorous the world of the average writer was - wandering around in pyjamas, staring at computer screens, and endless supplies of coffee. Well, that was Monday. “Bug #23691”, my first foray into Cyberpunk, is coming along - although it still needs a better name.

Tuesday, back at work after the long weekend. And how strange it felt. By the end of the day, I was feeling very much detached. Detached… I’ve learnt already what that implies about the future.

Wednesday was Eric’s and my 9-month anniversary. After I made it through a painful eight hours of meeting, I was treated to a delicious meal in a fancy restaurant playing romantic music, in the company of… the Norwegian Navy. Eric remained 90 miles away.

And then, there was the migraine. Having been unwell throughout the meal (which no-one around the table seemed to notice - only the waitress would have known “empathy” if it had gotten up and gave them all a haircut) I wasn’t able to get out of bed until 3.30pm the following day. There goes Thursday.

And today was a reasonable day, although a strange one. After the oddness of the week, it was somewhat hard to work as normal and pretend nothing strange had happened.

And now to the weekend. My parents are away, but no empty-house fun shall be had here - duty calls me elsewhere. Onwards, for the cause of preserving sanity!