Sunday Twilight

Okay, so this doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but for those who have read Twilight/seen the movie, you absolutely must read this column by a friend of mine, Eric Snider.  You can find it here.

And in case anyone thinks it might be a good idea to see Twilight, let me correct that erroneous line of thinking right now.  This movie was one of the more purile, atrocious, hideous translations of a novel to celluloid in the history of film.  It’s so bad, it would be added to my list of movies for bad movie night if it weren’t so painfully dull.  If it had been any worse, it would have been bad enough to be funny.  Instead, it’s just bad.

Blech.

(There is a whole story behind why I went to the movie in the first place, but that’s another blog post.)

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It’s late on Sunday night, and I’m staring yet another week in the face.  I’ve been working a regular job nearly every day for the last year and a half…the longest I’ve ever held a full-time job in my life.  (Not that I’ve ever gotten fired…just that I was never in a show that ran that long, or never worked anywhere full-time.)  I’ve settled into what I call “apathetic Zen” when it comes to my work life…it’s not particularly fulfilling, exciting, or enjoyable.  But, it’s not particularly annoying, frustrating, or maddening.  I just can’t seem to get up enough energy to care about it one way or the other.

The only time I really dislike work is on Sunday evenings right before I go to bed, because I know that when I wake up in the morning, I have to jump back into the grind of things.  Walk the dog, go to work, walk the dog, do homework, walk the dog, go to bed.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Ever since I started working a full-time job, the weekends have become my absolute favorite time.  Nothing special ever happens on my weekends, and that’s really the way I like it.  I don’t set an alarm, I don’t have a schedule, I am able to get my house back into some semblance of order (I actually steam-cleaned my carpets today!)  I take two naps a day on Saturday and another two on Sunday.  I get to play with my dog.  I eat out.  I watch TV and play video games.

It’s amazing, the deeper I get into corporate life, how much I have grown to cherish these two days at the end of the week.  And time away from work, in general.  I recently interviewed for a job with Amazon.com.  After going through six hours (SIX HOURS!) of interviews, they happened to mention that the job was an hourly position, not a salary position.  That meant less vacation, less substantial benefits, etc.  The recruiter told me that the money was the same, but it was only a couple of weeks of vacation difference between the two jobs.

It was at that moment that I realized: I would actually rather have more vacation, more time off, than I would more money.  I make enough money for my needs, and most of my wants.  In the last 12 months, I purchased a 42″ TV, a Tivo, a digital point and shoot camera, a digital SLR camera, a computer, a surround sound system, an iPhone, a Zune, an Xbox, a Playstation, a Wii and Wii fit, a Chaise Lounge, a Sofa, a TV stand, a reciprocating saw, a steam cleaner (thus the carpet work mentioned above), a new wardrobe, and several pairs of shoes.  I don’t need more money.  I need counseling to cure my shopping and technology addictions, but that’s another blog post.

There are so many things I still want to do.  I want to learn to play all the instruments.  I want to write my novel.  I want to cook and bake.  I want to watch all the movies in my Netflix queue, and read all the books in my Goodreads list.  I want to take up hiking and improve my abilities with my camera.  I want to start traveling and seeing the parts of the country and the world that I haven’t visited.

I’m young, still.  It’s always easy to think, “eh, I’ve still got time.”  But when you spend all of your time working, you don’t really.  I love the steady paycheck.  I LOVE the toys that I can buy with said paycheck.  I love living in a comfortable, spacious apartment on the shore of a beautiful lake.  On Sunday nights, though, I sometimes wish that I could actually have the time to enjoy it all.

But, knowing me, I’d probably get so bored with my life without work that I’d end up hating it.  Darn paradoxes.