Laying in Bed

My morning ritual since returning from vacation is to lay in bed and make text using either my iPad or my Macbook Air, whichever went on the nightstand before I fell unconscious. As a kid I hated getting up in the morning because some of my best ideas seemed to come to me in that half wakeful state. As an adult, I've typed so many words, I can actually work a keyboard in that same state.

The result is a few thousand words of odd ideas probably inspired by my travels, a fresh perspective and all those potato chips and cottage cheese I ate the night before. Strange and angry dreaming aside, I think that my trip to Seattle wasn't as restful as I would have liked. The Penny Arcade Expo was incredible fun and I hope to make a return visit, but like my typing in bed, it was a somewhat awkward experience.

I mostly abhor any social situation involving more than a half dozen people. To that end, I'm glad we had so many friends present in Seattle with us and a pair of gracious hosts willing to navigate the labyrinthine roads and highways to get us where we needed to go. The weight of the journey always seems to fall sometime after you've returned home.

It's Friday, and tonight I'll get to roll some dice and pretend to be a Lawful Evil Elven Wizard. I have a different outlook on table top RPG gaming than I did previous to visiting PAX. I'm excited to participate for completely different reasons. I guess it takes being in a cramped space with thousands of like minded people to make you realize how much you are part of a culture.

I'd carried a sliver of guilt over the practice because I thought I was leaving myself bereft of more traditional social gatherings. I see now that I'll always have a more intimate connection with my friend playing her Chaotic Good Half-Orc Barbarian than I would passing the salsa at a Super Bowl Party. There's a difference between being on, and rooting for, the same team.

I've laid in my bed typing for almost four hours now, in the dark of my room. It occurs to me, I need to buy better pillows.