Awakening

For people who read this blog, I don't think it's any secret that I've been a bit emotionally distant over the last several months. Around September, things started piling on, and as time went on, I started going into a shell to protect myself from my feelings...from the pain. Today, I started noticing that I was feeling again. I started noticing things that I had been suppressing over the last several months.

The thrill of a chance for a once-in-a-lifetime experience; the rapid heartbeat following the warning from a close friend; the smell of acrid smoke from the initial puff of a cigarette that is made more of paper than tobacco, combined with the aromatic stench of the gentleman who lit the cigarette; the taste of ozone in the air as small bolts of electricity arc through the humid air between the light rail vehicles and their suspended power lines; the feeling of satisfaction when you receive a paycheck on time for the amount due that you know won't bounce; the little hop in your step when you hear Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days" wafting out of the earbuds of the lady sitting in front of you...all minor sensations that you find you really miss when they're gone.

Anyway, it feels great to actually be back completely.

Two items...first, I'm going to be posting two polls tonight as two seperate posts. I'd really appreciate it if you'd reply to those posts if you read the blog.

Second, just a reminder...I'm going to be crunching this week towards a Friday milestone, so not only will I be difficult to reach via this blog, I may also be difficult to impossible to reach via E-mail, MSN Messenger, etc. I'm not going to be ignoring you...I just need to keep my nose to the grindstone so that my milestone work meets the quality bar that I set for myself.