Wanted: That Little Sign On The Door

The most annoying thing about working at home--particularly writing at home--is that nearly everyone thinks your free to do anything.

Once again people: it is WORK.

How would you like it if someone walked in on you in the middle of a report to ask you to clean, or chat, or drag you to the TV set because they "want to show you something".

I'm one of those unfortunate writers who get absolutely wrapped up in everything they do when they work.

You never want to eat; if you can help it you will never sleep or go to the bathroom. You will, though, go have a candy bar or a slice of cheese that you can take back with you in front of the PC in order to work...

Or on the bed, in front of a yellow pad, in order to work. Or gather dust and mold in a coffee shop booth at the mall, in order to work.

Occasionaly, you will play Solitaire to clear your head or phone a friend to pitch a plot. Oftentimes, I sing.

Nothing exists--or should exist--because so help me if concertration breaks, the whole line of thought that you've been dreaming of since last night to be brilliant will slip from your hands and once again escape to the ether.

And the annoying part is nobody ever gets it.

When an idea leaves you, the chances are slim that you will go back to it in the exact same form. I lose words just by dictating it to my recorder for crying out loud.

You can't tell your parents to bugger off because they will throw you out, you can't have your friends sod off because they will write you off, you most definitely have to bother with laundry and even answer the phone.

I was always the kid who stared out the window during class because daydreaming seemed more interesting than school. A habit that I lost when I discovered boys but picked up again during my last year at UST, when I realized that I didn't give a fuck that other people thought I was catatonic.

And my cousin (whose name must never be mentioned) wonders why I'm always pissed with her jokes.

I suppose there's always a side of you that your family never knows.

My parents and I are going through this adjustment period now that i'm home again, the one were they realize that yes, their kid is different from a lot of other kids and she's more grown up than I last thought she was--in a number of ways.

They're past the shock and is now in the "acceptance" phase.

The writing is just the first wave, I don't think they've ever seen me in one of my creative flip outs before. I'm thinking of getting my own place just so the three of us don't combust when that does occur, but I'm going to have figure out finances and job prospects before committing to anything.

But for now, I have to stick to breaking it ever so gently to them...

KEEP OUT. WRITER IN PROGRESS. CREATIVITY IN HIGH DEMAND. DO NOT GO IN. BUGGER OFF.