Well, yesterday, I took a day off.
I hadn’t really planned to, and usually when i talk about taking days off, it is comic production days (which result in missed comics). This was one of those inbetween days, the days where I take care of everything else. I found myself… not really able to do anything. Anything work related, at any rate.
A few weeks ago, after Acen, i was facing the task of not only having a myriad of things to do, but my organization had fallen off and i really needed to regroup. I managed to do this, and by the beginning of this week i was feeling a whole hell of a lot better about things…. but something still didn’t feel right. Stress is a funny thing, it is cumulative. I don’t think there is any one thing that i’m super stressed out about, but its all of this little stuff, none of them really have high stress nodes (except the normal pressure to try to produce a good comic and do it on time, probably the highest and most difficult stress item in my life — hence the reason why most break days are comic days 
But the little things can add up, and sometimes that is what can leave you feeling stressed out and not knowing why.
High pressure times are actually easier for me to deal with than ‘regrouping’ times, i think. When you are under serious pressure for a deadline or something coming up, you just drop all of the minor stress nodes and focus on the big picture. After the high stress stuff is over, when you are trying to pick up the little pieces and threads of all the other stuff you pushed aside, thats the kind of weird, cumulative, frustrating kinda stress that you aren’t sure what to do with.
I sometimes forget that its ok to need a break from that too. So, i took a bit of a break yesterday. Was this entirely my idea? No. Seraphim is not only my conscience, she is safety officer :P. She said everyone needs a day off here and there. You can’t work 7 days a week without something cracking. The main thing that suffered? this poor blog, and my rant (like they dont suffer enough). A few other things too, but nothing that will kill anyone.
What did I do? Yard work, mostly. That’s not so bad. It was a nice day, it needed doing. Did i goof off? Yeah. think i must have watched 5 episodes of Mahoraba last night. I’m almost caught up (been watching raws. god, i love this show).
Hopefully i have my head on straight today. I think i do. I even think i’ll dive into that MT rant this morning and see about getting that done. If i can get todays comic done more or less on time, that will make this a fairly decent week. Next week, i’m going to focus on getting the comics done an hour or so early, so i can actually (gasp) post them on time.
Ya, like that’s gonna happen 
… oh, almost forgot. I did pick up a new pair of headphones. A pair of Sony MDR-EX71SL earbuds. They aren’t bad, tho i have to say i hate the cord and i’m not used to having sound blocked out completely like these do, but they are comfortable and sound good. That gives me a reasonably decent small portable set of headphones… i’m still thinking i’d like something better for desktop use. I’m thinking about a pair of Grados of all things… and a headphone amp. THIS is why i should never really think too hard about these things, maybe the impulse to do this will go away…
- pirotunes: Groove Armada - A Private Interlude -
I couldn’t agree more about the chord on the 71’s. I mean the short “built in” chord is convenient when ya have a wired remote to an MP3 player (a la iPod) but really weighty when you don’t and just want to use them as headphones… Having said that the 51’s (same rest of the model number) have the same ear bud and quality, but have one long wire and no extension or case.
I own both and use’m for different players/uses - had good luck with both pair.
oooo hooky. bad boy, fred. P: ahhh i’d love to skip a comic page…but unfortunately the people who’d kill me if i did go to school with me or live within driving distance.
Did you ever get that picture?? I’m not sure if it ever reached you. >___< if not I’ll send it again via this thingy.
Ooh. Tell us if you’re skipping comic production before hand! I luv Megatokyo so much! Though, feel free to take breaks whenever you need to.
yay…. Mahoraba is always good for what ails ya.
Those are the exact headphones that I ended up settling on a few months ago when I researched all of the low/medium cost options myself. I didn’t want an expensive pair since I’m so worried about damaging them (as I am prone to do), but I wanted something better than what you find at the check out counter of Radio Shack. Anyway, I would’ve recommended them to you earlier except they didn’t sound at all like what you were looking for in a pair of headphones. Go figure. Just watch out for the carrying case that comes with them though. I found its “hinges” to be especially delicate.
i’ve already chucked the carrying case. I can’t get the damn things to wind up into them. It is the most useless carrying case i’ve ever seen.
well, if you don’t use the full cord, maybe it will fit. I need the full cord, so a case that it wont fit in is useless. I just toss it in the zipper part of my bag, where they will get torn up anyway
I have the white set to go with the iPod. I really like those little earbuds! Honestly, they are the most comfortable earbud-type headphones that I have ever used, and the sound they give is amazing! I don’t mind the acoustic isolation, though it did take a little getting used to. I still use the carrying case, though I already broke the hinge. It still stays in place when it’s closed, though. I don’t use the extension at all. In fact, I’ve misplaced it…
The shorter length works perfectly for carrying the iPod in my shirt pocket, or the Shuffle on it’s neck cord. (I tend to not like a lot of excess headphone cord…gets caught on stuff too easily.) Oh, and in case you are wondering, I also have the iPod in a silicone jacket, so it doesn’t really want to slide out of the pocket AT ALL. When I’m not listening to the iPod, I keep it on my belt in a little Samsonite digital camera pouch, about $6 at Wal-Mart. The front pocket is the perfect size for the headphone case, and the main compartment is just about perfect for the iPod.
I passed my General-Class amateur radio written exam tonight! w007!
In other news, since I just HAVE to share,
If you go with a set of Grados, you won’t really need a headphone amp. Like I mentioned before, they’re among the easiest to drive of all cans. now, having said that, I do run my SR-80s over a Presonus HP4, and to say that it doesn’t help the sound a bit would be a lie. Mainly I have the HP4 because 1) it has a monitor out/mute control so I can control my cans and my speakers all from the same place (it runs out straight to my amp for my DIY stereo speaks), and 2) it has 4 sets of outputs for cans, each with its own volume control (its sits right under my GameCube, so I can go 4P, even with my 3-year-old sleeping in the next room). For all that, I only gave $80 for it after a $20 rebate, so its really on the low end for headphone amps. I can recommend it for price/performance, build quality and features, but it is not in any way portable. Another plus is that its readily available at retail. Got mine at the local Guitar Center, but I’d bet that other musician chain stores and maybe even some local outfits might carry them.
A tip: software volume control effects the quality of the sound coming out . . . lowering the volume actually chops data from the end (least significant) portion of the audio stream, so if you have an amp, always leave the software volume at full and control the volume in the analog domain using the amp . . . if you don’t have an amp, I would recommend going to Radio Shack or CompUSA or whatever and finding an inline headphone volume control. I’ve found the results even with these cheap bits of kit to be very noticably better than using the software volume controls.
Enjoy.
Kensai