On Friday I spent some time talking about “The Six Month Wall”, and how the way to get past it, according to experts, is to just give yourself permission to be less productive and take a bit of a break.

So, this weekend, that’s what I did. The weather was mostly crap, so I stuck close to home, apart from the usual Saturday morning grocery shopping. I took a nap (or at least laid in the dark for a while) to manage eyestrain issues, rented some escapist action movies from the box outside the grocery store, and got some quality couch time in between changing loads of laundry, both Saturday and Sunday.

I mostly took a break from headlines and social media, which was also helpful. As I responsible citizen, one needs to keep abreast of current events, but I purposely avoided diving deep into hardcore political analysis about the new Supreme Court Nominee (though honestly, having read up on her in the past, I’m not really a fan; I’ve no beef with religion or what somebody chooses to believe, but if one is in public service in this country, it’s got to stay personal and not be on the forefront of your politics or professional output) or the President’s taxes (the NYT’s Sunday drop was neat, but unsurprising).

I didn’t stay totally away, as we got word that a very dear friend (really, one of the anchors of our chosen family) is facing some serious health challenges (bite me 2020; I’m so done with you), and we kept one ear to the internet for updates, but Sunday was devoted largely to binge-watching the first season of The Boys on Amazon Prime, which is dark and cynical as all get out, but it’s still a universe that isn’t our own, and thus provided some escape.

And, if I hadn’t been listening for my phone to vibrate, I would have missed a message from an old college buddy who’s on the return leg of a solo motorcycle tour of the east coast from Georgia to New England and back, and was passing through the RVA Sunday evening. So, the lovely spouse and I closed out our Sunday night by meeting him at a nearby drinking establishment for a beer and some conversation. I get to see this guy maybe once every couple of years when I find myself in Atlanta with rare free time, and it was nice to catch up again in person, especially since he’s living such an interesting life, and happy to share it. Also, in the “small world” department, he unknowingly made a couple of Humdingers road gigs a bit more pleasant due to his current business venture.

So, yeah. I didn’t have high expectations of myself or the world this weekend, and, apart from one nice surprise, the universe basically lived up to them. Hoping for an improvement in the week ahead.