e... is... FREE!

Hello my dear friends -

I haven't written in a few days because a major event has happened in my life. Those of you who have been reading my Lost write-ups for the past three years are well aware of my constant complaining about Working for The Man.

Well, I can complain no more. I AM FREE!

The Man and I parted ways a few days ago! Don't worry - it was amicable and mutually agreed upon and I am a very happy blogger. I have no plans to go running back to The Man any time soon - I will be taking the rest of this year off and then attempting to make a living freelance writing after that. So if you or any of The Men you work for ever need any writing assistance of any kind, you know where to come!

While I'm definitely a tad unnerved about completely switching gears and trying to figure out an entirely foreign industry, I did not have the breakdown I thought I would have once this situation became final. What is driving me to do this is the fear of looking back on my life one day and wishing that I had given the whole writing thing a shot. To me, regret is the worst thing in the world. As one of my favorite quotes states (widely attributed to the always wise Mark Twain): "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." And then of course there is the more succinct: "If not now, when?"

So, rest assured that this blog will continue, because it serves as a tool to help me write as often as possible - every day if I'm not traveling... and now I REALLY don't have any excuses for not posting, do I?

The hardest part about my situation so far was having to tell my dog-walker that we were going to have to go on hiatus for a bit. She has been a tremendous help to us for many years, and my dog absolutely loves her. However, as you know, I can never sit still for long, so I already have some traveling plans in a mere month... and she will come see my dog again then. Speaking of my dog, he is NOT happy about this whole thing, because he LIKES his daily routine and now I am messing with it. All day yesterday, my first full day of freedom, he walked around crying because I was not constantly giving him pets and belly rubs. In my next life, I better be a dog!

Anyway, my first day of freedom was otherwise wonderful... I slept in a bit, ate a big breakfast of waffles and berries, had my Earl Grey, and caught up on emails. It was an absolutely glorious day outside - low 80s and literally not a cloud in the sky - like the universe was saying, "See what you've been missing, e?" On top of that, it was practice day for the Air & Water Show - which is my favorite event in Chicago. So while I was on a walk down by the lake, I got to watch a good portion of the show, unfettered by all the crazy crowds that will be here for the rest of the weekend (not to mention the fact that it's supposed to rain today!!!). Then I walked over to my friend DY's house, and went with her and her adorable son to the best cupcake place in the entire world, Sweet Mandy B's, where she treated me to some cupcakes in celebration of me leaving The Man. And of course I got a bunch of goodies to take home. By the time I returned it was 5 pm... I read a paper, perused some gossip sites and then went to go meet my husband to see "Superbad" (review forthcoming). I figured watching a ridiculously crazy comedy about high schoolers trying to cram a bunch of experiences in before heading off to college somehow fit with my situation (not sure how... maybe the irresponsibility of it all?).

Admit it, you're jealous of my First Day of Freedom!

So, before I get back to my "normal" posts about celebrities, pet peeves, random observations, book/concert/movie reviews and the like, I just wanted to once again thank everyone who reads both this blog and Long Live Locke. You probably didn't think that by leaving me nice comments about my writing style or my recaps, you would encourage me to forgo a paycheck and attempt to become a full-time writer, now did you? But seriously, ever since I've been in third grade I've wanted to do this, and those who know me the best are glad I finally stopped ruminating about this idea and JUST DID IT, already! The only favor I ask of all of you is to tell all of your friends about my sites so that I have even more encouragement - I'm very needy in that way. And since above I mentioned leaving comments, I figured that I should let you know that I have changed the Comments function so that it doesn't spawn a pop-up window, as I know The Man blocked the ability to see pop-ups for many people. Try it now and see if it works - it should go to a new page rather than a pop-up.

There you have it!

e is free and poised at her Mac... waiting for the Lost producers to call and beg her to come write for them...

... maybe just for Locke-centric episodes?

Maybe?

- e