No Rest for the Weary

Happy Easter!

I got up late this morning, suffering from a headache that was probably related to dehydration of the day before. We had some friends over for a day at the pool, and with the arrangement of dinner and constant business I never really took care to hydrate enough. Knowing that today there would be more of the same (swimming and Easter brunch) I took care to drink enough. I also meditated for the first time in weeks, taking a good twenty minutes off this morning to calm down and be more at ease with everything around me, something that would come in handy as the day progressed with guests and a group of kids hopped up on sugar.

We didn't really celebrate Easter in the traditional fashion, as neither Nancy or I are Christian, but for once this year we also didn't celebrate it according to popular tradition (e.g. with egg painting etc.). We just had a nice day with friends at the pool and at home, eating, swimming and talking. One of them had spent time working in the Amazon rain forest, so I've been getting a lot of info from him lately with regards to the book, but also tips about hiking in rain forests, which I'll be doing from 8-13 April. That will oddly enough be my true 'getaway' from everything and all, as I haven't done that since before I got married in 2004. Also I won't be traveling as I usually do, with a notebook, iPod and tons of other conveniences. It's going to be very Spartan and no-nonsense. I'll keep you up to date on that.

As with regards to writing: now that the first draft is finished, I'm going to let it lie there for a little bit as I replenish my creative juices and take a step back from that. I'll be looking for IT work, as that's my real job, which came to a halt last year November when I wrapped up my final contract. I wonder how that will go here in Bangkok. Up until now I've only had Dutch, Irish and American clients. Now I have to either lower my prices to the Thai market or try to get contracts with multinational corporations and NGO's. First I have to get my portfolio up to date and see what is out there. No point in wasting a lot of energy on work that won't support our savings/household in a meaningful way or take me away 24-7 so the book suffers. Something to think about.

For now, preparations for trips to Malaysia and the U.S. will be made (our tickets have been booked) and rest! After all, I will have to redraft and do illustrations for Book 1, while plotting Book 2 within 200 days, so we'll have something to hand over to an agent or publisher. Pfff, makes me tired just thinking about it.