In my mind, I’m already on a relaxing beach
By
Every morning I get up at 5:45a, clean my house for 30 minutes, and then spend the next hour to hour and a half doing the nightly episode guide, responding to e-mail, and sometimes even getting up an extra post or two. Throughout the day, I monitor the site, and the comments, and the Colbert-related news that is breaking, and my e-mail with my iPhone. Often, like today, I bring my netbook to work and blog or catch up on site related e-mails during my lunch. When I get home at night, I often spend an hour or two either blogging, again catching up on e-mails, keeping up with the Completists, or doing other adminstrative site duties. I figure I put in a good 3-4 hours of site work each day. I go to bed early so that I can do a guide in the morning. I never get to watch the show live any more, or simply “watch” the show like a normal fan. Each show means an hour and a half of work, coming up with 2-3 paragraphs of commentary on the episode, at 6:30a. Have you ever tried to write intelligent commentary at 6:30a?!
On the weekends, while I do go on posting binges quite often, I also do a lot of things like clean up or change the template and other site maintenance. I also work a lot via e-mail and IM chat with completists to teach them how to be stronger bloggers, and I often brainstorm with them to help come up with new ideas for the blog. I figure I easily put at a minimum 20 hours a week into the site, and most weeks it’s probably closer to 30-40 when you count in the e-mails and Twitter and other things I do behind the scenes to keep the community happy and active. I never get a day off from this job that I have given myself, and trust me when I say that as far as rewards or perks go, to paraphrase “Rocky Horror”, I ask for nothing and I receive it in abundance. I’ve been doing this blog for over three years, and never taken any kind of extended break, with the exception of when I went to New York, which activities were still extremely blog-centric. Did I mention that none of us get paid a dime for this?
And on top of all of this, I’m working full time, with over an hour’s worth of commuting each day, plus keeping up with our home, plus working with my husband to keep our marriage happy, and on rare occasions seeing some of my real life friends.
I am burned out.
I need to take a step back to refresh and recharge, so that I can calm down, get myself grounded and begin enjoying things again. When I allow myself the time to take a few steps back and find my core, and remember that this site is first and foremost here to give thanks to Stephen Colbert (all praise and glory his name, peace be upon him), it takes me back to a simple, uncomplicated place where I find my renewed passion for this blog and this subject and this community.
So, I’m taking a break. An internet vacation, if you will. I’m not sure how long – maybe a few days, maybe even as long as a couple of weeks. I’ll check my e-mail once or twice a day and forward any tips to the other completists, but that’s it. No Twitter. No blogging. No IM’s. Lots and lots of sleep and rest and reading. Maybe I’ll start that exercise program I’ve been meaning to do. I definitely want to go on a weekend day trip with my sweet husband, who puts up with me sitting in front of these monitors way more than a husband should have to. I really need to make sure to stay on my game for the next few weeks at my new job – I’m approaching the end of my 90-day probation, and I really want to sprint to the finish.
This also means no episode guides. Maybe one of the other completists can take it upon themselves to at least put up a placeholder post so that people can chat about the episode. Or maybe I’ll do a quick one in the mornings. But truth be told, I kinda want to sleep in tomorrow. And go spend some time on the couch with my sweet husband, to watch TV and pet the kitties and do some of the “normal” things that people who don’t blog take for granted.
I’ll catch everyone in a while! Have fun while I’m gone! Here’s a picture of a puppy.
Related posts
29 Comments
August 5th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Go ahead and take a well deserved break! After all, a labor of love shouldn’t be so much labor that all the love gets squeezed out.
We’ll mind the store while you’re gone, and we’ll try not to break anything :)
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Virtual hugs, lady! Get some sleep, enjoy your hubby and your cats! Breathe free air, read books, see friends!
You absolutely deserve a break, and I strongly encourage you to indulge in whatever you need to in order to make yourself feel human again.
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Ditto what wren said. We’ll keep things humming along here. Don’t worry; just go RELAX.
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
A well-deserved break, DB. Enjoy it! And thank you for the adorable picture. :)
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
You definitely seem to be well due for a break. Enjoy it and relax! =) That puppy is so cute. As is the man petting the puppy. ^_^
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
DB, have a wonderful break. You are doing a great job on the site and if you need a break from it, I’m sure it will continue and things will be fine all around. Enjoy your vacation!
And yes, adorable pic. :)
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
DB, enjoy your well-earned and much-deserved break. Get a massage. Get lots of massages. And mani-pedis. We promise not to break NFZ while you’re away!
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Enjoy your break DB. Have lots of fun!
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
This sounds like a wonderful idea, DB! You do so much work here to keep the blog going that you deserve it!
Enjoy your break!! :)
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
DB – you definately deserve this! Enjoy your break!
Reply
August 5th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Mental Health breaks are good
because morale
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Have a great break!
si
U
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Have a great break DB. With all of the great work you do on this site you really deserve it. Just like how Colbert and the writers need to take occasional breaks too.
We will all be contributors. We will pick up your work.
ReCaptcha: Pittsburgh’s unplug
I believe that should be “DB’s unplug.
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 1:28 am
PUPPY!
this is fantastic and well deserved. we <3 you DB! we appreciate every drop of effort you (and everyone else) put into maintaining this sites excellence. thanks for building a community where my adoration is validated, accepted and increased. have a great time, be safe, don't talk to strangers. :D
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Enjoy your break. You really deserve it :)
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Take as much time off as you need, DB. I encourage you to take off a week at least. We all appreciate so much the work you do here, but we also appreciate you as a person and know being this busy takes its toll, even when you’re doing something you love. It amazes me that you can keep up your inspiration and dedication to something for so long and after putting so much work into it. It must be difficult, but I can’t imagine being in your current position and enjoying the world of Colbert the way it is meant to be enjoyed. The joy machine is precious and I don’t want it passing you by for our sake.
So take plenty of time to relax and take your mind completely of the bloggy world for a while. Read a good book, listen to some music, meditate, spend time with people you love…anything to let you forget about the stress for a while. And take a night or two to watch TCR in real time; live in the moment with it and take some time to just let Stephen make you smile. Then you can start with a relatively clean slate. *hugs*
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Wow, couldn’t have said it better if I tried honestly. But I wholeheartedly echo your sentiments.
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 9:30 am
DB, have a wonderful vacation; you take all the time you need. Good luck with your job, and enjoy being a “normal” (whatever that means!;) ) fan.
reCaptcha: Kennedy masseur
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am
No worries, have fun and unplug, and thanks for all your hard work.
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Have a well-deserved break DB! I don’t know how you’ve kept going this long! May the words “Stephen Colbert” mean no more than simply enjoying his show during your break:)
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Thanks for all the hard work you put in here.
I hope you have a great break!!
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I agree with every word typed above! Take care of yourself and the blog will take care of you! It does the mind, heart, and soul good to take a step back, rest and refocus. You, family and friends will reap the rewards. Don’t worry about us–it won’t be the same without you, but we promise not to have a party while you’re gone! :)
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
What they said! DB, take your time and decompress. We promise not to burn the place down, or get out of control.
My dear Show Buddy, have a nice blogless Webcation. We’re a community that you’ve brought together, and we stick together. I’ll miss your posts, but I know you’ll be back when it’s time. And you’ll be all refreshed!
Thanks for the puppy. You know, if one of the Completists can just post some eye candy or a puppy each day, I’ll be good with that. That can be a place holder for each episode, and then we can just talk amongst ourselves. Don’t worry – be happy. :-)
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
You definitely deserve a break longer than a few days! Know that we appreciate you, and have a relaxing time, however long it is.
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
You are a strong woman, DB! I would have collapsed from exhaustion within a month of attempting your incredible schedule.
Try to be a just a Zoner for a while, and enjoy your wonderful creation with the rest of us.
Between the Report and No Fact Zone, we get to revel in the bounty of Colbert’s work and you most certainly deserve to do absolutely nothing except enjoy, be entertained, and delight like Mr. Colbert intended for his audience to do!
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I can imagine it is completely exhausting to keep this site running with such quality content. Although it is my absolute favorite Colbert site, you more than deserve some time off to rest and relax and do “normal person” things. Take all the time you need! I hope you find peace and joy and get re-energized. We all need that from time to time. Take care!
Reply
August 6th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Have fun!
Reply
August 7th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Enjoy your time off, DB! And while we appreciate your dedication to all things Colbert, feel free to take a break whenever you need to. We all need some time off every once in awhile, even from the things (and pundits) we love.
And kudos to your husband for putting up with the other man in your life! :)
(great photo, btw: Stephen + puppy = <3)
Reply
August 9th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Hi DB, As you can see while you’ve been taking a break the other completists have kept things chugging along quite nicely. Knowing that, I hope that when you come back you’ll give yourself permission to do only as much as gives you pleasure and nothing more. If you don’t feel like doing an episode guide, for example, quite probably a completist or a zoner would be happy to step into the breach. But what if the episode guide goes unwritten? Well, the world will still keep revolving and NFZ will still be a great site.
Reply