Climbing up out of my hole
Published 11 Sep 2006
I feel like I write posts like this all the time, but it’s part of the process for me.
I am just now coming out of a major depressive episode that started sometime in March, before I went to SXSW. I haven’t been able to do much writing since then, and I’ve been a bad friend and family member as well. I owe apologies to a bunch of folks that I should have been keeping in better touch with: Jess especially, but also some others in places like Australia and England.
I’m not going to go on much more about all this, I have other places where I will do that. So instead I will fill y’all in on some of the major happenings that I haven’t reported.
First, the tickets for my trip to Australia are bought. I will be there from January 15 to February 28, flying into Melbourne (which you have to pronounce Mel-burn or you’ll sound like a Gringo) and leaving from Sydney. We’ll be in Melbourne for about 2 weeks or so while Brian works on a research project on greater gliders, and then spending the rest of the time traveling. Not sure of the whole agenda yet, but we’ll be spending some time in Tasmania and the Great Barrier Reef.
Which leads me to say that I’m much more sad about the fate of the Crocodile Hunter than I thought I would be. The guy was annoying and flamboyant, but you can’t argue that he was a genuine animal lover. And the conservation movement has lost an important player.
The project that I have been spending the last 6 months or so working on launched to surprisingly good reviews, despite unprecedented amounts of stress. And we also just launched two new department sites, a program site, and a virtual tour.
I’m still working on a retooling of this site to make it easier for me to add new animal themes. I still need to replace the skunk. I am thinking about going with an all Australian animal theme, if I can get things set up before I leave.
I’m sure there’s more that I missed, like Brian getting tenure and other milestones that have passed in the last six months— I’ll just have to let those go an once again start over. If I owe you an email, I’m sorry, but I had to move everything to the archives to be able to face the inbox. I’m back on top of things now, so I should be a better correspondent.
In: Cocoa on the Couch
This is the section that contains all of my personal articles — sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter — it’s good to have a fire going and a cat purring in your lap when you read these.
Coffee at my Desk
Please caption your videos about web accessibility
Seriously. This should be obvious. Why would you make inaccessible videos about accessibility?
Yet, I have found this happening more and more lately. I has become very frustrating for me, …More »
Margarita on the Rocks
Meet me in Austin
I am leaving bright and early tomorrow morning (like at 4am, sheesh) to attend my 4th SXSW. I’m really looking forward to getting out of Dodge for a while, …More »
Commentary
Jacob Mattison writes
Sep 13 at 08:50 AM #
You don’t know me; just a fellow University web person who reads and enjoys your blog. Just wanted to say, as someone who has suffered from depression, that I hear you. Don’t waste any of this precious energy feeling bad about things you didn’t do, emails you didn’t write, stories you didn’t blog about. There are lots of other sources. I’m glad you’re back, and I’ll eagerly read whatever you end up writing. Good luck!
Jane writes
Sep 15 at 03:42 PM #
hey! don’t be depressed! life is wonderful!:)
Mariny writes
Sep 22 at 05:35 PM #
It is so good that you found efforts to climb up. You know, life is like an onion. You peel it off layer by layer and sometimes you cry. It is normal, the problem is that few people are strong to live through faced troubles. Always sing to you-don’t worry, be happy! Good luck!
Marla Erwin writes
Sep 28 at 11:24 AM #
Just read an interesting (and long) post on Dog or Higher about depression in the IT professions. Those of us who tend toward it for whatever biological or psychological reason will, according to John Allsop, find it exacerbated by our career-driven “obsessiveness, very high standards, social anxiety, creativity, coupled with stressful life circumstances (extremely long hours, arbitrary deadlines, lack of control over many variables of the work environment, lack of job security).”
The words “arbitrary” and lack of control” really resonated with me. Sounds familiar, and it helps to see it in black and white…
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