As I was walking out of my last Illustrator class, and actually my last class at the PNCA (at least for the time being), I was suddenly struck with a nasty and overwhelming headache. Perhaps I've just spent far too much time staring at computer monitors lately, though that seems unlikely given how much I do that anyway, but regardless, I went from quite happy and pleased with myself to miserable and nauseous in about 0.2 seconds.

The first thing to go when I'm not feeling well is my good sense when it comes to eating. I'll chow down on anything if I think it will do me the slightest bit of good, and quite often I'll wind up regretting those decisions later. As soon as this headache hit I immediately headed for Wendy's, even though I already had a packed lunch sitting in my briefcase. (Didn't get the chance to eat that, though, because class let out early, and therefore we had no break. That didn't stop the girl -- the one who I previously thought was 16 but who I now have discovered is old enough to be engaged and work for Nike -- from bringing a fragrant cup of noodles into the computer lab. And no, she didn't bring enough for everyone, the bitch.) The urge for Wendy's may have had something to do with the overpowering smell of baked potatoes when I left the school, but it also was just the need to stuff as much food (and caffiene) as I could in my mouth in the hopes that it would quell my headache.

The chicken sandwich and potato were soon joined by a Snickers, some cookies, a peanut butter and honey sandwich, tomato soup, and (finally) crackers. And I'm probably going to have some rolls before I got to bed, partially because, although my headache is gone, my nausea isn't completely, and I find the best way to treat mild upset like that is with lots and lots of starch.

Also, I like rolls.

The other result of this headache is that I didn't get to go for a run, which adds further guilt to the whole overeating thing. But going for a jog would have been monstrously stupid, not that I'm above that level of idiocy lately...

My last two classes were fairly unremarkable. I half-assed the final projects, just like I knew I would, though I was able to do much better on the Illustrator project than the Photoshop one, which is about in inverse relationship to my respective skills in those areas. I just couldn't bring myself to care, but I lucked out in Illustrator. The other students still put in a lot more work than I did, and I felt slightly sheepish for a moment, but then I remembered that I'm unlikely to either see them or wind up working for them any time in the future, and my embarrassment subsided. It's a lot easier to not give a shit when nothing's at stake.

So perhaps the headache was just karmic payback for not trying harder. Hard to say.

I may actually take more classes, but I think I'll stay in beginning-level ones from here on out. I really don't feel like I learned much in the intermediate ones, and the class sizes shrank so significantly that social opportunities were limited as well. There was one girl in the Illustrator class that I got along with quite well, though I wasn't really attracted to her per se, but when she off-handedly mentioned her boyfriend, I suddenly lost any idea of how to approach her to just hang out without sounding, I don't know, non-platonic. So often there's the opposite problem with guys, I find. It's hard to bring up "hanging out" without feeling a bit, well, gay, unless the concept is fairly clearly mutual. Frankly, I'm amazed I have any friends at all...

Before I go, since you've made it this far, I'll leave you with this link, which originated from this site. Have fun, kiddies, and try not to poke your eye out with it.