Yes, it is true: the Daystar boiled my frog. Bear with me. I'm mixing and matching memes here. First up: let's start with an inconvenient fact: I do my best at-the-computer work (scripting and coloring) before 10am. If I haven't started by 10am sometimes I can't start at all. My head goes all stupid, and I get headaches. Getting up earlier does seem to help, so that's been my solution. Get up early, work hard until 10am, take a nap, and then get out of the house for penciling and inking. Next Up: Boiling frogs. I don't know if this is true or not, but as the myth goes if you drop a live frog in boiling water it will leap out. It might even live. If, however, you drop the frog in tepid water and then slowly heat it you will be able to boil the frog. The moral? Slow changes, even deadly ones, may not be noticed by the victim. Third, the Geek meme: We all know geeks hate direct sunlight. The Daystar, it burns us. This Penny-Arcade sums up many people's feelings on the matter. Now... let's tie these together. As it turns out, by 10am it has gotten quite bright behind my house, especially on a sunny day when there is lots of snow on the ground. There is a window in my office almost directly behind my monitors. This morning at 11:00am I was lamenting the late start, the lack of productivity, and while nursing a headache at my desk I chanced to shield my eyes. Almost instantly the headache was gone, and awareness dawned on me like... well, like dawn, but I don't want to cast the Daystar in a pleasant light. It makes enough darn light, thankyouverymuch. Apparently I'm not self-aware enough to notice the gradual increase in Daystar-induced pain while I'm working. Tomorrow's productivity tool: drawn drapes! As it happens, the migraine-inducing radiation of the Daystar can be blocked with a single layer of tightly-woven, heavy, and above all opaque fabric.
