Burning the Midnight Oil
Today started exactly how it should.
We had an awesome dinner at Arts & Eats Café. It was one of those meals that hits just right. The kind where you lean back afterward and think, “Yep I could take a nap right here.” For a brief moment, life slowed down. Good food. Good company. Time to relax.
Then…
My old nemesis struck again.
Dyslexia.
Or is it Lexdysia?
See? That’s exactly the problem.
Forget Thanos. Forget Dr. Doom. Dyslexia is the ultimate supervillain. It doesn’t throw punches. It quietly swaps numbers, letters, and dates until you’re confidently marching in the wrong direction.
It turns out my artwork isn’t due on Monday.
It’s due tomorrow.
Cue the dramatic music.
So instead of easing into the weekend, we’re burning the midnight oil.
The final stretch has begun. We’re cleaning up edges, adding those last little details that make a painting come alive, painting the sides of the canvases, and getting two pieces ready to hang. It’s amazing how much work happens in those final hours before a deadline. Most people only see the finished painting. They don’t see the quiet race against the clock that often happens behind the scenes.
To keep the studio company, we’ve got *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* playing in the background.
Captain Sisko, Jake, Nog, and Quark head off camping in the Gamma Quadrant. Naturally, things go sideways. Sisko and Quark get captured by the Jem’Hadar, leaving Jake and Nog with the small problem of manually flying a shuttlecraft through the wormhole to get help.
Suddenly, my painting deadline doesn’t seem quite so catastrophic.
Perspective is a funny thing.
Sure, I’ve got paint on my hands, two canvases to finish, and a deadline breathing down my neck—but at least I’m not trying to navigate the Gamma Quadrant while dodging the Dominion.
I’ll take cleaning up brushstrokes over surviving the Jem’Hadar any day.
Time to put the coffee on, pick up the brushes, and finish these paintings.
The midnight oil isn’t going to burn itself.
