A Sonnet to Sabbaticals Past

I've been battling the blues for the last few weeks - actually ever since I went back to work in the beginning of November. I can't figure out why - I mean, it can't be the fact that I'm back to working 60-70 hour weeks again, because everyone knows thats really a ton of fun, right? Right. :)

So I'm guessing its probably because I didn't have that much fun during the sabbatical - maybe sabbaticals are over-rated (Though looking at my severely depleted savings account - that caused a minor panic about my ability to pay my credit card bills at the end of Nov - I'd say they deserve to be highly 'rated')

The credit card panic was a first for me. There were other firsts during the sabbatical - and here they are penned down in a Shakespearean sonnet (as opposed to a Petrarchan or Spenserian one - amazing how a quick google search can make you sound so much more intellectual than you are).

Let the lines serve as a warning to those contemplating a sabbatical themselves - beware - in the end - you can sum up all the fun in 14 lines (or less!)

My Favorite Firsts

Cycling (13 miles!) over the Golden Gate to Sausolito
Greeting cute - and not so cute - guys at SF's coolest STD testing center with a smile
Applying - and being turned down - for a waiter's job at more than one trendy bistro
Ushering-for-a-day at the Orpheum theatre to see the Putnam County Spelling Bee: free but not exactly in style :)

Driving a convertible - over the ocean to Key West
Taking advantage of the local hospitality - read decadence
to go natural-born swimming - no jest
Notching up another nationality - the French!

I saw Mariah Carey in Oakland - marvelled at her vocal calisthenics
Hiked - 8 miles! - in Yosemite...and then lazed all next day reading the NY Times :)
Volunteered as a city guide to touring hostelites - and no, not for tricks!
Took meditation classes, apprendi Espagnol, blogged about my favorite rhymes

In the end, I ask myself, was it all worth it - if I'm back to feeling blue
Well - says my philosopher-voice - the blues will go away, the memories will stay with you