Sweat Shop

This past week has been a rather unique experience for me. My roommate has taken over our home. Monday I came home to find what, at first glance, appeared to be a LAN party. In my world, LAN parties are not outside the realm of possibilities. In fact, I understand, (within my circle of friends) they are fairly common. So, what makes this LAN party notable? Well, first, it was in my home. I have never, nor plan to ever in the foreseeable future, hosted a LAN party. The second factor, however (and possibly more notable) is that my roommate is far from the type of girl who might be found at such a gathering. Rather, she is an artist. But more than just being an artist, she's the type of artist who uses technology simply to further her art, rather than as another tool in navigating this world in which we live. Thirdly, all of her friends are the same type of artist as she, and there were 6 or 7 such people sitting at our kitchen table with laptops open madly typing. Thus, the scene I happened upon when entering my home Monday night was more the type of scene one might find in an absurd comedy than in the every day happenings of Miss Granola Girl. I commented on the absurdity and they commenced in mocking the situation. "The elves are in the underground!" "I know, but I can't help you, my life points are too low!" When I asked what was really going on, I was told that they were doing transcription for a large corporation who had recorded a large number of interviews, and needed the transcripts. Since she is not really gainfully employed, this was a perfect opportunity for her. How they ended up in my house is a completely different matter -- one which I have yet to persue in favour of roommate harmony. Nevertheless, it's safe to say, I left the premises, immediately. When I returned home around 10 pm the work was still in progress, but now, there were three empty pizza boxes and dirty dishes strewn throughout our normally clean home.

Tuesday morning when I left the house, I could not tell you if any of the people had actually left the night before. There they sat at their stations, headphones on, tape players running, fingers moving lethargically across the keys. The only indication that I had to assure me that they had, in deed, gone home, was the change of clothes, and lack of smell that one can expect to assail them in such a scenario. Bless them for showering. Tuesday evening the view of my apartment had altered. Now, they had expanded into the living room. I'm not sure exactly what type of work was going on in there, but something was up. So, I left again. This time I took Lydia and went in search of a place to practice. Wouldn't you know it, the only place I could think of is under serious construction! :( So, I did various tasks that needed to be done, went home and dropped her off, and then headed to a friend's house. Previous to returning home with Lydia, I ran into a friend who told me I could practice at her place, but she wasn't to be home for several hours. Thus, my plan was to go home, fill some time, and then call my friend to see if I could still practice at her home. Well, I spent so much time at my other friend's house, that when I returned home at 1 am, I opted to not call her. It is important to note, here, that everyone except my roommate had left their posts to go home, and it was almost a lonely sight to see her typing solitarily.

Never fear, however, the next morning awaited me. This time I took Lydia to work, where I was sure I could practice once everyone had left for the day. This turned out to be the case. Finally, Thursday night I came home and was assured that they had to finish this project, and would be gone by the morning. It's interesting to note, that our other roommate was nowhere to be seen, and when I asked for the roommate who had invited all of these people into our home I was told, "I thought she was here..." No one really knew for sure. Sure enough, she wasn't. So, I did what anyone in my place would do -- I turned around and left. This morning when I woke up I almost didn't recognize the house. The table was cleared, the dishes were done, the living room was picked up, and there were no laptops nor other transcription devices to be seen. It was wonderful! The Gods have smiled upon me once more. All in all, I would say, there were consistently between 6-10 people in our front rooms at any given time, with a total of (at least) 20 or so people cycling through. I am almost nervous to go home today and see what awaits me now.