So, remember when Data showed Dr. Crusher his “On/Off” switch in the first season episode, “Datalore”? Even if you don’t remember or have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, just nod. It’ll make me happy.

I think I found my “On/Off” switch for work. I found it on Saturday, the second my supervisor told me that I could leave the onsite meeting we had all been working downtown last week. I flicked that switch off faster than Data replaced all the isolinear chips down in Engineering during “The Naked Now.” (Again, just smile and nod.) I spent from Saturday through last night in an undisclosed Southern location with a whole passel of family, consuming mass quantities of delectable food and beer and just enjoying the transformation of my neural pathways into blobby tapioca pudding. It was wonderful.

I can’t seem to get the switch to turn back on though. I’ve been here all day, trying to focus on a task that I do every year, only this year it’s taking me far longer. I don’t think my brain is quite ready to return to active duty. So I’ve been coaxing it along in the most ridiculous of ways. For every page I complete of this task before me, I allow myself to read a page from the latest story I’ve been perusing on one of my consistently favorite Web sites EVAR: FanFiction.net.

I love fan fiction. You can’t really be as big a nerd as I am and not at least have read some of it. I read a lot of it. Not as much as I used to, but I’ve been getting back into it lately. Some of it is breathtakingly beautiful, written with a care and talent that rivals or sometimes surpasses the professionals. Of course, some of it is achingly atrocious. I can suss out the truly horrid works quite quickly most of the time, but I have to confess that I delight when I find a gem among the sludge. And FanFiction.net is probably one of the largest collections of fanfic anywhere on the Internet, with stories on almost any television show, movie, cartoon, manga, etc. They’ve even got Golden Girls fanfic (no, I haven’t read any of that; I know what takes place in some of the other fanfics I’ve read, and I don’t think I could handle reading something similar about any of that cast).

Yeah yeah, I’ve written it, too. You can’t find mine online anymore. I keep it under lock and key now and only show it to those who are really in my good graces. There’s nothing that can test the bonds of friendship quite like sharing bad fanfic written by a teenage Trek geek who hasn’t experienced anything beyond school and a deep burning love for a nerdy sci-fi show 😉

To be honest, I still write fanfic, but only in my head. I haven’t put any of the stories to paper since I was in college, but I carry around certain stories inside my messy tangle of a brain, and I dip in every now and again to push along the plot. I have my favorites. One takes place on Deep Space Nine and Bajor and centers on a character I actually created for something else a long time ago, but kind of found a more permanent home in my Trek files. You don’t get anymore than that though. Yes, that’s right: I’m a Trek tease.

I don’t really have more to say beyond this. I suppose this was a purely indulgent post, but I really don’t have anything relevant or poignant to say. How about this? I’ll repost the cover I drew for my fanfic. I used to have it in my old site’s portfolio section. I haven’t really put pencil to paper since I drew this. I was never happy with it and finally just gave up. Besides, PhotoShop just makes everything so much easier now…