Within typing distance.

As many already know, I'm not so good at keeping in touch with people. Email is a great advance in communication but it still doesn't motivate me to become punctual. I tend to procrastinate yet I am a perfectionist. I'll receive a casual message from a friend and will often respond later than what is considered to be polite--I'll stare at the computer thinking of things to say for a longer time than I should, leading me to wait until an appropriate time to respond or when I have "the right mindset." I will actually do the same thing when missing a call (but won't take nearly as long to respond) and will wait to call the person back. It's not that I am careless, as I will read the messages in my inbox almost immediately and they will stay right there (or will not be placed in a folder of messages that I haven't replied to). I suppose I'm impolite and a sonofabitch to get a hold of. For that, I apologize to those people who will likely not read this entry.

On another note, I'm relieved that Christmas is over. I thoroughly enjoy the whole celebration of Christmas (in a non-religious fashion) and seeing my family and friends, but become easily restless. Every year my family visits my mother's side of the family, which seems more and more of an obligation rather than a gracious opportunity to see relatives that are actually enjoyable to be around. Of course there are those aunts, uncles and cousins whom you prefer to spend time with over others while there are those you hope to avoid at all possible. The repetitive conversations become less sentimental and instead turn into an obligation of sorts, ironically. On the drive down, my sister spoke out loud about what to say in response to polite inquiries that are commonly asked every year (e.g. "What are you studying now?" "When do you plan on graduating?", et cetera). Because she feels inadequate about her future plans and cannot provide specifications, she is resultantly diffident about what to say. This mindset obviously leads to anxiety and unnecessary stress--not cool, man.