Hiatus

So, the past few weeks have been pretty much this:

However, all good things must come to an end. This semester will require my complete, undivided, utter attention. I have a tendency to obsess over certain topics, which can be a problem if I need to focus on something and my obsession in on something else. I can't just dial it down, I have to shut it off. Does this mean I want to leave the fandom. Hell no. I'll still watch new episodes, but instead of doing it in the comfort of my room on youtube, I'll watch in the living room on TV. I can't go to pony sites, because I'll no doubt spend an entire night poking around. Hell, I do that already; think of what would happen if there were a backlog. Of course, the issue I face now is what to replace for entertainment without becoming obsessive, since MLP covered that base pretty well. I'll probably go to books, straying away from long series — except for the Wheel of Time. The last book is coming out on the 8th, so there's no way I'm going to skip that.

Really, it all comes down to discipline. Is there something about MLP that inherently makes me lose time? No, that happens with any media I obsess over. One–shot movies take up an afternoon as I read up on production notes on wikipedia and imdb. Book series and video games take up more time, and TV series the most. Granted, the level of obsession with pony is far more than all my other stuff (Wheel of Time during my high school years maybe rivals it), but the problem is the same. So, if that's it, I just use discipline and limit pony consumption, right? No, that's like asking an alcoholic to keep it at one beer. The analogy is not completely the same, because I will eventually have the discipline to enjoy my hobbies without it dominating all my time. But right now, I can't take any chances. It's tough, but at least for a little bit, I'll have to cut off all pony... except the music, because I can listen to that while doing other things.

The other big reason why I'm taking a break is because I need to focus my obsession back onto my studies. I need to become one with the machine. Whenever I do that, I always impress myself, and occasionally other people. When it comes down to it, I love what I do. Just, it's nice to take a break once in a while. Which I did. And now I have to get back to work. Which I am doing. Any minute now.

Don't worry, I'll be back mid-March, if everything goes well.