Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

the crucible

This week has been a true endurance test for me at work. The other two news designers are at Flash Forward this week (where they just won an award at the Flash Film Festival for the package “Eyes on the War”), and I’ve been here, manning the fort where news graphics are concerned. And between the Washington Nationals’ opening day on Monday and this morning’s funeral for Pope John Paul II, it’s been a busy week for news.

I’ve had to cut out soda for this week, though; drinking so much caffeine when I’m already on edge is a bad combination, guaranteed to give me the shakes and make me feel even more stressed, even as it helps me work at a more frenzied pace. I was a wreck by the end of Wednesday; sticking to water and fruit juice yesterday made for a much calmer Aly.

In a sick, masochistic kind of way, flying solo, while certainly punishing, is kind of a thrill. (So long as this is just a temporary thing.) That said, I’m kind of tired of hearing, “So you’re all alone this week, huh? I bet you’re really stressed and overloaded right now. Mind if I add one more thing to the pile?”

I’ve had a chance to work on some awesome stuff this week, though, and I’m continually in awe of the amazing work that the folks here can pull together.

Anyway, so, cool stuff this week:

• The new Flash-based index page for the Washington Nationals section went live on Tuesday.
• Finished a graphic last night about the Pope’s funeral ceremony. I’ll probably add links to video and transcripts later today.
• Making final corrections on another Pope graphic that’ll be going live later today or on Monday.
• Mocked up the homepage design for Friday funeral coverage.
• Made progress on a couple other projects that are coming up due.

It’s been an interesting — and insanely productive — ride this week.