Travails of a Poster Boy

Leon,

Good evening, my friend. I've just finished dinner and have found time to dwell on recent tasks which serve as this entry's muse. It would seem that word of my occupational specialty has made its way across the camp, as numerous fellow soldiers have come to me with various requests. Most of these requests revolve around the same thing; that is, they want a special logo just for them.

Naturally, these kinds of tasks fall to the bottom of the barrel as I have a multitude of other tasks that take priority. One such task is the creation of a propaganda poster for the Afghan National Army (ANA). My problem is that we already have one.

The issue is that the top brass, for some reason or another, doesn't like the one we already have, after I took the trouble to frame it and hang it in the conference room. You see, our current poster was put together by the PSYOP command, but what these guys want is their own claim to fame.

So, they task me, one of two illustrators — the other never really does his job, so all tasks get pushed to me — to create a brand new one from scratch. But wait! There's more! They want this bitch to read in Dari. So, on top of creating a brand new poster, I have to somehow pull an English-to-Dari translation from the deepest recesses of my colon — a very difficult process, mind you.

Of course, a task coming from the highest ranks in the unit precedes everything, but there's a problem with this. I've been working toward some designs for some T-shirts and sweatshirts for the re-enlistment NCO. I've been working on this project for roughly two weeks now, with other tasks interrupting the process at every turn. This is wearing on my client's patience, which in turn is wearing on his clients' patience. This all comes down on me in the end, which wears on my overall sanity — and I'm disgruntled enough as it is, I assure you.

There is a light at the end of this long tunnel. I put in many an extra hour in the office last night working on said poster, which is currently near completion. I'm just waiting on the Dari. With this extra time, I was able to work on another design for the shirts, which I will turn in to my client as soon as possible.

Oh yes, four more years.

Peace,

Feelgoode