I take one creative class at our local art school every semester - keeps me on track with having a hobby apart from coding! This year I am focusing on drawing. I think having some kind of hobby is necessary to prevent burnout, don't think it has to be creative. I do think developers have a strong creative streak - all the ones I know are either musicians or artists or crafters of some sort.

You should probably check with your dba :). One possibility could be the logs are full, another may be that you are waiting on a lock... Which DBMS are you using? Which version, and what is the SQL error number you are getting?