Thoughts on Moving Out

So it's over a week until I get the keys to my own apartment and get all my stuffs moved out. But man, seeing all the things I have accumulated over the years has got me to thinking about how I feel about it all.

In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what to feel. I want to feel proud for having a decent-sized personal library and a beautiful record collection, but at the same time, I'm like "so this is where most of my money went to". If anything, it's definitely humbling. And I do hope by getting my own space that I change my relationship to all my things. See what blesses me, get rid of what doesn't.

Other thoughts include (I choose you... Bullet List! *throws out Pokeball*):

• Whoa, since I'll be on the third floor, I'm gonna have some sexy legs!
• Oh dang, don't I have a few preorders left? *checks list* Yup, I do.
• I'll still have to worry about making noise, since I'll have neighbors VERY close by.
• Thanks to my dad and eBay, I now have my own sweet audio system!
• I have over twenty boxes full of books alone. OMG. 
• I won't have the Internet on at the abode* right away. I may need to change that. 
• Got some blessing candles by Crystal Journeys: Housewarming and Protection! I'll also have my mom pray in the space as well before I get settled in.
• I better have a kitchen island. *glares at apartment complex*
• Places I'll live nearby: two 7-11's, two major freeways, several other apartment complexes, a movie theater, and a Starbucks. 
• Despite moving closer to a major freeway, my commute to work is shaved down by five-seven minutes. Good thing I don't give a f***. 

*In the spirit of bloggers naming people or things with funny titles, I will refer to my new apartment as "the abode" until further notice.

I Swear to Dead, I'm Not God!

Sweet holy everything up in Heaven, I was gone for a long time! Over a month. Wow, well, that's what happens when you have a full-time job, kids.

But tons of things happened! Lemme get through them the best I can with my good friend, the Bullet List!

• I got a new laptop! It's an HP Envy and it arrived exactly one week ago. I love it! It's lighter and more powerful than my last one.
• I found out that I need to get better at getting people to actually pay over the phone. Otherwise, my scorecard will remain in the sad place it's at right now.
• I turned 28 and it feels awesome. I love being older, it seems I mature better like a fine wine.
• I got published again! This time, on a Tumblr literary magazine. A flash fiction piece that finally had a home!
• Thanks to Susannah Conway's workbook, I found my word for the year: BECOMING.
• I saw The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 with my mom and my sister. It was a good film!
• After obsessively listening to this New Pornographers song to and from work to get me pumped up, I have officially declared it my Song of 2015. Thank you, "Level Up" by Vienna Teng. You have supported me wonderfully this year.
• I had a very low-key Christmas, but I look forward to rocking it out for New Year's Eve!
• My hometown finally got a Torchy's Tacos and I am in love. The Trailer Park taco is my favorite!

I'm sorry that I haven't written so much these days, here or in my projects. It's been an adjustment to get used to this new job! One of my many plans is to post at least twice a week on here starting next year.

Hope your holidays were wonderful. And if not, here is to a forthcoming year full of new beginnings and continuing adventures!

~~

This post is sponsored by Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down". So, here is me taking back the jokes I made about my Dad's music taste*.



*But if I start posting any music by the Moody Blues, please send help.

A Good Run of Bad Luck

Okay, I had some things go down since I last wrote on here. Allow me to present it in bullet list form, since I'm lazy and it also will work better for this. Sounds good? Alrighty then, let's go!

• The only good thing that happened last week was the screening of Stop Making Sense. The crowd was awesome, singing along and cheering. It was like "I found my people!" And I don't even live in Austin. ;_; (About three people complimented my shirt!)
• The job search wasn't going very well. Had a so-so interview the day after the Stop Making Sense screening. I also had a video interview with one bank, a teller skills assessment test with another. Got a "nope" email after the video interview and barely passed the test (I was two points away from the minimum) and have to wait two months to retake it. 
• Atop all this, my mood was really off for some reason. I had trouble pinning it down, but I feared the worst: is depression coming to visit again?
• Saturday night, I finally realized the cause of my "off" mood: I was fighting off a nasty cold. So I spent my two days off (yesterday and today) to recover from it. Coughing so hard I pulled a muscle on my left side, so it hurt to stand until today. 
• With my two days off, I watched archived livestreams by Ray of Achievement Hunter, played Plants vs. Zombies (shut up, this game's ridiculously fun), and did some light reading. Along with eating a ton of fruit popsicles (which helped my throat when it was getting real sore from the coughing). 

But now, there is an extra set of good news: I got another interview with a local credit union for a part-time teller job, so there's that! And also, I haven't heard back from the interview from Tuesday, so there's a slight chance of that being a yes. But we'll have to see...

I also have made a huge leap in recovering from the cold. I am not about to run a 5K or anything like that, but it is a big difference. I'm keeping a sharp eye on it so it doesn't turn into bronchitis or something equally ugly. 

Haven't done any serious reading or writing since I fell ill, but I hope to begin that again once I start regaining my strength. 

That's about what was going on with me these days. Hope things are better for y'all. If not, I hope they do get better, at least, a little more than it was before. <3 div="">

*not bothering with this*

As per usual, life took over and I avoided doing things like creative work and even fun things like writing on here. But as I get a handle on it, I realize that I can make time to do the things I want to do and love to do so I can feel like each day has some meaning to it.

Alright, enough of my nonsense, here's some of what I've been up to these days:

• Job search is going okay. No return calls or invites for interviews. But after a series of events that I won't go into here (due to privacy), I'm more determined than ever to find something, even if it's part-time.

• Borrowing too many library books, but eventually settled down. Currently reading Finding Your Element. 

• Since all the Exxon gas stations in my town have become 7-11s, I've been buying too many Slurpees and bags of cheese curls. I regret nothing.

• Thanks to reading The Element, I realized that I actually have some hobbies that make me content. I just need to concentrate on those instead of trying to find new ones.

• OMG y'all, Stop Making Sense is going to have a special screening in Austin next month. *fangirlism intensifies* 

• Been actually writing. Holy Moses, and it's going well. And I need to do it more often. *dumbass*

That's about it. Uhmm... here, have Ray sum up my feelings about life as of today.

And a Geoff. Until next time... later, peeps!

Small update on life and stuff and whatever... *snoozes*

So here I go again, writing things on this here blog and whatever. You want to know what the eff I've been up to? Sure, here ya go:

• My birthday is this Tuesday. I have no plans other than ice cream cake and surviving a morning shift at my job.

• I applied for grad school for the second time. I got everything done in less than a week. The story, I feel, is my strongest yet. I have a better advantage this time; two sets of eyeballs looked at it (a friend and my mom).

• My job search has been halted for now. I'm taking a different approach: temp jobs. More on that as it goes on.

• Yes, the job search was going that bad. I've placed twenty-six applications out there and only got one interview. Those are terrible odds.

• I actually have Thanksgiving plans! My parents invited me up to the state park they're at for a late lunch all the park employees are doing. I'm bringing a cheesecake. :D

• No Black Friday shift for me. Then again, at B&N, it's pretty underwhelming. But that doesn't hold for the rest of the retailers. Seriously, opening on Thanksgiving night, who the eff thought that was genius? No, you poor wretched retail peons, you can't have a blessed Thanksgiving! (/sarcasm) And whoever came up with it, can I please kick them hard in their happy places*?

So there ya go. You happy? You want more? Help me get a life first.

*Happy places = genitals

P.S.: Seriously, I'm not this grouchy. 

Things That Happened While I Was Not Posting...

in bullet list form for easier reading!

• I had a serious wake-up call about my current job last week. Now, I'm on the search for a new, full-time job. 
• Haven't studied the GRE completely in about two weeks. Good thing I have almost two months to study...
• I have considered never posting on Twitter again. Unless a long stretch of my life suddenly gets exciting.
• I saw Driftless Pony Club at a show and got their EP Expert autographed. They're great live.
• Got a metric ton of Women's Studies books from Borders, since they're going out of business.

  Speaking of the last thing, I have avoided the topic of bringing up who exactly I work for. Honestly, I wanted to avoid getting fired for saying bad things. It is time, in lieu of Borders's closing, to reveal. But for those who have read the few times I mentioned it and put the pieces together, it is probably easy.
  I work for Barnes & Noble. I have been there for almost five years (this coming November). Thanks to this job, I have met so many great writers from all over the country. Had fun experiences with customers and co-workers. It was a wonderful place to work while I was in college. But it is time to move on.
  I need full-time, consistent employment. In this economy, that is a hard thing to find. There has to be something there that will fit me.

  And that is what transpired in the last week or so. Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna make some more posts to make up for the lack of them...

Silly post ahoy!

• I got a brand-new fountain pen. Pictured below:

Gorgeous thing, isn't it? It is a Pelikan M620 Piccadilly Circus with an extra-fine tip. It writes like a fluffy-cloud dream.

• My sister, being the awesome person she is, bought me this as a surprise gift:

Yep, that's a monolith. The same one from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yes, you can buy one for yourself.

...oh my God, it's full of stars. /lulz

Randomass thoughts for your reading enjoyment

• I'm lacking an important tool: a paper awl. So I have been using a small awl my father uses for household projects. It works well, but it hurts to use. Earlier today, I bought a hole punch that you use with a hammer to see if that ends up being better. Will let y'all know.

• On the hunt for more hobbies, my mother suggested that I try crocheting (one of her longtime hobbies, alongside reading). We found a beginner's kit on sale at Hobby Lobby. We'll see if that ends up into something good.

• I currently have 13 library books checked out. What hast thou done?!

• For the first time in f***ing forever, I'm gonna get right back into writing and editing. I swear to God, if I don't do something about my procrastinating... I will kick my own ass. *grumbles*

To close, here are some of my finished bookbinding projects:

And yes, that is a crocheted afghan. My mother made it.
Yes, it is awesome.
No, you cannot have it.

An interesting week so far... (with the help of an old friend: the bullet list)

Here is what happened in the last four days:

• I went to two concerts in one day: a small show by Ra Ra Riot (where my sister and I got autographs) and then a full-length show by Jónsi. Both excellent shows with great music.
• That same day, I discovered I liked Ra Ra Riot more than Arcade Fire.
• Rock Band 3 came out and I've been playing with my all-girl band "Isis In Darkness" (named after a Margaret Atwood short story). The keyboards are haaaaard.
• Before that, I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas as my character, a guy named Jeremiah.
• My sister bought me this and I'm happier than a clam in smooth, clean sand.
• I did stuff at my internship, including some work on a style guide.
• I saw this commercial, which made my week suck at first. And then finding out there were two more of these, OMGwat. I'm disgusted by it, aack. I mean, I nearly puked. Yeah, lead poisoning is serious stuff, but it's paint going into a baby bottle WTF. (After seeing it again to get the link, I'm a little nauseous and lightheaded.)
• At the same time, I was in a terrible mood for a week. Then I learned I'm due for my monthly period. And I got better. How does that happen?
• I finished Mockingjay, the last book of The Hunger Games trilogy. Man, it's like The Matrix all over again: we have to pretend the last two parts don't exist. Dammit.

No more boring things to relate. And so I go.

Stuff About Crazy Lady Writer...

Before I begin with the list, I should say that alas, the bonanza must come to an end. At this point, it seems useless to continue since it's long past the week I arrived at the 200th post milestone. I will post the reviews of the albums later on, once I am free of other obligations.

In the meantime, here are a menagerie of fun facts (of a more autobiographical nature):

• I was homeschooled from 5th grade to 12th grade. In my high school years, I went to a co-op and was taught Algebra, Biology, and Drama. 
• Contrary to thought generated from the last fact, I wasn't homeschooled for religious reasons. It was suggested to my parents by teachers.
• My kindergarten teacher tested me for eidetic memory, but due to fears of pigeonholing, my mother didn't push for further testing. By the way, apparently the result was "borderline" (which I guess means it's about 90%...?).
• My theological beliefs are Unitarian Universalist, but I still believe in God. I used to define myself as a nondenominational Christian, but adopted UU shortly after turning 23.
• Graduate school is in the future, but I would like to get some stories and poetry published, maybe a full-time job before I do that. Of course, it will be an M.F.A.
• I primarily collect first edition hardcover books, vinyl records, CDs, and postcards.
• Would I want to be homeschooled again? Yeah, but once I got to high school, instead of that co-op, but an arts school. That would've kicked ass.

That's about it for here. Until then... good night.

Bullet list, your glorious presence is needed!

Alrighty, time for a few updates:

• I gots me a Twitter. No, I ain't posting a link. I protected my tweets, so you couldn't even see them anyway unless I know you and you have a Twitter.
• Finals week is upon me. So far, two down with two more to go. One is tomorrow, but it is emailing my professor my final short story and a revision. And guess what? The revision isn't working out! *rageguy*
• I found out "Little Lies" (my fav Fleetwood Mac song) was sampled for some British chick's song. And yeah, the music is the only good part, obviously.
  
• I mean... "put the loving on zoom" <-- some epic poetry, y'all.
  
• While this has proven to be a good antidote to the aforementioned atrocity, it isn't working much. All I can think about is: how in God's name did a four-minute song turn eight in a live performance?
  
• Changed the icon picture. Some easels at Oxford University, a picture I took during my overseas trip from last year. Iconized by my sister. You heard it here first: "iconized". Go to it, Merriam-Webster!

If you don't hear from me for a while, be assured that I'm well, just likely recovering (see: sleeping) from finals and preparing for the madness known better as the holiday shopping season.

Until then, goodnight...

Hey look, an update!

Once again, the bullet list is my friend...

• Finished Crash today. Liked the movie a lot more, but will read more Ballard novels in the future. I didn't like the novel due to its graphic imagery, but that's because I'm a wimp about things like that. I did like what the overall theme was about.
  
• School's looking up. Two classes are boring me to death, the other two are going to be "the fun ones".
• Printing out several of my short stories and the novella "Blues" to begin drafting and editing them.
  
• Almost done with my story about the girl who falls in love with Pisces guys. About three thousand words left!
• Getting used to the new schedule. Been getting up early and getting stuff done. It's as if I've become a better student or something... P:
• The Talking Heads songs on Rock Band 2 are ace. The funnest would be "Girlfriend is Better", followed by "And She Was". While jamming out the other night, I broke the guitar controller's tremolo bar. Dammit, I'm gonna have to get a new one. The one I have will be the "bass".

Nothing else for now. So, until next time, good night...

Let's resurrect the ol' bullet list again, shall we?

It's been a while since I posted. I apologize for the length of recent posts, I guess there are things that had to be said. "Had to", of course, is subject to debate.

I also should address the recent increase of the leetspeak usage. In a post from a year ago (I think...), I said that it wouldn't be prevalent in this blog. But, it has begun to spread. So, it stops today. My intentions aren't for me to become a snob, but it is getting annoying to read. Of course, like most writing workshops teach you: if you read something and think it's bad, your audience would likely notice too and agree.

Oh, yeah, the bullet list... thought something was missing.

• Went to the library recently and borrowed a few books: Ring, Rubyfruit Jungle (which wasn't that good), and The Other Side of the Sun.
• Finished the short story I talked about a while ago, the one about the teenager in the mall. I have stopped writing since then, working on plots for now.
• Haven't read all that much, despite going to the library.
• Gearing up for school. Three of the books on the list for "Women & Literature" I have already read. Yea for re-reading!
• Listening to the songs I haven't racked up play counts on. Right now... George Strait. Yeah. *changes subject with nervous cough*
  
• Going to work in a few hours.

I'll update when something worth it (i.e. exciting) happens. Until then, good day/night...