From Salon.

Even the neurotics and worrywarts weren't prepared for this week's fantastical slide into worst-case scenarios. Isn't it amazing how the world can appear to be going to hell in a handbasket, and then someone douses the handbasket with gasoline, lights a match, and drop-kicks the whole flaming mess straight into a stadium filled with toddlers, adorable baby animals and flammable trash?

link

like heaven on a sunday

Life has been crazybusy. Friday was great- I got to hang out with J** and see pictures of her dog and her ultrasounds and such, and she showed me a lot about asp.net and SQL and she loaned me some really cool books. I'm very excited, she pointed me to a site where I can download some junior programming software for free. She also seems excited about having not only an adoring fan but someone at work she might eventually be able to talk to about her projects and bounce ideas off of. I'm thrilled, I think she's just brilliant.

Meatwad and I have been talking about how funny it is that we've gotten OLD so quickly. We were awake sans alarm clock by 9:30 today (it was 8:00 yesterday). We rented a U-Haul (I am old enough to rent cars now! Yay!) and drove to Takoma Park (20 minute drive) to pick up a couch from a friend who is moving out of her apartment. It's old and beat up and bits of it are taped together, but she gave it to us for free (!!!!). Sure, we had to pay for the U-Haul (came to about $54) but considering all the thrift stores within walking distance only have ugly, smelly couches (*SHUDDER*) for NO LESS than $100, it's still a great deal. It's VERY comfy. We just threw a big denim comforter over it. It's perfect. She also gave us a set of IKEA shelves (the same ones I had when I was a kid!) that manage to straddle our TV cart perfectly to form a makeshift entertainment center. She ALSO gave us a little yellow shelf that, as soon as I get some nails, will go in our kitchen as a spice rack. I'll have to find something else for it, too... since Meatwad and I are a midwestern/southern couple we don't have that many spices.

Speaking of food, yesterday we went to The Dubliner near Union Station (E St NW and N Capitol, I believe). We had some potato skins (C - not hot, sort of overcooked and not flavorful), Brett had the fish 'n' chips (A - I only had a bite of his fish but it was YUMMY despite my general aversion to fish!) and I had the shepherd's pie (B+ - perfectly good shepherd's pie but it's just no Pat Troy's). And they have Woodchuck!

After that we went to see Pirates. It was pretty fun. Like Brett says, really good direction covers a multitude of sins, and Pirates II doesn't have that many sins. Of course, it's not as magical as the first one, sequels never are. But there are some great fight scenes, amazing sets and scenery, a really great Kraken, and absolutely awesome looking monster-villains. It was a lot more gorey than the first one, which surprised me. Eyeballs getting plucked out and whatnot. Ick. But a thoroughly enjoyable 2.5 hours, I never tired of it.

I bought a lot of stuff from Old Navy.Com last week and to my great pleasure and surprise it all fits. All of it. Yes, now that I make tons of money I could buy things from other places. But I can get SO MUCH from Old Navy. And I need a lot of work-acceptable clothes, I'm not at the point where I can start slowly buying fancy pants stuff. Quoting Huckabees, It's not quality, IT'S QUANTITY. So I got two of those long camis that I love, in brown and olive green, some grey slacks long enough to wear with heels, shorts, *adorable* denim capris, some subdued espadriles, some black pointy flats, and two polo shirts. (Heaven help me, I work for republicans and I wear polo shirts.)

Epiphany

Now, some of you may already know this about me (only because I've told you in the strictest of confidences). To the rest of you, this will come as a complete shock. It may shatter every preconcieved notion you've ever had about me. But I'm beginning to realize that it will only get more and more difficult to hide the truth, if my academic and career path continue on as they are now. But here goes.

I am a huge giant dork.

Yes, I can hear the gasps, the protestations, a few people perhaps falling to the ground in a surprised faint. But it's true. I've always known it, to some extent, but only recently has it really, truly hit me what a bad case of dorkiness I actually have. This morning, for instance, I googled the phrase "classification of literate societies." Because I wanted to.

I've been getting terribly excited about my master's thesis. No, my program, being a sort of bastard academic field, doesn't require a thesis. But I'm writing one. Because I want to. The idea is still a little vague but has gotten better this week... I won't bore you with details except to say I've been searching extensively on the terms "information ecology" and "social capital."

At work the other day I was talking to an extremely cool lady who is our "User Experience Engineer." (How awesome is that job title?) In the wake of my old boss J* leaving (sniff) I may very well end up being "adopted" by J**. This would please me immensely. She's absolutely brilliant and does all the kinds of things I would like to do when I get my degree. So even though I will miss J* terribly, at least if J** "adopts" me, my life won't suck.

Work in general has been going well, although I've only spent two days without J* so who knows. I'm learning a lot of really useful things, and although, as Dr. O* warned, a full-time job just makes taking classes that more exhausting, I'm having a great time with both. Having an income - making more than I spend! - releases a lot of stress and allows me to look at my academic career in a different light - more "what do I want to accomplish/learn" and less "omg I have to graduate FAST so I can get a JOB so I won't be HOMELESS and so I can PAY OFF MY LOANS." I have a job, a home, and I will start paying off my loans in the very near future so... why rush overly much, if I'm learning and developing my career?

In other news, spending independence day with (among other, much cooler people) two racist homphobes is not my idea of a good time, but so it goes.

EDIT: I went through my closet to find something patriotic to wear today - sadly, the most patriotic thing I own is my "Republicans For Voldemort" teeshirt. It'll have to do, although I'll probably get beaten up by irate Oklahomans.