I learned something today!

Telling myself I'm being impatient about moving and that a lot of my worries about moving are a) not my problem and b) not as bad as I think they are really does not stop me from stressing out about it.

Only sleeping for 4 hours, though, seems to help. Yay for being too tired to care?

Also, work was insane today. I had to help out at our booth for this local Science Fair. So many kids, so many hours of explaining the same stuff over and over... oy. It wasn't nearly as bad as last year, though.
At least I got some rest time this time.

Oh and I changed my mind about moving to IJ. Clearly. Still considering starting a personal journal, though, and just using this one for fandom stuff.

Also, I got a free t-shirt! Yay.

Oh god, Mai-HiME is the most emotionally wrenching anime I've seen in ages. End of story. Well... not quite. All I have to say is, if you haven't seen it, do check it out. The beginning is quite funny, the characters are great, and the ending is just... I could stop watching or crying.

In other news, the noodle seafood soup at our local Thai place is so good!!! Super-spicy but soooo good.

Also, today I saw two friends I hadn't seen in a long time. That made me really happy.

Oh, and I'm off work until the New Year. Which is nice, I have to admit. I've been coming in later now that school's out, but I've been working a lot longer, too. It was getting kind of tiring.

And I am SO EXCITED about getting to see my family! Oh, and excited about Christmas with the rest of my family, too, of course!

I can go to work any time I want. Really, I can -- my hours are of my own choosing. This means that, technically, I don't have to go to work today!

Technicially.

So, I'm back from Chicago... and I think I've joined the ranks of the employed.

So to celebrate, I'm doing another fic meme. Give me a fandom, character, or pairing plus a subject and I'll write one of those "5 Things" fics about it.

Yesterday I:

1. Finished three articles on campus crime: print, online, and broadcast versions.
1b. With lists and infographics.

2. Finished a test version of National Broadcasting Society's Web Site project.
2b. And taught myself a buttload of CSS in the meantime.

3. Did my math homework.

How much ass do I kick?! I may have lost out on a lot of sleep, but it was worth it.

GIP! How did I not have a Buffy icon before now? I mean, paid account. Tons of icons. WHY wasn't there a Buffy one?

Okay, I really am getting off my ass and going to apply for a job now. Promise. After I figure out what to put on my resume other than "I did a bunch of journalism stuff, durrr", that is.

ETA: I know I have skills, why can't I think of them? ARRGH. Perhaps I should eat a real lunch, maybe that would help me think, but I am stalling enough as is! DAMN IT.

I got an A in algebra.

I have NO IDEA how this happened. Part of me still thinks it's a cruel joke and that my A will transform into an F when I least expect it. Then the Powers That Be will laugh at the cripple and life will be back to normal.

I didn't even hope of getting an A. I mean, I was coasting on a C most of the semester. I guess there's something to be said for last-minute cramming after all.

In other news, I'm job hunting again. Trying in vain to get a job at Hastings. Also, going crazy waiting to hear back from the campus paper. We'll see how all that turns out.

It occurs to me that looking for a job would be easier if I could freaking drive.

Last week, I went up to the Student Center and looked at the job ads. Over half of the ones available required that I have a driver's license. It was most frustrating. It's strange to realize that, even though I really would like to know how to drive, there's no way I can learn right now. We don't have money for lessons and we don't have a car, so I can't teach myself. I suppose I could seduce convince one of my guy friends to teach me. By seduction. (Why is it only they have cars?) That's a thought.

In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for one of the jobs that doesn't require a car. Oddly enough, dishwasher is kind of appealing. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! I know it's gross and tedious because I did plenty of it in my last job, but it is kind of relaxing in a way. Plus, I don't have to put up with people!

We shall see. Perhaps there will be more appealing jobs available today.

Speaking of which, I think I'm doing a decent job of keeping my New Years's resolution to lose weight get in shape. Once again, I really really really love the fact that my campus has its very own weight room that anybody can use. The only downside is that the walk there is pretty long, but I'm getting used to it. I really like walking. I always have. And of course, it's awesome getting to hang out with Christina. The second downside to the weight room, though, is that it has no punching bags upon which we could vent our frustrations at the academic world. Alas.

Hm...I think I'm also developing an honest-to-god common hobby with my sister. Yes, she's turned into a video game junkie, too. It might just be that she's really enjoying a new toy, but we'll see. She wants to borrow my copy of Soul Calibur 3. I think I'll definitely bring it next time I come to Austin.

Oh, and yes, Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I completely forgot until yesterday, which is nothing new. Once again, I find that I really don't care. Perhaps I have discovered the advantage of perma-single-hood! Holidays like this just blow by, so you don't really feel that loneliness that other people do. Mostly, I just think of it as Georgia Gets EVEN MORE Chocolate Day. Is that strange? Should I care?

me-sense:  cheerful
music: The Beatles - She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

I think it's really funny that last night I told myself that I'd try and not be on the computer so much because I had Better Things To Do.

Um, right. This is me speaking. I remember now. Better things than the Internet? What a lie. =)

Anyway, Mom freaked me out a little bit today. And pissed me off a bit too.

I called up Amarillo College, so I could get that information they didn't send us. I fudged up my call a bit and accidentally got myself transferred to tours. Whoopsie, should've thought more on what I was going to say -- but, anyway, after I say that Mom convinces me to hang up, and then she takes the phone and makes all the calls.

I guess I have no right to be mad about it, but hello? I can handle it. Geez, I was just going to tell them I asked for the wrong information anyway. I appreciate that she handled things, but christ, it's my education, I'd have liked to do some of the talking. I mean, what kind of impression does that send, having my mother ask for me?

Then, afterwards, she freaks me out even more by saying "You know, if I could get you a place in Amarillo, that'd be great."

( These are my friends. What, fuck, and the. )

Anyway, work tomorrow, so I think I'll hit the sack. It's been going much faster this week, though. Hurrah!

Also, this_is_now continues to make for good reading.

Unlike most of my fellow countrymen, I had to work today. But, thanks to a misunderstanding, I was about an hour late.
You see, when I usually drop by my neighbor/boss's house to clean, I knock on the door and hear her call for me to come in. This is nice. This lets me know I'm not breaking any rules. (Though I've done it, with permission, I'm not allowed to clean if she's not home.) But today, and for a few days since, she didn't. She also locked her door.

Naturally, I assumed she wasn't home. Or at least sleeping. So I kept coming by every few minutes, knocked, and checked the doorknob. There was silence and it was still locked. So home I went. Until the fourth time I dropped by, when she opened the door and I suddenly realized she'd actually been there the whole time -- I was just too impatient to wait for her.

After that, work went by fairly quick, but you can bet I was feeling sheepish.

Mom and I also moseyed down to the town parade, where there was a VERY GOOD moment and a VERY BAD moment.

Very Good Parade Moment: Shriners on Motorcycles

The Shiners, also known as the funny old men in funny hats or the Guys Who Changed Georgia's life, were speeding around the street. On motorcycles. It was fantastic. And finding out Jennifer S's dad is a Shriner just iced the cake. Once again, I pledge that some day I'm going to donate those guys a lot of money.

Very Bad Parade Moment: We're In It to Win It! Float

Unfortunately, not long after the Shriners came a float. Where one young man, dressed as an Iraqi and another young man dressed as a US Soldier, pretending to fire at each other. Underneath them was a large banner declaring "We're In It to Win It!" I took one look at the boy in Iraqi garb, and the banner, and hung my head in shame. Mom claims I wasn't the only one, she said the parade got very quiet after that, and there were many shocked faces. I should hope so. The "best" part was finding out that, apparently, the float was sponsored by one of the Bible Study Groups (or Religious Youth Groups) here in town.

After that truly disgusting event, we ended up walking to the fair just a few blocks away. I got to see Tim, Lana, and Mr. Yirak, which made me happy. (And a few of the journalism boys, but I don't think they spotted me.) Robert and I, however, missed each other again. I'll have to remember to call him tomorrow. I also bought a mood ring and had an artist do a characature of me. (It looks pretty good!) Oh, and I ogled knives, weapons, and swords. (A set of three Katanas for 49.99! I wanted that so much.)

Then, worn out, Mom and I walked home. Mom slept, I looked up info on old NES games (thanks to watching a kid play them at the diner we went to) and got in fights with internet friends, then headed back to work and got a little girl mad at me. And that's been my day so far. Mother and I will probably watch the fireworks -- it's weird to think that this might be last time we do that, since we may be moving...from our house we can see them, but I'm not sure about the place we might move into.

And right before I log off, a link: this_is_now, a fantastic Harry Potter RPG. Takes place in Harry's sixth and seventh years. (Definitely seventh, not so sure about sixth.) I adore the Ron but the Harry and Hermione are also wonderful. I just really hope what has just happened in the story doesn't happen in the seventh book, though. I don't think I could take that.

I also wish morphlogs was a bit more like this. But with so few players, I guess we can't expect much. On that note, more people should join!

Also? Getting the Final Weapons in FFX? A bitch.

I would LOVE to go to work.

Okay, not love, but I wouldn't mind so much.

Apparently, the neighbor-boss is out of town today. She warned me about this beforehand, and said that I could still come in and clean and take my hours. Okay, says I.

This morning? I get up at the godawful hour (7:30), because I'm a masochist, and then a few hours later I trudge over to her house.

The freaking door is locked.

Will I still take my hours? Yeah, probably.

It doesn't make up for being stupid and forgetting to send in my timesheet yesteday, but yes, I will still take the hours.

I'm reading Backlash by Susan Faludi, which discusses various aspects of the backlash against feminism that developed in the 80s. I've gotten to the part where she discusses this backlash on a political level, and the New Right's crusade against feminism. It makes for interesting reading. But what makes for the most interesting reading are the tons of examples (I can think of at least three) of "experts" who came out against feminism -- blaming it for "taking women away from their rightful roles", "harming families with its selfish ways", "making the men do all the women's work", etc. I'm sure you've all heard these arguments. But here's the interesting part. Many of these antifeminism speakers are women. Again, I'm sure most of you know this. Well, as Faludi's book highlights again and again, these women are all too happy to leave the roost to pursue their own careers. Unlike the children of the feminist women they scorn, their own kids seem to have no problems being left in daycare or being taken care of by Daddy. But heaven forbid the feminists do anything but stay at home, barefoot and pregnant.

The reverse seems to happen with the men, as well. One of the men Faludi interviews -- Mike Levin, I believe his name is -- has made quite the career out of blaming "independent" women. They were the reason he couldn't find a wife, the reason single men are more likely to commit suicide, and destroyers of men's "virility". Yet, when Faludi comes to this man's house, she discovers that his littest (a boy) enthusiastically jumps into Daddy's lap. All while Daddy is spouting off rhetoric about "only being good for roughhousing with the kids" and how "men can't be nuturing". He tries, by the way, to foist the tyke off on Momma. No, all he wants is Daddy. Momma, in the meantime (who her husband claims is a "traditional woman with no ambitions"), regales Faludi with her professional successes. Then their eldest, a teen guy, asks Dad to help him with the cooking. In the end, the man says goodbye to Faludi while donning an apron.

It's the hypocrisy of it that gets to me. They blast feminists for "subverting gender roles" and "forcing women into work", while being all too eager to subvert roles and work themselves.

But of course, it's only because they want a slice of this pie. Screw everyone else.

LE ARGH.

(I'd like to add that feminism isn't about demanding every woman become a career woman. It's about giving women the choice to be more than mothers, more than helpmates, etc. If they want to. If they want to pursue a "traditional" lifestyle, that's also perfectly fine.)