My boss is letting everyone go home early. I'm outta here~~

I have the job. :D

I officially start tomorrow, at which point I'll have a real salary and be eligible to apply for benefits (starting next month). Which means I can sorta-kinda pretend to be a real grown-up now. Except not really.

Yay. :D

I GRADUATED SUMMA CUM LAUDE!!!

I just got my final quarter grades in - my final grades kept my cumulative GPA above the threshold - I was so afraid that my last quarter would tip me off the edge - but it didn't! It's not just "pending"! It's real!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Happy birthday to kyonkun!!!

My coworker just brought in her puppy. T_______________T

She's a 14-week old mutt (half German Shepherd, half unknown) with big feet and one floppy ear and a tail so long that when she turns her head and wags it hits her in the face. And when she gets nervous, she hiccups.

*iz ded*

I checked my email this afternoon to find that I suddenly have a paid account and extra icons. For a year. O_O From dedwardsauve, for no occasion other than random generosity?

I ... I don't even know what to do with this. 100 icons ... *brain goes splodey*

I have to go find icons now! But maybe not until I'm back in Seattle and have a high-speed connection again. XD;;

So, anyway: thanks to dedwardsauve for an out-of-the-blue gift that just made my day. :D A boatload of Awesome Points for you.

My next announcement is for my fellow UW students who are not yet seniors: I got an announcement from the Women Studies mailing list about "Queer 101," a freshman seminar offered through the General Studies department as GEN ST 197. The email I got made it sound pretty worthwhile - an anti-oppression approach to queer experience and history. Also, upon looking at the other freshman seminars available (which are apparently open to all non-seniors), I actually found a few interesting topics, like "Students of Color Persisting in Higher Education."

I hadn't really looked at General Studies before, because I was under the assumption that the courses would be boring. But it looks like there are some quite interesting, specialized courses. It's too bad that I only noticed this now, when I don't have room in my schedule for extra classes. But I thought I'd share, for those of you who still might be able to take them.

Okay, it's been several hours since the show, so I can come up with something more coherent than, "WICKED AHHHH WICKED AHHHH!!" :P

( The review! )

Speaking of Wicked - rivendellrose or nekokoban, does one of you have my copy of the book? I lent it to your household last summer for one or both of you to read, but I keep forgetting to get it back.

Also, this is kind of random, but worth noting: after the show, we wandered around Barnes & Noble to kill time while the line for parking validation went down. I had worn a red qipao for the show, and a man commented to me that it was pretty. And it was ... nice. A polite compliment that wasn't at all invasive or creepy. He just said, "That's a very pretty dress," and then I looked at him and he met my eyes and smiled. That's all. No leering, no smirking, no sense of entitlement to anything just because he said something nice to me.

It was just a great example of how easy it is to give a nice compliment in a non-sexist, non-privileged way. So if anyone tries to say that it's hard to compliment a woman without it being mistaken for harassment: it's not. Even this crazy man-hating feminazi didn't misread it. XD;;

Happy birthday to ratzeo

my favorite blond ninja alien Canadian!

♥♥♥

The Official Shrub.com Blog, run by Tekanji, is a shiny geeky feminist blog I've been following for a while now. Recently Tekanji invited me to join as a guest blogger (whee!) and my first post is almost ready to go. Look for it today or tomorrow.

I'll be cross-posting all of my entries to my LJ anyway, but I highly recommend checking out the site. That way you won't be stuck reading just my blather. XD

So now that I have some starting tips on digital coloring (thank you guys a ton!) I decided to give it a shot.

Now, since this is my first try at this, EVERYTHING is a source of joy and awe for me. Down to the basic act of erasing the white background of my original scanned lineart - maho_kiwi showed me the secret by introducing me to the wonder of the Multiply function.

Me: Fine. We'll see if maho_kiwi's magical trick will work. Frankly I'm skeptical and can't believe it would be that easy. *clicks*
Computer: *works*
Me: NO. WAY. XO

Me: *fills in color* Now let's try shading ... *uses lasso tool*
Computer *works AGAIN*
Me: I AM DIVINELY TOUCHED.

And so on.

I just got my best grades since sophomore year!

Take that, GPA! I will claw my way up the baccalaureate honors if I have to. XO

Hello, world. I am happy.

So, yesterday I was feeling kind of down, for various reasons - the primary ones being the two papers I had just gotten back in class, in which I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. (Now, to be fair, they weren't bad - I shouldn't exaggerate - just disappointing.) But then a few things happened.

First, I reminded myself that doing well is not the point. I'm studying and majoring in things that interest me, things that I find valuable - not mindless 4.0 classes. (The mindless 4.0 classes would be the lit requirements of my English major.) Both my creative writing and women studies courses have been among the most difficult/lowest grade courses I've taken here - and that's okay. I'm here to learn, not to graduate summa cum laude. (Though I would really like to graduate summa cum laude. :P)

Second, I spent the evening with ratzeo going over game mechanics. Mostly, this means that I have a better grasp of the NPC who I will occasionally be running. Also, it means I have a better grasp on rules and techniques in general - so I'll be less flaily and "omg what do I do?" in game.

Third, I've been highlighted over at Shrub.com for yesterday's post. Yay for an ego boost!

It all just added up to make a better day today than yesterday. :D

I'm in the latest Carnival of Feminists! I had to share because I'm a dork, and this makes me happy.

Also, if anyone's interested in submitting to the next Carnival, details can be found at the main site.

HALFWAY THROUGH FRIDAY HALFWAY THROUGH FRIDAY WHEE WHEE WHEE

See, it's things like this that will make my co-workers think I'm happy to leave here. And I'm not, really -- everyone's friendly here, and it's a nice job, and the only thing I don't like is the customers. (But who doesn't hate customers, hey? XD;;;) But I'm not sure how to convey "yes, I'm happy, but not about leaving, it's just that I'm looking forward to Tuesday, so coincidental timing, you see, though actually I'm glad that I won't be working that day and so yes, I'm glad to leave, but ..." in a clear and concise fashion. For the moment, I'm just saying goodbye to people and trying to keep my mad grin to myself.

I petted a kitty this morning. :D A little black fellow, tiny but with a big fluffy tail, was crouching next to the sidewalk as I made my way to the bus stop. I called him over, and he came at me with that "running self-petting" motion cats seem to like (run by and rub side of head against human hand). I could only stay for a minute because I was running late (as per usual), but he was sweet.

( Cut for book talk )

It's Friday! *does a happy dance* And I get off work in one hour! *does ... a happier dance* And this is the third Friday in a row I've gotten paid. (There are a few perks about transitioning between jobs, you know.)

My weekend plans are still up in the air, but they're shaping up well. Tonight, I will eat sushi. :D

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend~~

I feel both exhausted and accomplished (hence, "exhaumplished"). This week and past weekend I vanquished a couple of major projects, including both my short story for class and a massive filing endeavor at work; and it suddenly feels like I've been inundated with recognition. Today, I had a great and ego-inflating workshop for my story -- not that there wasn't criticism, of course, but I received a lot of praise concerning things I was particularly invested in, and the critique focused on aspects that I knew needed revision anyway, so it was actually encouraging. I also opened my email to find a sort of virtual fanfare from many of the women in my office concerning the project I just finished. And I found out yesterday that I aced the English lit midterm I was fretting over last week. So, yes, ego-boosts all around. I could get used to this ... or highly suspicious. As it is, I already think all this is sort of weird. >_>

Anyway, now that the boring self-congratulations are over, I have a question for the writerly types out there. At the beginning of the quarter, my short story instructor had us brainstorm about -- among other things -- what themes we tend to write about. I looked at my responses again after finishing this latest short story, and was interested to see that the same themes had cropped up in this piece. My short stories from this past year all address, in some form or another, the idea of control (of self and of others) and of self-deception.

So my question for you: What themes/issues do you address in your writing? Even if it's not always in the forefront, what tends to show up, even if you don't consciously intend it? Obviously it's not always easy to recognize this in our own writing, but what have you noticed? Do you talk about ego, unrequited love, competition? Do you always write about sibling relationships, etc.? How do you think your treatment of these issues has changed or matured?

Not all unpacked, but that'll come later. XD I already have most of my stuff laid out, though, and things are generally in the correct space, and just need to be organized. And, considering the fact that we started moving at noon or so yesterday, and I only stayed up unpacking until about 2 a.m., I'm rather impressed. In addition, there was lots of break time, to make lunch, order pizzas, and just when I was feeling lazy and sat around watching people assemble furniture.

And the reason it all came together so quickly, and went off without a hitch? Four of the awesomest people in the world: Michio, Jose, neo_angiel, and ratzeo. You guys own in ways I cannot even describe. You're the reason all of our stuff is here, all of our furniture is put together (and all of it is in the right place -- moved up and down narrow stairs according to our homemaker whims), kyonkun's computer is up and running (we have Internet again <3), and we didn't go nucking futz on a day that should have been, by all accounts, frantic and maddening and draining. Thanks for doing all the hard stuff. And letting us use your cars. And not complaining once. And watching baseball and playing poker and making me feel immediately like I was home.

And my room! Is set up! The way I want it! And it's comfortable and lovely, and I can put things against my walls without worrying about them being eaten by mold, and I can put things in my *closet* without worrying about them being eaten by mold, and our towels are drying in the bathroom. After we took showers. This is truly a wonder. :o And I've hung up all my clothes, and put together my bed, and done some preliminary decorating, and even ran a vaccuum over my carpet to rid it of the worst of the moving detritus. And soon I will have my bookshelves (and may buy some more ...) to put away all my books; for now, they're in boxes lining the wall where I'll be putting the shelves. And the basement is lovely, and now has lots of comfy chairs and a TV. I can foresee spending a lot of time down there, if I want to get out of my room. :D (Except I won't! Because my room is lovely and no longer feels like a cave! <3)

I took the bus to campus with ratzeo today, and it's really close by and convenient. I got a little lost on the way back, though, because the streets of this neighborhood are wiggly and disorienting. What else do you expect from a well-to-do suburban neighborhood, though. But I bet the neighbors were looking at me, this kid wandering around with grocery bags and no clue where she was going, and thinking WTF I was even doing there. XD

The only little thing that is slightly bothersome is -- fridge is broken. The freezer went out a day or so ago, but the fridge died yesterday after we moved in. Not my fault, I swear. o_o But hey, look, it's a problem! A tiny inconvenience that can be fixed! Imagine that.

So, yes. This house is fucking awesome. And I'm going to go sit in my room and do some homework. At my desk. Which is under a window. With a view that isn't the bottom of my upstairs neighbors' staircase. And I won't have to bundle up in sweats. I won't have to worry about cold, or dampness, or mold, or random things breaking (besides the fridge XD). Also, my new room has pretty soft carpet, which is neither here nor there, but it feels good under my toes. <3