Plan for Winter Happiness
(Because I kind of have a hard-on for lists, okay? Lists make me feel happy and like my life is in control. Aaaand, I've reached kind of a turning point in my life. I just attended my last academic class ever, guys. The last one. After 21 years of formal schooling, I am finally finally deemed educated enough to flail around on my own. So I think I deserve some celebration. In the form of a numbered list, obviously. Ergo.)
1. Bounce around in all the fannish wintery fests. In December, there will be Yuletide and merlin_holidays, and in January, there will be Bandom Reverse Big Bang, and in addition to all that, I am really, really, possibly ridiculously excited about participating in the where_no_woman Winter Wishlist Fest. Which leads me to the next part of my plan:
2. Learn to icon. I decided it was high time to get over my fear of Photoshop and all its scary buttons and to make some goddamn sparkly icons. Luckily, there are all these amazing tutorials available in fandom, often with examples and downloadable PSD files. They are grand. I'm not particularly great at it yet, but at least I think I'm starting to move past that stage of MOAR TEXTURE IS THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING. Or maybe I'm not. Whatevs. It is all colorful, rainbow-y, sparkly goodness, and I'm actually having a lot of fun playing around, regardless of whether the icons actually look good.
3. Study Like a Fiend for the Big Exam of Doom. Basically it's the qualifying exam that means I can go start writing a dissertation! And it also means that I have to read lots of very, very old books (like, pre-2000, people. last millenium. *gasp*). So sometimes I have to work harder to make the connection to the internets and p0rn and wank. My plan is to treat it like I do fannish pursuits. Because if I can read 500K of fic in a week, I can do this, right? And if I inter-space studying with all of the other wonderful things on this list, then really, I could never stop being happy, right? Right.
4. Listen to all the /reports. Because they are hilarious and full of meta-y goodness and fic recs and make me feel warm inside about the joys of fannish friendships.
5. All of the holiday things. I've realized that the last few years I've not been enjoying the holiday season so much because I don't start celebrating until I get out of school and finish all my grading and work, which means that I miss out on about half the month of December. And I want more, damnit. I want to go caroling and drink hot drinks and wrap presents and be obnoxiously joyful to everyone I meet. School is not going to get in the way of my SEASONAL MANIACAL HAPPINESS. Not anymore, at least.
Part of this is that I've finally (now, when I'm practically done) started to accept that my life is happening right now. I don't have to wait until I graduate for it to happen. I don't have to wait to be out in the "real world" for my life to happen. I can do all the things I want to do right now. And what I want to do right now is wear a sweater with pom-poms and sequins sewn on it, damnit. So I shall.
1. Bounce around in all the fannish wintery fests. In December, there will be Yuletide and merlin_holidays, and in January, there will be Bandom Reverse Big Bang, and in addition to all that, I am really, really, possibly ridiculously excited about participating in the where_no_woman Winter Wishlist Fest. Which leads me to the next part of my plan:
2. Learn to icon. I decided it was high time to get over my fear of Photoshop and all its scary buttons and to make some goddamn sparkly icons. Luckily, there are all these amazing tutorials available in fandom, often with examples and downloadable PSD files. They are grand. I'm not particularly great at it yet, but at least I think I'm starting to move past that stage of MOAR TEXTURE IS THE SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING. Or maybe I'm not. Whatevs. It is all colorful, rainbow-y, sparkly goodness, and I'm actually having a lot of fun playing around, regardless of whether the icons actually look good.
3. Study Like a Fiend for the Big Exam of Doom. Basically it's the qualifying exam that means I can go start writing a dissertation! And it also means that I have to read lots of very, very old books (like, pre-2000, people. last millenium. *gasp*). So sometimes I have to work harder to make the connection to the internets and p0rn and wank. My plan is to treat it like I do fannish pursuits. Because if I can read 500K of fic in a week, I can do this, right? And if I inter-space studying with all of the other wonderful things on this list, then really, I could never stop being happy, right? Right.
4. Listen to all the /reports. Because they are hilarious and full of meta-y goodness and fic recs and make me feel warm inside about the joys of fannish friendships.
5. All of the holiday things. I've realized that the last few years I've not been enjoying the holiday season so much because I don't start celebrating until I get out of school and finish all my grading and work, which means that I miss out on about half the month of December. And I want more, damnit. I want to go caroling and drink hot drinks and wrap presents and be obnoxiously joyful to everyone I meet. School is not going to get in the way of my SEASONAL MANIACAL HAPPINESS. Not anymore, at least.
Part of this is that I've finally (now, when I'm practically done) started to accept that my life is happening right now. I don't have to wait until I graduate for it to happen. I don't have to wait to be out in the "real world" for my life to happen. I can do all the things I want to do right now. And what I want to do right now is wear a sweater with pom-poms and sequins sewn on it, damnit. So I shall.