I've been having a good week so far. Running errands and laughing and playing with friends is just what I needed after being stuck in bed. I got my books for the Philosophy class I'm taking in January and moved most of my stuff out of my dorm room with a little help from my friends (insert proper Beatles joke). I'm actually quite proud of myself for driving on such tricky roads; it's exactly what I signed up for to deal with next semester when I commute, so I should get used to it, right? I've been getting away with some beastly snow maneuvers, believe you me. Also any car ride that lasts more than an hour devolves into Disney music, whether or not passengers are in the car with me. I'll make a man out of you, alright.
I've been doing a wee bit of "holiday shopping" in the last week as well. Malls are such carnivals of the grotesque. Consensus among myself, Emma, and Smalls is that some sort of nauseating substance is pumped through the air vents to make shoppers tense, hyper, and impulsive. My heart goes out to anyone working retail or forced to cater to the insane whims of shoppers this season. Oh America, ILU.
One thing I noticed from being at the mall is that Waldenbooks is closing its doors. I fear Borders is next. I'm not going to knock the discounts it has been forced into providing, though. 30% off was the discount I got when I worked at Barnes and Noble, and that was just what was off fiction books when I walked in today (slim pickings, though). Doubtless it will rise, but I have to assert some control over my mass book hysteria, or it will ruin me.
Do you like languages? You should try
livemocha. It's sort of fun; I have to admit I haven't explored it much beyond the beginner courses of a few languages. Beware the arabic and farsi courses though-- the alphabet appears in the equivalent of what English spakers would call capslock, so don't expect it to teach you the letter forms, which is an important component of their alphabets.
I just found an e-mail from Chris Baty of Nanowrimo reminding me that my book is waiting patiently for me to come back and love it properly like I should. It's true. I have neglected it in order to let ideas swirl in a less frienzied way. I printed out a paper version of my manuscript so far. My characters seem all on the cusp of something, which makes sense considering nothing much has happened. Some of them have weird quirks that I have to flesh out. One of them turned out to be much more violent than I anticipated! Anyway, enough of that for now.
Have you heard of
formspring? You create an account and people post anonymous questions for you to answer. I have just made one. If you're secretly dying to ask me silly or serious things, by all means,
do so immediately.
Lastly, I just want to say that I've been illustrating, really illustrating for the first time since the summer and it's been flexing my creative muscles like woah. If anyone wants anything contact me about commissions/drawing something for them, go for it. I invite you to check out my
sketch blog for some random stuff in case you forgot what I do.
In the next few days, some lovely family will be coming to visit and staying until January. It will be fun and busy in the house and I can't wait.
I will leave you with this picture of my bed. It is made of starlight.