Blithering

It's Meg's birthday. I'm writing her a birthday poem in my head. It's actually a really good poem. I might even be able to sell it somewhere. Happy birthday Meg! She's, um, 22. She's having a party Saturday and I can't go. Sad.

Today is dragging. I packed a zillion boxes this morning, and now I'm sort of stalled on that-- I have to talk to one of my co-workers before I can finish packing. You must be so sick of hearing about my job...

I was thinking about money today. I should be a better financial planner. I have significant credit card debt. Half of it's due to my computer, but the rest is just from gradually accrued crap. I only use the credit card for online stuff now, to avoid using it for impulse buys (like, say, buying $50 worth of books at Bookshop). I have student loans, but I hardly think about those anymore-- they monthly payments aren't that much. I eat out too often. I should have more savings than I do. I used to have lots of savings, but then I moved to California and didn't have a job for a month, and most of that money has gone *poof*. The higher cost of living out here means that I can't put lots of money away like I used to, either.

I'm supposed to be getting a big bonus at work soon-- really big. Like, the equivalent of three weeks' pay, all in a lump. And after the 19th, I get a $100 bonus for each week I continue working, which is nice. I'm employed here, if I want to be, through mid-February at least. I've got some job applications out now, though...

I should learn how to invest money. I'm so clueless.

That bonus will be my resettlement money if I wind up moving somewhere with Meg. Will we go to Chapel Hill, North Carolina? Will we go to New York, New York (scary)? Will we go to Seattle, Washington? Who knows?

This is probably boring to read about.

Big fun plans: On Saturday I'm going to a party. My friend Seanan invited me. She's the only person there that I'll know. I'll have to make the effort to be extroverted. Should be fun.

Sunday I'm going to meet a writer's group. I'll let you guys know how that goes. A couple of the people in the group read Tropism. Hi, guys. I'm waving at you.

Lots of being social. I will have fun and then be tired and want to coccoon for a few days. On Monday I'm having a round of Revisionmania-- The Short Story Edition. I want to get "The Scent of Copper Pennies" into shape, and "Meranhu's Gifts" (such good crits from John Sullivan and Mike Jasper!), and maybe even "Rangergirl." Yeah, y'all thought I forgot about "Rangergirl." Oh, no, wait, I'm confused-- it's you who forgot about "Rangergirl." Because I've been so slack about that story for months and haven't talked about it...

I had another juice thingy last night... and then went home and ate a leftover piece of lasagna. And around midnight I had a grilled cheese sandwich. So everything's back to normal.

I'm going to take it easy tonight. Would you believe I've been busy every night this week? I do research online, I'm learning about freelancing, I'm revising stuff, I'm figuring out where to send stories, I'm looking for jobs and tweaking my resume and cover letter, I'm talking to Meg for an hour every night because we miss each other so much, I'm trying to keep up with my email (I've been getting good email, which I love, but that makes me want to respond in kind, which takes time), I've been cleaning and doing laundry and generally trying to re-discover my routine. Tonight I want to do three things: Write a little fiction (I'm shooting for a thousand words) on a story that's half-finished, do some crits that I owe a friend, and finish Meg's poem. Other than that, I'm only going to eat pizza, drink beer, watch Friends, and generally chill myself out. Especially since I want to get a bunch of stories ready to go out Friday, and am, as I told you, booked-up through Tuesday with other plans...

I'm posting this entry early, too, and you're unlikely to get another one today. Unless the spirit really moves me...

Working so hard can't be good for my lingering cold. I'm gonna get pneumonia right around the time my health insurance runs out, I'm telling you.

I got new glasses. I'm going to pick them up today. They were expensive, but I like them, and I certainly needed a pair. I'll take some pictures with the webcam of me + glasses, and if any of them come out okay I'll post them.

I did a little re-design on the main page last night, but nothing too extreme. Purely cosmetic. No more Zeng Shanquing Zodiac pictures, I only had Goat, Rat, and Snake, and I've used all of those. Oh, and Bull, but I don't like that one very much. If anyone knows where I can find scans of the rest of his Zodiac series online, let me know...

I'm so boring. But since I'm actually doing stuff this weekend, you might soon get entries with, say, some content!

Nah. That's too much for which to hope.