Before Brunch

Tis the season for exams and crying.

My workload is about medium level hard for this week. Not so much that the result will be hair loss, just enough that I might cry (if I fail...especially if I fail editing). This weekend I have an eight page Chaucer paper due. Later this week, I have an art exam--don't laugh at me, it's harder than it sounds--that will involve talking the talk after I've walked the walk. Go figure. I also have the dreaded Tech Editing exam. However, as far as editing goes, I believe I've done almost all the damage I can do to my final grade by turning in my comprehensive edit last week. I can only go up from there. I hope.

So, I've been a bit dead lately.

I've missed my chance to talk about the abyss that was my Thanksgiving Holiday. The food was awesome (I used a recipe for a pumpkin cheesecake with a marshmallow/sour cream topping that everyone loved). A primal part of me even enjoyed Black Friday. What wasn't fun was getting my tuition and fees bill from the university. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, UNA. It's so nice that I have to borrow and empty my account before Christmas. Really gives you the warm'n'fuzzies, doesn't it?

Over the holiday, I also found our Christmas tree out in the garage. It hasn't been used in a while, so it was hard to find under the glorious junk trove. I was happy just seeing the big green naked thing up. We didn't have a tree last year, since Mom was hospitalized. Actually, the holidays from Thanksgiving to New Years sort of didn't happen fully. I don't remember them; except, I do remember cooking for both and finding the chore way too much fun. That was it. This year there will be decorations. Just as Jigsaw has his blood, I will have my pinecones and nativity. So there.

My only problem is making sure my little chihuahua, Yoda, doesn't think that a tree means that he's outside and that it's time to drop a surprise. But let's face it, Yoda would drop a surprise on anything. Guarding the Christmas decorations from my lovable poop machine is a human sized Santa who dances and sings. Santa scared the hell out of Yoda. He also hit me in the mouth when he popped up out of his box on springs of steel. I seriously saw stars for a moment. My brother, Abe, was laughing his ass off. Then he got up to make sure I wasn't bleeding. Then he laughed his ass off again. It was all very funny. Note my enthusiasm.

A very primal part of me enjoyed Black Friday. Well, actually, it didn't. But I did go through the store with a smile on my face. I have this little devil that lives inside of me. We laugh at other people. How could you not laugh at grown adult who are fighting over vacuums and towels--seriously! I'm not kidding. I was laughing. People looked at me as if I were insane. Obviously, I should look bloodthristy, like them.

Funniest moments at Walmart came from Electronics. You know, over in the Groceries (oh, that the Powers That Be Walmart Employees could be any more mysterious). About fifteen minutes before the actual 5am kickoff, I, in Housewares, hear this insane sound. Apparently, everyone around me hears it as well. If you've ever seen a zombie movie (reference, Dawn of the Dead in front of the mall) where there's a huge mob of the undead groaning. That was the exact sound. I turn around to see the big screens in their cardboard boxes crowd surfing like rock stars over the heads of the zombies. Hilarious. Walmart employees were running from across the store, screaming that their purchases would be denied. Once again, hilarious. There was also the equivilent of a fist fight over X-Boxes that led to a major hold up in the actual Electronics section. Seriously, more people should have been laughing at themselves. Why behave like insane children in a candy shop when the sales aren't even that awesome? They act like golden apples were falling from the ceiling. Did everyone hear about the employee who was killed up in NY? Yup. Insane.

Anyhow, I rounded out the holiday by coming back to the dorms to finish up my NaNoWriMo. Because, apparently, one cannot be given time to write at their own home. I soooo look forward to writing over the X-mas holiday. I finished up with the NaNo word count goal but I really didn't get to reach a conclusion for the actual story. Maybe it will work out in the rewrite. In its present skeletal state, I really can't tell if it's going to be worth working extremely hard on or if I should post it online at FictionPress for a writing exercise.

I've invoked a pre-New Years wish to be able to update all of my fanfiction. As soon as that Chaucer paper is finish. I really, desperately want to finish some of those fictions. Believe it or not, I learn a lot about my original writing when I'm working on those works. I experiment with writing styles, flesh out characters, and play with action and setting that would take a long time to get around to in a novel sized story of my own. It's really an interesting process. And it renews my love for writing, most of all. Now that I know that, if set my mind to it, I can get around 10k written in a weekend, I also have no excuse for not updating those fanfictions.

I think that over the holidays I'll renew my love for angsty poetry. That's something to think about. I also plan on reading several books. It could happen.

Until next time,
Ariyana