What kind of Goth are you?

Goth Stereotypes


Medieval Goth



(again props to B.)

Settling In

Feeling a little more at ease this morning. I am really looking forward to teaching my class and getting back into a real schedule. Got up at a respectable hour this morning on the way to a busy day that will include but is not limited to: finalizing a syllabus and a couple lesson plans for the week, working on my Live Adventure character (live action role playing game I do once a year), and doing some form of exercise, depending on what today's weather offers. Also grocery shopping and a review of our household budget with Bizarro. (It's tough to have a solid budget when my income tends to change every few months.)

It's a quiet morning; I'm feeling fairly peaceful at the moment. Remembering a dream I had last night in which I was at some kind of special training in a huge mansion-like house, but I can't remember what the training was for. Anyway, the person running the program was a crazy bitch, and I soon found myself on her bad side, along with one of the other students who tried to get me in trouble and generally make my life miserable. Finally I just said screw it, got up, started packing my bags. Suddenly the student who had it out for me started being nice and helped me pack, even a bit sad that I was going. It was weird. I am weird.

Time to make the coffee.

'Tween Time

Bizarro and I have returned from a wonderful weekend at the Live Adventure. It was a magical weekend, though we could have done without the nasty thunderstorm Friday night. Picture: 15 or so tents in a field, on the side of a mountain, in a severe electrical storm that lasts 3 hours, in the middle of the night. I don't think I've ever been so scared for such an extended period of time. I could imagine (but tried not to) the lightning arcing down and frying our tent and us in it. ZOT! Either that or the wind would lift the rain fly up and away and we'd have been utterly exposed to the downpour. This was our new tent, mind you, so it had been unproven. Well, it has proven its worth to us now! If it could withstand that with only a tiny bit of moisture on the inside, it is worth every penny we paid. Not only is it big, it stands up in a gale. Yesterday morning we looked at each other and said, "If we'd been in the old tent, we'd either have blown away or been flooded."

Also of note - Friday morning was my last class with the summer program; my students are at this time now safely in their homes back in China. It was an unforgettable class, and I would be lucky to get another group as lively, intelligent, hard-working and fun as they were, if I do teach there next summer (I have been asked back...a wonderful thing... but I need to figure out my future).

And so... tomorrow I have something I haven't experienced in many weeks: a day to myself.

Tuesday I start back up at the chorch, which will seem like child's play. Imagine not having to start work until 9:00 a.m., and then leaving at 4:00 without a shred of work to do at home. Sounds like paradise.

ADDENDUM: I did not dance at Bardic Circle - my ankle wasn't terribly pleased with all the hiking up and down the mountain in rugged terrain, plus the site for the Circle was very uneven and it would have been folly for me to try to dance. It's okay; I will dance at our friends' Halloween party this fall (with many of the same people present), and of course there is always next year.

..almost there...

Two days of actual teaching left; two sets of conferences in which I will mainly administer a questionnaire and answer student questions; and the final class, for which I plan to bring bagels and cream cheese, and play Taboo with students.

This week is running me ragged. Work for school and of course administrative end-of-program things on top of it. Getting ready for the Live Adventure this weekend - costuming, packing, remembering things like new batteries for the flashlights, and checking the air mattress for any leaks (there aren't any, thankfully). My ankle is feeling well enough for me to dance at the Bardic Circle. I bought a lovely purple belly dance costume with silver trim (similar to this one), and I've chosen a piece of music that is slow enough for me to dance to without killing myself. There are some moves, namely ones that torque the ankle or involve going up on my toes, that I cannot do, but there are plenty of things I can do.

Some disturbing news from mom last night; it seems her right lung is again starting to fill with fluid. She is drinking too much liquid, since her body can't eliminate it. I spoke with her doctor today and he had a practical attitude toward keeping things nominal for her, thankfully. I have contacted a local assisted living place and will visit there next weekend. I am hoping we can get her in there by end of September at the very latest. Let's hope and pray.

I am exhausted, utterly, but it's okay. This weekend will be delightful, and I have Monday off (although I'm supposed to go to Mom's so it's not really a day "off"). But that's okay, too, because with the close of the summer program, I will have a lot more time to myself after I get out of work at the chorch. No more work in the evenings, lesson plans, grading, etc. At least until the semester starts and I teach the screenwriting class that will take away whatever is left of my life outside of work and family.

I desperately need sleep now. Kthxbai.