artemishi

I took the GRE today, in further attempts to get into the Masters of Marine Affairs program at UW.
I did....okay. Disappointed myself on the verbal, and did close (but not quite) the score I was hoping for on math. It did bring on a massive headache, though no telling if it's from stress, lack of coffee, eye strain, or what.
Then I cheered myself up by spend $38 on two adorable spring-type peasant tops and one fabulous rose-pink strapless clubbing top. I will need other things to make that into an outfit, but the uniqueness of it makes me happy.
Now it's off to Thai food and drinks and later, blessed blessed unconsciousness.
Tomorrow we plan to organize Noel's pantry despite him. Wish us luck. ;)

www.shadowunit.org

But be forewarned...the season just ended, no new stories until February. *doompout!*

Also, in addition to violins, being sick is good for my muse. She is one twisted otherworldly being, I tell ya. But I worship at her altar when she brings me gems like earlier today. The novel is Back On!

I take the GRE in 2 Saturdays. I haven't been this nervous about a test since I don't know when. I keep seeing this Masters in Marine Affairs program as my ticket to the career I've dreamed of having since I was 11. Gods know, I need hope in the career department. I'm fairly certain I'm going to get laid off around February of 2010, so having a career path solidly lined up after that would be very helpful. Of course, I won't hear one way or another until March.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to write and become published. I'm focusing on my noir, finally, this NaNoWriMo. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for sticking with NaNo despite everything else that's going on, but it really is like praying for me. So I'm doing it, hell or high water. And then I'm biting the bullet and sending out stuff for publication. No more hesitations. 2010 will be a good year for me.

I'm sick, again. I have been for a full week, and getting worse every time I venture outside the apartment. This is especially worrisome because I have to move on Saturday (which will likely set me back a few days, health-wise). I was not a sickly child, though at HSU and with David I tended to get sick often. What does it mean? I wish I knew. Doc says it's viral and bacterial, but I just have to wait it out.

I'm moving on Saturday, as my lease ends that day. However, the condo has still not closed, because FHA changed their requirements at the beginning of October. And they keep changing them. Bastards. So I'll be living, with all my stuff in boxes, at my brother's house for two weeks. And then moving again into the condo. If it's delayed past two weeks, I'll be...I dunno, living somewhere else? I hope that I don't have to consider that possibility. It's frustrating, and frightening. And I'm more than a little upset at having to impose on my brother, just when he's finally gotten some space of his own. At least I can cook awesomely for him to make up for it.

I'm signed up to volunteer for the Coho Salmon Pre-Spawn Mortality survey, as I did briefly last year, in November. I like it, though it's cold and a little freaky to wade in waist-deep black water, looking for dead fish. I hope I'm healthy enough to do it.

Work continues to suck. I'm almost out of sick days, so I'm a bit at the end of my rope. I don't have enough work to justify a full-time position, when it comes down to it. At least, not until the sites need to be transferred to the new content management system. And my bosses keep trying to force me to become an IT person, and learn programming and database management. I don't do things that would get me fired, or undermine the organization, but I was hired to be a technical writer, not an IT person. They have known this all along. To try and force me to take on job duties NOT in my description and without any sort of pay raise or even a shift in title is total bullshit. Still, I have to daily justify my position by playing political games, and it frustrates me. I want to have a job that means something, that contributes to the world, that makes a positive difference. I'm pretty damn impatient for that, too.

Thanksgiving also fast approaches, and with it, more cooking. This is a good thing.

All sewing projects have been temporarily suspended, as have all costume outings. In the roster of my life, that stuff is currently at the bottom of the list. I'm trying to shift my mentality so that sewing is a zen retreat, not a deadline-oriented stressor. Once December sets in, I will try to both write and sew daily. I suspect this will make me happier and more creative, as a whole.

I have to find a roommate for the new condo, by December 1st. Or my savings will be tapped dry. Tell me how that's fair? My parents, who will own 2/3rd of the condo), don't have another way to view this. I think they're worried I'll just sit back and procrastinate (as if I ever do that). I have been posting ads for a roommate for three weeks now, and no responses thus far. None. I don't see my odds improving by December. And also in this I have no backup plan. Anyone know of a reasonable person with an income who needs a place to live just north of Seattle?

And lastly, but not leastly, I am in a relationship quandry. I have had a repeat of what I experienced both with dating Alex, and with dating (well, on night standing) Tomas: I woke up one morning and thought "I can do much better than this". I take it as a sign of maturing that I am figuring this stuff out on my own, and within 2 or 3 months of the relationship starting. I'm not THERE yet, as I'd ideally like to be able to figure it out BEFORE the relationships starts, and save everyone a lot of grief. I haven't yet informed my boyfriend that we'd make better friends than serious romantic interests. I think I am having a hard time forming words he'd understand. I am a Virgo, therefore I have analyzed the hell out of it, therefore anything I say that's pure truth will sting and seem like a critique. I don't want to hurt him or make him get distant. He is fun to hang out with, in small doses. And, I must admit, I dote on his group of friends and don't want to alienate myself from them. But when it comes to it...we're just not well-matched.

And I am, in fact, flying to New York in late January. Because there, there is someone I *am* well-matched with. It is doomed, but I'm indulging anyway.

170 pounds
I'd take inches measurements, but I always manage to bungle those when I'm doing them myself.

I'm feeling too sick to do my exercise routine, as any motion of my head sets off the congestion bells. I'm hoping to walk 2 miles (in 2 one mile segments) down to the coffee shop and back, this afternoon. I know it may wipe me out, so I'm doing it after the chores and shopping I need to do today. Hopefully, it doesn't make me more sick (but if it does, I'll go to the doc tomorrow and beg for drugs. Yay drugs!)
 

I learned a technical skill for you. I went to a week-long training, I did in-depth research, I read and educated myself, as per your direction, on Plone (the content management system). We signed a contract to build it. I readied the content to move. I scheduled time to train others on it.
Now you tell me that "due to politics", which are apparently beyond my ken and so let's not inform me about what they are, we are using an entirely different content management system. This is what I know about Sharepoint: it's huge, and goes way beyond the little web content management needs we have. You can't tell me exactly when we'll implement it. You can't tell me exactly why. You can't tell me anything, except that I better start learning Sharepoint now, and forget what I knew regarding Plone.
And of course now I wonder- once I learn Sharepoint, won't you just invalidate my hard work and switch to something else?
And in the meantime, what is my job? Apparently nothing. Which means a damned good reason to lay me off. Which is what you've been wanting to do for months, to free up money. Hmm.

I don't resent having to learn something. I don't even resent having my work invalidated (this is hardly the first time that's happened here). But I do resent this stick-and-carrot approach to directing my job. Stop playing head games and using fear as a motivator, and do your freaking jobs.

The day after tomorrow I fly to San Diego, help Evan pack up his house, and we drive the U-Haul to Seattle. We're stopping on the way to see Wicked in San Francisco (yay!), and Evan will be staying at Noel's awesome new house. For the first time since high school and before, the three Wade kids will be residing in the same area. Woohoo! Given Evan's cooking expertise, my enthusiasm, and Noel's desire to learn (and amazing kitchen), we plan on having some kick-ass dinner and movie nights. :D

We close on the condo Oct 23rd, which means I move (20 minutes north, to Edmonds) in the last week of October. So Samhain et al plans are on hold for the time being. However, hopefully I can be settled by Nov 1st.

I am doing NaNoWriMo once again this year. I will divulge, at this point, only the title of my new bestseller. :) "Love in a Time of Zombies". Muahaha! Yes, I'm serious. :D
And I'm at a total loss as to what to write, or what to call it, since my genius idea of two years ago has already been done. Yet again, procrastination kills me. I can finish my Leigh story from two years ago, I suppose. It requires more plotting anyway.

November 7th is my GRE exam, for entrance to grad school. I have all the other pieces of my application done, save for three letters of rec that I'm waiting on (and paying for it, after the GRE). So with any luck, my application will be submitted Nov 8th, I'll have rocked the socks off the GRE in all sections, and the School of Marine Affairs will welcome me with open arms. I'll know by mid-April, either way.

In costuming news, my coworkers have decided to kidnap me, tape me up (to make a duct tape dress dummy), and sew stuff for me. One of them started my Victorian petticoat the other day, which is really sweet of her to do. The only outfits I think I might have done in time are the Regency masked ball outfits (for the ball in mid-February). I've jumped into the Regency garb stuff, and recently acquired an awesome set of wardrobe patterns. I hope to dive into that after I get unpacked.
And then to start sewing creative fun stuff for my own wardrobe. Yay!

The romantic life is going well, though bumpy as always. My boyfriend keeps alternately pissing me off (through his callous habits, and stubbornness) and then doing really sweet things (like wishing me luck for my work review via text this morning). Boys, ya know? Just a lot of trouble. ;)

For those of you that I promised to visit with during Christmas break....I sincerely apologize, but it looks like I may be staying in Seattle for the holidays. Between budget issues, work issues, and schedule issues, we may have Xmas in Seattle this year. But I still love you all and will be sending cards and virtual hugs. :)

I hope everyone else is having as good a week as possible. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay hopeful, and happy Tuesday.

(oh, P.S., I have a DIY blog up on livingagoddesslife.com, if you're interested)

I have been passionate about the ecology of the Puget Sound and marine stewardship since I was thirteen years old and spent a summer on San Juan Island at Orca Camp, observing and learning about the local resident orca whale pods. That experience opened my eyes to the fascinating diversity of marine life in the northwestern Washington region. It drove me to pursue an undergraduate degree in marine biology, with the hope of earning a position studying orca whales. My desire was to attend the University of Washington, but, being a resident of California at the time, economics prevented that from being a viable option for me. Instead, I attended Humboldt State University, which was the only university in California to offer hands-on experience in this field for undergraduates. Unfortunately, the curriculum and environment of Humboldt was not what I expected and I changed majors to English, graduating cum laude from Colorado State University in 2005. However, my passion for marine ecology has never diminished. I am currently involved in the field of marine conservation through regular involvement with The Whale Museum on San Juan Island, and volunteer work with NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife in a coho salmon pre-spawn mortality survey of Longfellow Creek. During my efforts with this survey both in 2008 and 2009, I witnessed the alarming impact of urban populations on local salmon runs. This has served to further motivate me toward educating the community on the importance of their involvement in the restoration and protection of marine and coastal areas. My current employment at the University of Washington has exposed me to the exciting possibility of achieving this goal through earning a Masters in Marine Affairs.

Through the School of Marine Affairs I expect to gain a well-rounded graduate education in a variety of pertinent issues, including the sociopolitical, budgetary, and ecological factors that affect our coastal and marine regions. I wish to focus primarily on environmental protection aimed specifically at the local population level, and demonstrate to communities how to accommodate population growth without risking the health of their marine and coastal areas. This will include studying ecotourism and marine management, and how the two can be encouraged as part of a growing community’s healthy economic system.

With this broadly based, marine interdisciplinary education, in combination with my extensive public speaking skills and background in writing, I will achieve a career in marine management with an environmental agency. I would still love to study the socialization patterns and vocalizations of the resident orca whales in the Puget Sound, however I am very focused on using my education for the continued stewardship of the Puget Sound’s marine resources. I believe strongly that the fragile marine, coastal, and wetlands regions of the world must be nurtured despite the increase of human populations, in order to provide sustained habitats for all marine species. Such protection and stewardship can be done without sacrificing economic health, personal convenience, or the use of technology. It requires personal dedication and leadership in educating and encouraging the populace to reach this goal.

In closing, I plan to use my leadership skills, my passion for this field of study, and my masters degree to make local marine habitats a better place for marine organisms and humans through the use of my education at the University of Washington.