I finished my book. 54,216 words. I thought about going all J.K. on you, telling you the last word on that last page, but I'm not going to. It will probably change; I have started a little editing. As I was finishing up Coin Trick, I realized it wasn't working for me because it was too slow to get started and there just wasn't a clear conflict in the book. So, I've changed the beginning entirely. It opens with Sophie and Molonowski giving a show at the Fox. They're in the middle of a transposition, wherein Sophie, Molonowski and an audience member switch places in an instant, when Sophie disappears. From there, we jump back to my original opening about how Sophie found the job.

It feels like nothing is working today. It's not bad, just painfully boring. The copy machine is broken, and not one student has come for an appointment. If summer and winter break are this way, I will probably wind up stabbing myself in the eye.

The past two nights have been glorious, though. Sunday, I got back from Indiana and cleaned my kitchen till it could pass even my mom's inspection. I got hungry for avocado, so I drove to Kroger, bought one, halved it, peeled it, and sat in bed munching. I drank a cold fizzy drink, finished A Feast for Crows, and relished living on my own. Penny got into an altercation with a particularly nasty Southern spider, and wound up so poofy in the face that I was briefly inclined freak the fuck out. But, Binder calmed my nerves as only she can. So, it was back to the almost guacamole and fantasy literature for me.

And last night, I did some laundry, went grocery shopping, and watched House.

I love, love, love the mundane beauties of life on my own. Yes, there are times when I manage to fuck something simple up and then dwell on it long enough to ruin a day or a week, but those don't happen very often. Before Thanksgiving, for instance, while trying to weatherproof my seventy year old windows, I sliced my hands up and cried. On other occasions, when I pay too close attention to the fact that I am paid to make copies and repeat the phrase, "It will be alright," before handing over the relevent form, I can become morose. Still, I am not naturally inclined to be sad or overly critical.

Most days, I have a rare knack for happiness. I am so happy so consistently that people are kind of annoyed by it in the early mornings. Did you know that cranky people mocking me makes me happy?

I also applied for two more jobs today. By now you know that exit strategies make me happier than almost anything.