I have been in such a weird mood lately. I don't know if mood is the right term. Adjusting to my new life as a graduate student / TA has been tough. Combine it with all the hurricane weirdness, and money worries - it's just been odd. I constantly have at the back of my head, "Is academia the place for me? Is this what I want to do for five more years after I get my MA? Do I have anything special or unique to say about literature, and can I even teach a bunch of freshmen how to write? And why won't that annoying undergraduate girl shut up in my Romantic Lit class?"

Physically, as I have alluded to in previous boring posts, I have been not feeling 100%. My energy level is down, I have this intermittent sore throat - actually it's more like my lymph nodes get all funky.

Plus, the election. I think that must work at most everyone's psyche. Each side fears the other. I frankly don't trust that our votes really do count - been hearing about how both sides have been up to trickery of one or another sort - it's really disgusting. I have little faith in the system, a system that gives us too very similar (in many but not all aspects) choices.

So here I am, trying to make a new start and find a meaningful livelihood, trying to overcome the obstacles and issues from within and from without. I feel like a strong person, I think I've dealt with a lot of strange and painful things in my recent and distant past. And you're probably wondering, "what's her damn point?" That's an excellent question. I apologize for rambling. School is hard work, it's not just my TA duties, it's my duties as a student - such as having to write a 30 page research paper by the end of the semester, and having to make a presentation on my tentative results by around Thanksgiving. Which is now this month! So I think what I'm trying to say is, don't feel mad or bad if you don't hear from me much, either here or in person. It's not you, it's my new weird life and workload.

Oh, and I got a tattoo. Please don't tell Mum.