Hurray!

I have finished my first semester of grad school, and here I live to tell about it. So, what to tell... Um... well... you know... stuff.

My projects were well received, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna walk out of this semester with high A's in my classes, which is really cool and a great way to start off. I've got a research topic now, so over Christmas break my major academic goal is to learn as much as possible about this topic so that I can figure out a specific research question, make some contacts, figure out a design and methodology... but first things first. At this stage I'm reading background news stories on the Superferry. Once I'm well versed in that, I'll go through the legislation and technical legal stuff that's happened these past years. Also, will be looking into psych journals for previous research on community change. Oh, it's exciting.

Non-academic goals for Christmas break are to write another novel (10K already, hoping to add 4 more K this evening at the write-in), to move forward with editing the one I just wrote, and to finish this fanfiction I've been working on forever. Fanfiction one is particularly fun right now... My fics have apparently been listed on some site or other because I've gotten dozens of new readers over the past month, and this during my nanowrimo hiatus. International readers too... it's neat.

Anyway, I feel confident having all these goals because I'm staying here over the holidays, I won't be doing much by way of work (or maybe not anything), and so I'll have time. Time over Christmas holidays. To do whatever I want. Anything at all. I just... it occurs to me that I'm not entirely sure when this happened last. I guess 10 years ago, my first year in undergrad. Holy cow. This is so cool, and certainly will not last so I must milk it for everything it's worth.

I heard this morning that fireworks are huge here for New Years, and that some neighborhood streets get covered (actually blanketed) with spent fireworks, and that if I can get to high ground I'll be able to look out over a haze of gunpowder smoke that will cover Honolulu. And that Waikiki and Chinatown and downtown will have cool stuff happening to celebrate. Ah, will miss going home even still, but what are you going to do?

It's December here (and probably where you are as well) and while it's not been 82 and sunny these past few days, it has definitely been 78 and rainy. Which is still hellza above the Chicago low of 21 today. I remember playing last year, telling people that I would lord this great weather over them, but secretly thinking that I'd be glad for the bad weather if I could just be with my loved ones. Well, really, I wish everyone would just come here. I'm a pansy already. I lost my touch with the cold and I think it scares me now more than ever, given that I really do need sweatshirts now when the temps drop into the mid-seventies. Ah, but still I'd brave even Chicago's winter...

I miss you all. Life is going well for me, but it is so far away. So, let me send my love on out there to you.*

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* This is as close as you will get to Christmas cheer. Take it or leave it.