There’s something new blowing in with the wind. You can see it coming.

In two weeks, everything will change.

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Last week Sally, my trusty Canon S60, up and died on me. It was heartbreaking, poorly timed (as Angie had just come for her visit), and a needless, senseless death. One day Sally was working, the next day not. And all that happened in between was that she slept in my purse.

I don’t suspect any foul play, but I can’t help wondering about her cause of death. Unfortunately my current situation dictates that I replace Sally rather than autopsy her. So in the spirit of moving on, today’s photos are brought to us courtesy of my new Panasonic Lumix LZ8K. He/she is as of yet nameless, but not to fear, that will be remedied soon.

I received a promo in the mail yesterday for the SUN Magazine, which I had never heard of in any class or literary circle or Web site. But Curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it up. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found inside.

Dear Reader,

Years ago, I was trapped in a newspaper job I couldn’t stand. Then I heard Graham Nash sing, “Make sure that the things you do keep us alive.” The next day I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold every day.”

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There’s this pesky parasite in my fingertips called the Internal Editor. He doesn’t like to let me free-write. He insists upon a certain measure of Quality — unless I’m typing in Gmail Chat — and he doesn’t care that Quality slows me down whether she’s just sprinkling herself on my work, or outright smothering it.

I’m considering chopping off my fingers just for the sake of getting rid of the Internal Editor. He’s THAT bad.

Broken camera = sad, sad Stan.

Dude, when did this happen, and why didn’t anyone tell me about it?

It looks great!!

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From a cute article Alex sent me, titled “Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are”:

To summarize the potato salad theory, fanfiction works for readers because the readers are already coming to the story with enough history and background to enjoy the story without piles of world-building and setup, much like stories that feature historical or mythological characters. We are bringing our own utensils and plates to the picnic, not expecting restaurant service. That’s fanfic. When it comes to our source material, we’re all bringing very different things to the table, and that’s going to affect what we consume.

As it happens, these preferences not only inform what we choose to watch in the first place, but also what we see when we get there. As when we sit in English class and interpret poetry, we each have our own particular take on the canon that’s unique to our backgrounds and histories.

And that’s okay.

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Angie goes home tomorrow. :(

But we had fun while she was here!

Last weekend Ryan, Andy and I went down to Newport and noticed a little carnival. Thank god we checked it out, because if we hadn’t, we would have missed out on MOUSE 25¢.

Go, Fast Eddie, go!

Always remember the distinction between contribution and commitment. - John Mack Carter

Um, do you know how much it would cost to ship yourself to North Carolina from Ohio via FedEx Priority Overnight?

FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN DOLLARS!

Five. Two. Seven. HUNDRED.

And that’s only if you weigh FIFTEEN pounds.

Yeah, needless to say, I asked the FedEx clerk if we could try another, cheaper service, because I think my boss would kill me if brought back that receipt.

Ryan was here this weekend, yaaaay! :D This means that I got picked on twice as much as usual. At first it kinda sucked. Then it kept on sucking.

I think that’s the only picture I got of the two meanies all weekend. We were leaving Union Terminal after seeing Bodies, which was really neat, and surprisingly different from the Bodies exhibit I saw in Houston years ago. I was saddened by the lack of Operation in the gift shop, but they did have the Giant Microbes. And really, what more do you need in life than an adorable stuffed chlamydia?

Other than being the butt of every joke, I really enjoyed having Ryan around. (MOVE TO CINCINNATI!) We got caught up on a lot of things, he provided me with interesting insights and perspective, and after Meanie #1 left for his business trip in Chicago, Meanie #2 made sure I still got my daily dose of ESPN. Not to worry, Andy. You left me in good hands.

Now it’s back to reality — cold, cruel reality. The next couple of days at work will be crazy, plus I got another rejection letter in the mail. I haven’t done nearly enough work or writing, but I’m finding it hard to drum up the energy for either. (Too much worrying, too much negativity…) Seeing as it’s 7 hours before I need to wake up, I should probably go to bed. Thank god I have a warm, adorable puppy to cuddle.

When I was younger, I used to wonder what my life would be like when I reached certain ages… I’m not sure I made it past about 20… But what I probably would have imagined, back in the day, is that I’d have some kind of career I was totally in love with, for one.

This is actually from my friend Mary’s most recent LJ post, but it sounds like something straight out of my own diary. As I child I dreamt about high school and especially college, but somehow my imagination never really got past that time frame. I’m not sure why. I am sure, however, that not having a good idea of what should or could or might come next had me terrified.

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