Well, that was fun.

Went out bowling with a bunch of furs tonight. While doing so, I also met blacktigr in the process. In the fur, or flesh, or whatever. Now I have a face to associate with the name, which is always helpful. I also met a brother who was a fur in the process. That's most interesting. Actually, I managed to get myself lost in Ann Arbor by thinking logically (I needed to be on the other side of Main, of course), but everything turned out all right in the end. And I bowled a consistent set of games for once, all pretty close to average. So tonight was definitely a bunch of fun. I think I might be in on these sorts of things more (don't think it'll necessarily mean I need to pick up a pair of wings and a tail, but it might not hurt. And I suspect I'll need a pair of sunglasses as well, like the ones that have disappeared into the transdimensional storage void that seems to hang around me. Somedays it sucks to be absent-minded. Other days it sucks worse.)

Congratulations are due to our hockey squad, which took the league tournament, and now must wait for their selection into the national tournament. Hopefully this time they'll go all the way. In a not-related piece of information, my tournament bracket now looks more like the Hindenburg at the moment than anything else. Perhaps tomorrow it will look respectable again, but the downward spiral is already on its way.

In the very not related, there was some sage advice on the web today that I found. Very sage advice, indeed. Some interesting awards accompanied this advice, and by the end of it, I was feeling thoroughly Erisian.

Actually, it would do me well just to stop worrying about most of the things that bother me. I'll seek advice from my professors about rewriting my last thesis segment - it's a bit of a doozie. Or it can be, let's put it that way. I'm feeling a little lost in my own thoughts and I'm trying to make sure that everything works out okay. If things get particularly bad, I'll just consult the List of unconventional curses and possibly try out a few.

What is best said now, though, is that I should go bedward. It was very nice meeting the group of furs - perhaps the next time I'll drag along the familiar, or let my own wings out a bit. It's much easier to explain what you would be, even if you're not fully sure you're ready to do something like that. To be honest, it feels a little embarrassing to say that I identify most with dragons - most others are grounded in real animals, and here I am with the fantastic. I got no discernible negative reactions out of it, but it feels a little weird. Like I should say something different, like "White Tiger" (a close second choice) around the group, and it would go over better. It's like I'm bracing for a "no, really, what kind of fur are you" question. Come to think of it, I met a crocodile, so scales wouldn't be a problem, and I know about Two, so feathers and wings wouldn't be a problem either. So why am I doing something like that?

As with many of my problems, the answer is "Got me. Take a poll of the other inhabitants." They usually shrug and say, "You'll know when you need to." I suppose that's true. Perhaps a more meditative stance will help - as would a visit from Llewellyn. But best to focus on the achievable. Thus, since what seems most achievable right now is bed, I think I'll sleep on it. (Estraven would be proud.)

Karnak I am not.

...as I had one quarter of my bracket implode on me today. Utter and complete destruction. But I'm only in this for fun, so at the same time I'm screaming "Very NOOOOOOO!" I'm chuckling at my own inability to prognosticate. This is why I will be a librarian, I suspect.

But like many of my Sundays, today was fun. Animation (Jungle Guu Final and Xenosaga) as well as a strange Batman Lego-Lightwave hybrid animation. It was interesting, shall we say. But good interesting. The Government Thought about Blowing up a Bomb on the Moon interesting, not Things you don't want to hear interesting.

And beyond that, I was probably lazy today. I could have gotten work on my thesis done, but I've hit a bit of a roadblock in my head about proper phrasing and the right places to put stuff. So I appealed to someone else to give me some ideas. Or at least point to some good places.

There was a bit of heat let off in one of the religious communities by someone posting "what was necessary to become a Christian", which was basically a list of rather non-loving actions that many of the "fundamentalist" strain could be accused of committing. There were quite a few "Not all Christians are like that" responses, which are perfectly valid, but they betray a certain tacit admission that the fire-and-brimstone hurlers are also Christians. I suggested that if the tolerant ones don’t want to be tarred with the same brush, they should find a way to rein in the errants or jettison them (or themselves) away and begin using new terminology to describe their wayward brethren. Sensible-sounding, anyway, even if it would be a nightmare trying to actually bring something like that about. Another member posted shortly afterward his opinion on what things are going wrong with Christianity (basically, that adherence to Law is smothering the Spirit of God, and that many religions are now Systems of Control rather than ways to explore the divine-human relationship) He professed optimism that things would be changing soon as a response to my query as to whether it would be better in the long run for Christianity to be actively persecuted again, and said that persecution now would hurt things quite a bit. I hope he's right and that things do change soon. I'll be cheering from the sidelines (the idea of Goddess that has rather firmly planted herself in my head excludes me from that company, I suspect) if it happens, and seeing if there aren't some things I can do on the outside to help it along. Or to direct the forty lashings to the right people. Or something.

Then again, I claim no particular authority or rightness on any matter - to do so would usually be folly in my case.

Especially since I got a care package from the parents - serendipity indeed. And mostly sweet stuff, so I'll be having good fun chowing down on that. And I continue to try and find myself some employment for the summer - I’ve already sent away an application, and while I'm out tomorrow, I'll be touring some of the places in town to see if they're hiring on summer staff. Hopefully at a nice wage where I can pay rent and bills and sock some away for the tuition hit that's going to appear next fall. Of course, if I'm insanely lucky, I'll pick up some scholarships somewhere along the way, or have a package that lets me work for sufficient amounts to cover my tuition and possibly add a stipend to it (that would be best!) I never know, and with the way things are around here, that's still in flux. I won't have a clear picture of how things will work for another month or two. Admittedly, that sucks, but there's also still hope.

So, for tomorrow: Scope out potential employers, deposit my earnings, tell the Registrar to tell the government that I'm still going to be a student for two more years, and look for openings in my own writing to put more stuff in. On top of that, think about major projects and possibly do a couple of the minor ones headed my way. College is not for the weak of heart or study habits. Of course, I tend to worry too much as it is, so this is probably just a symptom of that. I suppose it's easier to inflict an imagined audience with my neuroses than a real one.

Ah, yes, and if you've managed to get this far without clawing your own (or my) eyes out, pop over to theprotoculture and take part in the caption contest. I'm sure it would do well to warm gun_metal's heart to see hordes descend on his place and force extra work each week through the shining quality and quantity of your entries. Or, if you need some cheap laughs, or feel like providing a few, head down there anyway.