update: it had to happen eventually
I have not updated in so very, very long and I stopped on such a dramatic entry. Perhaps those of you who have been frantically checking my journal for updates (too many to count, no doubt) have been concerned. Fear not! I am just lazy.
In October, I went to Paris with aldarsior. I never really know what exactly to say about it when people ask how it was. Nine days was not nearly enough time, but I anticipated that much. At least now I have a feel for the layout of the city, which is somehow rewarding. My French was a lot better than I thought it would be-I gave a French woman directions, ordered meds at the pharmacie (yes, we both had colds while there), and even had a casual exchange with a waiter about our mutual love of cold weather. I was reluctant to bother with going up on the Eiffel Tower, but we did and it was spectacular. The Sainte-Chapelle was the most beautiful place we saw-the most beautiful place to see, I would argue. Hit the Louvre twice and d'Orsay once. Went out to Versailles, per aldarsior's request. Per my request, spent the better part of a day running all over Père Lachaise on a kind of famous grave scavenger hunt. And, lo, it was pretty great.
On the flight back, we saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall for the shitty movies are fun to mock factor. But, in fact, it was not shitty at all. So that was confusing.
When my parents picked me up at the airport, they told me that Portia had died the night before. She went on her own, peacefully. I have not written a memorial post and I have not gone to have her cremated (she is still in my freezer). Sigh? This left only Maria (who is still goin' strong!) with my parents, so Toni and Bella are on loan to them. In the meantime, I am trying to make Cherry and Audry a little less wild (it is slow going).
Then there was the election! I can say nothing that hasn't already been said. Like many others I know, I was unable to maintain my cynicism in the face of something this tremendous. As for the rest, we will see. The homophobic props suck; blaming them on Black voters is stupid, wrong, and racist. Still hoping for Franken!
One night, after a sort of college clique mini reunion in Ell's basement, aldarsior, smiletara, and I headed to Silver Diner to offset the effects of the bottle of Manischewitz that smiletara and I (okay, mostly I) had polished off (ah, the evening had started off so well!). I saw some folk there whom I vaguely knew/knew of and just a few minutes after we left (I found out later), they were in a terrible car accident. That was the first incident in a spell of bad shit recently-an ill wind, as phlat once memorably termed this sort of thing-but I don't feel like getting into all of it. Fallout is still falling out, but I pray (so to speak) that everyone comes out on the other end of it okay.
This Saturday, smiletara and I did clinic defense for the first time. It was many things-infuriating, cold, difficult, but also rewarding. We will be regulars, to be sure. (Thank you once more to crafting_change for introducing me to this whole concept.)
Obviously, smiletara and I have been hanging out a lot. There is much love, and also shopping. Yesterday I watched her buy exorbitant designer jeans, which makes me want to do the same. Perhaps from Svoboda? (At present, I cannot justify this expense in any way at all.)
What else, what else? I have been doing a little freelancing. I have discovered Ian McEwan and I am in massive amounts of awe.
It is The Holidays and I continue to be enamored with Christmas. I love it, love it, love everything about it. My parents and aldarsior got me one of the new Macbooks (and I opened it way too early, like December 2) and I could not love it any more, except perhaps if I had given birth to it. This year was my first experience with attending those company holiday parties (mine and aldarsior's) and they ranged from tolerable to enjoyable. On the drive back from his, we saw a shooting star.
Gripes: Where the fuck is my snow? And I have been working so fucking much-as in, I have two days of comp time (as in, hours I worked past work hours/on weekends) saved up (after having just taken one) and it's starting to piss off aldarsior. I want a new job and there are next to none for me to even apply for! I still don't know what I want to study in grad school. Also, I am not feeling so hot today and yet I have stayed late at work to write this, which is clearly unacceptable. Such is my devotion to you!