A very useable Christmas

Aside from candy, which always ends up in the stocking, I got three physical items for Christmas-- a beer-brewing kit, some gym shorts, and a bottle of Drakkar Noir. Everything else was in glorious gift-card form.

Okay, when I wrote the above, it was before Jonathan had called me. I have since received two more items;

a t-shirt with the name of my podcasting persona, Xenu, and
The Grey Knights Omnibus, a book.

Jon got Bill and I shirts because when he records with us, he forgets our fake names, and has to be edited. The Grey Knights thing is a part of this wargaming hobby, Warhammer 40,000. The book is a collection of stories and fictional history on the group, and it's huge.

I'm still not a fan of Christmas as a secular holiday, because consumerism is wasteful and things like the instances of people being trampled in the name of a good deal greatly disgusts me. The idea that millions of us are celebrating material wealth is abhorrent. Does it make me a hypocrite? Oh, absolutely! I try to justify my participation by spouting conscientious shit, but in the end, I still go and get what people ask me to buy for them. I always talk about what I receive. This year I feel slightly better because of the fact that I will use every bit of it, but it's still part and parcel of that black, gnawing Thirteenth Month. I want to break free of this crap.

But looking at it all, I do feel kinda good about the haul this year. Aside from those few things up there, I got a ton of gift cards, and I love gift cards. They're sort of like giving experiences, in the sense that I do such-and-such in my everyday life, but because I got a gift card, I can do it cheaper or more often. $55 to AMC? Hellllllll yeah. $25 to Outback? Yeeeeeaaaaah! Subway card, gas cards, and a straight-cash debit/gift cardthing? Perfect! Supplementing my regular lifestyle may not be the anti-imperial, anti-consumerist, anti-global whateverism that would be good for everyone, but helping me be me is good enough until I can be a Responsible Adult.

I have more theories about Adults, based on observations while hanging out with my friends. There's a friend of mine who would look like my best friend if written out on paper, but we barely talk to each other, and the difference in personality, I believe, comes from her being an Adult. I'm trying to codify it in my own less-scientific-and-more-so-I-can-remember-what-I-was-thinking kind of way. So far, all I can say is that it is a personality trait, and when I see someone as an Adult, it becomes the primary label. I'll have more eventually, I'm sure. It's just sort of hard to convey.

Sean

A decent sleep

Sleep's been wonky til now-- got at least 12 hours overall last night after a couple days of 3 and 4.

Grades are supposedly due from teachers today, though I don't know what that means for when they'll actually be posted. Japanese ended well, and I'm hoping PoliSci did too, but I couldn't tell, because that prof doesn't return tests or anything.

Next semester's lineup!

Child Development- Tuesday, 9-noon. Took it for more psych, felt it was more towards the bottom when thinking that I would work "from the bottom, up." I've had this prof before, for Intro to Psych, and he's kind of a nut, but the class I have now is the same length and only once a week, so that'll be nice.

English Composition I- Friday, 9-noon. Required credit. I took the section that had a lab attached to it so that I would avoid any unforeseeable and horribly timed tech problems at home. Also kinda hoping it's enough of a no-brainer to screw around on the internet.

Beginning Japanese II- Saturday, 9:30-1:30. I'm hoping that once-a-week will be less painful. I learned that the lady who taught Beg. I isn't teaching Beg. II, so I'm breathing a small sigh of relief. I'm also planning to start studying ahead, as soon as this holiday garbage is done. I can't believe how much time it's taking up.

I need to find a good, short hair style for when I grow up. Right now, all I can think to do is buzz my head again.

AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGH

^ The sound of my balls breaking.

First, happy news. Jon got his official acceptance letter to Eastern's MA of History program, yaaaaaay! To celebrate, we got pizza and watched a documentary.

Aggravating news. Trying to get loans and such for school, and am getting retarded mixed signals. Tried applying directly for a Stafford loan, they said they weren't available for OCC. Odd, fine, so I went to Sallie Mae, since they had actually loaned me money without problems. Got everything done, checked my e-mail regularly for a few days, and tonight, not being able to sleep for whatever annoying reason, I came down and checked again. Sallie Mae sent me something saying that they couldn't process the loan because of "missing or discrepant" information, and that I should go fix it. There's a problem with that.

NOWHERE DOES IT SAY WHAT I NEED TO FUCKING FIX.

Not in the e-mail, not on the site, nowhere. In fact, all it DOES say is that the Borrower Action is complete! That I'm -done-, and all that needs to happen is that my school needs to get their ass in gear. I'm gonna have to call tomorrow and hope I don't lose my mind dealing with this stupid shit.

Already planning a worst-case scenario, I don't get into more classes this semester, I wander around looking for a job, and I run screaming back to Eastern as soon as possible, which could mean May if I'm feeling desperate. Financial aid has been so ridiculous at OCC, compared to the complete non-issue it was at EMU, so I have no concerns about getting loans for it, but I say May rather than January because at the point that I would give up on OCC (about a week, since that's when money is due, and my classes will be auto-dropped without it), it's rather late in the game to tell Eastern I want back in for the Winter semester. Although maybe not. I dunno for sure.

I would like things to go right for more than a little while at a time.

Sean