So much to report on this end that I don't know where to begin. (Note to self, others: it might be helpful if I updated this blog more than once a month, but oh, well. I'm still not convinced that switching over to strict use of my tumblr would encourage me to update more frequently. In fact, I tumbl even less often than I blog...)

The big news: I have a new job - my first actual adult job. By adult I mean 1) more than marginally related to my field of study; and 2) salaried, benefitted. Yes, friends: last week, I started working as a course captioning transcriber for the Academy of Art University. So far, so good. The work is interesting, the projects are varied; my coworkers are really friendly and stylish. This weekend, I bought a 4-cup coffeemaker for my desk! I commute! I just bought some office friendly wedges online!

Smaller news: I survived a legit hair disaster. Saturday, I went in to get highlights done. I asked for "sparse, natural-looking" highlights and ended up with hair that looked frosted and greenish. No joke, my hair looked like a toupee and/or an animal pelt. I did not cry, but I did wear a giant, decorated headband yesterday to cover the mess. Luckily, I was able to snag an appointment (today) at Edo, where Taylor reversed the horrible damage that had been done to me not 48 hours earlier. I kept the highlights but had the tone altered (they're now honeyish blonde, rather than chlorine-damaged grayblonde), the roots of my hair darkened/the ends brightened. Now, I'm happy to report, I look like a human again.

Medium news: Hook and I registered for the KP 5K (July 25th). Anyone wanna join us as we run?

My thoughts on this are "TGIF."

Well, my last-ever winter break is almost over, but I wouldn't say that I'm mourning its passing. Perhaps I should be, being that this is quite likely my last winter break of all time - barring certain career choices - but: I am not. Don't mistake this oddly-worded intro as complaining, since I enjoyed my break. It just didn't feel like a break, what with the teaching and the work at the key office and the true beginning of the Job Hunt and other assorted schtuff that I was doing. Admittedly, I'm a little relieved that the semester's starting; the workload will be intense, but I'll have fewer formal constraints on my time: cha-ching. I get less stressed when I feel (rightly or not) that I have ample time to get everything done.

In good news (though many of you have found this out through some of my other online social networking/microblogging avenues), I have a job interview on Monday. A real interview, for a job I'm totally excited about. I'm trying not to psych myself out, and I'm trying to prevent myself from fantasizing about My Awesome New Life, Made Possible By This Awesome New Job (A Life That Features Granite Countertops And Stainless Appliances & Sundry Other Comforts). But, my self-discipline is only so great! Those countertops have never seemed closer! Wish me luck!

***

In kind of a strange mood this morning. I'm chalking it up to the weather, to my scant sleep this week. Seasonal Affective Disorder? I'm not sure that these chalkings are correct, but they'll do.

Braving the elements from in here.

Yes, that's right: another storm anticipated tonight. I wasn't even aware of this impending "weather," as we Minnesotans like to say, until my mom called me (in the middle of the dinner I was at) and said, "Well, I know you don't watch the news, so I thought I'd tell you that there's going to be a massive snowstorm out East."

I was indignant! I do watch the news, though I didn't today. I read more news online, too (though many of you wouldn't believe it since I'm always only posting links from Yahoo, but that's because I have a Yahoo address I use only for online shopping/signing up for stuff, and I sometimes run into mildly interesting human interest stories en route to checking that acct. You know.). But, in the end, I was glad for the advance warning. Back from the dinner, I am in my slippers sipping cocoa and preparing to edit this cover letter.

This will probably sound dumb, given our country's current economic state, but I'm excited to be applying for jobs. My excitement owes largely to the facts that 1) I have five months until graduation, and so the real urgency of needing new employment hasn't set in; and 2) the job I'm applying for is pretty damned awesome, and it's in my dream city - which is very likely where I'll be living next year(!) I don't want to share too many details - nothing is finalized, after all - but I am getting psyched for post-graduation life.

Query: do any of you, reader friends, have job search/application tips you'd be willing to share? It is certainly true that I've never had a real job hunt. (For those who may be wondering, I went straight from undergrad to grad school, an assistantship lined up for me when I got here, so I didn't have to find employment on my own.) Indeed, it is strange, this job hunting.