As I type this, the sun has set on the shortest day of the year. This entry will be a mish mash of bits I've written over the past few months, some stuff I'm just typing in randomly, and whatever I feel like. Call it a "clip show" if you will, but without Commander Riker.
Bonus tribbles for anyone who gets that reference.
I dolled up last weekend.
Anyway, as I mentioned, today is the winter solstice, also known as Hibernal solstice, and, to my friends of the Goddess: Yule. The Yule celebration is where we in the US get most of our Xmas traditions. I think I wrote about that once. Oh yeah- HERE it is! As to those friends:
"Wishing you blessings this yuletide and every day. This Yule, may you and yours enjoy the blessings of the season and the joy of rebirth. As the light is reborn this winter solstice, may your heart lift with the joy of new beginnings and nature's blessings."
I forget where I dug that up, but I like it. I didn't write it. Cut and Paste is your friend.
I'd love to report incredible progress on my PhD but nope. Still stalled. Still my fault. Same reasons, really. Depression. Imposter syndrome. In an effort to kick my ass into gear, I decided to apply for a post doc kinda thing.
The good news is that I had a class with Dr. Hil Malatino, who is in charge of this. The bad news is that I also had a class with one of the other professors on the team during my first semester of my PhD studies, and, well, we didn't see eye-to eye. In any case, I spent several days updating my CV, filled out the application (which included two essay questions of at least 500 words) and submitted it last night. Do I have a prayer of getting it? Doubtful- especially since I don't have my PhD yet. But I COULD have it by August if I get my ass in gear. So there's that.
As I showed above, I dolled up a few times this month. I guess I just wanted to feel something. Maybe it was because it felt so good dressing up for the reunion. A big reason was that I've lost a lot of weight due to Ozempic and diet change (diabetes sucks), and I was going through my closet trying on things I stopped wearing because I was too fat. I found several including my jeans! Another reason I dolled up was because I kept practicing with false eyelashes. Again and again. Eventually, I was successful. So, I dolled up to celebrate.
Look at what I did!
Another piece I fit into was my fave purple sweater.
Bathroom selfie!
So that was a good thing since my last blog entry.
Xmas is next week. Wednesday in fact. I won't see Wife or Daughter that day, but I may see them on Monday. I hope so.
What else is going on? The usual end of semester money woes which mean trips to the food bank. Added to that was the fact that my roomie/bestie Linda was sick for 5 weeks and out of work. My income barely cuts it when both of us work, so that was crippling. To distract myself from concentrating on that and spiraling deeper into my usual holiday depression, I decided to help a Vampire bride. She was in a nasty car accident, which totaled her car. As she ran her own driving business, this is devastating. Add to that her injuries and broken glasses... it was a stake to her heart. Like me, she is too proud to ask for help, so I started a GoFundMe for her.
Oh, why am I calling her a Vampire bride? Because we met when we were both in Dracula together at the Forge Theatre. (Hmmm I thought I had a pic of all four brides, but I don't.)
She has it worse than me.
Penn State won its first playoff football game at Beaver Stadium today against SMU. It was 25 deg F with a windchill of 10 deg, which I'm guessing was far too cold for those Texans. Also, it was a "White Out" so it was LOUD. I didn't score tickets in the student lottery, so I watched it from my couch. Oh, here's a bit of trivia: at PSU we say "WE ARE PENN STATE!" This started because of our last game against SMU in 1948.
Oh, back in July I wrote a blog entry wondering what I would do if fascism won the election. It did. And they've already started clamping down of TG people. In any case, I decided what I'm going to do. I'm staying here. There are a few reasons. The first is that Linda doesn't have a passport, and I won't leave without her. Second is that I simply don't have the money to leave. Third is that if I left, I'd feel guilty for leaving. I can't leave and let my transgender sisters fight on without me. I've fought all my life (and have the scars to prove it), and I won't stop now. Fascists need to be fought. To do any less is to dishonor everyone who fought it last time- in the 40s.
In any case, that's all I have. Enjoy whatever holidays you observe. Be well.
