*does backflips*
Jun. 8th, 2004 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wordinistaHappy days are here again!
We. Got. The. Apartment!! *dances*
We're moving in, as planned, on 4th of July weekend -- going up to sign the lease on Saturday. A lot of people were asking us why we just didn't save up for a down payment on a house, which I suppose we could have done, but mainly I think neither of us is sure where we want to settle down. After living just outside of DC for two years, I fell in love with the mid-Atlantic area, and moving back to Florida was a total bummer. (Desperate to move back, I sent so many resumes off to DC prep schools, it isn't even funny.)
Right now feels like... it feels like a crossroads of sorts, I suppose. We've got an apartment, which means that we're stuck in FL for another year. George has an excellent job, which certainly eases the blow. I haven't heard back about the full-time position at that other campus (but will likely remain an adjunct even if I don't get it), which leaves me feeling like I'm in a sort of limbo.
I'm thrilled that George has his job, and I'm even more thrilled that he loves it. But, while I love teaching, I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the quality of students I'm getting. From the get-go, I wanted to teach college level literature, but I'm stuck teaching Comp I and II classes. Comp II isn't so bad, as it's literature based, but Comp II is the bane of my existence. I hate teaching it with the passion of a thousand burning hells and two thousand fiery suns. Logically my next step would be to get into a PhD program, get said PhD and start trying to get a job at a proper 4 year uni.
Except... I already tried that, and the bastards rejected me. Urgh. (Mm... the ego and self-esteem have not yet recovered from that blow.)
And now I know I can't apply again next year because George has The Awesome Job From On High, and it wouldn't be fair to expect him to leave that just so we can return to the financial wasteland hell of me being a grad student all over again. He's been waiting for this. *sigh* AND there's a lease to consider -- we can't just pack up and move, given that. (And there are NO decent local universities.)
You know... maybe this just means I need to turn my attention back to my original writing. I don't want to stay at the college forever, and right now that seems to be my best bet. I haven't heard back from TOR yet (sent a submission to them... damn, in November, I think), and I have to get over this sick obsession I have of rewriting chapters I've promised myself are finished. I think I can balance original writing with fanfiction, because -- for me, anyway -- fanfiction has always been a great way to relieve writer's block. A friend of mine calls it "fast-food literature" -- because you've got these pre-made characters, and all you have to do is add plot and stir.
Yep. That is probably my best bet to keep from sliding into a pit of bitterness. At least I won't feel as if the college is using me up only to discard my dried-up husk later.
In other, fluffier news, OGAM won for "Best Continuing Fiction" in the IY Fanguild, which was pretty cool, and got 2nd place for Best Drama. That felt really good.
Ooh! And Furuba Volume 3 is getting released this week! (I like the scanlation sites and all, but I like having the manga in my hands even more. And I really hate the text-only translations. I'm too visual; I need my pictures. *grin*) Vol 2 was beautiful -- Hatori's story is given so much more depth, and he's paid more attention as a character. I was bawling like a baby when I read it. I'm really looking forward to getting to the parts of the story that aren't covered by the anime. Yeah, there are some slight differences between manga and anime right now, but they're slight. I'm trying to remain patient, but it's getting difficult.
I never thought I'd be the type to ever have a preference in the anime vs. manga debate, but I must say that I prefer the FB manga to the anime so far. The anime sort of just... skims over everything. Actually, what really annoys me about the FB anime is that we don't even get to meet all of the frickin' Juunishi! I was like, "Hello! Horse? Rooster? WTF?" But I think I prefer the anime's artwork. I've been trying my hand at drawing Shigure, and I seem to refer to screencaps more often than I refer to manga piccies.
Hmm... I've got a huge folder full of LJ icons that I never use. Giving serious consideration to moving to a paid account just so I can have more icon choices...
We. Got. The. Apartment!! *dances*
We're moving in, as planned, on 4th of July weekend -- going up to sign the lease on Saturday. A lot of people were asking us why we just didn't save up for a down payment on a house, which I suppose we could have done, but mainly I think neither of us is sure where we want to settle down. After living just outside of DC for two years, I fell in love with the mid-Atlantic area, and moving back to Florida was a total bummer. (Desperate to move back, I sent so many resumes off to DC prep schools, it isn't even funny.)
Right now feels like... it feels like a crossroads of sorts, I suppose. We've got an apartment, which means that we're stuck in FL for another year. George has an excellent job, which certainly eases the blow. I haven't heard back about the full-time position at that other campus (but will likely remain an adjunct even if I don't get it), which leaves me feeling like I'm in a sort of limbo.
I'm thrilled that George has his job, and I'm even more thrilled that he loves it. But, while I love teaching, I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the quality of students I'm getting. From the get-go, I wanted to teach college level literature, but I'm stuck teaching Comp I and II classes. Comp II isn't so bad, as it's literature based, but Comp II is the bane of my existence. I hate teaching it with the passion of a thousand burning hells and two thousand fiery suns. Logically my next step would be to get into a PhD program, get said PhD and start trying to get a job at a proper 4 year uni.
Except... I already tried that, and the bastards rejected me. Urgh. (Mm... the ego and self-esteem have not yet recovered from that blow.)
And now I know I can't apply again next year because George has The Awesome Job From On High, and it wouldn't be fair to expect him to leave that just so we can return to the financial wasteland hell of me being a grad student all over again. He's been waiting for this. *sigh* AND there's a lease to consider -- we can't just pack up and move, given that. (And there are NO decent local universities.)
You know... maybe this just means I need to turn my attention back to my original writing. I don't want to stay at the college forever, and right now that seems to be my best bet. I haven't heard back from TOR yet (sent a submission to them... damn, in November, I think), and I have to get over this sick obsession I have of rewriting chapters I've promised myself are finished. I think I can balance original writing with fanfiction, because -- for me, anyway -- fanfiction has always been a great way to relieve writer's block. A friend of mine calls it "fast-food literature" -- because you've got these pre-made characters, and all you have to do is add plot and stir.
Yep. That is probably my best bet to keep from sliding into a pit of bitterness. At least I won't feel as if the college is using me up only to discard my dried-up husk later.
In other, fluffier news, OGAM won for "Best Continuing Fiction" in the IY Fanguild, which was pretty cool, and got 2nd place for Best Drama. That felt really good.
Ooh! And Furuba Volume 3 is getting released this week! (I like the scanlation sites and all, but I like having the manga in my hands even more. And I really hate the text-only translations. I'm too visual; I need my pictures. *grin*) Vol 2 was beautiful -- Hatori's story is given so much more depth, and he's paid more attention as a character. I was bawling like a baby when I read it. I'm really looking forward to getting to the parts of the story that aren't covered by the anime. Yeah, there are some slight differences between manga and anime right now, but they're slight. I'm trying to remain patient, but it's getting difficult.
I never thought I'd be the type to ever have a preference in the anime vs. manga debate, but I must say that I prefer the FB manga to the anime so far. The anime sort of just... skims over everything. Actually, what really annoys me about the FB anime is that we don't even get to meet all of the frickin' Juunishi! I was like, "Hello! Horse? Rooster? WTF?" But I think I prefer the anime's artwork. I've been trying my hand at drawing Shigure, and I seem to refer to screencaps more often than I refer to manga piccies.
Hmm... I've got a huge folder full of LJ icons that I never use. Giving serious consideration to moving to a paid account just so I can have more icon choices...
