I Stink at Blogging

Well, here we are- a whole 9 months since my last post.  And since I have lots of free time for internets now, I hope to get a little less sporadic.  I have found (through a friend) a gem of a blog that delights and entertains me every time. It's called Hyperbole and a Half. And though I'll never be as funny or as cool as Allie Brosh, I... well, I don't really have anything.  I'll just never be as funny or as cool as Allie Brosh. 
Anyway, the reason I have so much free time is that I am between jobs.  I worked for Shakespeare at Winedale (best thing ever) from the end of January to August, and now I am looking for a job to keep me fed and housed and out of bed until I go off to see the world in February. Oh yeah, and I graduated from college in May.  I guess that's another thing.

This is sort of a cheesy picture, I guess.  My hair's a wreck, I'm holding a fake diploma and I'm fake super-imposed in front of the tower. But my mom paid a lot of money for this image, so I figure it should go somewhere. (oh yeah, credits to Flash Photography for being  The Nation's Premier Event Photographer and taking this photo).  Now I am a very well-educated bum.  A bum who should be studying for the GRE...
I have heard it's easy to do well on this test, but I want to do REALLY well.  That way I can attend the Information School at the University of Washington in Seattle.  My ultimate plan is to become a librarian and FORCE CHILDREN TO READ BOOKS.  Yep.
Since I started reading Middlemarch and got stuck in, well, the middle, I decided to take a break and revisit three of my most favorite books. The Sally Lockhart Series by Philip Pullman is one of the best things ever (note: I enjoyed The Tin Princess, but not on the same level).  I first discovered it sometime in elementary school, but my copies are now falling apart due to re-reading and re-reading (The Shadow in the North doesn't have a cover and The Tiger in the Well is split in half).  Hopefully in graduate school I will learn how to effectively repair books like these. I always dreamed of playing Sally in a movie adaptation, but I have since realized that what I really want is to be her.  Mostly this is because I saw the BBC version of The Ruby in the Smoke and found that none of the portrayals on screen lived up to the characters in the book (and much as I love Billie Piper on Dr. Who, I just couldn't stand her Sally- this may spring from jealousy).
Several of my friends have also been re-visiting books from their childhood, particularly Tamora Pierce books.  I enjoyed some Wild Magic Series back in the day, but I think my next series will be His Dark Materials (also by Philip Pullman because he is brilliant), partially because I love it and partially because one of my best friends has been holding a Paradise Lost reading group and I'd like to read it with that fresh on my mind. Last night we read Book 2 and the phrase "his dark materials" fell on my turn, which was exciting for me.
I also occupy my time with Netflix (brilliant invention), drinking coffee, and occasionally taking photographs.  Monday I took save-the-date pictures for two dear friends getting hitched in December. 

Aren't they adorable?!

So that was a ton of fun. Sometimes I take pictures of other things. Here are some wildlife hanging outside my window:  

Snail! I might call him Gary.

LATFS. Notice its back foot poking out from behind the tree.

Well, that's probably quite long enough for now. Happy Wednesday!