there is a light that never goes out

1. Hello and welcome to everyone who's friended this journal recently!!  :D  My (slightly out-of-date) personal info can be found here, and my contact info can be found here.  Make yourself at home, and feel free to ask any questions!  ;-)

2. I'm sorry for not being as around as I'd like to be; I really haven't been in a good headspace lately, and in a way I'm still not.  I'm hoping things will get better soon, but it's not looking like it'll be the case right now.  -_-

3. So it turns out I'll definitely have some sort of employment this summer!  =D  As expected, I'll be working as a gopher/paper pusher at my mom's workplace (which provides medical malpractice insurance for doctors) starting Wednesday, with good pay (way better than anything I could get at college).  It'll also be on an as-needed basis, so it's not regular employment, so I might still have to look around for jobs (even though I really haven't been, uh, looking for any >_>;).  It's not nearly the kind of thing I'd like to be doing over the summer (what exactly that sort of thing would entail, I have absolutely no clue, but it certainly wouldn't primarily consist of pushing paper around), and it certainly isn't anything cool like what at least half of my Facebook f-list is doing right now*, but it's something.  Having some sort of income is the most important thing right now (especially in this economy), and hopefully by the end of the summer, even though I'll still be dirt poor, I won't be as flat-out broke as I am now.

*I know I shouldn't be comparing myself to other people like that, but in a way I always have, and it's only been recently that such comparing has caused me grief, so it's a hard habit to break out of.  Of course, seeing other people do awesome things doesn't motivate me to get out and do something like it probably should, but it does the exact opposite to me instead -- and I think I've managed to convince myself that this is the only acceptable response to that sort of thing anyway.  This is but one of many tiny, tiny reasons why I haven't been feeling all that great lately.  God, I need to get over myself.  :P

4. On Sunday, for Father's Day we went to the New Britain Museum of American Art, which I mentioned a few posts ago, and I really enjoyed myself!  A lot of things we saw there really stood out in my mind, including: concept art for Christo and Jean-Claude's projects (including one where they depicted wrapping Snoopy's doghouse), sculptures by Solon Borglum (even if some of them were problematic, though this was my favorite), their huge display of Hudson River School art (a period that has very slowly been starting to fascinate me), anything by N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, an exhibit involving the creative use of pencils, an exhibition by Elana Herzog, this cup sculpture by Lisa Hoke, and an exhibit by Ruthie Davis shoes (which was very cool, even though I'm no fashionista/sartorialist).  For a small museum, it had a lot, and we plan on making a return trip by the end of summer because they're starting an M.C. Escher exhibition next month (one of my favorite artists!), and maybe I'll have pictures too.  ;-)

Then we went here for lunch/dinner, and......well.  The food was really good, but it was nearly impossible to eat because there was just so much of it.  If you want to go to a restaurant with extremely huge portions that will give you a heart attack at 21, go there.  I tried having a ginormous plate of fettucine alfredo with shrimp and garlic bread after already having an already big salad with balsamic basil dressing and eggplant fries smothered in grated cheese.  Yes, it sounds delicious, but not when you've only had 1/3rd of everything you ordered and you're already full.  ^_^;  My mom tried to be wise by ordering a salad, but not only was her salad much bigger than mine, but the pieces of chicken in it were huge.  AND IT WAS ALL ON FLATBREAD.  WTFF.  D8  Yeah, they.....really outdo themselves there.  Insane.  Absolutely insane.  XD

5. Speaking of food, I can't believe I've never heard of these guys before.  OMG MY MOUTH IS DROOLING 8DDDDDDDDDDD

6. I completely agree with this secret posted on fandomsecrets a couple of days ago.  And apparently I'm not the only one (and those who aren't agreeing are just derailing anyway :P).

7. Other stuff: My driving has been going really well, and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (technically today).  Yay for no longer having to see the pediatrician -- I guess?  XD

8. Meme time!

A. Stolen from eska_rina:

bold the women by whom you own books;
italicize those by whom you've read something of (short stories count);
star* those of whom you've never heard!

( Meme under the cut... )

B. Stolen from demoneyeskyo87:

Leave a comment saying "TO THE EXTREME" and:
❶ I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
❷ Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
❸ Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

( Questions and answers under the cut... )