All aboard train rant, bitch, and moan!

My final hell Monday has come and gone. For those who have been keeping tabs on my Twitter or my life in general, you know that I've been half mad with work for weeks now. It's the prime reason I have't been able to make more prompt reviews. But we've come to the end of it all. THANK GOD. The prime reason for my anguish was a four hour long scuba-diving class that, in no uncertain terms, ate my life. Every Monday revolved around a scramble to study and finish all my work before trudging - usually through heavy snow - into the bowels of a bubbling, respirator-filled hell that smelled of chlorine and damp locker-rooms. The misery of wetsuits that didn't fit right, combined with the irritation of someone who avoids all non-martial physical activities like the plague (if it doesn't involve one-on-one combat, I usually hate it. And don't get me started on team sports), and the physical discomfort of having to tote a heavy metal tank on my back or having my ears refuse to equalize, meant that these last few Mondays were the definition of vile. That, however, is all behind me now.

But, of course, when one problem vacates its chair, another takes its place. In this case, the irritant arose out of an article in my college’s newspaper. It discussed dating outside the scope of our school, and basically implied that such is the moral superiority of those who attend that they don’t even want to consider getting involved with someone who didn’t go here. The article’s smug, self-satisfied, and condescending tone nearly sent blood boiling out of my tear ducts. College is important, but there is SO MUCH MORE to life. What about grad school? What about, I dunno, LIFE. My college is not a bleedin’ plane crash that effects people so deeply that they can’t marry anyone who’s never had the experience, and those who think it is are in desperate need of a colonoscopy to locate their heads. Honestly, our brains haven’t even finished maturing at this point in life, yet these blockheads think that it’s here and only here that they will meet the person that they will spend THE REST OF THEIR LIFE WITH. No exploring the world, no looking hard and long for a mate who is your true other self. Just marry here and get with the breeding. Ugh. The logic, I do not see any.

Blah. Why do relationships or lack thereof always manage to weasel their way into my posts?

I’m writing again, in other news, working on several projects simultaneously and as they interest me. This, of course, usually leads to one or more of the works dying unfinished, much like twins or triplets fighting for nourishment and space. But such is life. I also am listening to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (yay for audiobooks) and am considering reviewing it/them when I’m done. So don’t hold your breath – this will take awhile. In the meantime I should have the new review up by next week.

Feeling My Faustian Oats

Settling into my maddening routine becomes easier and easier, though doing so has me in a bit of a swivet. As per example, my insomnia has flared up, leaving me staring at the ceiling at 3 AM and wishing that I could simply find my hard reset button and power down for the night. That aside, however, things are going well, and insofar as I don't drop dead of exhaustion things should continue to be good.

More interestingly, I feel fully returned to my old self. Lacking the interference of a significant other I function so much better. In the constant search for a romantic companion I became blind to the fact that at this point in my life the search is essentially useless and, as a general rule, will cause more problems than it solves. It is not that I would be averse to having a relationship if the right man came along, but he's not here, and I'd much rather savor my time alone than waste effort in futile romances based around desperation and loneliness rather than attraction and self respect.

On the Steampunk front, I'm soon going to be registering for the Steampunk Expo. I've been waiting anxiously for this event since August, and it's crawling nearer by the day. This will be the first Con I have ever been too, (you can bet I'll vlog about it) barring a rock and mineral convention that I went to when I was a great deal younger and only was there for the shopping. Related to this is the fact that I will soon get a chance to witness a performance of the opera Faust, which I've been dying to see since I was 15. Goethe's Faust is one of my favorite books of all time (I need to re-read it), and the legend itself has fascinated me since I was a child and saw Wishbone reenact it (who else remembers that show?).
Here's the link to the Steampunk Expo, by the way: http://www.worldsteamexpo.com/

Safe flying, airship pilots!