Alas, my desktop developed a bad sector in Windows and went into and endless cycle of reboots, so I'm currently running Ubuntu from a cd.  I can't really afford to drop the money on Windows 7 right now (random school fee, taxes that I swear I paid, etc), so I have no idea how long I'll be running it like this.
To make matters worse, my laptop has developed full-on hard drive failure (first one in >10 years, go me!) and can't even start the diagnostic.  Lenovo says that I'll get my new drive in 2 days, but I still need to yank critical data off of it.

In other news, Penguin Drum is still WTF, Nikita is still Bechdel-tastic, and Downton Abbey has to wait until Christmas.

Go grab Mawaru Penguindrum.  It's Ikuhara's latest project and it is absolutely amazing.

Who remembers the foot-in-mouth essay she wrote earlier this year that got her disinvited from WisCon?  Guess which con she'll be at this week.  Balticon!

For those who are out of the news cycle, the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was passed by the Senate with a vote of 65-31.

So, back in the apartment I was gifted with two voles and a sparrow.  The voles were dead but unbloodied, and the sparrow had been disemboweled through the neck after it was already inside.  I thought Dash had been the one to bring them in, but apparently not.
Five minutes ago, Goku brought a mouse into my bedroom and dropped it.  It was still alive and scurried into my closet.  Goku was kicked out and the mouse examined; no blood, no sign of broken limbs.  The mouse was returned outside to the garden, but apparently Goku still thinks it's where she dropped it.

Hi guys, I'm still alive.  I'm in school and dating someone nice, so everything is A-OK.  My fishy subjects have arrived, although they're not the same species that I was originally going to work on, and after they've settled in their tanks I'm going to get started with some basic tests.

I'm going up to Boston for Thanksgiving, so give me a holler if you're available then.  For those of you who will be in DC next weekend for the rally, hit me up.  

I want to punch Erik in the face.

Or the balls. That would be acceptable.

My boyfriend of 5 1/2 years, the guy I moved down to Washington DC to live with, the guy I thought I was going to marry, has left me. I'm mostly in the grieving stage right now, but it's all so agonizing. The skin of my nose is peeling from being rubbed raw and the skin near my eyes is flaking off from the salt. I've been evaluating where and how to move, but even deciding where to sleep each night is agonizing. He didn't have the courage to tell me, and the knowledge that I've spent so much of my life with someone who can't admit his feelings even to himself weighs in my stomach. Food holds no appeal and I've barely eaten since I found out; even the physical act of eating and drinking is hard. I want him to have his heart broken like mine.

I know it's cliche, that it's not going to last, but right now I don't feel like I could bear to go through this again, that I don't even know how to trust another person not to hurt me.

Please don't ask for the details. I'm sad and tired and sick of telling people about what happened.

Not hyperbole.

So, I finally joined 2008 and got a Facebook account. Too many things are on there that I can't see without one. If you know me in real life and think I should add you, send me a message.