1. I lost my job.

2. I got a new job.

3. Vaughn and I will be moving closer to Atlanta next year.

Yes, I like the succinctness of that.

So, as I said I lost my job. I was humiliated and devastated, you know all the stuff that goes along with being unemployed after having worked steadily since I was 15 years old.

After a great number of pep talks from the most awesome family in the world, I took stock of what I really wanted to do and utilized the unemployment that I earned over the years to find a new job. Now, I get to write for a living. I also get paid to use Twitter, Facebook and WordPress on a daily basis. I spend several hours of my week surfing the internet and watching YouTube videos. It’s a lot and I do mean A LOT of work, but at the end of the day I’m happy.

I’m in a healthier place and its nice to just be tired at the end of the day, rather than tired and stressed out. I no longer have anxiety-ridden dreams or feel like the other shoe is going to drop. I get to read as much as I want and call it research for work, and I get to interact with people who have just as heavy a workload but see no reason to take it out on their coworkers. Yes there are the standard office politics, but those politics aren’t quite so cloak and dagger as the ones I had gotten used to. No, these politics are right out in the open with people voicing their opinions with no censor in sight. It’s refreshing to tell you the truth.

There are really only 2 downsides to my new job so far.

1. The commute from Athens to Lawrenceville quite frankly sucks!

2. I spend so much time researching and writing at work that I don’t want to do it when I get home.

What’s great is that I feel valued again. I no longer feel like a problem that must be dealt with. I don’t walk into the building with a sense of dread, nor do I wake up and immediately start worrying about how I’m going to get through the day. Most of all, I feel like I can be myself without judgment.

All in all, I think losing my job was really the best thing that could have happened to me. Even if it did happen 3 days before my birthday.

So, that’s whats been going on with me. I’m hoping that as Vaughn and I get more settled into this whole commute thing – we commute together with his brother – I will have more time and energy to write here. And once we make the move – so not looking forward to trying to sell the house- I will have even more to write about.

I have some great ideas for what I want to do with this space and I hope that you guys don’t give up on me because of my blogging lapse.

What’s been going on with you guys?

And of course re-examining all of the time and effort I put into the relationship. As I go through my bookmarks I remember all of the hours I spent trying to figure out why a plug-in didn’t work, all of the hours spent searching through forums and all of the times I was so happy to finally get something to work.

But, that isn’t all. I am going through all of these lists of things I wanted to try to spice up our time together. And those are the things that are hardest to get rid of. Mainly because I still want to try them for the sake of, well, spicing things up. So, now my conflict is do I assign those wish list items to the new blogging boyfriend? Or, is it too much pressure to put on a new relationship?

Scarily enough, many of the things that required so much time and effort in Movable Type seem to be easily accomplished with just a few clicks in WordPress. But, then the neuroses that plague my mind wonder if having things so easy means that I am no longer using the part of my brain that enjoys geeking out. Why should I constantly rely on the platform to do the heavy lifting and bug killing while I sit back and sip on my coffee, or, you know, beer?

Must I make my new relationship over complicated just to keep things interesting? Thank goodness for the Thesis template. I purchased the developers license and it has tons of new things for the geek in me to enjoy learning. So, if I want to add some new bell or whistle I can without much hassle. But, if I want to “peek under the covers,” I can do that too. Its like having the best of both worlds. Or, having a boyfriend that lets you pick out his clothes and hair styles while still maintaining his tough guy exterior.

Well, this morning, I made sure I had my spare key and (here lately I have been going in to work earlier than normal – getting in at 7:30-7:45 rather than my usual right at 8 am). So, as I came upon the intersection that signaled the end of my neighborhood and the beginning of downtown Athens, I was a little worried that the traffic lights were out. It seemed weird but I treated it like a 4 way stop sign and pulled up to the next block. I saw HUGE plumes of smoke shooting straight up in the distance to the left (which was the direction I was heading in).

I pulled into the lot and was trying to figure out where the smoke was coming from as I noticed that there were no lights on at Snow Tire. But, I could see people inside so I figured it was open and it only looked like the lights were off because it was so bright outside. Once inside, I realized there really was no power in the building and approached the desk a little unsure of myself.

I saw the guy who I always see when I have to drop my car off for an oil change or a tire repair or rotation. He told me that their power was off because the Georgia Theatre was on fire and all I could stupidly say was “So that’s where all the smoke is coming from”. We chatted for a minute. I assured him that I was in no hurry as I was going to leave the car and walk the rest of the way to work and it would be several hours before I could pick it up again.

I walked out of the building through the lot and the smell of smoke was so strong that I couldn’t breath for a second. As I made my way closer I realized that “Oh My GOD the Georgia Theatre is on FIRE!” For a second I stopped and watched the smoke billow. Then I remembered that I actually had my camera with me. So, hating to be that person, I snapped the picture. As I moved closer I snapped a couple more. The one you see in this post is the best one I  could get while trying to avoid traffic, onlookers and police officers setting up to direct traffic.

The Georgia Theatre is an Athens landmark. Sure, it smelled like urine and old cigarette smoke. Yes, it definitely had seen its share of douche bag hipsters. But, it was also the place that so many musicians played, that so many local acts cut their teeth on performing, that so many people saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the first time, that so many AthFest weekends had been spent, and that so many people still hoped for the chance to play.

And there it was, burning. Its final performance. And what a performance. There is talk of rebuilding. The bands of tonight’s scheduled line up are already talking benefit concerts. The community is trying to figure out what to do about it and with out it. But, The Georgia Theatre as it was, is gone. How fitting that it should go out with so much vibrancy and bravery.

So, goodbye to you. I saw my first show in Athens, almost 12 years ago now, on your stage. I held my now husband’s hand for the first time just outside your doors. I walked past you so many times thinking “what the hell is that smell?” and knowing at the same time exactly what it was. I hate that you are gone, but if you had to leave at least it wasn’t with a locked door and a boarded up window. At least it was, literally, in a blaze of glory.

So, this year I had high hopes. I thought that with an X-Men movie that didn’t involve Halle Berry and Terminator Salvation, plus Star Trek and Drag Me to Hell (Which if you haven’t seen it DO IT RIGHT NOW), it wouldn’t be difficult for me to find that perfect three. Unfortunately, my favorite movie review site, Pajiba, started to weigh in with their reviews.

I should tell you, I have never been one to listen to critics (seriously, I was making my friends watch Drop Dead Gorgeous before this particular site even existed (even when the movie was like a 5% on Rotten Tomatoes) and now some of my friends who adore the movie can’t even remember that it was me who made them watch it in the first place – bastards. But, I digress)

I don’t normally tend to include critics in my decision to see a movie. However, this particular site has a knack for really explaining what I like and dislike about a movie – even though they still get it wrong sometimes – which is to be expected. More importantly, I am really stingy when it comes to spending money to see a movie in the theater. There are just so many caveats to seeing a movie in the theater that I can always justify not spending the money since I spend so much on cable, the internet, and Netflix.

Well, this year I tried something different. I made a list of the summer movies I wanted to see and tried to pick my top 3. I knew for a fact that I wanted to see Drag Me to Hell, and I also knew that I wanted to see Star Trek. Everything else was kind of up in the air. But, with a summer that promised a new X-Men movie (minus Halle Berry which is the hugest plus ever), a new Terminator movie, and a new Transformers movie (screw you I was entertained by the first one), I didn’t think it would be that difficult to find a third.

Having been introduced to the Terminator movies MUCH later than my contemporaries (they saw T2 in middle school, I didn’t see ANY of them until after the third one was released) I was very excited about a new one featuring Christian Bale. Yeah, McG pretty much sucks, but it has Bale so why not?  I wasn’t too put off by Bale’s craziness (seriously, there are so many batshit crazy actors out there that are truly talented that it seems ridiculous to write them off based solely on their bat shit craziness). But, then Pajiba weighed in on Terminator Salvation. After that, friends of mine started weighing in about just how badly it sucked and I started to reconsider.

So, then my list was down to Up, Inglourious Basterds (which my only real issue with this one is Eli Roth – I can’t stand him), Away we Go (gotta leave some room for the quirk), and yes GI Joe and Transformers. But, now I’m seeing some real trailers of GI Joe and Transformers and I am at a complete loss.

Here’s the thing, Vaughn (the hubs or hubbie as I affectionately like to call him) really wants to see the Wolverine movie and I am curious about an X-Men movie that has no need for Halle Berry (just so there is no confusion: I think she is the worse actor to hit the screen since Kevin Costner – who sucks in case you were wondering). The thing is, Vaughn HATES going to the theater. Unless we sit at the very back, he always ends up in front of the guy who feels the need to kick the back of his chair throughout the movie. And while I don’t hate sitting at the very back, its not my favorite seat in the house.

So, I’m kind of stuck. I’ve seen trailers for The Hangover (and Pajiba gave it a pretty good review – but they seem to like the boy-humor comedies just a tiny bit more than the 11 year old girl in me does) and it looks pretty funny. I am also kind of curious about Away we Go, just because I’ve been looking for a chance to be impressed by Maya Rudolf since Idiocracy (not to say that she was the least bit impressive in that movie but there was something really likable about her in that one).

The problem is that I don’t know. I don’t want to submit Vaughn to yet another torturous round of should-I-threaten-the-guy-behind-me-if-he-kicks-my-chair-one-more-time game for a movie that just isn’t worth it. But, I also don’t want to give up the chance to sit on the back row of a movie that fucking rocks my shit just because I’m not sure if its any good based on the trailers.

Maybe I should just hold off until Where the Wild Things Are is released. At least, I know for a fact that I want to see that movie. But, this whole thing has got me thinking. Maybe the trifecta doesn’t happen in the summer. Maybe it’s a conglomeration of three movies over a few years. After all, my HD movie channel just finished showing Donnie Darko, Army of Darkness, and Creepshow back to back in the same evening. Those are three movies I would have LOVED seeing in the theaters. And if I had been given the chance to see them all in the theater during the same summer? My life would be totally different now.
So, help me out here. What’s the perfect movie to round out my trifecta? Should I be looking for something low key and off the radar or is there a movie that really rocks the shit and has to be seen on the big screen? I’m all ears – and hair.

It’s officially over. We are done MovableType. Sure, we’ve had some great times. When things were working, they were really working. But, things aren’t working anymore and it’s time for me to move on.

Let’s not kid ourselves. We both knew this day was coming. I mean the frustrating start should have been a clue.  I totally should have known that I didn’t need months of frustration and a book to understand just what was going on with you. But I did.

Then, suddenly, things started clicking. You made me feel so smart when I was finally able to figure out some new bit of customization.  You made me feel proud when I was able to explain how you worked to others without any hesitation or worry about what bugs you would throw at me.

So I thought that maybe, just maybe, we’d had a false start, and it was just the getting-to-know-you jitters. But, then there would be some weirdness that I couldn’t understand or explain. Or, my host would delete my database and all you could give me was a text file that I couldn’t use without advanced knowledge of PERL and/or MySQL. And the doubt would start to creep in again. As content as I was with the way things were, it was too much of a roller coaster ride for me.

I also have to be honest about something:  I have strayed over the years.

It was never anything serious. I would try out a new platform just to see what it had to offer. There was never any real longing to change on my part. I just wanted to know, to feel, that I still had what it took to make a real blogging relationship work. So I would install the occasional WordPress or Expression Engine (or since we are being totally honest Drupal) platform. But they always seemed too new, too different.

I would end up going back to you because you were what I knew and understood. Things were comfortable. But, then you tried to re-invent yourself. I knew you didn’t do it for me, but I tried to play along anyway. Unfortunately, my heart just isn’t in it anymore.

So, this is goodbye. I’ve found a new platform. I know it hurts that it’s one of your biggest rivals. But lets be honest. You always knew another platform was waiting in the wings to take your place. It was only a matter of time.

I hope we can still be friends, but I will totally understand if that’s too difficult for you right now. I will always love you as my first real blogging platform, but for both our sakes, I think its time we make a clean break.

One of their more recent writers, Agent Bedhead, wrote a guide titled Ass-Kicking Heroines as part of what they call Pajiba’s Guide to What’s Good for You. The guides generally get their detractors. Obviously, the writers can’t please everyone since they are working from a personal bias. But this particular guide seemed to be really reaching hard for women to write about. And that made me sad. So, this is just a little addendum to her post. Obviously, I can’t please everyone either, so feel free to let me know who you think should be on the list.

CAVEAT: I am going to do my best to follow her guidelines (Horror/SciFi/Fantasy/Comics) so that will leave out a few that I really like (Geena Davis as Charlie Baltimore in The Long Kiss Goodnight, Pam Greer in various roles, Gena Rowlands in Gloria, Meryl Streep in the The River Wild, and Bette Davis in almost everything- just to name a few personal favorites). Also, for the sake of brevity I am only focusing on movie characters. It sucks I know, TV and the printed word are rife with kick ass heroines (luckily for you fellow Buffy fans out there, Agent Bedhead included television and print). So, feel free to list your favorites from any genre in the comments. One more thing, this addendum makes no sense without reading the the original post

OK. Enough stalling. In no particular order, I present:

Ass-Kicking Heroines: An Addendum

Princess Leia – The Star Wars Trilogy

Really, the only reason I decided to write an addendum was because Princess Leia was nowhere on the original list. That really struck me as odd when I consider the site’s demographic -fan girls and fan boys united by a common cause. Honestly, can there be a list of kick-ass heroines that doesn’t include Leia? It’s almost impossible to briefly sum up what makes Leia such a bad ass. But, I’m game. Lets start with this: while Luke was out playing in the sand and Han was running scams to keep his ship in the air, Leia was fighting the empire. It’s Leia who draws Luke into the fight and his ultimate destiny. Leia rescues both Luke and Han at different points. And just when it looks like she in need of a rescue, it turns out she only needed a distraction. She saves herself, by strangling her captor while wearing that infamous bikini costume. Leia isn’t one to sit passively by and wait for someone to save her. Instead, she fights for herself and those she loves. Her fight against the Empire is what eventually draws the two male leads into the thread of the story. What I love most about Leia is that we see just how much she can kick ass without ever touching on her true potential. As Anakin’s daughter, she is obviously an heir to his great power. Luke even tells her of the powers lurking inside of her. It’s made clear that if Luke fails, Leia will be the one to succeed in stopping Vader. Just think if Leia can lead a rebellion against Vader and the empire as a princess; imagine what she can do once she accepts and learns to use the force.

Zoe Bell AKA “Zoe the Cat” – Death Proof

Zoe Bell has true badass credentials. As a stuntwoman, she has doubled some female bad asses in her time, most notably Xena and The Bride from the Kill Bill movies. The reason she makes this particular list is for her turn in Quentin Tarrentino’s Death Proof. In the movie Zoe stars as herself, a New Zealand stuntwoman visiting her movie industry friends in America. Unbeknownst to Zoe and her friends, they are being stalked by a killer named Stuntman Mike (the perfectly cast Kurt Russel), who uses his “death proof” car to kill women. When Zoe convinces her friend Kim (Tracie Thoms) to play a game called Ship’s Mast all hell breaks loose. The game is basically Zoe climbing on to the hood of a 1970 Dodge Challenger while Kim drives at top speed as their friend Abernathy (Rosario Dawson) rides along. As the women are enjoying themselves, Stuntman Mike shows up to put a dent in the fun (pun intended) and kill them if he can. After a very intense scene with Zoe hanging on to the hood of the car for dear life as Mike continually rear ends and sideswipes them, the women seek revenge. And revenge is what they get. The moment when Zoe attacks Stuntman Mike and his car is just absolute perfection. This movie is almost an ode to the female bad ass. Don’t get me wrong. The movie definitely has its faults-I don’t think Tarrantino is all that great at writing dialog for women- but its hard to deny a bad ass when you see one (or three). If you want to see ass-kicking heroines who aren’t afraid to kill if necessary (or, you know, for straight up revenge) this is your movie.

Trinity – The Matrix

I know the sequels were crap, but I was one of those people who was blown away by the first installment of The Matrix. It wasn’t the special effects, it was Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). The image of her taking on all those cops at the beginning of the film has stayed with me and (in my mind) helped alleviate some of the more unfortunate issues that plagued the later installments. Also, I love when she is outrunning the agents in that first chase sequence. When she goes through that window and tells herself to “get up” I get chills. As afraid as she is, she knows what she needs to do to succeed and survive and she makes herself do it. Trinity, the genius hacker, the controlled leader, the true believer, is the real bad ass of this film regardless of gender. While Neo and Morpheous dance around between their philosophical beliefs, it is Trinity who keeps things grounded. Neo’s big rescue of Morpheous couldn’t happen without Trinity there to kick ass. And even though I had a problem with the seemingly tacked on love story, it still made sense in terms of Trinity being the one to help Neo finally realize his potential. The movie may have been about Neo accepting his role as The One, but he could never had done so without the strength Trinity willingly gave him by admitting her love for him. It was cheesy, but I guess that’s how love is sometimes. Love story aside, Trinity is the core of strength for this movie. Her belief in both Morpheous and Neo is what drives the movie to its inevitable final showdowns. For an extra tidbit on how much of a bad ass Trinity is, check out the Animatrix. There is an episode involving Trinity that happens long before Neo ever learns of the Matrix’s existence.

Yu Shu Lien – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Many people will disagree with my choice of Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) versus Jen Yu (Ziyi Zhang). And they would probably be right if Yu Shu Lien had been played by anyone but Michelle Yeoh. What I love about Yu Shu in this movie is that we get to see just how much of a master Michelle Yeoh is in one simple scene. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a feast for the lover of Martial Arts and Asian cinema. And while the feats of all of its characters are memorable and badass, only Michelle Yeoh’s character seems a true master of any weapon at her disposal. In her showdown against Jen Yu (which I personally think can be ranked among the best fight scenes ever committed to film), Yu Shu shows mastery of more weapons than any other character in the entire movie with just one scene. That showdown is why I would argue with anyone else about whether it was Yu Shu or Jen Yu. There is no need for Yu Shu Lien to point out that Jen Yu only has the advantage because of the the Green Destiny. Even with that advantage, Yu Shu Lien emerges as the bad ass. The nerd in me has to point out that Michelle Yeoh has no formal Martial Arts training. She relies on her extensive dance training and the instruction of her coaches. And maybe to purists, that should mean something with regard to her badass status. I say, screw that. Michelle Yeoh is a bad ass no matter what character she plays. And the character of Yu Shu Lien is a perfect showcase for the kick-ass talents Michelle Yeoh possesses.

The Bride, AKA Black Mamba, AKA Beatrix Kiddo Kill Bill Vol. I and II

Having already written about Death Proof, I can’t leave out Tarrantino’s revenge opus, Kill Bill. As a motivating factor, I think that revenge is a perfect plot device to drive an action film. Like many of my favorite martial arts and western films, revenge is what drives the lead character. That the lead character is a woman is only incidental- unless you are looking for an ass-kicking heroine. These movies have badass women in spades. But, it’s Beatrix that controls the focus. After having her entire wedding party murdered and being left for dead while heavily pregnant, Beatrix wakes up from a 4-year coma. Everything comes back to her and she goes after the people responsible. What I love about this saga is how obvious it is that she still loves Bill even knowing that she has to kill him. Beatrix isn’t really a heroine per se. She just wants justice. That is something that I think makes her a little more likable than her enemies. Awesomely enough, her enemies actually needed killing – which is something that only ever really shows up in western or martial arts epics. There are several things that make Beatrix a bad ass. Her skill, her drive, and her sense of honor all work toward the badass end. But, in the end, for me, it’s her fight for her child and what she goes through to win that fight that really makes her one of the best kick-ass heroines in film. I mean come on, she gets buried alive and claws her way out- how kick-ass is that?

Zoe Washburne – Serenity

I debated about whether to include Zoe and Scully. Mainly because my sense of them as kick-ass heroines tends to come from what I knew of their characters before they made their appearances in movies. However, I have been thinking about the movie Serenity, and as much as I love River Tam, Zoe pretty much kicks ass throughout the movie (and the show if we were including the show-which we aren’t). She is stronger than Mal, because Mal depends on her in much the same way he depends upon what he has built with his ship and crew. Yes, River has THE kick-ass moment. But so many people had to die before River would own what she could do. Zoe consistently works to keep the crew alive and morally on track. It is obvious that she would rather not kill, but she has no qualms about doing so if she has to. More importantly, her loyalty is unquestioned. She knows that Mal will get the word out. In a movie where Mal and the unnamed agent waltz around each other with dueling beliefs, it’s nice to have a character that just knows. Zoe has no time for philosophy or discussion. She is there to protect and defend. She is there to be the reasonable one. And even in the moment when she loses her shit over the death of Wash, she manages to keep a level enough head to get them all to safety. She knows when to fall back even in the midst of her own pain. There is one quote that I always think of when I think of Zoe; “She’s torn up plenty, but she’ll fly true.” And you just know she will.

Laurie Strode – Halloween

Since Agent Bedhead started the post as a Halloween offering, how could I not include Jaime Lee Curtis’s turn as Laurie Strode? The movie Halloween asks one simple question “does the boogeyman exist?” The answer is yes. He is in this case, Michael Myers, a silent killer who for no reason murders his older sister when he is just 6 years old. Laurie Strode is a shy and intelligent teenager who earns her money by babysitting. On Halloween night, as she watches over 2 young children, she comes face to face with Michael Myers. Michael has been silently waiting in a mental institution for this one night. Since we don’t learn until the sequel that Laurie is Michael’s sister, the figure of Michael is much more terrifying in that there is no explanation for his stalking of Laurie and her friends. What makes Laurie a bad ass in this film is her willingness to fight back even though she is terrified. She never forgets that she is responsible for two small children and keeps their safety foremost in her mind. After hiding the children and locking herself in a closet, she must wait for the inevitable. The moment when she picks up a coat hanger to stab her knife-weilding foe in the eye and disarm him stands as a pivotal moment in horror movie history. We’ve seen women fight back in horror movies since (Sydney Prescott comes to mind), but it was the character of Laurie Strode that started the trend.

Lornette “Mace” Mason – Strange Days

Strange Days was off my radar for a very long time. As a matter of fact, I didn’t actually see it for the first time until last year, and with good reason. The movie isn’t very good. The plot isn’t all that engaging; the lead (played by Ralph Fiennes) is annoying and unlikable; and Juliette Lewis does her best to work my last nerve with her poor characterization. The only real saving grace is Mace, played by the always-awesome Angela Bassett. Even though they explain why Mace cares so much about Lenny, I still don’t buy it. What I do buy is how much ass Mace kicks. As a matter of fact, she is on this list because she literally kicks people’s asses throughout the movie. She is a true kick ass hereoine.

Marion Ravenwood – Raiders of the Lost Ark

Ahh, Marion. Unlike many of my peers, I didn’t see any of the Indiana Jones movies until after I graduated college. The only explanation I can come up with for this is that I simply assumed they were guy movies. I know it was very closed minded of me to assume that, but I was working on my knowledge of the movies from the trailers, clips, and interviews I’d seen. So imagine my delight at finding Marion Ravenwood (played by Karen Allen) in Raiders of the Lost Ark. In a movie dominated by testosterone, here was a woman who was just as smart and brave as Indiana Jones. Or, maybe I just really liked her drinking men under the table and punching Indiana Jones for having the nerve to show up in her bar after all these years.

Carolyn Fry – Pitch Black

Fry didn’t ask to be a bad ass. She didn’t ask to be sole surviving crewmember on a passenger ship going down on a seemingly deserted planet. As a matter of fact, she was willing to sacrifice every passenger on that ship, just to get her crew safely to the ground. She wasn’t concerned about the people she was being paid to get to their destination safely. Fry was concerned with the people she cared about. It seems that many of the bad asses on this list are stuck between the philosophies of their male costars. Fry wasn’t stuck between philosophies, or even trying to keep the balance between them. Fry just suddenly wanted to keep the people entrusted to her alive. And maybe there is something about monsters that feast on blood who live in the dark that can make you want to keep the people around you alive. But, if you are the kind of hesitant heroine who just wants to live through it and only found a cause along the way, maybe you can identify with with Fry.

Dana Scully – The X-Files

This is a total cheat. I just couldn’t leave Scully out. Yes, she is much more kick-ass in the television show. But, she does have a couple of moments in the movie that hint at what a bad ass she is. That “don’t fuck with me” tone of voice she uses to clear the federal building when they discover the bomb did give me goose bumps. Her intelligence throughout the movie more than makes up for the fact that she has to be saved by Mulder at the end. But, its my list and I say she stays.

So, that’s it. I can’t tell you how difficult this was. I think I am beginning to see why Agent Bedhead’s list was so short. Maybe it’s just easier to make the list short and take the heat for it. But, I still feel that its somewhat of an injustice to leave off the women I’ve named here. Hopefully, my little addendum will inspire you to create your own. Or, maybe you will just tell me how much I suck for leaving off some of your favorites. Either way, have
at it.

First up: The Pink Ladies. Guess which one I am.

The lovely Mux (who hosted the Carnivale) made this pumpkin head out of papier mache.

Hubby decided to take my love of pirates and my fear of zombies and put them to work as one great costume.

Here we have Otis Driftwood (House of 1000 Corpses) in all his finery. Also known as my brother-in-law.

This was one of my personal favorites- just because it was a very brave choice. Rae from the movie Black Snake Moan. She even let me drag her around by the chain.

Another favorite of mine was this random guy who came as Slash.

And last but certainly not least was Richie Tenenbaum.

I have to say that my friend and I got a lot of props for our Pink Ladies costumes- especially when we demonstrated that we knew how to hand jive. The bartender even gave us free shots of his own creation because he played Danny in his high school production of Grease.

We did learn there was a bit of a skirmish after we left between the carnivale performers and one of the bands. Hopefully, it wasn’t that big a deal and won’t prevent the event from going on again next year. It was a great time and we are already trying to come up with costume ideas for next year.

I am very grateful that so many strangers were willing to let me take their pictures. Its hard to describe what Halloween in Athens is like without them. So thanks a bunch costumed strangers.

I have a new job. I’m kind of still in shock about it. It happened very quickly. A friend of mine told me about an open position in a different college at the university so, I applied. Because things work so slowly there, I didn’t expect to even hear from anyone for at least a month. Only, they immediately contacted me about taking an aptitude test and and an interview. With very little time to prepare, I went. That night I got a call offering me the job.

I am going to be a web developer. Well, not really. That is the official job title, but really I’ll be learning to be a web developer. Yes all those years of teaching myself html and cascading style sheets have finally come to fruition. I get to learn web programming as well as design.

My first day on the job will consist of my leaving for an intensive 3 day training course in Adobe Creative Suite. Their putting me up in a hotel with a pool and everything. But, here’s the thing. I am really nervous. You see I have been at my current position for almost 9 years. Even though I’ve gotten really burnt out and over it, I’m really comfortable here. Its that whole stepping outside of your comfort zone thing.

I’m worried about the dumbest things too. Like, I worry if my brain is so set in its ways that it will refuse to learn new things. I worry that I will screw up something so major on their website that I will be fired on the spot. I worry that people will think I smell- I have begun sweating a lot more than normal this year and have been searching furiously for a clinical strength deodorant and am about to begin searching on line.

So, those are a few of my worries. Then there is the guilt. I have been where I am for so long that I feel bad about leaving. I find that there are all kinds of things that I just handled and now have to list out for the group until they get a replacement. I began packing up my things the other day and realized, I have seen 9 years worth of students graduate. I have seen and helped 9 years worth of graduate and post graduate students earn their master’s and phD’s. I have seen many of them go on to teach at the same college. Its been a long time. But, the thing is it IS time. Its time for me to move forward. And that is my biggest worry. What if I take this chance and move forward only to fall flat on my face?

I know thats probably a normal fear- or maybe it isn’t and I am one of those people who fears success. I guess my biggest problem is that I don’t feel like I can celebrate the way that I should. Different members of my family are going through hardships. They all say congratulations, but they are preoccupied. Then I feel guilty because I want them to be a little bit happier for me. Then I worry that I am not sympathetic enough to their problems.

The thing is I gave this job 6 weeks notice. So, now everyone knows I’m leaving and I have pretty much checked out and am feeling pretty isolated. I’ve been trying to busy myself, which has been very easy. I have inventories to take, instructions to update, student workers to train- I’m swamped.

But every time I get frustrated at work or feel like I’m moving on too soon, I think about the perks. I took my current job because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was really interested in technical writing and training. I was also interested in networking and computer hardware. But, this college couldn’t afford to train me in any of those things. I had to learn it on my own and by being willing to research until I found the right answer. And that was cool, but it did nothing to help me find a focus.

I knew I wanted to go further in technology, but never thought I had the right type of training to do anything web related. I mean I can build websites, but I never really learned anything about design. I figured as long as I kept the designs simple and clean people wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t a designer. And now, here I am the perfect candidate for a group looking to mentor someone. Even better, this is a college that can and will invest in training for their employees.

When I was talking to the friend who told me to apply, I told her that I really did feel like it was time for me to move on to something else. There was a pause and then she said, “Chas, you were ready to move on 3 years ago.” And she was right. She IS right.

So, maybe all I’m really doing is trying to convince myself that its ok for me to be happy about this. Which is silly because- and I’m letting you in on a big secret here- I prayed for this. Not this specifically, but about 3 months ago, I started hoping and praying that I could find a way to move on before one more computer lab was added to my roster of duties. I wanted to get out before I started hating my coworkers. I wanted a job that could take me further in the things I would love to know. I always wanted to be a real geek girl. And I think I am going to finally get the chance. So every day that I walked into the building, every morning when I woke up, I would just say “please let something happen to get me out.” And then this happened, and it happened so quickly that I haven’t really had time to second guess it. Which is probably what I am doing now that I have all this time on my hands.

Can you picture it? Me. A maven of PHP and Java and a whole bunch of other web technologies that sound like things I should know but don’t. I know nothing about what my new set up is going to be. But, I do know that the atmosphere is Macintosh friendly and I won’t have to work with students anymore. I’m sure I’ll still have to convince myself that I have not stepped into a zombie movie as I drive on to campus every day. I’m pretty positive that I won’t be able to escape whatever office politics are waiting for me. And, there is still the chance that my new coworkers will think I smell bad, but I do think this is the luckiest thing to have happened to me in a long time.

I think the moment when things will really sink in is when I wipe my hard drive. Right now, I’m so focused on all the things I have to do before I leave. Even writing a formal letter of resignation so that my boss could post my position as being open didn’t have the resonance I was expecting. Instead, that was when the feeling that I was an outcast began. Maybe I hurt myself by giving such a long period of notice. Its not like they can afford to get mopey about my leaving them just before the start of a new semester. They have to get their act together and move forward too. I wonder if they will buy me lunch as a fond fairwell. Probably not, since I was the oe who always arranged the good bye lunches for people who were moving on to other jobs. So, all I can do is wait it out. And now, that all I can do is wait it out, I am trying to hold on to that sense of excitement I had when I received the phone call telling me I got the job. Of course hubby and I are going to the mountains for our anniversary this weekend. Maybe the serenity of the place will help me get a grip on whatever this is.

Anyway, thats what’s been going on with me lately. I’ll be updating you guys on the book drive and letting you know about some incentives I have in place in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

Anyway, I am no stranger to Dreamweaver. Its what I used to build this site and several others. Its pretty much how I cut my teeth on HTML. So, I wasn’t too worried when he started off talking about very basic things. As a matter of fact, I kind of zoned out a bit until I heard him say that Dreamweaver was basically a layout tool. It seemed a rather strange statement to make about something that has so many coding capabilities and made me question what he knew about HTML in general.

So, I’m sitting there trying my best to keep from looking as bored as I was. My boss was sitting next to me and she wrote me a note saying something along the lines of “he’s going to start talking about table layouts.” Sure enough, the second I finished reading the note, he starts talking about using tables to create your web layouts.

It wasn’t until he started talking about ALT tags that my boss got really fed up. He basically told the entire class that the W3 Consortium would come after a business or entity for not using ALT tags in their web sites. At that point she wrote a note that said “This guy is a hack. Let’s leave.” I stifled a giggle and figured we would leave at the next break. Only she started gathering her stuff together, just as he started talking about the Assets Panel in Dreamweaver, she whispers “gather your assets.” And we did. All four of us just walked out. Of course we helped ourselves to the complimentary sodas on the way out.

Anyway, we are on day two and while the InDesign course wasn’t as informative as the PhotoShop one, I am really looking forward to Dreamweaver tomorrow. Right now, we are all in our respective suites working so, I thought I would take a little break to post something. I know its been a little while. So, here’s a bone.

Actually, I do have a post that I have been working on. I haven’t posted it yet, because its fairly intensive and I have had to piece out small bits of time to work on it. Its also fairly movie geeky so beware. Hopefully, I will be done with it and have time to proof it in time to post it this weekend. I won’t be home until Friday. My two direct supervisors and I are meeting with a company rep here in Atlanta Friday morning. We will be heading back to Athens after the meeting on Friday.

I have to say this has been a good time. I am really getting to know the people I will be working with. I have eaten at probably some of the best restaraunts in the world, and I am learning a lot about software that I have always wanted to be an advanced user in. Hopefully, I will get the chance to talk about this week with you guys. Right now, I feel like I barely have time to catch my breath- which I must say is kind of awesome. Its been a long time since I’ve been this excited about work.

Anyway, I’ll get back to you guys this weekend. I think you will enjoy the post I plan to make then. And after that, I will post of my adventures in Atlanta.