I'm so glad none of my family and friends are in a hospital this holiday season. Just thinking about my schedule for tomorrow, and how heartbreaking it would be if someone in my family were in the hospital (and double for the psych hospital) for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Chanukah. If any of you do have relatives or friends (or are yourself) in the hospital, my thoughts are with you. Psychiatric illnesses are so tough on families, I can't even imagine what some of these people go through. I can't go to bed in this mood, but I can't stay up any more or I will be in bad shape tomorrow. Dammit.

Oh Pajiba comments on New Moon, you do slay me.

Why the backlash? Why the hatred? Because it's sexually repressive abstinence porn, is why. Because it teaches girls to take their brains and throw them in the blender in hopes that some sparkletard will come along and "save" them. Because it's badly written and the movies are badly acted. Because because because! It's almost worse than the princess myth. The fact that Bella has to damn near kill herself to ~conjure~ Edward in her mind (i.e. delusional hallucinations as way to cope with break up) is horrifying on all kinds of levels.

And yet, despite all this, it has become the most prevalent and acceptable model for love and romance for young women everywhere because the author (who's smarter than we'd all like to think) was able to take the abstinence zeitgeist and run with it. When Bella and Edward finally do have sex, it's violent and scary (of course, all takes place "off the page"). Then she has a half human baby who almost rips her apart. Punishment for sex is so very Victorian. Where are our spiked chastity belts?

Can't really say it any better, can I?

Decided to reread/rewatch all things I encountered when I was an emo teenager relating to mental illness to see how I feel about them now. If anyone wants to lend/give me any of the following:

Girl, Interrupted (book or movie)
A Beautiful Mind


let me know. Or, any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I just requested I Never Promised You a Rose Garden on Bookmooch. Is it summer yet?

I should be doing schoolwork, cleaning my room or sleeping, so of course I randomly decided to read old lj entries from like 6 years ago. Then I noticed that it has been forever since I updated, so I figured why the hell not. Things are pretty good in my life. My job is kind of getting on my last nerve due to the fact that I have to stay every night until 9PM to get the number of hours required by HR to remain a part-time employee. I really like having the income though. A lot. Last year (and in my last entry) I had literally gone through all of my money. That was a horrible experience and I don't ever want to be in that kind of situation again, Luckily, since my job has said I can stay through the end of school as long as I want while I look for social work jobs, I don't think I will have to. That's encouraging.

My internship is at an inpatient psychiatric hospital (NOT an institution/asylum). The first week was pretty emotionally intense, and I almost had a breakdown on the first day and wanted to call NYU and demand they move me somewhere else. I'm getting used to it now, though, and I really really like my supervisor. She's going to be great to work with, and I already feel like I am learning so much just by being there and talking to the staff and the other interns (most are PsyD or PhD students). I got assigned an adolescent client, and even though I'm not thrilled to have found out that the social workers there don't actually do a lot of therapy, I'm determined to get the best experience I can out of working with him. I still don't really like seeing them in the "Quiet room", but I think I'm going to have to just accept it. There seems to be a very delicate balance between becoming a jaded burn-out and an emotional wreck who cries every time someone calls Code White. I think I'll find it once I've been there a little longer. I also like the fact that I can bring my lunch and use the hour my supervisor always goes out to lunch to get some reading done, since I seem to always be getting home too tired to do any work.

I have basically stopped watching most TV shows except Top Chef and The Office (and I'll watch 30 Rock when it comes back). It feels kind of strange given my former life as a television addict and fandom double-life leader. It also, however, feels pretty liberating, and I enjoy the sleep I am making up by not staying up to watch on DVR so I don't get spoiled by lj comms or whatever. Some new shows do look good, but I have rationalized (ego defense mechanism!) that I can always rent/buy TV on DVD and still enjoy it, but I have to do well in school now.

I think I'll save the personal-life-ish stuff for another entry. My bed is looking pretty good.

OK. So.
What's been up with me, some of you may be wondering?

I am halfway done with my Master's of Social Work, managing to make it out relatively unscathed, although I still miss that little piece of my soul that finals took along with them

My brother and sister are about to graduate from college and move back into my house, making it effectively high school with cars and legal drinking. I'm oddly excited about this (at least in theory...)

I think somewhere in the last week I was slipped the Bridget Jones treatment. And I think I fell for it?

I have been neglecting my friends because of finals, and this is not sitting well with me. Anyone up for hosting a massive low-key gathering? I'll do all the organizing, we just need a place to congregate.

My life has changed so much in the last year.

Movies with the kids soon (excellent choice for my last week), but first...

Poll: The inability to stop smiling like an idiot at random times during the day - good sign or bad?

For those of you that I didn't discus this with, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am officially done with fandom. All fandom. I still like things, I still like to watch and discuss certain shows and movies, but I left all the fan discussion communities, the fanficiton, the pic macros and whatever the hell else I was doing with myself on the internets. I feel much more free, and just wanted everyone to be able to share in this small victory that I finally broke free of the peer pressure and the sense of obligation that fandom brings.

I totally just stood on the bus next to a guy who reminded me so much of Cillian Murphy. And by that I mean: kinda tall, pale, really scrawny, kind of looked like he would kill me/turn into a vampire if we were alone, aaaaaand....wedding ring. Fuck.My.Life.

Ghetto poll time (meaning I no longer have the ability to "create polls", so just answer in a comment, mmkay?)

Should I get Twitter?

I kind of want to because I always think of random thing throughout the day, but I also find it a little creepy in some ways.


ETA: OK I did it, now who wants to follow me/ exchange?

Comment diversions are back for a bit

What's the one (or, one) album you can listen to, first to last track not skipping any, no matter what kind of mood you're in?

for me it's The Decemberists- The Crane Wife