I did think of one thing to say

So I was watching Supernatural on my TiVo the other night. Aside from the fact that I think Jared Peda-whatever tends to overact, it's not a bad show. But in this particular episode, the supernatural bad-guy hunting team of Jared and his brother were in Colorado in order to find and destroy a Wendigo (an evil thingy that used to be human but became cursed to be "less than human" when it ate human flesh--yet it gained all sorts of spiffy powers and things that humans don't have, so that would imply it's "more than human," but oh well) and they told other characters that they were students at "UC Boulder." Come on, Supernatural writers, do your research. Yes, the university in Boulder is really called "the University of Colorado at Boulder," but no local or current student calls it "UC Boulder." It's CU, people, CU! And the Coloradan characters should've known that Jared and his brother were imposters from the start.

Anyway, I got to feel all superior and "in the know." Nice break from my current state of, "Wait, I need which direction of the Red line again? To Howard or 95/Dan Ryan? Which one goes north? Where's my stupid map?"

And now, fanbase, for another three weeks of silence (probably).

Why I haven't posted in a while and why posting will probably be rare for the foreseeable future

Because grad school is kicking my butt. I spend nearly all the time I'm not at work or in classes writing or reading for classes, so the last thing I really want to do with the little free time I have remaining is write. If I ever have a particularly interesting/funny/not boring journal entry (meaning the journal I have to keep for all my classes) I might transcribe it here. Otherwise, don't hold onto your seats, because it's not going to be a bumpy ride.

Do check this space, though, but probably not too often. Sorry, fanbase of four.

"L" experiences

Today marks my first experience with (though "experience with" is too strong a phrase; "observation of" is more accurate) a mentally unbalanced person in the "L" subway.* He had four bags, two of which at least were full of newspapers, and he spread copies of the same Best Buy ads on the ground as we waited for the train. I might have thought he simply had a yen for recycling if he didn't repeat "Clinton got killed, they should all get the money" over and over. He reminded me of the crazy numbers guy from Lost** who, as with most of the bit characters on the show, simply brought up more questions than answers.

Anyway, I had a brief moment where I thought, "Wow! I'm in an episode of Lost!" and then felt spiffy as I tried to figure out what "Clinton got killed, they should all get the money" meant. Was it code? Was it some sort of reference to ex-president Clinton, who was in fact still alive? Maybe some sort of freaky weird prediction about the imminent assassination of ex-president Clinton? After all, TV, movies, and books have taught me that the mentally unbalanced see more than the rest of us--

Then I thought, oh yeah. TV. He probably picked the line up from some show.

Real life is so normal.

*Note for those unfamiliar with Chicago: " 'L' subway" is somewhat a contradiction in terms, as the "L" stands for "Elevated train," which is the Chicago Transit Authority's, um, train type. For the most part. In the downtown loop area, many stations are subway stations, so I guess those portions should be called the "S," but then that would just be confusing. CTA has its logic.

**Incidentally, a very good show, even if at times one does get the sense that the writers didn't have any idea how things were going to turn out but didn't worry about it as they were banking on its cancellation midway through the season. They when they discovered people were actually watching it, they panicked and just threw a bunch of stuff together. If I can ever through a bunch of stuff together with such panache, my writing life will be set.

Morbid laugh

I signed my online Master Promissory Note today so I can get loans for school (would have done it a long time ago, but I had to register for classes first--jump through a lot of hoops, really. That's bureaucracy for you). I'm the type of person who reads--or thoroughly scans, at least--things I sign, and parts of the MPN proved humorous, in a morbid fashion. It's nice to know that since my lenders "will discharge (forgive) [my] loan if: [I] die," my corpse won't be held responsible for repayment. Good thing, because I don't think my future co-workers would have appreciated the smell of my putrefying flesh, and I quite expect I would have received anonymous letters and e-mails along the lines of "Go lie in the dirt, where you belong!" and "Jump into the incinerator, maggot-bag!" and my soon-to-be desiccated lungs might find it difficult to give me enough breath to moan, "Must . . . repay . . . loans. . . ."

So yes, I am very happy that I will not be required to pay off loans if I die.