Assorted Chaos

Things I have done since my last post on September 19, 2013 (NOTE: if you read through the entire list, the best cat picture is at the very end.):

• Performed in three improv shows
• Saw one of my best friends get married
• Celebrated Christmas with my mother and sister in NY
• Learned how to program CSS
  
• Attended Raleigh Wordcamp and learned tons of WordPress tricks
• Verified my website with search engines
• Went hiking in the Smoky Mountains
• Reunited with all of my college roommates
• Saw Niagara Falls
• Won NaNoWriMo, during which I wrote 30,000 words in three days.
• Debuted in standup comedy
• Finished a novel
• Received four rejection letters
• Sang in a Christmas concert
• Drank scotch with Laura Anne Gilman, Mary Robinette Kowal, and friends
• Had dinner with George R.R. Martin
• Shared Thanksgiving with some awesome grad students
• Attended a comic con, two scifi cons, and two fun-but-related-to-work cons
• Swam in the crystal-clear (but cold) freshwater springs near Gainesville, FL
• Hiked through a swamp filled with alligators bigger than me
• Saw thousands upon thousands of bats fly out of a bathouse
• Rented a car for the first time
• Was treated for depression and work-related anxiety

Yeah, that last one is why I haven’t been around at all. On the Internet at least. I’ve been around, just not posting on my blog or Facebook or Twitter all that much. I needed to put myself back together, and when you’re trying to restructure things in your own head, it’s not helpful to have the voices of other people rattling around in your brain.

All I’ll say to the cause of this episode is that I had a bad job. Anyone who has ever had a bad job knows that it takes time to rebuild your confidence, and sometimes medication. I’ll accept the caveat that my family is kind of genetically predisposed to mental illness, but I refuse to take responsibility for the deplorable behavior of others. I was taken advantage of, treated unfairly, and demeaned. I wasn’t alone either. It has left me feeling paranoid and lost, even when I got a new job.

Some day I will burn bridges. With dynamite.

But not today. I am a professional, and I believe firmly that one does not air one’s dirty laundry right after leaving a job.

Part of that is a creative decision too. There are enough standup comedians getting up on stage and slamming bad jobs. I don’t want to do that. Not yet. I got other things to rant about.

Until that day of reckoning, I’m going to keep posting cat pictures and other things about my life. I think folks would find those more enjoyable anyway. I’ll aim to update at least once a week, though it might take me a while to get into a routine.

So here are some cat pictures to make up for my absence. Enjoy!