Woo hoo! I got the writing fellowship at the UCLA Writing Project. Color me happy!

Westside LAistas, I'll be in your neck of the woods more often over the next month.

Um. WeeSisterJay has opted to stay in Beijing, where everything is being bleached into the middle of next week and where it's now way way quieter than ever before, rather than get on a 'plane for ten hours. She reckons that she's still more likely to be hit by a car than she is to contract SARS, and she doesn't want to go five months without being immersed in Chinese before her next exam.

Um.

I am not freaking out, because she is a very sensible person and wouldn't make a decision like this on a whim. However, Healthma vibes greatly appreciated.

Right. So. I keep forgetting to mention.

I'm going on holiday by mistake!

Starting tomorrow, and until either Tuesday or Wednesday, I'm gone, off to Canada with no Web access. It's just me and my mother, my father having backed out at the last minute.

If we survive spending that long in each other's company, I'll see you all when I get back.

I have some sad news.

Mr. Kitty a.k.a. Lucky Stike Farmer Joe Jef Mahoney Louise was put to sleep today at 1 pm. He hadn't been feeling well and my mom found him unable to move and barely breathing this morning. He hung on until I arrived (45 minute drive) and then we took him to the vet, where they told us it was best to put him out of his misery.

You all may be familiar with Mr. Kitty from my user pic at WX. He was one of the world's finest incarnations of the one black cat. He was loving and noble and saw me through a lot of tough times and depressions when there was only him and me and he was my reason for going on.

I would appreciate any kitty heaven vibes.

So very sorry, Sophia.

I have sad pet news also. Yesterday, I helped my ex bury our 17 year old miniature dachshund, Sam. He led a happy, pampered life, and was a very good furry friend. I rubbed the little cowlick on the back of his neck for the last time and smiled at the luck of having known him.

I remain a dark grey, but send out good buffista vibes on a regular basis.

Hi Folks!

Hot on the heels of my brother's death, life decided it wasn't through making me it's spider-eating monkey bitch.

I've been downsized. In Office Space speak, my "position has been eliminated" at Digital River.

Time to milk the unemployment cow and then find a real job anyway.

Going charcoal grey. Or maybe close to a light sink. Off to TX for a week to visit my brother and his family (baybeee!)

And while I'm here? Everyone think good and healthy thoughts for my pervvy cat. I've got about 1600 contingencies to get him to a vet while I'm away if he gets sicker. Probably just allergies throwing his system outta whack, but he needs happy thoughts. Like of tuna water.

More weird but good news!

In June, I'll be in Vegas for about 20 days working on scoring and assessing portfolios for National Board Certification. It's a ton of work, but I hope that it will help me prepare to start the National Board Process (picture 300 to 400 additional hours of work in a school year!!).

Going dark for a bit, length undertermined. Longer explanation here: Steph L. "Spike's Bitches 6: Darn your sinister attraction!" Apr 27, 2003 3:05:08 pm EDT

Oh, and I forgot to mention, at about the time I was being laid off on Friday, my aunt Katherine was having shoulder surgery. It had been scheduled two weeks before, but she caught a cold and it had to be rescheduled.

She had a problem with the morphine drip not working last night. They had to inject her, instead. Paradoxically, she might be released today.

Any healing Buffista vibes would be appreciated.