Hi, Fiona! Thanks for your recommendation of the Fielding Hotel in London. I ended up staying there.

Hello, lovely lurkers! Fabulous to see your pixels.

My update: got laid off, moved to New Orleans, got my dream job (for now, anyway), am dating a lovely chap, and have made lots of new friends, largely with the help of my adorable Frankie pup. I miss my NCistas and my sister, but it's definitely been a good move for me and I love having Nora and Tom for neighbors.

I'm in Bitches, Natter (when time allows), Movies, Music, Lit, and Minearverse. Horribly behind in a few tv threads.

Hi, Fiona! Thanks for your recommendation of the Fielding Hotel in London. I ended up staying there.

Oh, that's good to hear. It's such an insider tip that I'm always afraid it's going to disappear (or be bought, swallowed up or "redeveloped") by the next time I go to London. I hope you enjoyed it there!

Seska, we were in Scotland at the end of August/early September, so we probably would have missed each other anyway. 2012 it should be mid-August-ish.

Anyway, that's probably enough British tourist board stuff. Back to your regularly scheduled delurking.

Helloooooooooooooooo. I think I've been dormant so long I actually qualify as a lurker once more. How's tricks?

Should I do the update spiel? Should I do a little dance? Taking requests, here.

I want to see SA do the cha-cha!

By which I mean, do update.

It's an SA!!!!!!

SA! Update and dance, please.

Update!!

I'd like a dancing SA update. Cha cha will do.

::commences cha-cha::

So, I don't know where I left off, but after I finished my MA in philosophy, I moved from the UK to Portland, OR in 2008 and after a couple of months I got a job at a non-profit here that I thought was going to be temporary but has turned out to be the best job I've ever had. It has a billion ups and downs, but the work that we do is amazing, and I am really grateful to be a part of something I care about so much. And when I'm not working, I'm volunteering for two or three other organizations, and it's great to be so dialed into the non-profit sector--which is where I'd be happy keeping my career trajectory for the foreseeable future.

Much like shrift, I have tricked myself into looking forward to going to the gym by watching terrible television (Teen Wolf! The Sing-Off!) on my iPad while I'm on a machine. Unfortunately, my knee condition worsened, so now I'm wearing double braces any time I do significant activity, which is a lot of the time. I haven't had a CFS flare since 2009/early 2010, though, so that's a big relief.

Last year, my sister and BIL also moved to Portland, so I have family close by, and miz erin_obscura is just down the road for weekly tv-and-bitch sessions. I have a dog, a cat, and a dog-nephew, and I spend a lot of time writing and reading. It's not precisely where I thought I was going to end up five years ago; I was pretty sure I'd be staying in the UK (thanks, "recession") but I really can't imagine doing anything else, now. I'm happy and fulfilled! It's pretty awesome.

I get up to Seattle to folks three or four times a year, and down to California once or twice a year, and still love to meet up with any Buffistas I know are coming through town. I still love and miss you all! I just don't know how to keep up with things when I'm doing all this stuff.