Angel: How're you feeling? Faith: Like I did mushrooms and got eaten by a bear.

'A Hole in the World'


Goodbye and Good Riddance 2021: Let’s Hope Next Year’s Variant is Better  

Take stock, reflect, butch, moan, vent. We are all here for it.


Shir - Jan 09, 2022 12:59:07 pm PST #60 of 86
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

First thing's first: People with really terrible years: I am sorry. I am happy that you are here, and lot of ~ma and love me for a better 2022 (let me ignore the omicron news for a minute. Cause it'll pass, the question is what comes next, and I vote for shiny ponies, a surprise bag of money, more humane politics and politicians, and a beverage of choice).

Also important: Thank you very much, dcp, Laura, Kat, and JenP for your lovely cards! dcp, thanks to you I finally got to witness first hand the cats-vs.-tree-decor thing. While I don't have a tree, Pele enjoyed it very much, too, and it was hilarious.

In the last day of 2021, 13 minutes before the deadline, I. Have. Submitted. My. Thesis. (this board is in the acknowledgment part, but of course). This brings to conclusion my MA in public policy which started in July 2019. Yes, I did choose quite a time to go and studying that subject... Anyways.

I feel like I blanked out most of 2021 (and some parts of 2020) because it was... what it was. I just focused on surviving it (which is also why I wasn't here a lot). Moving, and changing roommates (I had to freaking search for roommates three times in eight months because two of them decided to leave mid-contact for reasons unrelated to me), and living in a too-noisy part of the city, and constant stress of studying and working three days a week and living on a strict budget and then pandemic and my anti-vax dad and two mild cat emergencies and moving and doing all of this while 60% of work was processing holocaust related archives were a lot. In the terrible timeline we're in, the thesis turned out to be the fun part where I mostly got to do what I wanted to do. Yeah, it was a lot of work, and I sure as hell would have preferred to write it under better conditions, but it was a mental place where I could do more than surviving. I tried my best to thrive there, because it was where I could.

I have some hopes and careful plans for 2022. Let's see what it'll bring. Much love to y'all.


DavidS - Jan 09, 2022 1:42:31 pm PST #61 of 86
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

and I vote for shiny ponies, a surprise bag of money, more humane politics and politicians, and a beverage of choice

This is the kind of public policy that I fully endorse!


meara - Jan 09, 2022 2:06:21 pm PST #62 of 86

Congratulations Shir!!


amych - Jan 09, 2022 3:54:09 pm PST #63 of 86
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

Shir, THESIS!!! Congratulations! I know it was a long haul for your brilliant and very deserving of all the honors self!


Shir - Jan 09, 2022 10:59:46 pm PST #64 of 86
"And that's why God Almighty gave us fire insurance and the public defender".

Thank you!


JenP - Jan 10, 2022 5:12:55 am PST #65 of 86

Congratulations, Shir! That's huge. And I support your vision of ponies and surprise money, too.


Calli - Jan 10, 2022 7:12:38 am PST #66 of 86
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

Congratulations, Shir!


sj - Jan 10, 2022 8:23:55 am PST #67 of 86
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

Congratulations, Shir!


juliana - Jan 10, 2022 8:53:29 am PST #68 of 86
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…

Yay Shir!!


EpicTangent - Jan 10, 2022 9:11:01 am PST #69 of 86
Why isn't everyone pelting me with JOY, dammit? - Zenkitty

and I vote for shiny ponies, a surprise bag of money, more humane politics and politicians, and a beverage of choice

You've got my vote!

I'm just poking my nose in here to say I haven't done my greeting cards yet, but I fully intend to still, so don't give up on me! I bought stamps last week fully expecting to get them out this past weekend, but my still-not-quite-back-to-normal GI system had other ideas. But I will yet prevail!