Twilight Zone

Time is probably the most bizarre phenomenon ever. Supposedly it just moves forward, but I swear it speeds up, slows down, stalls out, and even goes backward! Maybe all those time warps we experience aren't just figments of our imagination, maybe we've grossly misunderstood the concept of time. I say that because my weeks have started to run together. I know there was one that seemed to take forever, and it feels like there was another that zoomed by, but I can't tell which was which or if there even <i>were</i> two weeks. Maybe I wandered into the Twilight Zone??

Look at that face. He knows something.

Anyway, here's what's new.

Entertainment
I finally finished my second time through Avatar: The Last Airbender. Still incredibly epic, and still worth more re-watch marathons! I caught up on Legend of Korra, the follow-up series, too. I had to skip one episode because it had already been bumped off the website, but I don't think it was too terribly vital. At least I hope not! It's a good show, and I like the flashbacks to older versions of the original characters, but so far it's not as impressive as the original series. I think it might just be too early to tell what point the series is going to try to make; everything is still building.


Lord of Chaos continues to be awesome. It's not constant excitement or anything - none of Robert Jordan's books are - but there've been some mid-story plot twists that have really shocked me! Everyone I've spoken to who's read the book before has just smiled as they remembered whatever epic ending lies ahead for me, saying two words: Dumai's Wells. I still have no idea what that means, but I know there's a battle, and I'm excited to read through it! Only about 300 more pages until that specific chapter - it's the last one in the book. (I'm about halfway through the book, by the way, to give you an idea of why it's taking my so long to read it.)

Le Foot
The giant ankle brace thing has been great. It does exactly what it's supposed to, and my foot is benefiting from that. The swelling went away after a few days, but there's still a good bit of soreness and tenderness. I've done a little prodding and some comparisons between my two feet, and it does feel like the really tender part isn't bone, although putting pressure on certain bones is uncomfortable. Ligaments connect bone to bone, so I'm still hoping the doctor was right and it's just a ligament strain. This coming Friday will mark 2 weeks since the incident; I'm hoping my foot will be healed up either in this week or next. Even if it's not improved, though, I doubt I'll go back to the doctor. No sense in paying for another x-Ray when I'd already be halfway through the recovery time for a fracture; the ankle brace works fine and I'd rather not trade it for a cast, even for a couple weeks. (Besides, I've got a record of no broken bones to maintain!)

I'm able to walk around in my running shoes without too much of an issue - they've got good support in the arches to help my running stride, which means I can continue walking almost entirely on my arch (the most comfortable way to walk with the bum foot) and I'll still get some support. Feels good to wear a matching pair of shoes. :)

Job Search
The Huntsville Hospital is one of the biggest employers in Huntsville, and I got an interview/evaluation for an Admissions position (thanks to a 2nd degree connection with someone I've never met). It went well, I think. I just need to get an application in on their site, which is proving more difficult than expected. But it's gonna happen, I guarantee it.

In the mean time, I'm still cat-sitting for a friend, got a small proofreading job later in the month, and I've been pressure washing for my granddad. The cat-sitting is going alright. She's a sweet cat, but there's definitely some tension between her and our 2 cats. We do our best to run interference when it looks like the fur might literally fly, which isn't too often, thankfully. The proofreading job is with my former advisor and professor; he'll contact me when his paper's ready for me to go through it. I'm pretty excited about it, since it will be my first time getting paid to proofread! The pressure washing is really tedious, but I like watching the dirt disappear as though I'm dragging a super-strong eraser over it. :D

Father's Day & Birthday
Yesterday was a double celebration of Father's Day and my birthday. I turned 22, and my granddad continued to be an awesome father to his daughters and father-figure to his granddaughters. We had lunch together at my grandparents' house. I didn't ask for anything, so we both just opened cards, which was nice. :) Talked with one of my friends on the phone for a while - I'm teaching him some German, and it was a lot of fun for me to go through pronunciation stuff with him. Knocked some of the rust off my own reading skills. Snuck in a quick nap before heading out for Sunday training, taking advantage of my free Starbucks birthday drink (green tea frap, ftw) on the way. And despite still having to sit out and take notes, it was a great class. :) One of my Birmingham dojo friends came up to train. It was great to see him again, and it was fun to watch the other guys training try to wrap their minds around the new things he brought. I got some good notes out of it, too.

All in all, it was an excellent birthday. :)


That's probably a good place to stop. Time to put my nose back in my book and reenter the Twilight Zone! Peace.