Thanks for those who sent your well wishes vis a vis my accidental double post with a somewhat somber tone. I go through this every year, I always make it through, I see no reason this should be different. Well, it's slightly different, i am very happy for those who remain through these times.

Additionally, it's cold. I say this for a reason: it's cold and I park in a lot slightly less than one full mile from my comfy office. There are regular, prompt, warm shuttles that take me where I want to go but I decided if there was not one at the stop nearest my space I would walk in, and I'll take this moment to note that i walk in almost every day, even in cold. Not in rain, though. So I pull up, and much to my chagrin there's no shuttle. So, bundled in my winter coat (yes, I broke it out. AND turned the heat on last night. shut up already.) and winter hat and right as I started walking out of nowhere shows up the very shuttle I would take. Except that I am firm in my resolve and think to myself that since I've already made the decision I should follow through, which I do.

So I walk. It's cold. I formulate in my head a possible thesis for my next paper (involves the use of ambiguous costumery to establish the timelessness of a story) and as I get close to the coffee stand where I buy my morning muffin and occasional short skinny hot chocky I notice that a certain co-employee is standing near the entrance. I get some mixed feelings, as he is an incredibly nice and positive man who has inspired a recent spirtual journey for me but at the same time is a bit of a talker and i'm running a little late. Oh, he's a fantastic human being and was on the news recently (I should link to the story, and perhaps I shall later today), he is also a good friend of my dad's. So here we are.

I recently helped the man with some work related incentive stuff (you jump through three rather simple hoops and you get $20 extra a month for the following calendar year) for which he is eternally grateful. So I speak to this nice man who buys my muffin and chocky. and I realize that this, combined with y'all, makes me an incredibly lucky lady, and I'm not as lonely as I sometimes think I am.

God bless y'all. I'm not just saying that. i mean it. I'd name you each individually but you know who you are and some of you favor anonymity, which I completely understand. There are certain personal journal blogs I read regularly which I won't name, and the people are complete strangers to me, people I've never met in real life. I guess this is my voyeuristic side, but i also like to think that it illustrates the universal struggle of day to day life. This is good and bad: good because I'm not alone in this, bad because I'm not as unique as I'd like to think.

Additionally, today is Friday the 13th. This means the final book of the Series of Unfortunate Events comes out today. I've got it on hold at the library, just waiting for it to come in. It also means D. Striker tonight, which I'm still not sure I'm going to attend but would really, really like to.