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I'm mostly not here these days, but I haven't forgotten about the annual holiday card exchange.

Drop me a note with your address if you'd like to exchange cards with me! I'll be checking my messages for the next two weeks to see. In the past, I've sent cards to LadyLincoln, Nichrysalis, HugQueen, and julietcaesar, but I always love sending out more mail!

All's well on my end. Lots of traveling, which is unusual for me, but it's been fun -- Philadelphia for a conference a few weeks ago, and Salem, MA, for Thanksgiving with my fiance's extended family.

I've also bought my wedding dress! So if you want to see, let me know and I'll figure out a way to send pictures without my fiance stumbling upon them.

I'm probably off to explode my inbox, so if there's anything I've missed in your life that you'd like me to know about (read: I want to know everything, if I haven't been keeping up with you in other ways!), let me know!







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...where it might be time for a change.

You've probably noticed that I haven't been around much in the past few weeks, and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't because of all the rapid changes deviantART is undergoing. The rebranding was something I could live with, but the shit with the staff and the Core Membership debacle have left a sour taste in my mouth. This place has always been about the people for me -- and although dA is a company, of course, it used to put people first, too.

I've made a ton of friends here that I don't want to lose, and I think you all knew that I've basically grown up here, so I don't think I could ever leave for good. But there may be long absences, long radio silences. I'd really love for you guys to connect with me elsewhere, if you're active on any other social media -- I basically Tweet nonstop and I love lurking on Instagram, I occasionally pop up on Facebook, I post industry news (and the occasional personal post) on Tumblr, and my Snapchat handle is lusitania.

Aside from my personal reservations about dA, my personal life is blowing up, in a good way! I just got promoted to Associate Editor at my job, but my boss is also trying me out as Managing Editor for a new journal we're launching that will be focused on informal science (basically, any science learning that takes place outside the classroom -- think science centers, museums, summer camps, etc.). I've never had to build a publication from the ground up before, so I'm stupid excited. Plus, I get to go to Montreal solo next month to promote the journal at a conference, so that's pretty cool, too.

Other than that, I've been doing a lot of wedding planning related stuff. And, my biggest news: I am done with regular therapy! You all probably know that this has been a long journey for me -- and one of the reasons I can't leave dA completely is because I won't ever forgot all the support I've been given. I feel more like myself. I feel less afraid. And that is a gift.

How are you all?





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A real update is coming soon about the writers conference I was at last week (and I know a lot of you are dying to know how it was!), but until I can pull all of my many thoughts together, here's something to tide you over:






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Because pictures are fun!


"You can tell a lot about a person by what they write, but there are lots of other ways to get an idea of who they are. What they wear; what they read; what their room looks like; what posters they hang on their walls; what they keep in their bedside drawer. If you're like me, bored with answering the same questions, then feel free to jump in and show your watchers who you are in a different way. "

Hi.


We never make the bed.


This is probably cheating, but we have four bookshelves. It's like 75% books and 25% random crap we've picked up and dumped there. Also: most of my stuffed animal collection, stuff from GW basketball games, cold medicine, and painted rocks from a scavenger-hunt game they had in DC one time.


This is my air plant. Her name is Tilly.


This is cheating but I don't care (also, apologies for my super-chipped nail polish!).


I've read the shit out of this book. The cover is a small breeze away from just falling off.


Here is our fish, Meta World Fish, named after the basketball player Meta World Peace, who used to be Ron Artest. Our fish is also in a bad mood today, so his head-fins are half-flared.


Arlington, VA, as viewed from my balcony.


The right side of the closet is mine; straight-on is Chris's stuff.


Our jumble of shoes by the front door.




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EDIT 5/4/2015: Just popping in very quickly to say we've found our wedding venue! Which is in DC. It's an old building that used to be the area's Naval Hospital during the Civil War, but they've renovated it so now it's an art gallery/community center. Basically, it's old and historic and has art in it and we both love it a lot. Here are pictures: hillcenterdc.org/home/rentals/…

Hope you are all well! I'm taking a mental health day today and enjoying the weather.



To say that I've been accepted to and will be attending the Napa Valley Writers Conference at the end of July! My workshop leader is Lan Samantha Chang, who is the chair of the Iowa Writers Workshop, which makes this opportunity both thrilling and nervewracking because -- well, how awesome is this? But also I'd better make a good impression. Heh.

Also, I get a whole week in Napa, surrounding by hills and wine and beautiful weather. And I get to visit my in-laws and their dog, too.

Right now I'm trying to speed-write a story for the workshop because I decided the one I'd been intending to submit is more done than I thought it was, which isn't fair to me or anyone else in the class. I have at minimum a month to write the thing, which probably sounds like a long time to most people, but I write so fucking slowly it kind of sounds awful. We'll see how it works.

Nothing else is really new with me -- which is a good thing. Settling in with my new dosage, enjoying the warmer weather, planning out what we'll be doing this summer. Probably the most exciting thing, besides my conference news, is that my fiance and I have gotten into geocaching, which is incredibly fun and addicting once you start finding things. And it's a great excuse to get out of the house and explore the neighborhood.

How are the rest of you?


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