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I checked my degree audit thingy this morning. All the different sections say "ALL CRS REQM SATISFIED," which translates to me officially having everything I need to graduate. Boom, baby! You can't tell, because this is text and not video, but I'm TOTALLY doing a victorious booty shaking dance. It kind of annoyed the sisterly one, though, so I stopped.

So I guess this means I'm now officially a grown up. Which means I need the help of all the people out there who actually know me in person and don't just read this because they randomly follow my adventures on the internet.

Please please please don't let me fade away and not talk to people or go out or anything? I'm disgustingly good at convincing myself that nobody likes me and they don't want me bothering them. It doesn't help that I've been flat broke and couldn't have seen anyone if I wanted to. This then leads to people thinking that I don't like them because I never talk to them. (If I haven't seen/visited you, it's not because I don't like you, it's because I've been flat broke, and couldn't AFFORD to see anyone, so I kind of hid. I'm sorry. I loves you all) This cycle of "I don't talk to you, so you don't talk to me, so I won't talk to you" then leads, tragically, to me becoming emo.

I will sit at home alone, listening to sappy music while making unfortunate fashion decisions. It's already begun- I quite enjoy Panic! At The Disco (haven't heard the new CD yet, so the exclamation point stays). Today, I caught myself looking at black hair dye in the drug store- I told myself that it's because I'm playing an evil fairy at the Guelph Faery Festival next month and golden blonde (let me have my illusions!) isn't all that evil, but who am I kidding? I am getting saturated in emo. What's next? Sullen behaviour? Overdone eyeliner? CRYING OF STARS?

Please, ladies and gentlemen, only you can prevent emo-Chris.

(Seriously- I'm always in Toronto since I started the new job, and getting to Hamilton on weekends is easy-peasy. I would invite people to my place, but there's NOTHING TO DO IN OAKVILLE!!! I'm bored and lonely and miss people.)

I just realized that I've been working for a whole month and I haven't said a thing on here about my job.

I file things, answer questions, take payments, fill out paper work/help bankrupt people fill out their paperwork, book appointments, do banking and mailing, answer the phone, and all the usual secretarial stuff.

Oh right. That's why I haven't written about it. There's not much to say.

(One month til renfaire! *boogies*)

Dare I say it? I've made this post before, only to be horrifically shot down. But I think I'm okay. I went into the exam with a B-, and I'd have to get less than five questions on the exam right to fail. And that exam was pretty easy, with questions such as "An allegory is a)a creation story b)a narrative using symbolism c)a large lizard similar to a crocidile."

Okay, they weren't quite that easy. But it was close! And there was a question asking what an allegory was.

I've got all my credits and all my requirements. My average is actually higher than it's ever been.

So I think I might be safe. I think I can actually say it.

Ladies and gentlemen... as of this evening, I finished my BA.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh my goodness gracious me! I did it I did it I did it!

"What did you did?" I can hear you asking. After scolding you for your HORRIBLE grammar, I shall tell you!

I've been hired as a street act at not one, but TWO festivals! Gregor's Crossing, which is out in Chatham, and Upper Canada Medieval Festival, which is in Kingston. EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Okay okay okay. So why is all this different then what I've done before? Because this is the first time I'm performing as a "free agent." I've always been on the cast before. It's been a case of people saying go do this, this and this. This will be me figuring everything out for myself. It's my own ideas and entirely my own performance that people will be seeing. Kind of scary, kind of awesome.

I'm sticking with the name "Lettie," but dropping the last name from Abingdon. It's basically the same character, so I might as well keep most of the name. But I'm not necessarily the farmer's daughter, and I don't have a twin sister that looks nothing like me, and I do NOT have an obsession with cabbages, so I'm not Lettie Gail Radcliffe. Shush, it makes sense in my head.

In random experiments with costumes, I have discovered that my two chemises layered together give a pretty good medieval look- to be perfect, it would have to lace up the back, but I should be all right.

If you didn't feel like reading all that, I'll just sum it up with GLEEEEEEE!

I just finished reading Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold. Before I say anything about the book, I must admit that I internet-know the author, elizabethcbunce. And I also must say that that only influenced me to pick up the book, not my actual thoughts on it.

Because HOLY CRAP AWESOME!!!!! I plowed through the book in only a few hours. I had been sitting in the living room reading while other family members watched TV, and I honestly had to leave the room because I was gasping and waving my hands around in excitement.

The book is at heart a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin set in the industrial revolution (you know how it's the miller's daughter that has to spin straw into gold? Well, it's a TEXTILE mill! Clever!) And it makes sense for Rumplestiltskin to want the baby, and there's a good reason for the miller's daughter to try and figure out his real name.

A++++++++++ Would read again.

Well, not blogging, anyway. I wasn't quite up to sharing. But now I am. So... share I shall.

( Read more... )

I did it! I did it! *insert booty shaking dance here*

That place that I interviewed for? THEY'RE REALLY HIRING ME! For real! None of this "You're the best candidate for the job, but we're not hiring you." No "We'll contact you if this other person doesn't work out." Actually hired for real. On the table next to me I have an honest to goodness offer of employment. It's addressed to me, it has my name on it, and it has a goodly sized number on it which is how much they will be paying me.

HOORAY! *shakes booty some more*

I'm so cool.

The week of holy-crap-everything-is-happening-at-once began, appropriately enough, on ( Monday )

( It continued on Tuesday )

( Went on through Wednesday... )

( ...and Thursday )

( And finished up today, being Friday. )

Also, today is Pi day! Woo! Have some pie!

I had my interview today! It went REALLY well, and they want me to come back on Thursday for an interview with the big boss! Woo! I do a happy dance.

The rest of the day was spent sleeping. I've had a horrible migraine for the past few days. I was able to be chipper and cheerful through the interview, but I then went home and slept for about five hours. Awesome.

Also, there was a creepy guy on the train that kept getting me to verify which station we were at and wanting to know when I was getting off the train. Creeeeeeeeeeepy.

Also also, I ran into a girl I was in band and theatre stuff with in high school. I could not for the life of me remember her name at the time, so I just didn't use her name. But I also noticed she never used mine. It was kind of weird. I honestly don't have any contact with people I knew in high school except for Sarah (she also took theatre at Mac). I'm one of those people who ran away to university and was filled with glee that no one knew just how much of a socially awkward nerd I was. Don't get me wrong- I'm still a nerd. But I'm no longer a socially awkward one.

And on that note, the Tylenol is starting to wear off. Nighty night.

Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment. I have seriously destroyed my fingertips today. So what do I really want to do? Type. Yeah, I'm smart.

( Sewin'! )

( Jobbin'! )

( Cleanin'! )

Okay, so it may not be all THAT impressive, but I finally got around to getting my Smart Serve Certification. Woo! Another good thing I can put on my resume.

Because I still don't have a job! Woo!

I need a job. My brain has far too much time to be idle.

For example, I was looking through pictures from the Pirate Festival and found Jenn's awesome shot of Kevin the Action Figure clinging to the side of a wall and about to rain horrible doom on Scotty, aka the_pirate_show. In other words, this picture

This photo makes Kevin look awesome. Dude, he looks like freakin' Spider-Pirate. But, since I have this horribly idle brain, I decided that it was SCOTTY'S turn to look awesome!

Help... me...

New bodice, new bodice, hooray!

For once I'm doing this right and actually DOCUMENTING what the heck I'm doing so that I can remember for my next time through.

This is my third attempt at a bodice. My first was side lacing and made from corduroy with hand stitched eyelets. This is my "brownie" bodice, because the crinkly corduroy goes with the crinkly cotton chemise. Also, it's brown.

Bodice two is a front lacing bodice made from the tiniest little scrap of tapestry I found at fabric land for a buck. It seems all right at first, but the fit isn't perfect (it sort of rides up) and the edging is terrible and fray-tastic, and the front lacing is all- to use a technical term- wibbly. I put the gromets closer to the edge than the boning, and if I lace the bottom holes they just sort of curl up instead of lying flat.

So now it's bodice three. Huzzah.( Cut for lots of pictures and sewing rambling which I don't think anyone actually reads. )

Back in September, I officially joined Fight Directors of Canada. This saved me money on my auto insurance stage combat lessons. Unfortunately, I still couldn't afford the full run of lessons, but what will be will be.

This week I finally got my membership card. Woo!

But for some bizarre and unknown reason, FDC seems to think I'm a guy. Everything is addressed to "Mr. Chris McLeod."

Hmph.

After spending the last 20 minutes trying to clean this shirt so I can wear it, I have learned my lesson:

When trying to mark white fabric for the purposes of sewing, do NOT use lead pencil! It's a total pain in the rear to get out of the fabric, and it shows RIGHT THROUGH.

On the plus side, I finished the white shirt I was working on (it's got buttons and EVERYTHING!) and I'm just hemming my plaid skirt which I made last Christmas.

Not being able to go fabric shopping means that if I want to sew stuff, I actually have to finish what I start. Shocking, I say. Shocking.

This past weekend I somehow lost my cellphone at Union (whoops). So I temporarily canceled service so the phone was useless and waited until Monday to call the GO lost and found department to see if they had it.

I totally forgot that Monday was Family Day- for the non-Ontarians who read this, Family Day is our brand spankin' new statutory holiday that has everyone a little confused- so therefore the lost and found department was closed. Crap.

Fast forward to today! Bright and early this morning I called the lost and found line.

( In which I call Toronto, go to Toronto, leave Toronto, argue with answering machines and go see a movie. Whee! )

There is only so much reading and applying for jobs that I can do before my brain decides to go on strike.

Therefore, as a bit of a distraction, I decided to colour this nifty picture that spike20 had drawn. It's full of steam punky goodness. I'm not done yet, but I need to show off.

I'm quite pleased with the shading on the left glove. Oooooooh, glowy reflections. I also think I got a nice leathery look for the coat. But as I said, work in progress, we'll see how it goes.

Warm and Fuzzies are a McMaster Thespian Club tradition- and I think Mac Musical Theatre as well, but I never did an MMT show, so I don't know for sure. During the actual production, you write happy little notes to everyone involved in the show, and these get put in envelopes on the wall of the theatre that have everybody's names on it. You get to take your own envelope home and it's filled with all the nice things that everyone said about you. Yay!

Well, this week has kind of sucked a bit. I haven't heard back from ANY of the places I've interviewed at, nor have I gotten any new interview offers. The icing on the cake was watching Oprah with my Mom today. It was all about financial advice for women, particularly those who had no income but needed to take care of a family. I realized that my finances suck- and I've always been good with money. This is why I made a good treasurer. If something I've always been so good at is no longer good... I must actually suck.

When I get bored, I get depressed. Then this sort of logic makes far too much sense.

This evening, I found all my Warm and Fuzzies. A sorely needed reminder that I can do things right, that people do like my work. Sure, it's not the kind of work I'm currently looking for, but it's work nonetheless. I'm not a worthless bum. I can wrestle a creative team that's tearing itself apart back together. I can half-run a company, have three parts in a play, choreograph a complex dance, AND sew costumes that someone else was supposed to do, all at the same time. I can take on any role, ranging from vengeful goddess to sarcastic musician, from village bicycle to a man with a wife and kid. I can make up contra dances that work with David Bowie and Michael Buble. And I can do it all with a smile on my face from nine o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock at night.

How the heck could I forget just how freakin' awesome I am?

So props to all my MTC peeps. You made me happy while I was doing the shows, and you made me happy again when I needed it. Thanks.

Oh, and it's after midnight. Happy Valentines Day.