and your hair smells of smoke / who will cast the first stone?

So I did catch the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie on Friday. Meh. It was entertaining and worth the price of admission, certainly. The visuals were gorgeous, particularly the Magrathean factory floor. And there are a handful of things (Marvin the Paranoid Android, Journey of the Sorceror) that they absolutely nailed. I'm not one of those people who's bothered by the changes to the story; some of them were even funny. But I will admit I was totally unimpressed by the change in tone, and the overwhelming focus on the Arthur/Trillian love story. Oh well... I never really expected them to make the movie I wanted them to make; it would have been three hours long and only truly comprehensible to fanatics like me.

Sunday night was D&D as usual, and my week to cook. I made andouille and red beans & rice for 11 people, which was slightly daunting but actually kind of fun. We didn't accomplish too much in the module -- the party is getting slightly too large and sprawling for that -- but I'm not one to object, particularly given that part of the reason for that was devringalbrath decided to make one final appearance before disappearing to New Hampshire or New Jersey or somewhere. I made it all the way to 14,998 XP and syganzychick generously decided that was good enough for me to go on to 6th level. And I took the Pyro feat from Song & Silence, 'cos dude, what the Hell else am I supposed to do?

Yesterday I went up to Boston for the evening, long enough to look at a couple of sublets in Brighton near where sleetfall lives. I visited with him, naturally, and talked things over. There's one place I would really like to get, but its a little pricey even with parental help. We shall see what shakes out over the next couple of days. Training to be a Kaplan tutor begins (at last) on May 9th... and continues for a whopping three weeks, so I won't even start having a proper part-time job with them until June. Oh boy.

Just to clear some things up, because I've gotten IMs indicating there are people who are confused: I don't yet have a plan, or a proper job. I'm getting a sublet in Boston, and hoping this Kaplan thing works out, and planning to get a second part-time job (or a full-time one if I can find one) so that I don't lose too much money on the endeavor. All this while I continue to look for an actual, career-starting full-time job. I've more or less given up on the grad school thing for the moment, because while I more-or-less want a teaching certificate I don't think I want a Masters in Education. And so long as I'm going back to grad school for any length of time I might as well get a degree in something, so I'm not going to go until I know what that's going to be. I am continuing to talk to the folks over at Carney, Sandoe & Associates about jobs with independent schools. And I am, foolishly, continuing to focus my search in greater Chicago. Because I miss y'all.

I fell off the wagon for a while there, and didn't accomplish anything on the job search front because I was too busy being mopey and depressed. But I'm back, and I'm plugging away at it. And yes, it continues to be fruitless and frustrating. But this is how it goes, until I pull myself back on track. I can cope, most days.