A glorious rerurn.

Alright dudes. There's been a long stretch of silence, but I now pronounce it filled. That's right, Hiatus over.

Hey! Everyone! I'm back! And I am the most excited that you have possibly ever seen me! I've got an apartment, and I've got a room of my own with a full-sized bed in it, and I've got an actual living room and a kitchen where everything works and a study sort of area and a hamster. My job has transferred over and my car arrived safe and functional and with more gas in it than I had left it with, and none of my stuff seems to have broken (although I'll know better when I get a TV). My roommate is awesome and I'm trying to figure out how to cook for reals (and not just with Ramen) and meanwhile I'm slowly but surely decorating the place and getting bits of necessary furniture piecemeal. Eventually I'm going to do the application thing and eventually I'm going to spend significant amounts of time outside the apartment and eventually I'm going to catch up to my NaNo wordcount projection (currently I'm about a day behind), and eventually I'm going to go to a party for writing (a million thanks to all those who assisted) and eventually I'm going to end this particular paragraph of good things and mention some sad stuff before concluding on an upbeat note.

... I'm still getting occasional pangs of homesickness, which is weird, and I'm still getting used to trying to live like an adult (I loved my old apartment, but it really was just the next evolution of a dorm room), and I'm still getting used to living with someone, and I'm still not quite flipping that mental switch which makes me someone who lives here and not just a guest here. I'm nervous about working and about applying and about school and about not being a terrible person to share an apartment with and not winding up on the curb three thousand miles from anywhere. I miss people; too many to name, but all my friends have their special place in my heart that is now empty. I miss Mal, even though we're keeping in touch very well, it is lame to be single again. I miss the idea of just going out and doing something with people... I only know a few people in the area, and only one of them really counts, and she's often busy. I'm not used to this place... the blocks are too large, the streets are too wide, the traffic is too fast, the weather's too warm and the trees are too palmish. No, it's not a bad thing, but it'd different. It's not what I'm used to, and it unnerves me.

But I'm here, and I'm happy, and even the stuff that makes me unhappy is making me happy. Change is good, and ruts are bad, and doing something major and slightly ridiculous is never a bad idea. I have a tendency, whenever I am nervous, to try and figure out what the worst-case scenario in a given situation is. Well, the most likely worst-case scenario (as a disease that makes all my lysosomes suddenly burst asunder and digest me whole is unlikely to crop up any time soon). And you know, I can't imagine a likely worst-case scenario that doesn't make all this worth it. Ladies and dudes, I am a guy in California now, all keen and fresh-faced and slightly disoriented. Let's see what happens.