A girl in my creative writing class insisted on talking to me as I was walking down the hallway after class; apparently the headphones weren't enough of a signal. She asked how I was liking the class, and I was honest and told her I don't like poetry. I used to, but now I feel like I might as well just say what I want in prose. I said that I felt stupid writing poetry. Her response was, "I used to, too. Then I found Emily Dickinson, and my life was changed. I just said screw the rules!"

Right, because that's unique.

People roll my eyes every time I use the word fat to describe myself. It drives me crazy, because no matter how I used it, they make one of those "you are not" gestures, or tell me not to be mean to myself. And every time I tell them, "I'm not being mean. I'm fat. I'm also short, blonde, and hilarious. I'm not any of the stereotypes that go with it, but I am fat."

My neighbor has been evicted; he's spent the last 12+ hours clearing out his house and packing a trailer. He was supposed to be out by midnight, but it's 4:20 a.m., and I can still hear him bumping around on the other side of the wall. I talked to him tonight and he's moving out of state, to where his girlfriend lives. Unfortunately, he has two cats and his girlfriend is allergic. One he's found a home for. The other he asked if I wanted, or if I knew somebody, because otherwise he'll take him to the pound.

I need another cat like a damn hole in the head. I need another cat like I needed another dog. I really cannot take any more stray animals in--I'm already over the limit, buried in pet hair, and without enough attention to spread out to the five I have. I don't know anybody who wants another cat; my family members are all full up on pets and/or don't like cats. I haven't heard any of my friends talking about wanting a cat. If I go knock on his door and take in this cat to try to find him a home, the chances of me actually finding him a home are ridiculously low.

But ... how can I just let a poor innocent kitty go to the pound? I know how many cats end up in the pound, and I know how many never leave it alive. The shelters do the best they can, of course. And I can't save every animal in the world. And I need to not be such a soft-hearted idiot and take problems on to myself.

But since talking to my neighbor two and a half hours ago, I've thought of almost nothing else. It kills me to think of a cat I might be able to save being dumped in a shelter and living in a little box.

Just typing this crap out just made me crack. I went next door and took the cat. He's not neutered, and one of my girls isn't spayed, so I have to keep him isolated. They'd make pretty babies, but that's just not something I need to be dealing with right now. In fact, I don't need to be dealing with any of this right now, but .... yeah. I'll see if anybody I know wants him; if they don't, I'll take him to the no-kill foundation a few towns over.

But right now, I have another cat. FML.

(Brought to you by la lettre D, as in Direct TV for Business.)

Everybody knows that the economy these days sucks, and every business in the world is trying to figure out ways to keep people coming in and spending their money. Some are doing it by slashing prices--like restaurants and their "3 for $20" deals--to try to get people in the door. Others are trying to play up their amazing customer service to hold on to people, and some and some are trying quirky, weird promotions.

But really, what works better than the standard: television. One way businesses might consider keeping existing customers happy is with the glory of television, with Direct TV for Business. According to their website, 90% of Direct TV Business subscribers think that having television helps to increase their business. I can see that; I know when I go in to places with a tv I tend to at least stop and look. Unless sports are on.

I don't personally have DirecTV, but my dad does at his house in the mountains, and his reception is always great. Also, the place I work at has Commercial Direct TV --and in three years I've seen a service problem exactly once, on a night where the entire state was getting snowed in. Even then, brushing the snow off the dish fixed the problem. From what I've seen, Directv Business service is quite reliable--and of course, they offer all sorts of special sports channel packages. That's great for businesses during this time of year, what with the hockey and the football and the basketball and I don't even know what else is on this time of year!

My neighbor is frantically clearing out his house because he's been evicted. I'm terrified that's going to happen to me. It's not like I'd be out on the street, I have family; but it's still a frightening idea.

I've paid my rent this month, with a lot of help. I'm already worrying about December, though, especially since there's about $250 in bills I've let slide for several months and as such will have to pay this month. It's really nerve-wracking, because I've already paid my rent late three times this year--I don't know if they'll let me renew my lease again as it is, and finding a new place with my pets is not so easy. Finding a new place without a down payment isn't so easy, is more accurate.

I'm doing everything I can to make ends meet; I'm working as much as I can, with school and such. I'm writing paid blog posts when I have the chance (though those won't pay out for 30 days, so that's more looking forward to December, and they're minimal anyway). I'm selling things on ebay, which will probably make or break me this month. If I can sell enough stuff, and work enough hours, maybe I can start the month of December even instead of spending the first weekend still trying to make up what my checking account is short.

Here's hoping.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I have a potential freelancing job lined up, doing social/viral marketing for a wedding planner, and possibly for a haunted house run by a local company. Thing is, I have absolutely no idea what pay to request, nor do I truly know what I'm doing in that area. I just sort of stumbled in to helping a friend with the haunted house thing, and then she asked if I'd be interested in helping with the wedding planning business and possibly with the haunted house in a more formal way next year. I'd better start doing some research.

My phone rang while I was at work yesterday, and it was an area code from a couple of towns over. I thought it might be my dad's friend who's setting up most of his birthday party, but I didn't have time then to answer it anyway. When I had a moment to check my voicemail, I got a nice shock. My dad's girlfriend, who I've never met, has my phone number and was wanting me to get together with her.

Let's see here. You used to screw my dad while he was married to my mom, I didn't even know of your existence until a week ago, you're pretty much no-one to me .... so why are you calling me again?

I haven't called her back. I'll have to, or it'll hurt my dad's feelings, but god damn, I do not want to talk to this woman.

I am not a fan of Taylor Swift. I think her voice is annoying; I think her songs' subject matter is juvenile; and I am so freaking sick of hearing her songs! I think at work every night I hear four of them.

Unfortunately, the fact that I generally dislike her music doesn't stop her songs from getting lodged in my brain. Freaking ohrworms. I've had "Love Story" stuck in my head for what feels like weeks now. It's a pleasant enough sounding song; it's very poppy and catchy and all. I don't exactly hate it, but I don't really like it either. There are a lot of reasons; like the fact that it's crazy naive, for one thing.

But it also makes me giggle. First of all, anybody who uses Romeo and Juliet as a romantic ideal is just being lazy. And incorrect, really. Then mix that with a prince and princess metaphor--really?But this is the stanza that I really just love:

'Cause you were Romeo,
I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don't go

That one line tossed in about a "scarlet letter" just adds whole hilarious depths to it. Suddenly this light-hearted teenage love is something adulterous and shameful! But wait--maybe it's just her, something about her will shame him and make him a societal outcast forever. Hilarious.

Yeah, I know I'm overthinking it!

(This sponsored post brought to you by Tutorvista.com. And possibly the letter M.)

In my long (long, long, long) career as a student, there have been three subjects that I just couldn't wrap my brain around right away. The first was algebra, in seventh grade. I still think that was partially the teacher, though--he was a very intelligent man, who couldn't explain things worth a damn. Or maybe my adolescent brain just wasn't ready to deal with the abstract concepts, because I passed it just fine the following year. The third was biochemistry at the college level, and I'm still not sure why I couldn't wrap my brain around it.

The second was trigonometry my senior year of high school (and by extension physics). Two years later when I took it at my university, in a largely self-taught class, it clicked. But that physics class was the first class I ever failed, and it was devastating to my self-esteem. Of course, I was so stubborn I didn't ask for help; I just dropped the class in the middle of the semester.

Had I thought about it, I might've had the sense to get some math help. Instead, I kept going to class and not understanding, pounding my head against the wall and getting nowhere. Partially, it was because I was embarrassed to talk to my teacher or ask any of my classmates for help. And even though I was a computer nerd, I didn't even think to look for online math help. Actually, that's a theme that's repeated; I was too proud to look for a biochem tutor last semester, or an online math tutor when I was in high school. Which is really too bad, since I was on the computer every possible waking minute anyway so maybe I would have passed the class, and wouldn't have to deal with the fact that the teacher comes in to my restaurant and still remembers me.

Now, of course, I'm done with science and math classes--since I changed my degree, I don't have to worry about the evil biochem anymore--but if I were to struggle in another class, I think Tutorvista would be super useful. They charge $99.99 a month, but that gives you unlimited access to tutoring in all their subjects--which includes biology, chemistry, physics, English, and ten math categories. It's like one-stop-shopping for online math tutoring. It's a pretty cool concept, actually; and they offer a demo, so you can get some free online math tutoring and see how you like the platform.

Tutorvista does K-12, college tutoring, prep for AP exams, and back-to-school tutoring as well. The monthly package lets you study any of the subjects, 24/7 with a live tutor. They have an interactive window for writing out equations, so it's not all an indecipherable chat window. And they've got that free demo, so if you're struggling with a subject, head over for some free online math help and see how you like it!

I love my classes, but between a full course load and full time job, I don't have time to do jack anymore for fun. I haven't baked anything since the beginning of September, and my coworkers are complaining about that, believe me. I'm behind on my blog reading, which sucks since I love reading other peoples' blogs; and I haven't been commenting as much when I do read. I've read a few non-school books, but not nearly as much as I used to. I haven't taken my dogs for a walk in a while; I haven't worked on my cross-stitch (yeah, I have old lady hobbies); I haven't been to a movie in ages or really done anything. I'm behind on housework and laundry; I'm behind on ebaying things; I'm not 100% on top of my studying stuff either, but I'm hanging on.

But I'm also crazy, which is why I dared to take on NaNoWriMo despite all that. And that was probably a bad idea. I'm 11,000 words behind at this point, which is just ridiculous. I have written a bit every day, but it comes in so far down my list of priorities that it's only averaged out to about 500 words a day.

Part of it, part of why I'm behind in general, is that I'm not very linear when it comes to completing tasks. This blog entry has been open for half an hour, because I've wandered off to gather stuff to ebay, or to fill my humidifier, or whatever. If I could learn to keep myself in one place, I'm sure I'd get a lot more done, but it's not how my brain works I guess.

It used to work that way--I'd sit in one place for hours, reading or writing or whatever, almost never moving. Now it seems like every fifteen minutes or so I have to get up and do something else or even just wander into another room and come right back. I'm not sure what caused this--maybe it's a by-product of the multitasking necessary for waitressing? Maybe it's a result of habitually working multiple jobs, so I'm just used to my time being broken up into fragments of differing tasks?

It's probably also because my schedule is so varied--I go in to work at a different time every day, I get off work at a different time every day, my classes vary from day to day ... actually, I guess it's completely understandable that my attention is so fragmented.