Well, I can't say it's been the cheeriest season this year, but things aren't too bad.

I didn't pass my Master's Exams, for those who don't know, so I'm retaking them in a few months. Why?

1. I was supposed to take them in July. Not that it's an excuse, but it's hard to keep up that level of focus for 4 more months.

2. A few know what happened, and I don't want to share it with the world, but a major family crisis hit the day before I took my exams. Needless to say, the timing couldn't have been worse.

3. The main problem, however, was that I was just unprepared. I was expecting to read all the material and need to be able to pull things from all of it to apply to answers, but what it boiled down to was this: read 23 books and 15 articles. What did the exams cover? About 10 of the books and none of the articles... and I was to know those books very, very well. I asked the professors a few times what in particular I needed to know, but they left those details out.

Oh well. Just means I need to do a better job with them next time, and this doesn't put me off track to find a college teaching job next fall. In the meantime, I'm working at Barnes & Noble as a cashier and a café barista. Kind of fun actually, and for a non-coffee drinker I'm getting pretty good at making espresso-based drinks. & yes, I've tried the coffee, etc. a few times, but the only thing I can stand is the peppermint mocha. :lol: Still, I get 50% off café items and 30% off most everything else; thinking about picking up a Rosetta Stone or two once I'm settled into my new apartment.

Haven't been able to game much due to lack of funds (though the job will eventually give me some disposable income), but recently I finished up Mass Effect 2, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker. Loved the game, but I need to play it through again with one of my other characters. I also found Call of Duty 4 for 360 for $10 a few weeks ago, so I'll be trying the campaign whenever I'm in a FPS mood... in the meantime, I'm playing Dragon Quest VIII again (never finished it, though I always enjoy it) and, oddly enough, the original Phantasy Star on GBA. I need more multiplayer games, but at least I've got StarCraft (the original) running on my laptop. Soon I'll be getting a new power supply, so my 2004 gaming rig can start churning again. Someday I'll build a new computer again. :P

Oh yes, in Chrono Trigger DS, I finally achieved a long-time goal I had since I played the SNES version... getting every character to **, the max level. If you haven't ever tried this gem that somehow manages to blend JRPG with a surprising amount of WRPG ideas, you owe it to yourself to play it. Now I just wonder if they'll re-release Chrono Cross and manage to make it a decent sequel this time.

Now what's my Christmas wish? For OT to have less "look at me!" threads, like these drawing threads that have popped up as of late, no more "Why doesn't this girl like me, I'm super awesome!"-type threads, and for people to learn what funny really is. Oh yes, and death to trollface, that would be kind of nice. :D Having lost 33lbs/15kg on the year, I'm hoping to lose that much this year as well.

Ok, 12:37 on Christmas Day, I'd say it's shower time. As of Monday, less lopsided glasses hanging on my face, I'm getting contacts again!