I imagine that there were some of you who were wondering. Yes, I am still alive and mostly well and relatively present on dA, although those of you whose deviations have been sitting in my message center for several months may feel differently. The reason that you have not seen or heard more of me is in part a matter of being busy and in part a matter of being lazy. Between the two, I manage to get very little accomplished and go nowhere in life.

Beginning in January and ending in April, I was occupied with school. Of my classes, I enjoyed Psychology of Adjustment and Ceramics I the most. Great American Films was also pleasant, but it turned into a lot more work than I had expected. Among other things, I had to write two film critiques, one of which will be making an appearance on dA at some point. Modern Dance I was difficult but a good experience overall, as were the voice lessons. I got an A in everything but voice, making my GPA a 3.91. Not too bad; I try to remind myself that the important thing is that I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something that I wasn't necessarily going to excel at. So good for me.

Shortly after I finished school I got sick, for the fourth time in as many months. I have some swollen lymph glands in my neck that have been that way for five or six months, and thus I suspect that my immune system is sub-par. I've been working on boosting my immune system and doing things that I have heard are supposed to clear out clogged lymph glands, since I think that that is the case (my mom convinced me to see a doctor and they took a blood sample and found that I didn't seem to have an infection anywhere, so the next most likely thing seems to be that the lymph glands are just clogged).

In and amongst the finishing of school and the being sick, I did battle with the dreaded garlic mustard. I shall refrain from giving you all my whole explanation of what it is and why we battle it, I would love to explain. We've finished that up now, so I'm happy. Now I just need to venture onto the neighbors land to collect some for making pesto - I usually do that with stuff on our land but this time I just focused on pulling it and figured I could go abroad for some to use.

How about this new critique system? I find that it compels me to give critiques where otherwise I might not. I have heard some criticism of the star system, but I like it because I feel that it frees me up to get down to the point a little better in my comment. I never want to do anything that could seem a little too harsher, but I think that the stars can take some of the harshness out of my critique - they can see right there that I think it shows a lot of vision and is really original (or whatever the case may be). The downside of feeling compelled to give critiques is that it's taking even longer to get through my message center, but I think it's worth it. It should be for those whom I critique, at least.

Speaking of critiques, I am working on an entry for the April Showers, May Flowers, currently titled Same Old Tree. If you feel inclined to give me a critique that would make me all kinds of happy, and also appreciative. You should also check out the contest and enter it yourself, and send it my way for a critique if you want (send it in a note or leave it as a comment so that I get to it faster - same goes for anything else that you're looking for critiques for in a particularly timely manner, also I'm sure you'll understand that I can never promise I'll get to anything in time or that I'll feel able to critique it when I do). What you should not do is give me bad advice on my poem so as to get rid of some of the competition. I jest of course, and am confident that you wouldn't.

I have discovered, or rather been told about, a lovely series of books by S. M. Stirling. The Protector's War which I am currently reading is the second, and Dies the Fire is the first. The premise is that all machinery and such stops working, and people are forced to find new (or old) ways of getting by. They form into clans and start making armor and medieval weaponry and such. Some people try to conquer the world. Anyway, I don't want to say too much because if you read it you will enjoy it more if more things unfold on their own, but I strongly recommend it. Some of the style and plot stuff is a little disappointing, but I find myself completely able to overlook it. And if you don't read particularly critically you may not even be bothered by it all.

I just finished Bernard Cornwell's newest book, Agincourt. It was good, but different from what I have come to expect from him. The main character was a much more innocent sort of person than most of his characters, and there was less cynicism about certain things. Still superbly told though and plenty worth the read.

And that is that - five months of my life in short form. I have learned not to make any claims of spending more time on dA soon or of updating my journal again in a timely manner or any such thing, but I am still around even if I'm not always noticeable. I work through my message center slowly (76 deviations right now, all of them literature) but I do work through it. Right now I am filled with a strange sort of enthusiasm, although that is not necessarily indicative of my mood these past few months. Life goes on.