Friday!

This week has been surprisingly productive. I took care of several things I’ve been avoiding for some time, made progress on the novel, and had two interviews.

• I twittered (tweeted or twitted) about this earlier in the week, but on Tuesday I spent 5 hours at the DMV. In a piece of fiction, I once described a character as someone who could even make waiting in line at the DMV a good time. High praise indeed! But, it really wasn’t that bad. The moment I pulled up and saw that the huge parking lot was full at 9:30 in the morning, I resigned myself to being there all day. I didn’t help my own cause by forgetting my birth certificate at home 20 minutes away. When I finally made it back to the DMV, I waited in a really long line to speak to someone, then another line to get my picture taken, then another line to take the written driver’s test, and then another line to get my test graded. Good news! I passed. I now have a California driver’s license. It took me another couple hours to get my car registered.

• Hanging out at the DMV reminded me of when I was learning to drive. I swear that was one of the most stressful times of my life. I wanted to go around and say congratulations to everyone who passed their tests as I sat and waited, because driving for the first time is a big deal, and the DMV people, though they were surprisingly nice, didn’t seem too excited for anyone. The woman who graded my test didn’t even tell me I passed!

• It’s been almost a month, so this is officially the longest I’ve gone without a job since I was 17. It’s funny, because I’ve been so busy stressing myself out with things both important and inconsequential that I haven’t enjoyed it at all. But, I’m enjoying it now!

• There’s only one more week to wait before the (sort of) final Twilight book is released! I have to admit I’m actually more excited about this than I was about the last few Harry Potter books. Don’t get me wrong, Harry Potter is the superior series, but it’s hard to maintain obsessive levels of excitement for years on end. I only started reading Twilight in May.

• I was talking to my dad on the phone last night, and he asked me if I go through periods of time while working on the novel where I just feel really creative and writing feels effortless. I said, yes! But, then there are times where every word comes out slowly and painfully. I’m experiencing the latter right now. I have the rest of the novel planned out in detail, but the writing has become arduous. This is all part of the experience, I guess. I can’t imagine that a person who waited for inspiration would ever finish a novel.

• Bare Minerals is seriously amazing stuff. I do not have the budget for an expensive makeup habit, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping me.

• Both of my interviews went well, especially the one for the job I really want. Now, I wait.

• Tomorrow I’m hanging out with my bff. I swear I’ve seen her more in the last month than I have in the last couple years. We only live about 35 minutes away from each other now, but she’s a law student, I’m a grad student, and gas is expensive.