Everybody tells you that tattoos hurt, but nobody seems to mention how long they hurt after you have them done. I made my appointment before Christmas, but it was just this weekend that I actually got to go in and get some work done. A lot of people would say it's "safe" to get a small tattoo for your first one, but I thought -- why should I wait if I know what I want?

It's big, it's on my side and my ribs, and it's making it uncomfortable to wear my jeans today. Oh, and it hurts. I winced while picking up my school bag this morning. But you know what? It's beautiful.

I'm kind of bummed that The Walking Dead is over now. It seems like that thing just started, and it was really fucking awesome. I love zombies. I'd take zombies over the goddamned vampire craze that's going around these days. Today's vampires are giving actual decent vampire flicks a bad name. Like, a few months ago, Zander and I saw Let Me In, which was so good. Not especially gory, not especially scary, but just... really quality. And then, I can't forget about 30 Days of Night, which is quite possibly one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen. No sparkling, no stupid shit, just scary fucking monsters. That's what I'm talking about.

If you're going to do movies and try to place them in the horror genre, the least you can do is actually do the genre justice.

Hmm, maybe since it's winter time again, I should rewatch 30 Days of Night. Nothing says festive like slaughter in the snow, right? I'm not usually this morbid. I'm not sure where it came from, but it's kind of amusing.

Oh Zander, my dear? I know occasionally you like to surprise me with your Christmas gifts, but if I told you there was something in particular that I really, really, REALLY wanted that my dad and sisters would never get me in a million zillion years, would you be open to suggestions?

That's it. Fuck it. I'm so tired of being in school. Just when I started to think I had this insanity under wraps, it just keeps getting crazier.

I started my undergrad a year late. I had this crazy notion that I wanted to take a year off school to travel and work and see the world. Well, I ended up only actually working. No traveling, just working and being stuck. Then, because it's what was expected of me (and because I've kinda always been brainwashed into the idea of college, so much in fact that I actually really wanted to go and learn -- a little twisted, yes?), I started school. Decided that I didn't want to study something to get me a good job. Instead, I wanted to follow my instincts and do what I wanted. To study studio art and learn to be a better painter.

What the fuck can you do with a studio art degree? Not a whole lot.

After finishing the art degree, I extended my program. I'm working on a second major in education and it's draining. I'm starting to feel like I'm stuck in the awkward in-between time, caught between being a kid and being a grown-up. I don't know how grown up I want to be, because that scares me, too... but it's got to be better than being in school for a billion years. It's all I've done with myself for the better part of the last six years.

I'm just exhausted, and now that the sun is starting to come out, I would rather take a nap in the grass than think about going to class. It's like... the worst, most crippling kind of senioritis I've ever had.

AND I STILL HAVE ANOTHER YEAR UNTIL I'M DONE. I'm never going to make it.