I am thankful for...

Having Colin as my best friend and boyfriend.

My job at ZooFriends and my awesome coworkers there, all of whom I consider friends.

My job at the library, and my coworkers/friends there.

The library, with all the free books, DVDs, CDs, and information it offers.

My dad, who lets me live at his house and is a great roommate.

My mom, who takes me on cool vacations, like Disney World.

My sister, who will be a friend I never have to worry about losing contact with.

My friends who live close by and come hang out with me.

My friends who live far away and keep in touch with me.

Having a bachelor's degree.

Not having to be in school, but having the opportunity to go back if I want.

My cousins, more friends I can count on to always be in my life, no matter what.

Facebook, which allows me to easily keep in touch with so many people that I rarely get to see.

Barnes & Noble, for sending me coupons and making it affordable for me to buy gifts for everyone, including myself.

Neil Gaiman, for making the fantasy genre cool and the macabre accessible.

Hulu, which allows me to keep up with my shows when I miss their original air dates.

Hollywood, for providing me with endless hours of entertainment and escape.

Independent filmmakers, for providing me with endless hours of though-provoking and emotionally resonant stories.

All the band directors and music instructors I've ever had, for teaching me how to play, listen, and appreciate music.

Macaroni and cheese, for being the most delicious food ever.

First entry!

I've been thinking that I want to blog regularly while I'm studying abroad next Spring (if that works out) so I won't have to send out update emails. I could just send one email with a link attached and whoever wants to read it can do so whenever he/she wants. Then I figured I might as well start now instead of waiting a few months, so here I am.

At first I was inspired by Neil Gaiman, who blogs multiple times a week. He never puts anything too terribly personal on there, at least not since I've been reading, and it's kinda neat to see what he's up to. And Aleithia is doing it, as well, while she's in Korea. (Although, Aleithia's blog was pretty regular before that, anyway.)

In any event, I'm most definitely not accustomed to posting on a regular basis, and for the most part, my posts on Xanga have been pretty boring. Starting now, however, I'm going to give it a go. I'll try to post fairly often on here during the upcoming semester, and hopefully it'll turn into enough of a habit to become second nature.

Truth be told, I have found that blogging can be somewhat therapeutic, like writing in a journal or diary (though a bit less personal), so I will most likely continue on whether I gain readers or not. I read somewhere that the best blogs are the specific ones, in which the writer has a primary topic but occasionally throws in a few random blurbs. Mine won't be like that. I'm just going to write whatever comes to mind that I find interesting. Rest assured there will be many, many movie reviews, and I'm sure I'll comment on books and music and politics and restaurants and whatever else I happen to form opinions about.

Bottom line: I'm really only doing it so that I can look back at it several years from now and see how much I've changed. That's always a good laugh.