Yet another out-of-sequence photo

Celastrus orbiculata (alien species - it's the vine with the yellow & orange seeds) Parthenocissus quinquefolia (native species - red leaves, blue berries)

So. Hi there! And again... I haven't much to say. Not much of a blog when you repeat that over and over again, is it? I do want to write, and I will... it's just that I don't have the capacity to say much right now, though I wish I did.

I just found out that I am funded at my job through October 24th of this year, a week shy of what I'd been told a month or so ago. Funding beyond that date looks unlikely at best. I knew this was coming, but it's still a sobering thought. Given my time constrictions with school, a "regular" job is going to be hard to find. Especially a regular job that might pay what I'm making now. My present salary isn't terrific, but it's enough to get us by; anything less will make things hard. I am trying to learn not to borrow worry from the future - I've quite enough in the here and now - but it's difficult not to sometimes. I suppose all I can do is work to the best of my ability now and keep an eye out for possibilities. My boss actually told me that if something better comes along, I should take it. The chances of something better coming along are slim to none, so that's not really an option, but it does tell me how serious he is about my funding being at an end. Ah, well. I'm beginning to understand that life is really all about one stress after another - a person should make the best of chances at happiness and joy when they come along, however they come along and in whatever guise. And so.

I don't really have any other news. I studied all weekend, and I'm getting a passion for it - I think I put in about 10 hours yesterday. Otherwise, not much of note happened over the weekend.

Could this be any more boring? Unlikely. And so, with that, I will sign off. At some point, I might actually have something to talk about. Right now, my thoughts are chasing themselves around in my head and have no desire to see the light of day. Best to leave them to their pursuits until they're ready to come out.

Until later, ta.

Edited to add: Roxanne - my profile photo is of a Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). I visited the Bronx Zoo last summer and absolutely fell in love with this bird. It was a bittersweet thing, though - such a gorgeous animal, almost as tall as my waist, with a magnificent wingspan... and it was confined to a cage where it couldn't fly at all. I chose it for my profile photo because it's beautiful and strong and melancholy and strange and rare, all at the same time. Thanks for asking!