Fantabulous

is one of my favorite words. Well, one of my favorite words to describe something positive. 'Fantastic' and 'fabulous' rolled into one! What could be better than that? And it's actually recognized as a word, not just a made up one! (My favorite word for describing something negative is 'wretched,' but that's beside the point.)

Anyway, Rotary scholarship orientation went well. I met a bunch of like-minded, idealistic, multilingual world travelers. I still don't know whether I'm going to Belgium or France, though. I should find out within the next week. I found that when I'm leaving is pretty flexible, so . . . I've got a lot to consider.

Finals are over and done with! I got the final grades on the papers I procrastinated over and subsequently slaved over. The one la Gloriosa helped me with: 92. The one Juan Moreira helped me with: 95. On the Juan Moreira one, my professor wrote that she'd like me to polish it for publication and presentation!

The only sucky thing that mars the fantabulousness I'm presently experiencing is that my lovely laptop is having some technical difficulties and that the Geek Squad is going to charge me out of my eyeballs to get it fixed. The funny thing is that the guy who ran the diagnostic test really was a quintessential geek. He had the jovial yet smug air of the same kinds of nerds I went to high school with. He even had a nasal, high-pitched voice. Only true geeks have the gift of being at once self-deprecating and arrogant. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a matter-of-fact, I-have-superior-knowledge way.

On a random note, I found that I have the former-military brat's gift of sniffing out other military affiliates. At Starbucks, a pack of young, clean-shaven guys with close haircuts sauntered in. Anyone without the military brat antennae could have guessed that they were probably military. But my radar immediately pegged them as not just military, but as Air Force officers-in-training. I couldn't resist testing the accuracy of my radar, so I struck up a conversation with them and found that I was right on the money. Shouldn't I get some kind of monetary compensation for that?

I should be spending this break doing reading for the comprehensive exams I have to contend with next semester, but I can't resist getting a smidgen of pleasure reading in, too. For classic, I plan to tackle Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (one of the few Austens I haven't yet tackled). For contemporary, Toni Morrison's A Mercy. I've been dying to get my hands on it. Her lyric, haunting prose is addictive.

I shall enjoy my break, indeed. Here's my Christmas jam, "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway. Enjoy!