Living in Connecticut now. Big change. I must say - people in Texas, at least the moderate-to-large sized cities, have some seriously different customs. Make eye contact here and mothers hide their children behind them.

I'm down to 336 deviations unread, owing to a clever scheme of looking at pictures and the such first. (I rarely comment on them anyways.) Removed a few people from my watch list, as I never commented on their works anyways, and I'm not that interested in looking at a comic book page that has no text; that should cut down on future deviations to sort through, and return going through the deviations to being a pleasure rather than a chore. Honestly, what kind of Objectivist can I call myself if I'm dragging myself to look at stuff I have no interest in?

Been utterly unproductive lately, at least on this front, owing to the fact that I'm looking for gainful employment. Well, actually, that would be easy - there are lots of companies who need programmers - but I'm trying to avoid work that will make me want to bash my head into a wall with the sheer brainless repetition of it all. (I'd rather dig ditches than do most of the jobs I've looked at. At least I'd have a ditch to look at at the end of the day, which I could say I dug.)

The problem is that the jobs I want - that is, jobs that require intense thinking - they want more experienced people for. For the few companies that have asked me to demonstrate my abilities, I think I've been reasonable impressive. But my resume is rather unimpressive - I've been a custodian for Disney and a cart pusher for Target, which, while both did wonders for my physique - I've lost over fifty pounds over the past year, and am actually in very good shape, for the first time since I was twelve - neither really do much to show companies what I am capable of. Being in good shape is only good for the company health plan, and that's of secondary concern for most companies, and every company I'd care to work for.

The other problem is, of course, that I am fiercely capitalist. I won't work for a company that has betrayed the very economic system that gives it life. I won't go back to work for Disney, though I could probably get in much easier than just about anywhere else - they have abused the legal system too many times to swing regulation their way. IBM and Microsoft are both questionable - both companies have shown remarkable restraint about not crushing competition through legal means, when they have the clear ability. Apple is right out; it has less ability to abuse law, but has already shown itself thoroughly untrustworthy.

I should probably cut that rant short; I doubt any of you are particularly interested in that. You come here for poetry. I'm just letting you know what you've already figured out - there still won't be any more for a little while. (I've actually written a few particularly emotional poems, but I can't put them up here, as it would be rather a violation of the trust of privacy the friend they're about and I have.)

But closer to. In much better shape, now, at least physically - mentally, well, that's always questionable. I've settled on a particular philosophy, or, rather, discovered that the philosophy I always had already had a name. Started and ended a job - currently looking for a slightly longer-term one.

*Looks at 617 deviations* I was expecting more from you guys. I'll actually eventually be able to go through all those, if I put an hour or two a day into it. Slacking off much?

I'm not fully back yet, by the way. I have a very small handful of poems written, but it'd take a while to get myself back up to scratch.

Pursuing perfection.

- Adirian Soan

Two poems tomorrow, guys.