And today's done

One of the other Elders, herself an educator, remarked on how long this week has felt so far (and it's only Wednesday). So it's not just me.

I did manage to do all the "adulting" I had to do; got the workout in, found a devotional to lead off Elder's meeting, went to that, sat through the whole Board meeting (towards the end, I was keeping myself "entertained" by drawing small tick marks on the agenda, and with each tick mark thinking a word: "I want to go home." "Can this be over now?" "I am so tired"

I don't know about hygge. I am thinking about it more. Maybe there's an introvert version? Where you don't have to have a bunch of people around drinking beer and singing and stuff? Maybe I can have hygge by just getting into my pajamas and getting into bed with my stuffed Ponies and reading a book?

But yeah. I think a lot of people are trying to seek things that make them happy - partly because it's January and it's dark out and the weather is bad most places in the Northern Hemisphere and also because of just what-all is going on in the world and also the fact that the Internet is full of rude and unpleasant people. And yeah, yeah: looking for something outside yourself as a source of happiness is not a good idea and is kind of doomed to fail, but sometimes comfort can help lead to happiness.

I do have a couple things to look forward to (I think that is the thing that gives me the most happiness and the most ability to keep on going even when there's difficult stuff happening). First, I ordered my first-ever "Twinkle Eye Pony" - Masquerade, which I guess is a pretty common one but who is pretty well-loved among certain Pony collectors (I dunno. I kind of want an example of at least one of each different "form" - so I have the first-tooth ponies, and the glitter ponies, and so on). I got the shipping notification today (she is coming from my favorite old shop, Ponies in the Sun, so she only has to get here from Arizona).

I also ordered a costume-jewelry ring. A few days back, Super Cute Kawaii had glitter rings featured, from an Etsy maker. I couldn't resist; I ordered one with blue and purple sparkles in it. It is coming to me all the way from Greece, which I find kind of amazing. (That one will take 2-3 weeks to get to me).

And yeah. I think for some reason I've become a lot girlier in the past few years - or I've always been girly deep down, and felt the need to hide it before so people would take me seriously, and now I'm beginning to give a bit less of a darn what other people think - or I feel like I've already shown my co-workers what I can do, and I can do that just as well wearing a glitter ring as not wearing one, so anyone who doesn't like me wearing a glitter ring can just go pound sand.  (And anyway - perhaps it's because in recent years I've seen more "girly smart" characters out there - after all, Abby Sciuto would wear the goth version of a sparkle ring, and I'm sure Penny Garcia would wear many of them. And I think even some of the Ponies qualify as girly-but-smart. Twilight is maybe a LITTLE more androgynous in her outlook, but Rarity is smart (good businesswoman) but also pretty seriously girly. And Pinkie Pie - well, she's got that sort of Gracie Allen Logic thing going on, but sometimes Gracie Allen Logic actually works.

And yes, I suppose it's peculiar that I've realized it's OK for me to let my "girly smart" flag fly because of a huggy forensic scientist or a computer expert whose hair color changes every few months, but there you are. Other people - trans people, gay people - talk about the "power of representation in media" so it probably works in other ways as well.)

***

I ran across this on Metafilter and it made me smile for a couple reasons - for one, I like the idea of a "dog that flunked out of the TSA" as a pet (it would be fun to be able to tell people, "Yeah, the TSA rejected my dog because he was too nice"). But the title: "They're simple dogs, Brent" (which is a reference to We Rate Dogs gentle and clever takedown of a troll ("They're good dogs, Brent")

First, I was thinking: "I'm a simple dog, Brent" could be my new "I'm a bear of very little brain" (which I've used on occasion when it was either a complex situation I didn't understand, or didn't feel like exerting the effort to learn about at that point in time). But then - given my earlier maunderings today - maybe I need to make a little sign that says "I'm a good dog, Brent" and put it up somewhere in my office to encourage myself.

(And yes, I am all too aware of the bad old habit some people had of referring to unattractive women as "dogs" but I am not using it that way here - rather, I tend to think of dogs as, in a way, rather noble creatures - there is a t-shirt out there I've always liked that said,"God, help me to be the person my dog thinks I am" and while I don't have a LOT of experience with dogs, that seems to be true: dogs often act like you are more good and worthy than you actually ARE. So saying "I'm a good dog, Brent" simply means, "You may think I don't have value, but I do.")

And of course, this:

And of course this:

"She's a good pony, Brent."