05-24-25 - graduation, resignation:

it's been a busy few weeks, notably featuring a graduation and a resignation.

the former was not mine, but it was a joy to see. despite having been around the block in the way of degrees, i never attended any of my own graduation ceremonies, in part because i was just uninterested in taking the time to do so and also since my experience with higher education was so messy that it never seemed like something worth celebrating. getting to watch my favorite person graduate, though, surrounded by loved ones, etc - it was really special. i can see the appeal.

as for the latter thing, it was entirely my own, putting in my two weeks' notice a couple of days ago. the job i'm now officially leaving felt like the actual culmination of my academic work up to that point, as opposed to the paper degrees i'd received. my life was a pretty much excruciating grind before working in this soon-to-be past post. the precarity that had fogged my early adulthood almost entirely dissipated when i started there. ceasing to be a student coincided with my first sense of financial security per this job. so it's bittersweet to be leaving.

of course, i'm leaving for reasons, one of which is that i've been offered a better position elsewhere. another one is that i'll be starting school again next week. it's going to be a summer in flux. i'm feeling pretty optimistic.

otherwise, Mother 3 is going well. i adore how routinely funny it is as well as how a thread of melancholy runs throughout.

in attempt to veer into digital minimalism, i've been noodling around with some 2000s-2010s tech - e.g., i broke an iPod Classic while trying to replace its HDD with an SSD, i'm sampling feature phones in the hopes of foregoing my smart one.

reading has been slow going. after BE, i wanted my fiction to remain in NYC and thus have been getting through Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad, which i've found to be nice and bluesy. regrettably, i've been neglecting the slew of non-fiction stuff on the docket.

maybe the new job and school schedule will make me be better with my time management for reading, etc. we'll see.