A girl at work gave me this awesome necktie today.

I have to wear a tie at work - it's this bizarre rule that even us low-ranking rank-and-filers gotta abide by this dress code where we have to wear a tie, even though I'm just stocking groceries. But that doesn't make me a nobody - you know how on TV, they're always telling you that "It's in your grocer's freezer?" Yep. Talkin' 'bout me.

Anyhow, she found this Tamagachi tie, and she said it looked like something I'd get a kick out of. And she's absolutely right! I had a Tamagachi when I was a teenager. Anyhoo... this tie is BOMB. I wear it proudly...

And also... The Starbucks Girl came in today. She was like, "I... didn't know you worked here!" And I said, "I didn't know... uh, that you shopped here!" And I dropped her dime in change, retrieved it, and bashed my (fucking) head against the open register drawer in doing so. And she didn't even laugh at me. And I didn't use the "Ouch! My fucking head!" line that caused so much trouble for me at my last job.

(You remember The Starbucks Girl, don't you? I hadn't seen her in over a year... and today she came in, wearing her Starbucks apron. I've never seen her out of that apron. Wow. It was pretty cool that she remembered me even.)

And... yes, a girl I met in September did a sketch of me drawin' comics today. I've uploaded it here because I'm so proud of it. I'm working on my (ha!) "memoirs" in comics form, and so this is her take on me getting manic with the pens.

You know... I think my life's starting to turn around again. I really believe it is. And I never even got to hit rock bottom this whole time. I was sort of expecting it. But I never really did bottom out. Just... started to make that upward climb all over again. I mean, I'm poor as dirt - but I'm happier. I don't have my awesome car... but I guess I don't really need it anyhow.

I'm just really happy.

I learned that people *like* me today - and I don't even have to be their boss to elicit that. I thought that people would stomp all over me when they didn't *have* to be nice to me. But I guess I'm wrong. I have a Tamagachi tie to prove that.

Yeah, it's been a pretty good day for me, all-in-all. I'm happy.