Why am I so happy?

Today marks exactly a month since I handed in my Library School dissertation. I've been feeling unstoppable all month.

And so my life spins on, as I sit at the Library Issue Desk eleven hours into my thirteen-hour working day. A few wonderful realisations that have maintained my Month Of Joy so far:

• The realisation that my biggest fandom at the moment is made up of people who are alive now and know I exist. They are called Borderville, and a few weeks ago when one of their gigs was cancelled I found out before they did and had to email them to let them know. In their recent interview in Nightshift, they explictly note my efforts at fantastical glam-goth costumiery: "we’ve got an awesome following who dress up and dance and really help create the atmosphere we need for this to work." I'm awesome. My fandom says so.


• All the exciting new freshers who've started coming along to DocSoc, who have such a diverse range of interests and talents and conversation and I think we might even get to keep some undergraduates!


• Being involved in direct action on issues that matter to me Wednesday, Thursday, and tomorrow. On Wednesday it was taking on an eyewateringly evil Shell milkround event. On Thursday it was standing outside BBC Radio Oxford in the rain, talking to Sixth-formers who came up and said "what's a fascist and why is it bad?". Tomorrow it's a brief stroll in central Oxford to raise awareness about climate change.


• Having guilt-free time to spend reading books: Unseen Academicals, Cryptonomicon, random Doctor Who novels.


• Networking with trade unionists and realising that there is a role for me in real left-wing activism even if I am essentially a well-meaning middle-class guardianista who completely screws up her discourse (just see my comment-retractions to my last few political/theoretical posts for evidence of my fail!).


• Realising how little money I spend - and therefore how little money I can live on - since stopping getting the bus and starting to make all my own lunches. Being able to live on less money means being able to work less and therefore being able to put more time into activism, reading, and Lashings of Ginger Beer, thus extending and maintaining this Month of Joy as far into the future as I can see.

If there are issues that matter to you - if there are things I can do with my time that will make your world better - please let me know. It just might be hypomania talking, but I feel like I'm on fire.