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May 14, 2001, 4:09 p.m.

I passed! I over-prepared and well, let's just say that my demeanor was less than professional (my eyeballs seem to roll all on their own), but I passed. N asked me questions that had nothing to do with my designated field ("What is the fate of art in the 21st century?" when I'd written about the limits of drag as a subversive strategy and of hybridity as an anti-essentialist politics in digital space), and then interrupted C during her examination, but all in all it was both anticlimatic and an enormous relief.

Paperson (a.k.a. "J," I can't figure out how to refer to him) met me in the graduate lounge afterward and received many happy hugs, especially for treating me to a burger at Mel's. I showed him my notes --highlighted and covered in Post-its--and stared blissfully over his shoulder while munching my french fries.

It was much easier than it was in my dreams last night, in which my qualifying exams including the hunting and shooting of a bear in a snowy forest, don't ask.

I will have to note my outfit for posterity: blue Pumas, black tights, knee-length brown PVC skirt, red and pink-striped sleeveless mock turtleneck, black velour hoodie and black jean jacket (with one-inch buttons), stubby pigtails.

You know that's the look you want to hire!