Through the miracle that is online networking, I have accidentally stumbled upon several individuals from my past, and have discovered that with them two things are absolute: 1) My acquaintances, like cheese and Helen Mirren, improve with age, and 2) My acquaintances enjoy photographing themselves. Apparently they think they are nicer to look at than sunsets or historic sites. Anyway, I digress: I went to middle and high school with these people, and a good handful of them have jumped ship and gotten married. WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD? Yesterday we were playing netball and volleyball, and today they are doing grown-up things like signing pre-nups and buying floorboards at The Home Depot.

I turn twenty today, huzzah. Last night I was presented with a basket chock-full of M&M’s. It’s fantastic! N and D packed bags of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, peanut, almond, peanut butter, and Basset Hound M&M’s to make sure I will never have to buy candy for the next five months. It makes me want to believe they love me, or perhaps they want me dead by way of diabetes. My Finnish Friend remembered my birthday sans the convenience of Facebook birthday reminders (I think). He is stellar. My friends are stellar. The weather outside is magnificent. Birthday plans today include watching Nosferatu and 1933’s King Kong. It will be super.

Posted on April 28th, 2007 by Antiguit

When I was seven years old, I was decapitating Barbie dolls and setting fire to ants. But this is not important. What’s important is that I was decapitating Barbies and committing random acts of animal cruelty in the safety of my home. There are innumerable seven year-olds out there who should be going to school and fighting with boys at recess the way I did; they should have the right to a safe home the way I did, and a right to higher education as I do. Alas, our world is an unfair one, and so many deserving girls are out there with no means of getting an education. But, my beloved reader, you can play your small part in the big machine that is Agent of Change.

Some kids at my school have spearheaded an effort at making the world a better place to live in. They are currently holding a week-long fundraiser to change the lives of young women who were once victims of Thailand’s notorious sex industry by giving them the opportunity to study at an American school, and hopefully giving them leeway into the world. You don’t have to be a doctor/diplomat/musclehead in neon tights and a cool cape to be a hero. Read all about it here and give what you can here. You’re a star, a star riding into the sunset with a potato sack full of good karma. Good for you!

Posted on April 23rd, 2007 by Antiguit

Well, I’ve now twice employed the “so and so civilization/empire defying the second law of thermodynamics to rise in stature over time, instead of kneeling to its agents of expiration” gambit in two essay exams, and twice they have produced unexpectedly pleasing grades. What sheer dumb luck! Both essays were written out of distress; in both cases, distress bred repetition, and as long as repetition involves high As and Bs, then aggrieve me stupid.

(This story made me smile, and sent the good kind of shivers down my spine. The human race is an especially plucky one sometimes)

Posted on April 5th, 2007 by Antiguit