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| It’s the strangest thing… My peers, including myself, love to complain about aging. The popular phrase being, “I am so old!” when 28 is still our life’s spring. But, lately, these laments seem to ring true. Although we truly are young and still have many more decades to succeed and fail miserably, the fact remains that time flies and opportunities slip away. What really drives this truth home… what makes me realize that we may not necessarily be old but are definitely not children anymore, is the sad reality that people around us are dying. Parents battle illnesses, classmates and colleagues are in accidents, and the living are suddenly faced with uncomfortable responsibilities that daily remind us of what we’ve lost. Overnight, we are changed. And like the mantle that every man must carry, we no longer get to live in the childhood bliss of ignorance, but must stand on guard for the next tragedy that aims to overturn our lives. From this perspective, adulthood sounds bleak, but I still believe there is much more to celebrate than to fear in this world. Creating families, exploring new places, and establishing one’s autonomy are privileges reserved for the aged and accompanied by exhilaration. There’s simply nothing like striking out on one’s own. But I’ve felt my adulthood most in these past few years where friends have passed and parents have struggled with their health. Getting to this point had nothing to do with achievements or maturity, but everything with what I stand to lose and how I will handle them. Will I buckle under the pressure, bury my head in the sand, or face my troubles directly? I’m not quite sure. But one thing I learned as an adult is to roll with the punches and enjoy life till then. There’s only so much one can do.
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| The Recession is coming, the Recession is coming! Duck and cover! Find shelter at your nearest grad school. Put your money under the mattress and do something to ensure you're not one of the next 62,000 people to get laid off this year... Aghhhhhhhh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/business/economy/27jobcuts.html?hp
Times are tough. Good luck!
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Wow. That red squirrel is the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's a squirrel that lives mainly in Britain and has been made famous by Beatrix Potter books. Sadly, that fat grey beast to the right has been taking over the red squirrel's habitat and overpopulating throughout England. In an effort to combat the extinction of their national squirrel, the Brits have taken to eating grey squirrels. Pies, pasties, grilled, kabobs. Ermmm.... I suppose British cuisine is bad enough, so adding squirrel meat to the recipe book won't make a difference?
Save a Squirrel by Eating One: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/dining/07squirrel.html?_r=1
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| "Man trampled to death at Wal-Mart"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html
Sigh. That's just horrible.
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| Two passages from the "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he's not careful."
"I'll be honest about it. It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the Garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."
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