(from dooce.com):

I just never got around to it because other things kept getting in the way. Like air.

There really is no excuse for this, only that I used to approach all my school work in exactly the same way. I’d write papers three hours before they were due, study for tests as I walked to the room where they were being given, finish my homework as the teacher was collecting it. I performed best under that kind of pressure, and my teachers often told me that they wished all their students would work as hard as I did. If I could patent my technique I would call it Laziness™.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I think it is this feature of my personality that has lead me to experience near-Catholic levels of guilt for the greater part of my life.

Who am I kidding, I am getting fat and it's not even winter! I just put on some jeans (that I bought about 15 pounds ago) and while they still zip, they definitely accentuate the beginnings of a muffin-top. I will NOT be that girl. Now, I could just resort to wearing nothing but big flowy hippie skirts and just let those hips and thighs swell up like Meg Ryan's lips, but perhaps some exercise is a better course of action.

Things I am currently obsessed with:
-Organic foods and nutritional supplements
-Bonsai

Things I have become obsessed with--or at least pretty gung-ho about--in the past (and then kind of lost interest in after a few days or weeks):
-Digital scrapbooking
-the "Grocery Game"
-Knitting
-the Atkins diet
-the South Beach diet
-"Sqaure Foot" gardening
-Guinea pigs (I still have them and like them, but am not reading about them every day)
-Taking vitamins (this one comes and goes)
-Exercising (ditto)
-Trading tapes of live Phish shows
-Drawing (I wasn't very good anyway)
-Meditation (would like to do it but don't reliably make the time)
-Yoga (ditto)
-Pilates (hurts my butt too much, though I like it in theory)
-Karate (I may return to this)
-Myspace (still use it, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly)

I think I have inherited this problem from my father. He has become obsessed and then subsequently lost interest in many things over the years, including food dehydration, home juicing, playing the piano and guitar, home picture matting and framing, photography, and stock trading.

I draw the line at buying ridiculous infomercial products. I can take solace in at least that much.

I just made my first ever Craigslist post (in the rants/raves section, which seemed to be the best fit), and it happens to be a story I feel like sharing here as well:

You pulled up next to me in the post office parking lot, right into the one handicapped spot. I glared at you, and then, as you were getting out of your car, I muttered loudly "that's a *handicapped* spot!" You responded, "check the plates." Like a coward, I kept my back to you as I offered a halfhearted apology. You followed me into the post office and said "you really should know someone's history before you start asking questions." You were right.

Let me explain myself. That week, I'd seen several people--who were clearly not handicapped--using handicapped spots (yes, I checked the plates). Normally, I'm not one to say anything. But you, you did not look handicapped at all! No wheelchair, no limp, and you walked just fine on your own into the post office. I considered that perhaps the plate was for someone else in your family and that you were just cheating, but then why would you have been so confrontational with me? It wasn't until I got back outside that I saw your plates, and now only were they marked with the handicapped symbol, they also said "veteran". Now I really felt like shit. But more than that, I wondered what could actually be wrong with you, seeing there was nothing visibly handicapped about you. Was it a war injury? Do they give handicapped plates for PTSD? Maybe you have epilepsy? No, then you'd have had your driver's license revoked. It remains a mystery. Let me just say once and for all, if you really are handicapped, I'm sorry that I said anything. You happened to be the object of my accumulated frustration over people misusing the handicapped spots. I will think twice before reprimanding strangers in the future.

One more thing that you might be glad to know: karma has already punished me for my harsh words toward you. Last night, I used the handicapped stall in a public restroom (come on now, who doesn't!). When I emerged, there was a woman in a wheelchair waiting outside the stall. I've never experienced such a clear example of karmic payback.

As a lover of science, it pains me deeply to know how backward the United States is when it comes to the evolution-creation/"intelligent" design "debate". It's embarrassing, really, a big, fat stupid "L" on the forehead of American science. Once and for all:

-Evolution IS a theory. A theory like gravity. And I sure as hell don't see anybody throwing themselves off buildings to disprove that one.

-If you use an arguments such as "you'll never see a monkey give birth to a human baby now, will ya?!" or "if we came from monkeys, then how come there are still monkeys?" in an attempt to "disprove" evolution, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire process. Go read some Dawkins.

So, in light of my horror over the inadequacy of the American educational system and its probable relationship with US religiosity, I am especially pleased to report that Dr. Dino himself, prominent creationist Kent Hovind, is a big fat crook.