Hello and greetings again my friend(s), As it stands, I'm still on summer vacation which, as with every other year, means that I've taken a sabbatical into the real world and have decided to willfully cease my writings. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I did have some goals for the summer which I made back in April I believe. It's currently August and I'd have to say that in the four months since I made my directives that I haven't done too bad for myself. Let's revisit them, shall we? Directive 1: Shuffle friendships (CHECK) Directive 2: Save as much as possible (CHECK) Directive 3: Expand library by 10% (DOUBLE-CHECK) Directive 4: Marginally improve health (without violating Directives 1&2) (SEMI-CHECK) Directive 5: Volunteer when possible (without violating Directives 1-3) (NEGATIVE) Directive 6: Take up Tai Chi, Fencing and/or Ballroom dancing (without violating Directives 1,2&4) (REPLACED) Directive 7: Write a peice for a school newspaper (without violating Directives 1-4) (NEGATIVE) Here's the real story behind all of this. I figure I've been somewhat improving my health between the muscle groups that I use at work and the extra walking that I'm doing with my new significant other. Technically speaking, I've done pretty good with my calves (though unintentionally) and I'd like to believe that I've also improved my stamina as a direct result of. Directive 6 was replaced with spending time with and cultivating my new-found relationship and as for five and seven... ... well, they just kinda fell off the radar. The only glimmer of hope I have to offer is that in some very round-about way, this entry may or may count as practice for the genuine article; I've yet to think of a suitable topic on which to ramble talk about. So I'm going to the zoo tomorrow with Lady K and I'm feeling kinda good about it. Or rather, good about her - us. In some very roundabout way, I'm truly happy with her. Which makes me smile, until I start playing devils advocate; then I go from happily in a relationship to being an old, unmarried cat lady. Err... man. I'm sure I've spoken about it before - Charles Darwin and how he decided whether or not to get married; one of his "cons" was that he wouldn't be able to buy as many books as when he was single; apparently his books didn't mean a whole hell of a lot to him, as he then decided to get hitched. *shakes head at* What a silly guy. In a sense I'm the one who's silly because as I sit here insulting him, I'm actually contemplating promise rings and costing out weddings. Average, respectable wedding for an average of 100-150 people = $30,000-$35,000. Where the hell does a couple find that kind of money? I imagine you'd have to finance that by taking a loan. Wow. Starting out a life together by incurring thousands of dollars of debt. And all for one day. One day of glamour. A girls gotta have her day though, but a little moderation please? I guess when you think about it, Thirty is trim compared to the possible sixty grand plus that some couple spend on transport and elaborate-esque-ness. Then there's the mortgage that'll inevitable follow once you get a kid or two in the oven. And all because your books didn't mean as much to you as quenching the feeling of lonliness and spreading the family name/ blood. But we buy into it, and whether we want to believe it or not, we all need someone to grow old with - friend or otherwise because we're all just that vulnerable. Because we're all just that weak. Sad eh? Good ole male instinctiveness: must be fruitful and multiply at any cost. Good ole cultural pressures: must get married and grow old together. New checklist!! Things to covertly remedy and/or discuss with her before July 01, '08 -> Inability to remain calm (due to an unsubstantiated but on-going feeling of being attacked) -> Mountain-out-of-mole-hill behaviour (due to an inability to remain calm) -> Sometimes hot-tongued (due to consistant mountain-out-of-mole-hill behaviour) You know, the longer I'm in this bleeding relationship, the more I start seeing myself with her down the road. I think the french have a word for that: Les Sucker. I shouldn't say that. Why would I say that?? Idiot. I'm actually thinking about a promise ring for xmas... Thoughts?? It'll be seven months by then. Wait... ... yes, seven-ish. Maybe I'm jumping the gun? Maybe we're inadvertantly pushing it. The silent hand as they say. Who knows, maybe I'll be hearing "another one bites the dust" sooner than expected. Can't decide what this doubt is made of, - Captain B. Thinking It Over Through & Through.