on getting older

'tis true. i'm a-feelin bummed about growing up. yet another year of confusion about life's big questions to look forward to. but, i do realize (having received lots of lovin' yesterday in the form of flowers, a care package, text messages, and voicemail) that i have special people in my life to torment as i consider these scintillating questions. having shared these words 'o mine, i leave you with some other people's words. . .

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the old man.”
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the old man.
- - - - Shel Silverstein

check this out, too.

dreading the work week

alas, it's only tuesday!

and tuesday morning in bed at that.

if i lay here any longer, i'll be late late LATE!

climbing the ladder

as i looked ahead, i wasn’t sure that i could make it. neither was the end in sight, nor did those around have any insight that they could offer to make my travels easier. and so i climbed and climbed with little respite from the ladder’s endless curves, fluctuating inclines, and delicate bars that only the most refined and dedicated climbers could conquer.

my parents climbed with me at the very beginning. i guess i was one of the lucky ones. i even had a couple brothers nudging me along. they seemed to be in it for the long haul, but soon i learned there is no such thing as a Warranty of Infinite Support. sadly enough, it's not included with the purchase of the ladder.

there didn’t seem to be many obstacles from the get-go though. it all seemed fair and equitable, didn’t appear to be a race. there were letters and numbers flying all over the place though-coming at me from all different directions. i really wasn’t sure whether to precariously dodge them (i was on a ladder, afterall!) or beginning collecting them as my new, favorite pastime.

and then one sunny day, a big M and D hits me on the head, and i though hmmm, maybe i'll get an M.D., somehow-almost a coincidental accident-i slipped on the ladder only to regain my balance as a magic carpet with M.Ed. engraved in it saved me from continuing on a longer, more dangerous ladder that didn’t match my skill sets.

thinking back to the ladder’s origins, i met teachers, classmates, best-friends-forevers, tutors, mentors, peers, friends, acquaintances, and even enemies. i've always wondered about those letters and numbers floating around though. particularly the ones that look like Ss with one and sometimes two vertical lines that splice the letter down its center. why were those so different from the rest, and did they really need to be floating around, anyways?

adding to the routine...

i'm announcing the birth a blog chronicling me travels (read me the irish way.) i think it's the only way i can motivate myself to really buckle down and write about my travels without letting them wholly fade into a distant memory.

i can't really think of even one person with whom i've shared the truckloads of experiences and sights that i encountered during my month-long travels in north india, and this is probably one of the most efficient ways of doing it, seeing as we're all under so many time constraints these days. hopefully, it'll be of some interest . . .