Back from vacation

So I just got back from a 4-day vacation with the fam out in southern California. Here are a few things that I learned:

1. Apparently I've gotten so completely socialized to e-culture that spending a weekend without cell phone or e-mail access drives me slightly crazy. I think maybe I should become a buddist or something to get over this. Bad scene.

2. My niece Shoshana remains the cutest being on the planet. Ever.

3. I remain petrified of babies. My new niece, Rachel, is cute and all, but I was definitely keeping a one foot-radius between us at all times. My argument for this is simple and clear. I am, at times, quite clumsy. Thus, anytime I'm around something that is both a)fragile and b)difficult to replace, I get kinda nervous. So long as a baby is still so young that you have to support their head when you hold them, I consider them plenty fragile and they're, you know, REALLY difficult to replace. By Thanksgiving, I think we'll be ready to interact with each other.

4. I am astoundingly good at Monopoly. My sister (Jess) and I used to play it a lot when we were kids and we have a joint memory of me winning something like 200 times in a row. There was a Monopoly board at the cabin where we were staying, so she declared a rematch. And another. And another. And another. I swear, it just ain't right. Why can't I be unearthly talented and something, er, useful? Anyway, if anybody wants to take me on, apparently I am The Great Monopoly Champion. Either that or else Jess ain't cut out for real estate.

On another note, in what has to have been my dumbest decision in the last couple of weeks, I spent all day today flying back to Philly just so I can turn around tomorrow and fly out to Seattle for the week. There's a reason for that, involving buying the tickets at different times and the Seattle trip being on the Sierra Club's dime, but it nonetheless is one of those things that a non-lazy human being would have worked around. On the bright side, it gives me more time to read things for my comprehensive exams, which are now 30 days away and counting. Please don't expect me to be any fun during the month of August. Please don't expect me to be sober during the week following comps. That is all I ask. Good night.