Read Much, Run Far

The other day Margaret mentioned to me that she was amusing herself during a bit of downtime in her lab by reading old blog posts of mine. So naturally I delved into the archives to revisit them as well. Yikes! I had forgotten how dramatic and angsty everything was in college, likely exacerbated by the fact that I lived on really terrible caf food, Mountain Dew, and Easy Mac, and got practically no sleep. How did I find the time to write all of that?

Sometimes I feel jealous of the college students I see daily, but I guess I have the antidote for that now--reread the old blog. Then again, the college students here (at least, the ones I see) seem to have copious amounts of leisure time. I guess I never see them in class or in the library, so my perception is of them strolling around downtown, hanging off apartment balconies, and playing cornhole in their front yards.

Oh well...I'd say things are better now. I like not being stressed out. And this morning, my final student loan payment was processed, giving me this lovely, lovely sight:

No, I'd have to say life is pretty good.

Another really funny thing about going back through some of those old blog entries was how my to-be-read list has swollen over the years. Back in 2006 I complained that it was 45 books. IF ONLY. It's 118 now, and that's not including books in unfinished series (like A Song of Ice and Fire). So if George R. R. Martin ever finishes his series, I'll add them all to my list. Luckily I don't have to worry about that for probably a decade. I know that since the beginning of 2008 I've read about 150 books, so it's not like I'm standing still! I just add them faster than I can take them away.