My great uncle turns 99 on April 12. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what the heck you get someone who’s turning 99, when I accidentally came accross this information on a website:

Presidential Birthday Cards
You can receive a signed certificate from the President himself for anyone turning 80 or older. Send a request at least 4 weeks in advance to:

The Greetings Office
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

SWEET. DONE. And it’s free.

I am picky.

Actually, I prefer the term “choosy.” When I go to a restaurant, I find the best thing on the menu and I order that dish. Every time.

My slectiveness extends past food and into the rest of my life almost to the point of neurosis.

It can take me hours to go shopping. In a single store. I sweep through the store and pull everything that I’m interested in. Then I make a round of putting half of it back after comparing items to eachother. Then I try things on, weigh the pros, cons, and prices of each, and try to estimate if this is an item I will still be excited about after it isn’t “new” any more. Then I make another sweep around the store putting more things back until I finally approach the counter with one or two items. I prefer to shop alone.

I’m a researcher by nature. If I make an online purchase, you can bet I’ve spent a good week and a half researching the item, comparing prices, versions, retailers, etc. For instance, in creating this new blog, I have tried just about every blog software available before finally deciding on this one.

If it’s something I want, believe me, I’ve picked out the EXACT make, model and version of it and nothing else will do.

As you may have guessed, gift shopping for me can be a bit difficult if I don’t have a detailed list. My family got smart this year: I got my two favorite gifts - cash and gift cards.

Dress Test:
Obtain one live, large and very unhappy octopus. Stuff said octopus into a small net bag, making sure all the arms stay inside.

Night Test:
Fill a small cloth bag with 8-12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00pm, begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00pm. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00pm. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00am. Set alarm for 5:00am. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

It’s 2AM. And I’m still awake. The guys are playing video games on the big screen and here I sit on the couch, documenting this moment in history.

I feel like a college student, with no pressing obligations (save the mounds of homework that I grew very good at ignoring) and the ability to throw caution to the wind as I doom myself to baggy, drooping eyes tomorrow.

It’s exhilarating. I know I will regret this tomorrow when my 4-month-old reminds me that I’m too old for late nights, and that the blissful days of sleeping in are eternally over, but for the time being I am getting a fresh breeze of youth.

I turn 26 on Monday. 26 is one year from 27, which is one year from 28, which is ABSOLUTELY ANCIENT. I need all the youth I can get.

The End of Tolerance?

This fascinates me. I was wondering in what form the backlash to the Islamic violence and brutality would come.

I will also be interested in seeing if the backlash to tolerance makes its way to the US, particularly in the religious arena. It’s gotten to the point where American “tolerance” has transitioned into “censorship” and is coming full circle to strong intolerance of what used to be the norm (i.e. Christianity).