lunabee34

1. I turned in another chapter today! Half-way done on the dissertation!

2. I got a really cute postcard from

shaddyr with McSheppy goodness written on the back (and a gorgeous Canadian mountainscape on the front).

3. 100 Things Post # 10: Among Friends by Caroline B. Cooney

I had two best friends in elementary school--Sandy and Shannon. All three of us were in the gifted program, little socially awkward nerdlings who clung to each other fiercely while also engaging in some pretty intense competition. In retrospect, I have no idea what our gifted teacher was thinking assigning us this book, but it haunted sixth grade for all three of us. The story follows three best friends--Jennie, Hilary, and Emilie. Jennie is clearly the smartest (although the other two are no slouches); she's headed for scholastic greatness. We all wondered: am I Jennie? Am I the smartest one? Am I the creative one? Or maybe the pretty one? Who do you think we are, Teach? I still have no answer to these questions, but the book made me think long and hard about my friendships and my perfectionism. I had something of a rivalry with Shannon; she and I were more closely matched in academic achievement (and, in fact, one of the things I remember about reading this book is Sandy's bitterness that she wasn't even in the running for Jennie), and she always beat me. Always. Not by much--a hair, a jot, a couple points. I spent pretty much 12 years loving Shannon wholeheartedly while also begrudging her every win and envying all her successes. I am deeply ashamed when I look back at that time in my life (and also can't help but wonder what compelled her to continue being my friend through all that teenage angst). When we went to college, we majored in different subjects, I grew the fuck up some already, and gradually that overwhelming sense of competition and rivalry faded away. She and I are not close now, but we do keep in touch from time to time, and I am proud to say that I have no desire stab her with a protractor any longer. LOL But if I ever want to remember what those sick, twisted up feelings of my youth were like--really liking somebody while also wanting to be better than them just for once--I go back to this book.

4. Secret happy things are happening! Rejoice with me, friends! I'm sure I'll tell you soon for, yea verily, I gots no patience.

5. Free drabble to first person who identifies subject line!