I'm a little short on sleep, and I've been ransacking my room to try to get things more organized so I can really start packing. I thought I'd take a break while my laundry is running, and finally answer these questions that Jen gave me months ago. I will add the provision that no one should request questions of me, since I take so long to get back to this stuff that you'll be waiting until the end of time for a response! Anyway, now that I've taken care of this, I think this should help nuke the writer's block that's been keeping me from posting, as well as from working on several projects.

1. You're given a chance to go back to the time you were at Brandeis. This time you can do everything right. However, there is a catch... if you stay there and get your degree and all that you will never have met any of your post-college LA friends. What do you do and why?

If the rule is that I will never meet any of my LA friends, then I would have to say pass. There are people in my life now who mean the world to me, and I haven't lost any of the people who I built friendships with when I was out there. I would never give up Pita, or Jen, or Rob, or the relationship that I have with my brother, which is quite different from the one we had when I first left for school.

2. If you could make a difference in the world (and truly change the world for the better), but in exchange you had to give up the person who you love the most, would you do it? Why or why not?

I have been wrestling with this one, for quite some time now. I don't personally believe that a decision is made right by the amount of happiness it causes in the world, or that the end result justifies the means. So I think my answer is that depending on whether or not the specific instance of giving up my love for the world would be a morally justified action, in an idealized sense, I could do it. But as far as the real world goes, I doubt I could be selfless enough to give up Pita.

3. How have you, as a person, changed since you started dating Pita?

Well, the major difference would be that, for the first time in many years, I am a fundamentally happy person again. I am, despite some of my frustrations, enjoying life, and I'm happy to be where I am. Being with Pita has also helped me refocus on my eventual goals, and her determination to work her way through school to her goal to be a vet helps me realize that it isn't impossible for me to pick up where I left off, either. I'm also one hell of a lot less uptight than I was before we started dating. I don't think I was ever as bad as some people say I was, but I certainly had issues. I'm much looser, and it helps me deal with stressful situations better than I used to.

4. Now that you have had sex (yay!), do you wish you would have been doing it before or are you happy with waiting?

While in sense of "yay, sex fun!", I know what I've been missing and I certainly wouldn't have minded having it sooner, it wouldn't have been right with the opportunities for it that I've had. I have no regrets about waiting for Pita, because she is the one I was waiting for. It's always best with the person you love.

5. Where do you see yourself at age 30? Is it where you had wanted to be? If not - why not and where did you think you would be?

At 30? I see myself in school, working at least part-time, as I finally get my bachelor's degree wrapped up, or possibly get my master's work started. I see myself in an apartment with Pita, and our cats. We're definitely engaged, possibly married, and we're both working and in school. Things are tight money-wise, but not terrible, and we're both working in decently paying jobs, that we both enjoy. It's not where I wanted to be. I certainly wanted everything I have with Pita, but school and career got derailed about 7 years ago, and I'm still lifting the cars back on the track. I expected to be a teacher by then, with a few years of experience under my belt. I figured I'd have a nice apartment, or, if I was lucky, a house. Aside from expecting to be married by then, I figured I would have a child or two. I'm not too worried about that last one. If they come, they come, when we're both ready. :)

So, that's it! I have finally gotten that monkey off of my back. Let the regular posting commence!