You will not believe what we're doing tonight!" my roommate Jen said exuberantly as she entered the room.
For hundreds of years, my family has lived in the heart of New England. Despite 100 years worth of opportunities to take advantage of the snow-covered mountains in our backyard, no one in my family has ever felt the need to try skiing.
One night a month or so ago, I sat in front of the television for an hour watching the saga of the late '70s / early '80s rock phenom known as Styx.
Over break I visited the apartment of a friend who recently gradu ated from college. She and her roommate had tastefully decorated their home with Ikea furnishings and Pier 1 accessories.
I came late to the movement. It began 20 years ago in Kobe City, Japan and hit it big in the U.S.
Some wise person once suggested that one's problems are never solved by running away. Those with troubles do far better to stand their ground and work out their difficulties rather than to turn tail and run.
In high school, I was the proud primary driver of a 1985 Oldsmobile station wagon. Naturally, the automobile opened me up to the good-natured teasing of friends, but such ribbing didn't bother me at all (well, it didn't bother me too much). Whenever someone would make a comment about my rapidly aging motor vehicle, I would shrug and say, "At least I have a car." Not only did I have a car at my disposal at all times, but I had a car that could haul me and seven friends wherever we wanted to go.
I've been reading for the past four years straight. Occasionally, I would put a book down long enough to write a 10-page paper on it.
Every morning over my summer vacation, I would get up, pour myself a cup of coffee, and give a cursory glance to the day's headlines.
I learned many things this summer. I learned how to jumpstart a car and how to smile and say thank you convincingly to people who've been terribly rude.
