q+a: guilt trip win

You're right, I'm a lazy blogger and I don't keep my promises. So here's a q+a post that I owe you. But first off, I want to thank Angela and Sabrina's Mom for sending me the amazing care packages!! Letters coming your ways soon, but for now just know there's one less hungry college kid out there.

Q: Were you Teddy Roosevelt or Black Swan for Halloween?
A: I went with Black Swan. Which I haven't actually seen. Basically, it was a way to use this black tutu that I have major buyer's remorse about purchasing. Also, I don't have a great track record with historical cross dressing; I had to do Michelangelo and Beaumarchais at various times in elementary school. Never, never again.

For the record, I take Halloween very seriously. As in I trick or treat, and because I feel a little bit bad about taking other people's candy as a teenager, I at least put some effort in it. Last year was all about the elf ears. And just for your entertainment, sophomore year was...I don't even know what.

Q: Is there something you struggled with as a child? I'm sure even tiger children have their insecurities.
A: Yes. Weight. I'm roughly the same weight today as I was in all of middle school, except 5 inches taller. Shopping sucked ("Do you have this in a large? She has a bit of a belly"), so there were a lot of sweatshirts and baggy pants involved (on the bright side: it got me into Nirvana), which meant I had to hate everything girly, which meant I couldn't engage in conversations about Britney Spears, which meant I spent a lot of time by myself playing Age of Mythology. Actually, in the scheme of things, maybe that's not so bad. I could have been doing a lot of worse things in middle school, like playing the drums.

Q: What do you miss most about home?
A: My dogs. So much. But whenever I visit home, they wag their tails for about three seconds and then ignore me...talk about a one-sided relationship. Also Szechuan food, fresh fruit (seriously, you'd think the second richest institution in the world could afford fruit salad or, you know, pay their workers a decent wage...oh wait I forgot, they spent all their money buying themselves a 4,000,000 pound red velvet birthday cake or whatever), lazing around in my parents' room, waking up freezing cold and then running downstairs with three sweaters on to eat cereal with Lulu, getting the New York Times delivered, doing the crossword with Lulu, jogging in my neighborhood, the way my neighborhood smells in the fall, giant bath towels, driving the Wrangler.

Q: Did you play any sports in high school? Will not playing sports put me at a disadvantage when applying to college?
A: Okay, multiple part answer. First, answer: yes, I was on the tennis team through junior year, and as a senior I ran track instead. (Slowly.) Next, disclaimer: not only am I not a college selection process guru, I pretty much have no freaking idea how they choose people here at all. Well, some things are pretty obvious. Having your name on a building helps. Or having famous and interesting parents, I mean that's probably why I'm here, isn't it. Finally, conjecture: again, I don't know anything for sure. But from common sense, I'd say that unless you are good enough to be recruited, the college doesn't need you for your athletic ability. If anything, playing sports is just one of many ways to show you are well-rounded or multi-faceted or whatever the polite term du jour is for "not a potential serial killer who likes lab mice more than people." Also, from looking around me, I can assure you that there are many, MANY people accepted into fine institutions who have never touched a sneaker in their life. You will be fine.

P.S. The horse lives :)

Leave more questions! Thanks for reading. I'm working on more frequent posting, so just let me know what you want to hear about!