I drove by a graveyard on my way out of Boston today, and it started me thinking about human burial rituals, and what they meant to me. I’ve always said that I want my body donated to science after I die, but I would consider other options.

I really like the idea that after we die, our energy and body matter are recycled and become part of nature. If I was going to be buried, I would want my body to decompose and become one with the soil, not rot in isolation in a sealed casket. The idea is almost perverse. It seems selfish, like holding yourself back from the universe, clinging to the idea that you are far above the rest of the matter in existance. I would feel so lonely if I was buried in a fancy casket lined with silk and designed to keep out everything except the same dead air I was buried in. I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want to be buried right in the ground, to become a part of life again.

This is a strange thing to write about on my eighteenth birthday.

I’ve written about the Great College Search in here before, so I guess I should report on what I finally decided.

I’m going to apply early decsion to Wesleyan University, a liberal arts school in Middletown, Connecticut. It’s strange that after all the thinking and research and discussions with my parents, I’ve come full circle. When I first started looking at colleges, years ago, I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school in New England. Then I changed my mind and started looking at more technical schools, mostly because I was afraid of essays and found the geek sterotype comforting. I wised up and realized that I wanted to graduate knowing how to do a lot more than math or comuter science - I want to take a lot of good courses in philosophy, English, psychology, things like that. I think that if you’re planning to go on to grad school, undergrad should be a time to kind of find yourself and figure out what you want to do. I know I only say that because I havent fully grasped how expensive it is.

I love Wesleyan because it’s the perfect distance away from home (two hours by car, too far to go home for dinner but close enough to spend a weekend there), very liberal, great academically, has awesome students, and is just a generally cool place. I love it! I’m not sure what I’m going to do if I don’t get in.

I’ll just hope I do.

When I was young I, like all little kids, thought that the world revolved around me. Then I grew up and realized it didn’t. But yesterday I was shocked to find that it really does!

Here’s the deal. Eighteen years ago, when my mother was very, very pregnant (a few days overdue, even) with me, the Red Sox were in the World Series. She hoped that she wouldn’t go into labor during a game, because she didn’t think my father would be able to tear himself away from the TV to drive her to the hospital. But the Red Sox were in the World Series in 1986 within a week of my birth - that’s important.

This year, I’m turning 18 - a very important birthday - and what? The Red Sox are in the World Series AGAIN? I swear it’s fate. Really, it is. But this time they’ll win.

Actually, I don’t believe in fate. It’s just a funny coincidence.

And yes, I am thrilled that we finally beat the Yankess and are going to the World Series. We rock so hard. I love Boston. I love the Red Sox.

Harvey Mudd College invited me to a Mathemagics show, put on by one of its math professors. It was pretty cool, and I learned how to square two-digit numbers in my head. I will share my knowledge with the world!

Pick a number- let’s use 47.

1. Add numbers to 47 to make it end in a zero. Two-digit numbers ending in zero are easy to multiply. So we’ve added 3 to 47 to make 50.
2. Subtract from your original number the number you just added to it. 47 - 3 = 44.
3. Multiply 44 and 50 in your head. This is the hardest part. In this case, we get 2200.
4. Square the number you added to and subtracted from your original number. In this case, it’s 3² = 9.
5. Add the number you just got (9) to the number you got last time (2200). You get 2209, and that’s 47²!

It’s really easier than it seems.

“He talks about PAYGO. I‘ll tell you what PAYGO means, when you‘re a senator from Massachusetts, when you‘re a colleague of Ted Kennedy, pay go means: You pay, and he goes ahead and spends. ”

- George W. Bush on John Kerry’s tax policies

Newsflash, Georgie: THAT’S WHAT TAXES ARE FOR! People give the government their money, and the government spends it. Would you rather Kerry hoard our money so that we lose it and don’t gain anything in the way of government programs?