Julian Ashby Lancia

Did I not say he was the cutest thing in the world? And look at those eyes -- so smart!!

Truth

But it is true old Marx
that history is not enough
Important occasions,
man makes them.
It's a real live man who doea it, who masters it who will fight
History by itself does nothing, dear friends.
It does absolutely nothing.
Herberto Padilla (1971)

St. Patrick's in Savannah

Last weekend, I headed to Savannah in Georgia with my friend Anna. Savannah boasts one of the biggest St. Patrick's day celebrations in the country, and this year, over 40,000 people flocked to the city to participate in the shenanigans.
We got there and already we were not like most people because we didn't have to worry about where to stay, since Anna's dad has a house in the city. Not so for most people. With hotel rates skyrocketing, many decided to spend the night in their cars or not to sleep at all.
My experience was also different when we walked down to River St. and saw a morass of absolutely plastered young people wearing green, drinking green, throwing up green, and swaying side to side. Knowing what it feels like to be that drunk (and especially the next day), I decided that I would not, in fact, be intoxicating myself nearly as much as the average person. Still (or maybe, because of this) I had a lot of fun. There was enough music, men and women in kilts, and people walking around that there was no way for it not to be entertaining. It was, any way one spins it, a spectacle. The best green shirt was worn by a very dark-skinned man. It read "Kiss me, I am Irish--ish."
Before that night, we had gone to watch the big St. Patrick's day parade downtown. It lasted three hours and had all sorts of different floats. People went all out, and really represented their views. It was fun, engaging, and quite the experience.

New Light, New Life

In Italian, when a baby is born, you say that he is brought to the light. Last Friday, my brother's wife Dawn had a baby boy, my very first nephew. His name is Julian Ashby Lancia. I haven't seen pictures of him, but I can assure you with dogged ignorance that he is the most beautiful baby in the world so far.
So I'm very proud to be the auntie of baby Julian, and the whole 9-month long episode has got me thinking about my responsibilities towards those who come after us. In a way, it's strange to be 23 and thinking about your mortality and posterity, because there's still such a long way to go, one hopes. But I still want to be the best damn aunt the world has ever known, and I want to leave the world better than when I was brought to the light. Very subjective, to be sure, but a cause that is greater than wanting to be rich and famous (according to a recent survey, the stated life's goal of most people my age). And who knows, when you break down boundaries of acceptable thinking, you are left with a whole new world of possibility.

Good to Go

I have a sweatshirt from Adelphi that says "Good to Go." I got it senior year. Today, I had another LSAT prep session with the Director of the Center for Student Learning. I went to him because I had no earthly idea how to approach the logic games section on the test. He put me to the test the first day, gave me a piece of chalk and told me to read the problem and diagram it on a chalkboard. I failed miserably. It all looked like gibberish and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Today, he gave me a problem and within 5 minutes, I had solved all the questions correctly. As I left, he told me I was "Good to Go" and that I had made very good progress. Made me pretty proud.
On the other hand, I'm reading a book that one of my professors loaned me. It's called One-L and it's about a Harvard Law student's first year. It's absolutely terrifying and as I read it I can't tear myself away from it. But it's freaking me out and I don't know if this is what I want to put myself through. It just seems like a life of stress forever and ever amen. I suppose after you do anything for awhile it becomes simpler. You figure out the codes, you connect all the dots. It just seems ridiculously challenging now.