Flapjacks! And Goals.

Fluffy it is, to the extent possible. My goals are relatively straightforward also:

1. Be a good lawyer.

2. Stay the same size.

3. Make things, not people.

4. Stay mentally active through use of challenging games and books.

5. Be social.

The last one is probably the hardest for me; I am terrible about letting friendships slide, and when you're working a lot and so are your friends a lot of time can go by between opportunities to hang out. It's also really hard for me to make new friends, since I am mostly introverted. Occasionally I can switch on a brassier, more gregarious persona, but I don't know if I like myself as much that way. Brassy me is sort of crass and loud.

Physical activity is highly overrated, except insofar as it helps with goal #2. Unless you're developing a skill, it always feels so pointless, and if you're as clumsy as I am you never actually develop any skills even if you're trying. I told you how I fell off the step in step aerobics, right? Even the kitchen, with open flames and sharp objects, is safer. And you get to make things (goal #3)! And feed them to people! There is something so primal about being able to feed your man/friends/family/whatever. I don't think it's Betty-Draperish or necessarily about "contributing" on a fairness basis. It's about taking care of people, which we all are driven to do, yes? I feel the same way when I see one of my friends wearing something that I knit for them. It's like I'm giving them a little hug all the time. (Is that creepy? I'm normally not huggy. maybe I sublimate all my hugging instincts and embody them in scarves and bundt cakes.)

There's a certain tension between #1 and #4, which I think you highlighted in noting the division between work reading and other reading. It's easy to only exercise the parts of your brain that you use for your work and forget the importance of the other parts, so I try to read lots of fiction. Unfortunately, the hit rate from my last few library trips was relatively low and I don't count unfinished books for the challenge. On top of that, I tend to succumb to the allure of the literary equivalent of Burger King and cupcakes (my lunch, by the way), so it takes a special effort to pick up something substantial and intellectual. Maybe it's driven by gender bias on my part, but the only really good books I have read lately are by Lionel Shriver. The Swedes are right; American literature is crap. Then again, Sturgeon was right, too. We only see the stuff that's good enough to be translated, I suppose. Selection bias.

Gear shift, as I return to my work: that dress is cute, but you have cuter dresses already. Do you remember what size I tried in that tweed dress when we were shopping together? I am going to order it once it goes on sale if I paint the living room myself.