It was the first time I ever got incorrect change from a turnpike toller. The smallest bill I had was a twenty, for which I apologized. Then he handed me a small pile of money, and I was naturally expecting a quarter too. But he never gave me a quarter. I looked at him a split second, quickly silently counted it in front of him. He said nothing of it. So I drove away. Mentioning it didn't cross my mind. It kinda made me happy, but I can't explain why. Probably because I think he realized as I drove away.

Even though I probably ought to feel like a grownup, given that I moved out of my mom's place (again) and I am starting my job (career?) tomorrow, it's hard to feel like anything but a child, with the ceiling so far away, hugging my teddy bear, curled up across the width of Holly's twin bed with my dinosaur comforter on it. I'm listening to Elvis Costello and I'm going to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow. I'm playing on the computer, imagining how happy I can be when I grow up, forgetting it's tomorrow.

"My sock monkey's eyes fell off, and he needs new ones. Can you think of anything awesome to use for his new eyes?"

"I'm doing it regardless of whether UNH wants me to.-

"They'll be superexpensive because they'll be supersmart. They'll need karate classes and musical instruments and lots of paint and bicycles."

"No, they're for overstepping puddles and dodging mumbling madmen and umbrella carcasses."

"It's the opposite of fickle."

"I wish UNH was an ice cream flavor."(Me too.)

"How about if you come up with an awesome enough material for his replacement eyes, I'll rename him after you?-

Another Boxing Day's come and gone.
The furniture's strewn on the lawn.
What better way to end the year
Than gathering with friends and beer!
We drank a bit, then drank s'more...
(I spilled a little on the floor)
The keg is kicked; I tried my best
To entertain my awesome guests.
I claim this holiday to toast
The friends I love and cherish most

I'm flattered that they made the drive,
I'm flattered that they came
To celebrate 2005.
Next year we'll do the same!

I hope somehow there is a way
For you to come next Boxing Day!

I wonder what kind of soup the polar bears will want when we visit them! Maybe, since we're not sure, we can bring them a few kinds to sample and then we'll figure out which soup they like the most and that one we can bring next time. That will most certainly please the polar bears, because they'll see how much we have thought of them. "How considerate!" they'll say. "How sweet our new friends are to remember the soup we like the most!" They'll wave at us and wink a little wink, and invite us to visit again soon.

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My brother Matthew told me he needs to learn French--I told him how good I am at speaking French--which is only a slight exaggeration, I'm passable. My brother read some book about Paris, and, based on this book, wants to move there. I kinda want to read that book now: if it shook him up that much, it's probably pretty well-written. Mostly that info makes me just want to read more. The least it'll do is make me want to write more.
On a side note, I was right: Herman Melville totally wrote Bartelby the Scrivener.

Honeymoon, Applesauce, Hiphugger, Skyscraper, Bookbag, Knapsack, Backpack, Lunchbox, Grapefruit, Dragonfly, Seashell, Moonbrain, Toescraper, Bellyache, Klutzmuppet, Hairpiece, Bottlerocket, Kindergarten, Rainbow, Icestorm

Thunderstorm, Lemonade, Chipwich, Notebook, Afterthought, Lightbulb, Scallywag, Lollypop, Honeywater, Paintbrush, Mindfuck, Homerun, Groundhog, Traintrack, Phonecall, Heartbreak, Bellydancer, Waterfall, Kingpin, Cowboy,

Sunscreen, Handjob, Sweetheart, Penpal, Mailman, Pinwheel, Pocketknife, Shoelace, Watchtower, Coughdrop, Papercut, Bellybutton, Airplane, Nightfall, Bellyflop, Pancake, Candlestick, Baseball, Quicksilver, Mousetrap,

Catnap, Appleseed, Pothead, Mushroom, Doorbell, Treehugger, Lamebrain, Brainchild, Afternoon, Cupcake, Moonlight, Sunshine, Pincushion, Stargazer, Thumbtack, Icebox, Gunshot, Bubblegum, Beltloop, Litterbug,

Sweatshirt, Boombox, Clowncar, Conehead, Jailbreak, Sandcastle, Firepole, Swingset, Monkeybars, Eyelash, Catwalk, Pillowtalk, Earring, Snowflake, Raincoat, Wingspan, Moonwalk, Starfish, Limelight, Wordplay

My Cooperating Teacher gave me a huge compliment today that I will be not a good math teacher, a fantastic math teacher. He said I have good patience and that I like the kids and am good at posing questions to the students. I am very encouraged. He mentioned an option of teaching here for the rest of the school year sixth grade combined science and math, and thenin the fall getting my own math class of seventh or eighth grade math. It sounds like there would definitely be openings for me. I'll keep it as an option while I interview.

It's true that I burned down your house and smashed your piggy bank, used the shards to grafitti your windows with insults about your family and favorite pro sports team. It's true that I took all your clothes, stuffed them with the stuffing from your sofa, made little You marionettes and posed them at the busstop in compromising positions. It's true that everyone who ever loved you laughed at the You's and admitted what a silly, pathetic attempt at a human being you actually are. But it doesn't mean we can't be friends. Get over it! It was for democracy.

I sometimes wish we could have fallen in love. Certainly it's a crush, one of the most manic I've ever had, but somehow it remains completely absent of any kind of sexuality. But it would make more sense, this crush, this wanting to be around you all the time, this jealousness and delight, were it "in love-. Not that it isn't love, that old chameleon. We can't and won't be "in love-, for more reasons and for fewer reasons than the jokes I make at which you don't laugh, than the rigid way you sleep. Regardless, I remain perfectly charmed.

I'm so thrilled that Tim did twenty minute art blog challenge with me. My art was so childish and, like always, nowhere near as cool as it was in my head, but I feel like my idea got across anyway. Especially with the graph paper teeth. My ideas about combining colors with crayon are particularly naÃÆ'¯ve. If I had more time and resources, I might have made the tshirt out of real fabric. "YumSplash"might have been better written in marker instead of the crayon. And the best part about twenty minute art blog challenge is: it gets Tim drawing!

Hey Ken, did you respond to Tim's interactive art blog request yet? He obviously made it so that your response could be a 100words entry, so here's what I say we should do: You write a request that suggests Tim draw me, and I'll write one that suggests Tim draw you. It's easier to think of reasons why somebody else should win, right? Plus, since the entries are so related, maybe he'll pick BOTH of ours as the winners and draw a sweet picture of you and me doing something awesome together, like hunting antelope in the middle of Africa.

I dreamt I had twins. Childbirth was really easy. I couldn't figure out who the father was, because it was really hard to count backwards nine months, since it was a dream. The first twin was a girl. I named her Ramona. The second twin was a boy. I named him Johnny, after the awesome Johnny's I know. Then I went to brunch with my family. I was so happy and proud of my babies. I looked down at my figure and it looked that same as it does really, and I was impressed how quickly I recovered from pregnancy.

I saw Mika yesterday for the first time in years. Briefly. We met for coffee. Her hair is short and it looks good, even though I think I prefer it a little longer. I didn't get much of an impression of her boyfriend. They planned a field trip together though, which is cute. Mika says she knits a lot, and mentioned how she has four-day weekends every other week, which is awesome. Hopefully she'll visit the City some more, and we'll have more time for Fun together. I didn't see her smiling much. I would've enjoyed sharing an Evil Laugh.

Dear Tim, I only hope it's not too late to enter a request for your interactive art blog! This is the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to capture on paper the essence of a veritable genius. That's right! You should draw the one and only, the amazing Ken Mickles. It truly will be a challenge to render a likeness of he who is Ken Mickles, which is exactly why you, Tim Merz, Artist Extraordinaire, cannot afford to refuse it! (Actually, you could draw anything and it'd probably be awesome, but Ken is great, so why not him?) XO, ErinLuhks

OK, Tim, so I talked to Ken and he doesn't want you to draw him. So I guess, don't draw Ken anymore, if you were planning on it. And probably don't draw me, since that would be boring. Draw Fred. Fred likes to Participate, right? You could draw a portrait of Fred standing up playing video games and squinting and smiling. Or maybe you could draw him really angry that I just annihilated him at Dr. Mario. Or else draw Wade Shaw, because he's funny and I can't imagine him wanting to sit still so that you could draw him.

Don't ask why like you don't know. Don't ask me why I'm shooting you. The reason I'm shooting you is simple, because you try so hard not to get shot. Walking around with your bulletproof vest. Calling a cab so that you don't have to walk more than a few blocks in the dark. Rarely leaving your apartment unless it's broad daylight. You bring attention to the fact that you'll do ANYTHING not to get shot. You're so totally obsessed with it, you do so much to protect yourself against this possibility, it's like a dare. And I'm taking it.

When you walk into a toy store, what part do you go to first? (I go to the stuffed animals myself). My favorite kind of store is a bookstore. When I go to a bookstore, I want to write a million lists of books that I want to read. Then I want to go home and read the ones I have that I haven't read yet. Do you want to write toy lists? Do you want to go home and play with your old toys, or do you just want to get newer, shinier ones with more points of articulation?

You can only get there when it's raining. There has to be a puddle twice the size of your best snow angel, or else you definitely won't fit in the passageway. And it must be raining when you jump into it. Something about how the ripples change the surface of the water. I've seen people try to do it without the ripples, and it is just a mess. You just end up soaking wet. But if the puddle is big enough and ripply enough just jump right in the middle. You won't get wet at all. It'll take you there...

I want to have a party. I always want to have a party, but the problem there is, (aside from the geographical difficulty of me being so far from anyone with whom I feel like I can actually have any semblance of the Fun), I'm AWFUL at throwing parties. Just you wait until I have kids. I'll be there, apron on, bringing down another tray of chocolate chip cookies, asking if anyone needs more lemonade, and my kids will just roll their eyes. (Probably also, I'll spill something, but that's not just when I'm hostess.) So uncool, Mama, so uncool.

Lately, I've been a little down. I'm lonely in this big city. I tried hanging out with people I kinda know, from high school or Penn State. But they're not people that I'm very close with nor, I'm finding, are they people I particularly enjoy spending time with. No offense, but they're just boring. I can't wait until the first electric bill comes in, because then I can get a library card, and further isolate myself from the millions of people whom I could call my neighbors (neighbs). As soon as I secure a position, I'm buying some stereo equipment.

There is no hot water. The free internet is not connecting. I have ten days to find a job and I don't feel any closer to that goal than day one. I dressed in a hurry after a cold hurried sponge bath. I love the color of my shirt (it's coral: beautiful color, beautiful name) but I'm very uncomfortable wearing it because I didn't balance it with a cool color, I should have a blue skirt, or even white. Instead I have these monochrome gray pants, and the only green is a little on my shoes, and on my eyelids.

Dear Sean,
I'm so sorry that I brushed you off this morning, when you tried to show me your awesome math test that you were so happy with. It's true that I was running late and didn't have time and I was grumpy because there was no hot water. But seriously, I didn't have to be such an asshole about it. Maybe you didn't notice that I was, but I felt like I was. I'd love to see it later, when I'm not running out the door. I'll try my best in the future to not be such a jerk.

The following is an excerpt from a proof I wrote tonight, translated into English from its mathematical symbols:

"In our notation, set M is equal to the intersection of sets A and C, and the intersection of sets A, B, and C is included in the set M, which is consistent with the statement ‘The intersection of sets A, B, and C is contained in the intersection of sets A and C,' which is always true for all sets A, B, and C. Further, if we were to propose that the expression "265 were high tops with striped laces"excludes