Last night, I spent two hours figuring out what I'd take with me if aliens (friendly, Federation-type aliens, not evil, invader-type aliens) came to me, offered me the chance to travel the galaxy with them for thirty years, and gave me two hours to prepare. They are familiar with human physiology; so, things like food and toiletries are all taken care of. What would I take with me? Who would I contact? I wouldn't want to waste any time running to the store; so, I'd just grab all the notebooks in my room and whatever film I had on hand. (Note to self: start keeping more film on hand.) What T-shirts I'd want, which CDs I'd need (crap, would they be able to synthesize batteries for my Discman or should I just ask them for a stereo?), how I'd say goodbye to my brother, my parents, Lindsay, my friends. All I can say is thank my lucky stars I already have a Pith helmet on hand.

Also, I watched the finale of The Bachelorette. It was my first experience with reality TV. Hurray, the sensitive guy "won"! Yippy! Yes, it was trashy and voyeuristic, but I won't lie: for those two hours I was completely engrossed.

Year One
Anonymity. Everything online is fucking anonymous. People feel free to say things anonymously that they wouldn't were their name to be attached. This bothers me. An anonymous statement is a worthless statement. (The only exception I will allow would be the Federalist Papers, all written by "Publius." This exception is allowed because Publius was known to be James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.) I use a lot of nicknames, not to protect the identities of those I am describing, but because I find them amusing. In the early days of the Secret Base, I used ordinary names. In reading The Watergirl's blog, where she uses pseudonyms to protect the names of the innocent and guilty (a la Jack Webb's Dragnet), I discovered the great fun that silly nicknames provide. Thus, my boring friend Brad became the more "exciting" Neutral Man. And so on. I have no interest in protecting anyone's identity. If you don't want your identity revealed, send me an email; otherwise, you're fair game. This is my little stand against the "liberating" anonymity of the Internet. So that I'm not a hypocrite, Q-Girl's real name is Leanna ***perhaps discretion is the better part of valor***.