Now a nerd, always a nerd.

I had the most pleasant surprise this weekend. Charlene and Aaron came to Philadelphia (pleasant, but not a surprise) and we had a blast. Lots of eating and drinking - Resurrection Ale House, Vietnamese and Korean food - with splashes of dancing and karaoke. But the best part was receiving the Nook as a present from not one, not two, but thirteen of my friends! Surprise!

I love to read. There's no getting around it. I'm a super-nerd. And when I think about my time in Ghana, I'm afraid that I will run out of things to read (God forbid). For obvious reasons, I can't lug around all the books I will consume over the next six months. So I decided that I would step it up, enter the new century, and buy an electronic book reader.

But I didn't have to. Because my friends are amazing and they bought one for me. I was so touched, I cried when I opened it. Icing on the cake: it already came with Pride & Prejudice on it. Thank you friends! Every time I turn it on, I will think of you and all your support. I'm one lucky duck.

Betwixt and between.

Do you ever have a string of days when an insignificant but specific thing keeps popping up again and again? For example, on Saturday, I was in Brooklyn with a friend where we decided to have a movie night. By a pseudo-democratic method, we decided to watch Empire Records and Donnie Darko. Coincidentally, a character gets accepted to Harvard in both movies.

The most recent novel I read was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I did not know that The Jungle Book is actually a collection with more than just the tale of Mowgli and Baloo. (This is yet more evidence of how Disney monopolized my formative childhood years. I was very excited to see 'normal' animation in The Princess & The Frog.) In one of these smaller stories, an elephant is described as 'betwixt and between' because he knows more than the average jungle creature but less than humans. I had never heard that phrase before.

The book I'm reading now is The New Kings of Non-Fiction edited by Ira Glass. It is a collection of interesting, in-depth and insightful articles by reporters including Malcolm Gladwell and Susan Orlean. I'm reading, reading, reading. And what phrase do I find? Betwixt and between.

Seeing that phrase chase me around gave me pause and I realized that that's exactly where I am: betwixt and between. The dust is now settling after a flurry of leaving work, moving to Philly, holidaying in Los Angeles and celebrating the New Year. My trip to Ghana is still over five weeks away. My only job now is to wait. And I'm not very good at it.

I have a few things to do before heading to Africa. I need to finalize my enrollment to law school (and possibly business school) at Temple but that's about it. I've been diligent about keeping my apartment clean and running errands promptly. Heck, I'm even blogging.

I know I will long for this time in the near future. A time of rest and autonomy. But I'm ready to move on. I'm ready for some stress in my life. I'm ready for Ghana. Get me out of the betwixt and between.















(Postscript - I got Apple gift cards for Christmas! Does this mean someone is actually reading this blog? It's quite validating. Thanks!)