Yesterday RBH and I rented movies together for the first time ever. We've never gone to a movie theater together either. I don't know what that means. Given that we've been dating, total accumulated, about six months. We ended up with Shortbus which he survived for longer than any of my previous boyfriends would have but it got late, for a movie about gratuitous sex it was remarkably slow moving, and when it got to the gay orgy we went to bed.

Tomorrow, we're having people over for dinner, which is another first - our first couple-type entertaining activity. I think it is my first couple-type entertaining activity ever. Life is incredibly exciting!

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I'm a week away from leaving for five. There is a tiny stockpile of things to pack in the corner of my room. I haven't figured out: where to stay the first night, how to transport cash, or if I should be bringing any maps/guidebooks/basic phrase guides. Still seriously considering going with just a 40L backpack and small carry on to stash my towel and ultra light sleeping bag. I don't think I'm going to take my ipod or laptop, in the name of not having to deal with adaptors; paring the electronics section down to a digital camera and a travel alarm clock.

Despite some financial leeway, it's planned to be way under budget in the name of an epic 2009 trip. It's the little things, like realizing that $150/month extra in rent amounts to a plane ticket at the end of the year. As soon as I confirm what my take home will be at the end of the month, I can start structuring everything to meet certain things I want to do.

Even though getting the education I did potentially constrains what I can do and when, I have no regrets about being done before 25. I have friends who are 35 and finishing. About a year ago I went through a period of feeling almost oppressed by perceived expectations about the value of my time following the degree; until I realized that I got an education for my benefit and what I characterize as things for my benefit do not necessarily have to reflect certain values. It was an interesting trajectory of indoctrination followed by rejection.

It has been really difficult to develop a relationship to the debt incurred in the past year because I've never been in debt before. Ever. So wrapping my mind around how it should and shouldn't constrain future decisions has been a different lesson in managing money, but not necessarily a bad one.

I don't think I have learned so much about money in a year since when I was eight and someone taught me how to calculate interest.

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Some guy on the street below just yelled "I want to have your baby"