Checking in.

In case you didn't realize it, whenever I'm not sitting at my laptop, composing a post for this blog, there are real life events transpiring, some of which involve me. Sometimes those events happen at such a break-neck pace that I have no time to record them for publication. This post is designed as an update to inform you of those events.

At the outset, you should be aware that most of these tidbits are mundane, poorly written, and barely worthy of your attention, but, as the early European explorers discovered, you must sometimes brave months, even years, of flat seas, dried meat, severe boredom and debilitating scurvy to reach the spices which you seek. Until then, a warning: I'll sink this vessel in a second if I even catch a whiff of mutinous behavior.

1) Resurrection. Without doing anything more productive than bemoaning the warranty terms of my Canon SD100 and hitting the power button over and over again, I managed to bring the little-digital-camera-that-could back to life. The cause of the malfunction still remains a mystery, but I refuse to question good fortune. Still not going to buy an Ipod Nano, though – the Ipod Shuffle has taught me that I actually prefer an Mp3 player that never has to leave my pocket.

2) Landed a job offer. Looks like all the hard work paid off and I'll be spending next summer in sunny California. While I am certain I will reside in San Francisco, I still need to decide whether I'll be working at an office in the city itself or one down in Silicon Valley. The decision is not to be taken lightly, because, assuming I don't single-handedly sink the firm with my incompetence during the 10-week summer stint, I should be receiving an offer for permanent employment status from whatever firm I ultimately choose. Thankfully, recent information indicates that if I decide to strip and jump in the Pacific Ocean as I had originally planned, I should be well on my way to receiving that offer, and the adoration of law school students nationwide.

3) Captain Planet. During the course of my stay in California, I did my own small part in saving the world from terrorism by driving a rental Prius. Despite the near impossibility of turning on the vehicle and the difficulty presented by its array of odd appendages, I came to enjoy the hybrid's eccentricities by my trip's end. In particular, the center console touch screen, which as you drive displays the distribution of power between the gasoline motor, the electric engine, the battery, and the wheels, proved highly entertaining.

Because that screen was visible at all times, charging the battery to its full capacity -- 10 bars -- became a sort of game to me. Well, at first it was a game, an amusement for those times when the song on the radio did not sufficiently capture my attention. But then, after a day or two of driving, when I managed to get the battery to 90% and the screen reacted with an affirmative noise, celebrating my achievement and changing the color of the battery meter from dark blue to fluorescent and lively green, it became something more. Something that had to be accomplished. At any cost.

From then on, I put everything I had into battery charging. Through a combination of accelerator pedal positioning, hard braking (slowing down provides charge), and innate driving skill, I worked tirelessly and relentlessly at refilling the battery. It's likely that I put many other drivers at risk during this time that I spent staring intensely at the center console, brow furrowed, awaiting that final noise which would announce my supreme victory. This didn't occur to me at the time; I was preoccupied.

Alas, sometimes a dream is nothing more than a waste of time and effort that should be ridiculed by your closest friends until you give up on it, thereby saving you inevitable disappointment. As the foregoing hints, none of my driving maneuvers or mechanical manipulations were successful. I had to turn the car in to Hertz with 10% -- an insurmountable barrier in the context of hybrid battery charging -- separating me from my goal. I knew then that the defeat handed to me by the Prius that day would sting more than rejection by any law firm. (This was later confirmed.)

4) Looking forward. We all know that not everything can work out in our favor or in accordance with our wishes. For better or worse, that's life. Uncertainty abounds; nothing is set in stone. But lack of change, while possibly comforting for the risk averse, is just like knowing the future. And what could be more frustrating -- and more boring -- than that? To have your entire life mapped out in front of you, every surprise ruined, every disappointment felt before it occurs, every tragedy suffered in anticipation until it finally happens. Nothing could more easily destroy the human spirit.

It's the unexpected changes, the unforeseen bumps, the windfalls, the losses, the infinite possibilities -- all of them, negative and positive -- which make life interesting and worth living. Sure, I have to work hard to convince myself of this sometimes, especially when I really want certain things to work out, but if I were faced with the option of clairvoyance, I can honestly say I’d choose to keep my future unseen and unlimited.