Popularity contests

Last week it was time for senior superlatives. Those are those categories that high-school seniors vote for, like "Best Dressed," "Cutest Couple," and the coveted "Most Likely to Succeed." Yeah, it's basically a popularity contest, but it's fun to get into. One of the categories was "Most Tattoos," which I'm pretty sure isn't a subjective matter unless the tattoos are in special places that place them in the realm of pure conjecture. I had a couple of days to come up with a guy and a girl for each category, and then it would be time for me to hand in my vote. Not surprisingly, I couldn't come up with a few. For example, how am I supposed to know which guy has the best eyes?

We did the same thing at my school when I was in eighth grade. I voted for myself for everything. We never got the results back. I hasten to point out that this time, I only voted for myself in the category of "Best Eyes." I was not-so-secretly hoping that other people would elect me "Most Likely to Succeed." That's always something you can brag about to your grandchildren, after all. In fact, I heard a rumor that Rebecca Martinez* voted me "Most Likely to Succeed"! But this week, I heard that the people who had won in each category had been notified, so I guess I didn't win any category. Soon they'll have their pictures taken for the yearbook, and the class of '07 will always remember which guy and girl had the most tattoos.

Speaking of popularity contests, another ritual began this week, this one in anticipation of Valentine's Day. It's the questionnaire-type thing they have you fill out if you want. You fill out some questions about yourself and what you want in a potential mate, and they send it somewhere to "process" the results, and they sell you the matches. Last year I was disappointed by my results, and the year before that, I didn't get them at all. This year, I decided not to fill out the form. After getting my results last year, my curiosity about who I might be compatible with has been satiated. The results weren't particularly satisfying, and besides, it's only a little questionnaire. It's not something that could tell you how things work in real life.

Remember how my friend Luke was compiling an anthology of poetry and prose to benefit the people of Darfur? And remember how I contributed a poem? Well, the book is here. "The Easiest Best Thing Is Be Kind" features some Grateful Dead-related people, my friends Luke and Michelle, some other people, and yours truly. It's available now in paperback and hardcover, and I can tell you that the book is superb. It turns out that there are some pictures too. So don't hesitate to buy the book; all of the profits go to the Save Darfur Coalition.

I'm still having difficulties installing Ubuntu on that other computer, but my dad (who actually knows about computers and is therefore doing all the work here) has discovered that the CD drive thing on the computer is most likely bad. Now, the hunt is on for a drive that works and can be connected properly. In the meantime, I'm just using the Live CD on my own computer, where it runs like a dream. There's an advantage to using a Live CD: you can't screw anything up because nothing's written to the hard drive. The disadvantage is that you can't save anything between sessions because nothing's written to the hard drive. Other than that, it's like running a full-featured operating system. If it turns out that I can't install Ubuntu, then using the Live CD should at least allow me to get used to Linux. I like that it's very easy to use. In fact, I'm running Ubuntu from the Live CD as I write this.

I've written about Princess Juliana International Aiport, the airport in St. Maarten that's right next to a beach. Here are some videos of alarmingly close takeoffs and landings (YouTube).

War can be complicated. Sometimes, the parties involved might forget to sign a peace treaty with one another until decades, centuries, or millennia later. Wikipedia has a list of wars extended by diplomatic irregularity.

* One "Rebecca Martinez" is said to be ranked #1 in the class. I've never met her, but I think I saw her once. I don't know how she knows me well enough to vote me "Most Likely to Succeed" if we've never met. But the last time I used a footnote to mention a high-ranking student I had never met, he ended up joining my circle of friends about a year later. Maybe it could happen again?