Friday night I went to dinner with three women who are in their 40s or 50s. But it was actually fun. Why is it that I often get along better with people twice my age than I do my actual peers? Then I went home and watched Joan of Arcadia with another woman in her 50s. And I read. A lot. I finished “On the Road” and it confirmed that I need to get out of here fast.

Saturday I finished reading the essays I’m judging for the Women’s History Council. That was fun, but dear God do all high schoolers write so…the same? All the essays sounded the alike, they were all blurring together by the end.

In case you ever want to write an essay with the topic “Women Change American Rights”*, here’s the
Intro: some attempt at a cute present-tense synopsis of women’s rights. ie: “Women have come a long way in the last decade. They used to be considered little more than property of men. Blah blah. But thanks in part to [well-known figure in women's history] that’s no longer true.
Second paragraph: “[well-know figure in women's history] was born in Who Cares USA on Not That Important Date. She grew up, got married, did this and did that, unrelated to the topic of this essay.”
Paragraphs 3-6ish: Some basic information obviously pulled right from your entirely online sources. Don’t even think about using a single original thought though, stick to the facts!
Conclusion: Basically repeat intro.

*Even though we didn’t ask for it, it’s important that you do a biography. Whether or not this person’s entire life story is relevant to the topic is not important. Make sure you tell us all the mundane details to fill up space.

In the afternoon I met Robin in EL. We attempted to find bathing suits for our trip, but we spent most of the time laughing at how ridiculous we looked. Or at least I did. She’s much more bathing-suit worthy than I am. Then we just ended up trying on a bunch of hilarious prom dresses. Robin you should go back and buy that little pink&black number. We finally gave up on the whole shopping business and went to dinner at Thai Kitchen. Then we got coffee (um, chai for me actually, raspberry something or other for her), and talked about our upcoming trip and our potential move to CA.

Sunday I met with the other essay judges and we managed to pick three winners. One on Carrie Chapman Catt, one on Margaret Sanger, one on Rosa Parks. Congrats kids. Then I went to Brian’s. We had pizza and saw The Aviator. And that was my weekend. Only four days of work this week and I’m going home! Tra la la.