Hi, I'm living in Long Island, CT

I've always liked maps. They put the world in perspective - literally. Call me a nerd (I'll bear it proudly), but one of my favorite books is from my sister, called the Atlas of World History. I dunno, but I just like the way maps clarify things. My point?

My roommate got a Snapple cap that said "Long Island is the largest island in the Continental United States." In my simplistic, out-of-town mind, I thought about Long Island - y'know, where the five towns and Far Rockaway is! After all, you take the Long Island Railroad to get there, so that must be it! Well, apparantly it's not. So said my roommate.

So I asked: Then how is Long Island so big? What's it made of?

So we turned to that ever useful resource, Google maps. And it turns out that Long Island is indeed a pretty big island! It encompasses not only the traditional Long Island, but Brooklyn and Queens as well!! So now I can say I'm living on Long Island. Sounds much, much better ;)

But wait - there's more! Looking further at the map (I added borders), I realized that Manhattan is barely attached to New York, hanging just barely onto a tip of the state. Long Island, even more, is about 75% (if not more) on the Connecticut side of the border! Why it was attached to New York State, I'm not so sure. But it kinda makes sense to me why people from New York City think they're in their own state, and people in "Upstate" are in another hemisphere....

So the final outcome for me is that I'm saying that I'm from Long Island, CT. After all, that's what the map seems to show...and maps are never wrong. :)

In other news, communication is really really important in relationships. Thank you for teaching me that, hon.

Coincidence and Choices

Don't really have time to write too much - I have two essays due tomorrow and I haven't started, but I haven't posted in a while, and my thoughts are bursting out. So I'll share one.

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet a friend. I had a little extra time, so I decided to get off the stop before the one I really needed and walk down (even though it was pouring rain) to meet her, and visit the interesting sights (which there always are) along the way. On a whim, I stopped in a store. Not one I usually frequent; in fact, I hadn't even known that the store existed on that particular street! While browsing around, I (literally) bumped into a friend from home. Someone I'd pretty much lost touch with and haven't spoken to in ages. We talked for a bit, exchanged new phone numbers, and promised to meet over lunch or something. And the friend I was supposed to meet? She cancelled, so I stayed and talked with Friend #2 for far longer than I would have.

I got thinking about it. For some reason, I was supposed to meet her. I was so close to not walking into the store, so close to just walking past. After all, I have a ton of work to do!! But I made the choice to walk in - it was one of those times that I got to see the outcome of a choice I made almost immediately. Incredible!

(So tonight, when I realized I left my jacket at school after I'd already gotten to the subway, I went back to get it...after much thinking about it. But you can't expect to see outcomes that clearly two nights in a row!)