Signs I'm Becoming a Grown-Up

I have started reading the paper every single day. This is huge for me. For some reason, even though I was fairly politically aware and passionate about certain causes I always shied away from the newspaper. It could have been because my hometown's newspaper is so abysmal in comparison to the NY Times or even the Chicago Trib or it could be that, quite honestly, it made me sad to read the paper most days, as shallow and childlike as that sounds. With the war in Iraq and the constantly terrible things in the news, it was really difficult to see all those horrible headlines and actually want to read the story underneath.

But thanks to a combination of boredom at the office and a desire to really be politically informed and motivated to act for the upcoming elections next year, I have made it my business to read the NY Times online every day, even the sad stories. I kind of do it throughout the day too, making sure to read at least one hard-hitting news piece and at least one softer piece like a movie review or a travel article. It's got to be doing some good and at the very least I have semi-interesting things to talk about with Danny, my boyfriend, who loves reading the paper and very serious magazines like The Economist. He's so well-informed it makes me feel very unintelligent sometimes, so this is helping me keep up with him. Now when it comes to the lighter stuff, I can tell you about all the actors' upcoming projects, who's dating who and of course, what they're wearing on the red carpet, but I think I need to add a little intellect to my repertoire.

So far today I've learned that the Japanese population is declining so much that it is hurting enrollment numbers at their universities; A Mighty Heart is a movie that, despite its commercial star-power is actually very evocative and well-done; and the government is beginning to release reports rating hospitals in various areas of care, most recently its care of heart attack and heart failure patients. So there you go, consider my horizons expanded.