1. Fretting about college application essays was 11 years ago, not 10. I never claimed to be a math genius.

Ten years ago, I was learning how to pull an all-nighter to study for an Introduction to Philosophy exam. The next morning, I walked into the exam and got the ONE question on the study guide that I had not prepared AT ALL (the class was 65% Plato's Republic, 30% Descartes, and 5% Augustine, so I had made the strategic calculation to concentrate on Plato and Descartes in my studying once I realized that I didn't have time to cover it all). I resisted the impulse to write my name on a blank blue book, hand it in, and walk out of the room; and came up with something to say about Augustine off the top of my head. Now that I think back on it, I'm seriously impressed by that little college freshman who managed to pull a B+ on two hours sleep and zero hours relevant preparation, but at the time I was pretty perturbed at myself for not studying hard enough. I'm just now starting to learn that it may not be the best idea to always be so hard on myself.

2. Actually, I prefer chocolate in moderation rather than large doses, like in chocolate-chip cookies or cheesecake with chocolate crust/topping. But I liked the chocolate theme.

3. One of the links in the last post was an ad. If you buy the item linked, I might get a miniscule kick-back. But as genetically-programmed bargain hunter, I suggest you find the best deal you can rather than depend on my links.

4. I can't actually perform the entire StuffMart Rap off the top of my head with no prompts. But I've almost got it down. ("... and if you need a decompressor to blow fruitflies off your dresser or a dehydrated struedel or a nose-ring for your poodle or a rachet set and pliers or surround-sound amplifiers or some plaid for looking grungy or a cord for going bungy... Bungy, bungy, bungy-wungy-wungy, here we go bungy, come on!")