and one more thought

there were two quotes in my head today but i can only remember one of them.

"what's the use of a 24-inch waist if you don't touch me?"

that's in a song on shakira's oral fixation volume two. she is a talented artist but i don't understand her when she sings in english! anyway the only reason i remembered that line is because my waist is 24-inches (i'm not kidding.)

and one more thought, but it could be a long one...

on my way back from argentina, between santiago and new york this guy was seated behind me who was involved in an animated conversation with his "seat buddy" (an older lady) and as i struggled to get my backpack he got it up there. anyway when we land in lima they give us twenty minutes to boludear at the airport. i go in desperate search of water (was a bit woozy from taking half a vicodin... yes i'm bad but i had a headache and i was upset because the azafata yelled at me!) but of course there was a bit of confusion because there was a security checkpoint and a long line in the middle but we had special passes... anyway it wasn't clear which way to go. but eventually i find my way to a gift shop and am contemplating buying "coca candy" but then i spot the water and have to get it. i also get skittles.

ok so long story short because i have to make my bed before i can sleep in it... we started talking and he said where are you from? i bet you're a midwestern girl. i replied with surprise and asked WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M A MIDWESTERN GIRL? no, just for the accent. where you from? chicago. oh yeah, where? b-town hills. aaah... that's a pretty rich community. to which i just make a face and shrug my shoulders. i'm from sterling IL. and -small world it is- I'VE BEEN THERE! ONCE I WAS VOLUNTEERING AT A PRESENTATION BY MONTY ROBERTS - YOU KNOW, THE REAL-LIFE HORSE-WHISPERER! then the normal what do you do, where did you go to school. this guy was "a banker. i'm a wall-street guy." to which i replied with the same face and shrug as before. find out he went to U of I too! when did he graduate? 1994! WHOA! I WASN'T EVEN IN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1994! ok i know i should hold my tongue (after experiencing the shock of the polistas after i said what i thought) but i saved it because the guy did look young so i told him i thought he was at least ten years younger than as old as he could be.

we get back on the plane and i turn around.

me: let me clarify something. i did not go to U of I to study education. i knew so many people who studied education there because it was the easiest thing. no sir, i studied physics.

ah well that changes my perception of you entirely.

so that made me think: don't major in something just because it's easy because it's a waste of your time and your parents' money. no, i'm not doing anything with physics in and of itself, but the important thing about that major is IT TAUGHT ME HOW TO THINK. which is of infinitely more value than understanding bloom's taxonomy of something something. it's like once you know how to read in your native language, you know how to read, so you can read in any new language you learn because you have that base. once i know how to think and learn something that is interesting/challenging/familiar to me, i can think and learn about new things.

knowing how to think and how to learn is so much more important than what you learn. i think. today at 00:41.