Disclaimer: Major random dorkiness ahead.

Last night, after studying for the Bar exam for far too long, I got on Facebook to poke around for a few minutes. A high school buddy of mine had posted a video of a marching band performing their show. The aforementioned buddy and I were in band together in high school, and he is now the band director at are alma mater. But anyways, I watched this video last night...and it was incredible! It's been a very long time since I was in the band...I haven't marched since 2001, haven't picked up a horn since 2002. I haven't even watched a marching band perform for a couple of years. But my inner band geek came rushing to the surface last night as I watched this video. I was flooded with a wave of nostalgia as I remember what it was like to perform. I remembered how much I loved it, how proud I was to take the field. Our high school band had a unique way of responding to the call to attention. Instead of the traditional response...

J and I broke up last night.

I've known for a while that it wouldn't work out. But I procrastinated a bit....for all his flaws, I loved him. His obstinate, sarcastic nature grated on my nerves, and I never quite felt secure or comfortable in the relationship, but I loved him. I wasn't "in love"....I might have been with proper encouragement, but I did love....

He didn't love me. That was the main reason I had to leave. I knew I couldn't spend the next months of my life waiting on him to come around, because it wasn't guaranteed that he ever would. I grew tired of wondering why. In the end, I don't think it was that he couldn't love me....I don't think he was in the position to love anyone.

I know I did the right thing, but it hurts. I'm going to miss him so much.

I'm having a hard time writing this. Nothing seems to help right now....I thought writing would be a balm, but instead it is a struggle. I'm going...

Today I am twenty-five. I have lived a quarter of a century. While this is not an extraordinary accomplishment, I do feel as though I have reached some sort of milestone. I look forward to the year ahead, if for no other reason than twenty-five is my lucky number. Besides that, this is a year of monumental change for me, and I look at today as my own personal New Years.

I am starting to come into my own in a new way. I have always been the sort of person who is able to recognize her own strengths and shortcomings. I know that I am a flawed but fabulous human being who can number both brains and beauty among her accomplishments. I say this not out of ego, but out of honesty. It has taken me a long time to be able to say the things I know about myself out loud, out of fear of reproach for excessive vanity or pride. But I do not approach it from that place at all. I recognize my own flaws just as easily, and have had no trouble expressing them aloud. I am too reserved,...

I am not what you call a "sports fan", but I do have a particular fondness for college basketball. I love watching my team(s) play, and get really excited for March Madness. Madness is a particularly fun time of year because I get to watch a lot of hoops, and cheer for teams I don't necessarily get to watch in season play. I personally don't enjoy watching a game unless I'm rooting someone on, so I cheer for various teams throughout season and tournament play. My #1 team is the University of Louisville (my alma mater), my #2 team is the University of Kentucky, and from there, I cheer for any variety of other teams in various conferences. This season, I've been cheering a lot for Syracuse, as it's my gentleman friend's alma mater and favored team. Last year during the tourney, I rooted for Indiana (my good friend's alma mater) Georgetown (where my good friend is enrolled in a Master's program), and Tennessee (where a high school classmate was playing last year) by turns....

So one of those "Post 25 Random Things About Yourself And Tag People" memes has been going around my circle of friends on Facebook. Since today is a self-declared Do-Nothing Day (snowed out of work/school, not entirely motivated out of laziness), I've decided to do a blog version...aka, ego masturbation. :-)

1) I make an iTunes playlist for almost every occasion--each party, each trip, even certain people, get their own playlist. The inspiration for most of my playlists is obvious--"2009", "Inauguration", "Singing Mix", "Musicals: Stage and Screen". Others are more esoteric--"Trouble" is a list of songs that remind me of Holden ("The Ghost"), "A Change Is Gonna Come" is for political inspiration, "Burnt Souffle" is for happy love songs.

2) I have a very bawdy sense of humor. I love double entendre and sexual innuendo, and can tell a dirty joke with the best of...