I tried to think of what to do for a year-in-review of my sophomore year of college. I had this really cool photo album that showed a few trips home, the weekend Halo games, OU weekend in the honors dorms, the snow day, my time with Michelle, just about everything significant. I can't really come up with anything for this year. I think it was a transition year of some kind, between the freshman year and the years of significance and life-molding to come. I can't even write anything that symbolizes the past year, except maybe a tiny list of music albums (new Jimmy Eat World, Mos Def, Common, Maroon 5 [that one came in late, I know], and like Richard Cheese). I can think of exactly two defining moments for the year. One I just posted a few posts back and the other's a bit more private. Thankfully, I was visited with a bit of constancy when I headed to Oklahoma to visit my brother. Star Wars Episode 3 was fantastic, and the two of us, along with his mom and his fiancee, spent the rest of my time there talking heavily about the movie - all about corruption, symbolism, allusions to authors and history - and it was all so smart that it felt like I was back with a bunch of P2ers again. My family's damn smart, and it's cool. I even had a good experience with animals. JB, the fiancee, brought her dog along, which was a mid-size Australian herding dog named Kelly. She was the single nicest dog I've ever met. Right upon walking in the door, she walked across the living room, sat down on her haunches, and promptly glued her side to mine. She did this trick where if I laid down on the floor and spread my arm out, she'd walk over and curl up right under my arm. So cute. Let's hear it for non-crazy attack pets! I also had a good experience with home cookin'. I usually tremble with fear at the phrase "down-home cookin'", because I associate with it all of the evils of the South that I've come to dislike. But Carol, my second mom, is *good* at it. She hasn't made a dish yet that I haven't loved. In 2 days at their house, I probably consumed enough calories to last an Ethiopian village a good few days. My affinity for the cookies that Carol kept baking several times a day became known as my cookie addiction, and I constantly stood by the counter in the kitchen, waiting to get my fix. All in all, 2 days just about made up for a year that I thought didn't do much for my soul. I was surrounded by smart people, I grew a tiny bit (an animal that won't attack me goes a long way in my book), and as always, I'm easily recognized as the guy who's a total sucker for chocolate chip cookies. Maybe the end of this year isn't so bad after all.