I have a fan!

Lately I've been spending a lot of time on Yahoo! Answers, which is an "online community" where people can post questions on literally everything, and others can post answers. The questioner then votes on which response is the "Best Answer," which awards the answerer ten points in a largely meaningless point system. Currently, I have 236 points and 20% of my answers have been designated as "Best Answers." :)

Another feature of this system is that you can let people know that you are a fan of their answers, and I got my first fan today! A college student posted a question last week about being tired all the time, due to depression and the medication she is taking for it. I responded by first suggesting that she talk to her doctor about her medication, and I also suggested that she try taking a short walk after class every day, instead of going straight down for a 3-4 hour nap as she said she had been doing. I wrote that, in my experience, exercise usually makes me feel less tired, even though it seems counterintuitive, and that physical activity is known to ease the symptoms of depression.

After getting chosen as best answer, I looked at her profile. I know this sounds silly, but I just thought her "About Me" section was so sweet!

I heart pilates and yoga! I love my boyfriend dearly. I wish I had more control over my life. I'm always tired and it sucks. I'm a vegetarian because I love animals! I'm very laid back. I'm a hippie at heart. I love comfy clothes. I'm a movie fanatic. Anything or anyone that makes me laugh is awesome! I'm in college, working towards a Bachelors Degree in Family and Child Studies. This May I'm getting my Associates Degree in Sociology too! Only two more years of college! Woo!

Her other questions range from the typical issues facing 20-year-old college girls--like fighting with her boyfriend and whether or not to go to the tanning salon--to much darker issues--like her struggles with bulimia, depression, and thyroid dysfunction. She obviously is having a rough time, yet still seems so cheerful and optimistic in all of her posts. I find it so endearing that it restores my faith in humanity. Is that weird?

Regardless, I was so honored that she wants to be my fan. It made my day.

April Fool

I suck. Apparently, the naysayers were right . . . I'm losing steam on this whole monthly resolution thing. I've just been so lazy lately. Here it is April 9 and I haven't even touched my taxes, the piles of laundry are just sad, and I haven't even blogged about the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. Maybe it's because spring hasn't quite sprung yet and it's sapping my energy. Yeah, that's it. I'll blame it on the rain, yeah yeah.

Then again, my resolve this year hasn't been a complete failure. I think I've accomplished a lot in my post-Fancy New Can-opener world. Most notably, I've been lifting weights regularly, cooking more, staving off scurvy by eating my veggies, and watching a lot less television. Oh - and I bought Chucks! The brownish pink ones.

Ergo, my resolutions for April are:
1. Don't be hard on yourself.
2. Do what you can.