I am such an utter vacation schlumph! I spent the greater part of today playing The Sims on xBox. The sun is shining (still pretty intensely, even at 7:20 PM -- because we're in the North!), it is hot, there are sports on TV... weeeeeeeee, this is the summer of Illy!

My favorite thing about summer is the smell. I grew up in the city, in a place whose climate was "temperate". Summers almost always got scorching hot, mainly because the tree-to-concrete building ratio in my neighborhood was approximately 1 to 25. When I was little we didn't have air conditioning, so I had to master the art of using blinds, curtains and sheets soaked in water to keep the heat out -- which I took as a challenge and enjoyed immensely. But I digress...
I must have been around 10 when I realized that summer days had at least three distinct smells: fresh and somewhat dewy in the morning, hot and dusty in the afternoon, and cool, musty and sweet in the evening. I used to love going out on my balcony and sniffing at the air -- it was like drowning in summer, in the feeling that I was free from homework, that there was nothing I was expected to do.
I think I stopped being able to identify the three smells during the summer before my freshman year of college. I was tired, stressed and broken-hearted. I had no capacity for trivial enjoyment.
But yesterday morning, when I walked into the living room and opened the deck doors, I recognized the summer morning smell. It was glorious. I was very happy.

I am also happy to see that the trend has not yet waned: the three most recent Kosher Piglets visitors were searching for: "masturbators", "dogs porn" and "asscracks". Keep it up, fellows! You make Kosher Piglets the great place it is!

I am on vacation and on the mini-pill, which contribute to a general sense of well-being. I should, in consequence, be willing to write as much as I am able.
A number of things have happened over the past few months, the most important of which I shall summarize below.
1. Adam's dad died. He had brain surgery in April to remove a brain tumor; the surgery was successful, but he developed a massive amount of clots and died of lung failure. I had never been involved in a person's death before, and the experience was distressing.
2. Adam started working. Bacon on the table!
3. I volunteered at First Place, a school for children from poor or homeless families. I tutored kids in Math and Composition, and realized that random tutoring sessions have no effect whatsoever.
4. I got my school mojo back! For the first time in 4 years, I am enjoying school and doing very well academically.
5. I have a nephew of sorts! Adam's brother Tal and his wife, Mirela, had a kid. He looks plump, dark and handsome.
6. I feel that I have become more discriminating and straightforward and less mechanically nice. Which I believe is a virtue. My physical strength and stamina have also improved a good deal.

I also have plans for this summer. They include:
1. Studying a bit of Math.
2. Developing an A.I. entity.
3. Going swimming regularly.
4. Taking a trip on my own for a few days.
5. Volunteering.