Mmmmm, soul food! I found a good storefront place a couple of blocks from the library and got a fix--fried catfish with salt and hot sauce, perfectly cooked collard greens, grainy corn bread and mac and cheese that was, ultimately, a little too sweet for me. I haven't had that food since DC, though, and it was goooood. And as in DC, the place was a zero atmosphere storefront with no drink selection. The cook was a six foot tall, gorgeous black woman, and there was a guy sitting at the counter named Moses, who after he yelled "customer" when I came in, I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

I picked up some books I had on reserve on the way and started reading one, Discover Your Inner Economist : Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. There's a section on the need for self-deception and that got me thinking about the qualities I wish I had, like perseverance, versus qualities I actually have. I think I have a pretty huge ego, if only because I think it's going to be possible for me to change these things through force of will. But anyway, when I analyze my success in school and in jobs, I think it comes down to my being a very obedient person. Isn't that glamorous? Avant-garde? How did I become a Libertarian? (Not that Libertarians are a very rule busting bunch. Mostly it's computer nerds and ex-hippies, and the only people who smoke marijuana are cancer patients.) Another strong characteristic I have is affiliation. From the time I was selling wigs at Zayre through City Paper, I was always proud of where I worked. Combine those two, though, obedience + affiliation, and it can equal chump. Patrick saw that propensity many years ago.