I just dropped the last pieces of my application to Stanford in the mail. Phew, glad that's over. Won't hear for another six weeks if they even received my app though. I might get a decision by early March if I'm lucky. 11 schools down, just two left to go. If I'm adventurous (or foolhardy) I might finish UCLA and Boalt's applications tonight. It would be so nice just to be done. But Berkeley weights the personal statement heavily and will accept up to four pages...the statement I have is only 2. Should I write a longer essay? And what about UCLA? They'll take up to 3 pages. We'll see what happens.
On a completely other topic, I made a shiva call today. It's not my first time but I've never done it for someone my own age who's lost an immediate relative before. I dunno why I always get so choked up at these things, it's not like I even know the person who died. I feel it more making shiva calls than I did at my own relatives funerals. I guess it's because I feel more for the bereaved than the deceased. Kind of odd but I guess it works. The dead have no worries and feel no pain, it's the living we should be concerned for. I wonder if that relates at all to the conflict in Israel...If people were more concerned about improving the lives of the living than avenging the dead or hanging on to some memory of traditional properties, maybe there would be peace. It's so hard to be optimistic anymore. I guess I'm just getting worn out. My idealism will come back with a few nights of sleep and some stress relief.
