so now our creative asses are owned by yahoo. 

great.

but if when or where someone somethings then other things 

Ah, to be done with AP tests! This, surely, is what heaven must feel like.

seriously why don’t we have any good senior class traditions yet? 

prommmmm

met philip zimbardo today!

i’m so good at posting stuff on a regular basis yay

magic, pt. 2

In part one, I suggested that there are some powerful words which carry particular magic yet tend to be lost in the shuffle of pedestrian reading. Last time, I celebrated “or” for the world of choice it offered.

This time, I will raise my glass to another underrated conjunction: “but”.

“But” is an interesting transition: it’s a turning point. You think the sentence is heading one way, but then all of the sudden there’s a random shift and it turns out that the sentence is actually about the delicious piece of chocolate I just demolished. Look for it as a signpost and you know that there’s a plot twist just waiting to unfold.

But “but” also offers a tidy cover-up if you have to excuse yourself. “I would totally love to jump off a cliff with you….but I have homework to do, so I guess death will have to wait.” Easy as that, you can offer sympathy with the other end of the interaction (I WOULD…) while backing out with finesse (BUT…).

“But” acknowledges frailties and limitations. Three centuries ago, humans would have been flying…but we did not yet understand the concepts of lift. It suggests the possibility of achievement but recognizes that there’s still ways to go.

That’s not to say “but” is without hope; on the contrary,”but” is language of exceptions and outliers. Like all those remarkable individuals who grew up with terrible childhood obstacles but persevered against them and succeeded. All probabilities were against success, but the miracle team won it.

Besides, what would the world be without cute buts?