childhood seems so long ago. maybe it's my 23rd birthday in less than two months that's freaking me out, or the realization that the clock is ticking. but i've caught me thynking abt me, career, education, tym, life, and the future a lot lately (in no particular order). they are all scary thoughts. when i was 18, 23 seemed far faaaar away. i remember deciding to build me a multi-billion dollar empire by the tym i was 23 (it's always about the money isn't it?). Had planned to conquer the world and practice mind control 1984 style. i had also decided having accomplished all that and more, in less than 5 years, i'd die b4 touching 24. (remember the live fast die young dogma?) *sigh* not only is age an issue with me, but i havent yet begun laying out the bricks of my kingdom. at (Almost) 23, ive become a cynical, bitter old spinster, toting a toy dog in a desperate plea for companionship. and i run a blog that documents the significant nothings. so in a fit of denial, ill go down memory lane and talk about conkers. whattagame! whattagame i tell ya! it was so long ago when i played conkers, i'd almost forgotten about them. back then, all i know about the game was... ummm... they were brown seeds from an oak-like tree, that stood in the middle of the school playground. research for thys post show they are "the inedible nutlike seeds of the horse chestnut" (ref: dictionary.com) ... yeah, yeah, whatever. so khair anyways, everyone had conkers tied with strings, and the purpose of the game was to crack the other's seed. that didnt happen too often with me, so i always just got away with hitting the opponent :) (instead of aiming for the conker, you aimed for their hands or face. *ouch*) here's how the game is actually supposed to be played. conkers was never considered a girl's game. we were supposed to sit on the sides and cheer 'the boys' on. or collect conker shells and "polish" them. that involved collecting the soft spiky skin and rubbing it furiously on concrete or brick surface, until it became like a furry hedgehog (umm...ignore analogy) that was when collecting furry or glittery stickers was ok, and so was listening to Kriss Kross. ah! the age of innocence. that was when taking white furry seals to school was cool, as was being a philatelic (that's collecting stamps, you moron). and you could spend hours at the science museum, and walk out in a daze. That, was a millenium ago. that was the 90s. coming back to life, recent surveys have shown my vocabulary to be shrinking. as of late, everythyng has become "cool", "awesome!" and when im REALLY excited, "way cool!". perhaps language skills come guaranteed for 22 years only. after that, no refund, no exchange. (or at least in my case). as a means of remembering big words i must begin using them in my posts. words like esoteric bohemia myopic words like supercalafrajelisticexpialidocious.