Let me back up, or go around or something. I've made a conscious decision to write every other day. I know it was pounded into me to write an hour each day, but I'm warming up. Baby steps. So every other day, and today counts as a diary entry.

I bought the new White Stripes CD last night. Total plus other things and tax: $13.33. Jack would be proud. And I am a dork. I was expecting, based on "Icky Thump" for the whole to rock a little harder, but then I realized, this is classic Stripes. Like the difference between New Coke and Classic Coke. This might just knock De Stijl off its pedestal as my favorite but I'll have to give it a few more spins to be sure.

So I fell 2.5 weeks ago and scratched up my arms. It isn't that horrible, not like my mom makes it sound--but that's how mothers are--and today I decided enough scab had fallen off to start applying cocoa butter. Hence the smell. And my mom made a really stupid remark the other day. She said, "guess you'll have to wear long sleeves when you get married."

Okay, A: (what I actually told her) I'm planning on wearing long sleeves anyway. (end of what I actually told her) Yes, I am not unlike normal women who have some vision of what they want in a wedding gown someday.
B: It's the undersides of my forearms. You can't see anything when holding a bouquet anyway.
C: What the hell? It's just scars on my arms. I can wear whatever I want. I'm not horribly disfigured. And even if I was self-conscious about it, there's makeup tricks to cover blemishes. Celebrities do it for the red carpet all the time.

I try to tell myself, when my mom makes idiot statements like that, it's just to reassure herself that I will get married someday. Yeah, I want to get married and have kids someday. I just don't talk about it all the time because that's not how I am. I don't say every little thing on my mind like my mom does. We are total opposites, which usually results in us getting along great...but the longer I stay here the more strained our relationship is going to get.

Another thing I've realized, one thing that's never changed about me since I was a little kid, is that I'm not ashamed of my scars. Never have been. Sure, accidents are regrettable, if I did this, this could have been avoided, but for goodness' sake that's why they're called accidents.

And just for the record, I stopped that ball.

(And don't get me started on the Orioles. Maybe another day.)