The following appeared as a status on a friend's Facebook page today:

"Never make anyone a priority who only makes you an option."

It is strange, but this quote made my entire day better. Perhaps one day I will no longer be just someone's 'option'. I harbor grand delusions, I suppose, since this is simply not how the real world works, at least as far as I have seen and experienced.

Anyway, off to bed with my hot date: the 2009 Arab States Human Development Report. Yeah, after some scare tactics (inadvertent, I might add) by my father, I have decided that it is time to become wedded to my dissertation. At the end of it all, at least I will walk away with my master's degree (and some crazy stories - like being hit by a moving vehicle, being cheered on my runs by homeless men, watching people fish in the Thames), which is an accomplishment that certainly merits a party...and perhaps another trip to the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton (*hint hint*).