Zoo Life

My mom says that I didn't like the zoo when I was little. She says it was probably because there was too much walking involved. I think it was probably a combination of that and the fact that to my five year old mind, there was little payoff for all the effort. You stare at a bored and confined animal for a couple of minutes and then you leave. What's the point?

Ten years later, I simultaneously love and hate the zoo, or rather the whole idea of a zoo. It's genuinely interesting to see wild animals up close; I would never have the opportunity elsewhere. Still, it seems somewhat cruel to lock up those wild animals in a space that is one hundredth, or maybe one thousandth, of where they would live if they were in the wild. Sure, they get a good diet and health care (isn't it funny how animals get better health care than people?), but how much does that mean when you're basically a prisoner? I'd rather take my chances in the real world than be guaranteed food and medical care in a jail. One on hand, it's an intensely euphoric moment to realize that a lion is only 30 feet away from you. It's equally depressing to realize that that lion ought to be three thousand miles away from you.

Also: did anyone else not know who Ricky Martin was before today? Does anyone else fail to understand why people are so excited about the fact that he's gay? So are 100 million other people. How exciting.

Also also: Did you know that John Green went to Kenyon College? This makes me want to go there at least ten times more. This also makes me feel like there's a bigger chance of me being extremely disappointed if I don't get in, which is quite likely (they accept 440 students per year. JESUS).

Related: are you guys starting to get sort of, how should I say, freaked out about applying to college? I was never too concerned about it in middle school or even last year but when I hear people talking about how they've known they wanted to go to XYZ college since they were ten years old, I get nervous. Maybe it's because I go to a school that has an IB program and some of those parents are on the pushy side (i.e. THEY ARE REALLY PUSHY). I don't know, I just feel like I should have been more concerned with college when I was younger, even though the logical part of my brain is saying "that is bullshit; people who have not yet hit teenagerdom should not be in any way concerned with which college they will attend." Look at Rory from Gilmore Girls. She wanted to go to Harvard her WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE, and did she go there? NO. She voluntarily CHOSE Yale instead. And while I don't even want to go to an Ivy League college (even if I had a chance of getting in - which I don't - I wouldn't want to), it goes to show that things change and everyone should CHILL THE FUCK OUT accordingly.