“Sorry sorry sorry sorry…”

A week or two ago I did something to a friend that was pretty impersonal, even though we’ve known each other since high school. (And there’s not too many people I’m still in touch with from high school.) When they called me out on it (during a text conversation), my response went like this:

...it wasn't just you and I wanted to talk in person but you're right and I'm sorry.

Apologizing for a mistake or for something you forgot is easy. Apologizing for something you actually did deliberately is harder—it’s admitting not only that you …

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Something I’ve noticed when I get tired is that my internal mental clock seems to slow down. I don’t just mean that it takes me longer to do things, I mean my actual perception of time seems to change.

It’s a fairly well established fact that humans have neurons in their brains that fire at a very regular rate; presumably, these both manage regular processes (like a heartbeat, or the contractions of your intestines) and provide your perception of time. Basically, it’s this that lets your brain estimate how long something takes…if the neurons fire, say, 400 times, then it’s…

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Today I was walking from class to office hours, taking stairs two at a time as I usually do, and looking around to see if I was going to pass anyone I know.

At the top of the (outdoor) staircase, heading the other way, was a girl with a face I really have to describe as “crumpled”. Seriously, she looked like she had just been crushed, though about what I have no idea.

It occurred to me to turn around and say hello, what’s wrong…something. Which manifested itself only as a catch in my step after we had already passed.…

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