My homepage has been pretty empty recently because I just haven’t thought of anything to write about. It’s also a problem when I call home, or home calls…not much to say.

One thing I have been doing lately is catching up on other people’s blogs. My friends with blogs don’t update very frequently, so I had to branch out, and one of the people who I haven’t read about for a while is Aaron Swartz. You may remember Aaron as the home-schooled tech genius who is now a freshman at Stanford. Or maybe you don’t.

I stopped reading Aaron because, while I find him highly enlightening in some areas, much of what he writes is not informed by…I dunno…wisdom. Meaning, he is intelligent, well read, and thinks a lot, he is inquisitive and highly interested in the world, all of which I like, but he kinda lacks the ability to think about things from multiple angles and see them in a social context. He also sometimes lacts tact.

So while I’m here (tactfully ;)) analyzing someone who I don’t know except through some blog postings, I might as well also note that he is dumb.

Not in general, just in this specific instance. If I met someone who wrote things like this and wanted to be my friend, I would put down my damn book and talk to her. I think that most of Aaron’s commenters agree, and I hope he will heed their wisdom. I’ve learned that college is not so much about the book learning as about the personal development. Take advantage of the freshman year window to make some good friends, because after that it gets harder.

Aaron is young and smart and perceptive, and I have no doubt that he is going to figure out all of these social things pretty quickly now that he is in an environment full of people. Good luck, Aaron!

One thing Aaron is taking advantage of is the wonderful opportunities of Stanford, many of the reasons why I wanted to go there. There are constant talks and lectures and meetings about really fascinating stuff with really fascinating people, something we don’t get enough of here at Brandeis. I’m sure not many of the Stanford undergrads understand the opportunities available to them, and I’m glad Aaron does. I feel like when I’m older if I’m not working at a university (I probably won’t be) it would be nice to live near one, and I’ll have to do more to keep track of what is going on at them. For instance, I’ve gone to one speech at Harvard Law School (Larry Lessig, of Stanford), and there have probably been a lot more I would have liked to go to, had I been paying attention and had the time to drive over there, find a place to park, figure out where things are on campus, etc.

I should do that.

On a completely seperate note, this $3.50, 350 calorie Healthy Choice turkey meal is not bad at all.