I finished Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain, Gladwell’s David and Goliath, and Howey’s WOOL series (books 1-5). I began writing again, especially poetry – developing curriculum for a couple of writing camps I was working at along the way. This Δ/t shift inspired me to take a more proactive approach to life. On one of my last days in Seattle, I visited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center after lunch at the Space Needle. It was a humbling experience to see all the active work they do to improve the lives of people around the world, and it put my resolve over the edge. If it is possible that I can improve the thoughtstream of the human collective, I’d like to begin my journey down yet another pathway where I can add a few of my own thoughts to the fray.

You are so, so lucky that you are realizing all of this as a high school junior. I'm not a whole lot older than you but I'm old enough to realize that the earlier you understand how simple and fun and effective it is to try to better yourself and contribute to everything around you, the faster you get to a good place.

hubski's really good for that sort of thing. I set aside about 20 minutes of my day yesterday -- 20 minutes that I kind of needed, but hell -- to read and thoroughly understand 38 random maps. I know quite a bit more than I did yesterday, just because of that. Now multiply by about 40. So that's why I use hubski. Also for thenewgreen's tunes.