February 21, 1965

Just the usual: babysitting, assassination, etc.

February 21, 1965

Today wasn't too bad. It just got bad, though. The T.V. broke!! Baw! The Os won't be home until about eleven and it's about 9 now. Ahhh! I'm going to go crazy. Mom stopped over to talk to me this afternoon and just sent over a newspaper and some food. I'm going to record my poem in my diary. I'm not going to tell anyone in my family about it, either.

Malcolm X got killed today. It was horrible, from what I heard.

February 21, 1997

About decisions I have made. I have, in fact, only made a few in my adult life.

Choosing my major: Medium risk, low confidence, ok outcome
Declaring my feelings for Jim: high risk, high confidence, excellent outcome
Going for my MS degree: medium risk, low confidence, excellent outcome
Moving to Maryland: low risk, medium confidence, excellent outcome
Going for my PhD: medium risk, high confidence, good outcome. I could have done better work
Becoming a parent: high risk, medium confidence, awesome experience in every way
Going into administration: medium risk, medium confidence, excellent outcome (personal growth, though at a cost)
Writing the (dead) book: low perceived risk (actually high), low confidence, BAD outcome

Peak experiences: Jim, move to Maryland, parenthood, going into administration

February 21, 2023

My main takeaway from the 1997 analysis of my major life decisions is my increasing confidence. My main takeaway from the 1965 entry is that I wasn’t totally oblivious to national events. The juxtaposition of my babysitting woes and Malcolm X’s assassination is jarring, however.