Turns out there’s another 24 year-old male Lee Langer. Although he lists his hometown as Margaritaville, Zimbabwe, I’m going to take a wild stab and assume he’s American. Here’s a link to his MySpace page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53705812

What were the chances this unfortunate event would occur? I checked US 2000 census data and found that there are about 10 million American “men” between the ages of 20 and 24. Assuming an even distribution in that range, this means there are roughly 2 million 24 year-old males1. Another site lists the 1990 prevalence of “Langer” in America to be somewhere conservatively around 1 in 5000, which gives a (now very rough) estimate of about 400, 24 year-old Langers in this country2. This only leaves the “Lee” density. A “popular names” site lists that of all male, 1982 births, only 0.1171% (2205) were lucky enough to be named Lee3. I won’t show the math, but there’s about a 37% chance that a third, similarly-aged Lee Langer is out there, so this guy and I are probably it. If you haven’t checked out his page, do so now and you will realize why I’m upset.

Let’s get this straight, bucko..."Lee": There can be only one.

Moving on.

I’ve recently found myself wishing I were elderly. Not for the discounts or the ability to shove kids around at amusement parks, which doubtless will be sweet, but more for the slower pace of life. I’ve read/heard a number of times that that as you grow older, the ecstatic highs and dismal lows of youth eventually level off into the gently rolling seas of seen-it-all-before. I long to relax on those soft waves in a little boat, wearing shorts, dress shoes, and calf-length black socks, pushing children at my leisure. Till then, I’ll make the most of the fast-paced, emotion-laden life my metabolism and brain have saddled me with, which, for your reading pleasure, will continue to be the material for this blog.

(Grinding gears)

The news is in! I don’t have an inflamed prostate! wait, no…ahem: I’m going to UNC for graduate school in neurobiology! Yes, as many of you know I was pulling for Duke. Some of you even told me that you were sure that I would get in. As it turns out, I’ve been keeping a list of those people, and I’m sure those people will soon be hearing from me and subsequently an orthopedic surgeon. To be honest, I’m a little relieved things worked out the way they did. In my heart, I was beginning to realize that UNC offered a better atmospheric fit for my personality. Duke would have been great, but it would have been a strained relationship. In other news, the fox is reporting that those grapes he couldn’t reach looked sour and rotten anyway.

With school starting sometime in August, this leaves me with only a few months before a minimum five-year period where most of my time will be spoken for, albeit with my consent. How should I spend the intervening time? Should I work at my current job till the last possible day, saving for the next half-decade of bare-bones wages? Yes I certainly should, but no, I certainly will not. I have plans that I’ve yet to discuss with anyone else they will impact, so I’ll do that before I put them in writing. Till next time.

1http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs.pl?cty=US&out=s&ymax=250
2http://www.hamrick.com/names/
3http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/