Monday:

Why don’t you subscribe to all the magazines you admire at the airport bookshop but refuse to buy because they cost far too much? I’ve discovered that you can subscribe to them for a year for the cost of about two issues on the newsstand. I now get National Geographic History, W, Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic, Martha Stewart Living, Architectural Digest, and I just subscribed to Vman. I get some others, too, but I’ve forgotten. I’m thriving. I love magazines.

Tuesday:

Why don’t you get it into your head that you’re only going to live once and that you really should do what you want instead of taking the long and tedious road to death? I’m enrolled in a teacher education program and I’m thrilled to teach history, truly, but I’m realizing that it’s not for me forever. If I don’t get a degree in Egyptology, I think I will have truly wasted my life. All the Egyptologists I’ve ever met and those that I’ve read have told me to seek a more traditional career. But that’s not for me, I don’t think. I’ll never be truly satisfied if I don’t do it.

Wednesday:

Why don’t you learn more languages so that you can expand your literary horizons? I can already read English and French, which has been tremendously useful. Now I’m working on having the ability to read German and Spanish. It’ll be so beneficial to read old scholarly texts that have never been translated. Then I’ll move on to Italian and Latin and Arabic and life will be just dandy.

Thursday:

Why don’t you watch a bunch of Ted Talks and broaden your mind? I recently watched a riveting one by Jane Goodall. She’s a delight, and every time I see her, I’m reminded of this bizarre little want I have to be a primatologist. Probably won’t get around to that one. Too bad I can’t live forever. Just last night, I watched a TED Talk with Pope Francis who talked about the need to include everybody to make a more inclusive world. He’s quite a fascinating fellow. I feel I learn so much from these little lectures.

Friday:

Why don’t you make sure you never stay up for over twenty-four hours? Last night, for reasons that are still a mystery, I could not fall asleep. It was infuriating. I laid in bed trying every method possible to convince my body to enter sleep mode, but absolutely nothing did anything. I was up for like thirty-four hours. This wasn’t healthy. I felt like I was slowly going insane. Not really very tired, mind you, just somewhat deranged. So, take my advice, sleep all you can.