As I was climbing the stairs to our condo yesterday, breathing hard under the weight of three bags of dog food, I started to think about winter. The snow, the ice, the way the wind off the lake just cuts through people. I thought about taking Jake outside in the front court yard or late at night in the playground across the street, made into a ghost town by the bitter season. I remember how Jake made the winter blues that always envelope me so much more bearable. His salty paw prints on my new gleaming hardwood floors were a small price to pay.
I also thought how strange it was that this will be our second winter in the same place. I haven't lived in a an apartment for any more than 9 months or so since I moved to Chicago. It feels good to lay down some roots.

I've been thinking a lot about morality lately, and what that means for me. What that word means, really. I've always thought of things as right or wrong... and I've always seen the room for grey area, too. But I really began to consider what it all meant for me as an atheist. I guess I realized that all along I had never done things in fear of hell, or in pursuit of heaven... but I did them because I knew they were right... or wrong... or in between. And though some of the things I feel strongly about may seem silly or inconsequential, they are nevertheless on my list, important to me, if only me, and thinking about living my life by these principles makes me excited.
**Shop local as often as you can. Support local business. Local businesses create a nieghborhood, really. And as much as I love Target, it does nothing for the landscape or community on Peterson Ave. Often local is more expensive, but it's usually always beeter.
**Thinking about the environment is not a new agey hippy thing. It's sort of our responsibility. And buying a canvas grocery bag is not enough.
**I've learned the difference between hearing other people out, and tolerating ignorance. I used to be able to say, "You know, agree to disagree." But where would we be if we all just decided to gracefully avoid racial inequity, gender inequity? We still do. But at least some people were brave enough to say, "No! Your ignorance is not an opinion I have to accept and make room for!" I'm tired of making room for people like this.
**Your feelings on sexual morality are perhaps right for you. They are probably not exactly right for every other person. Stop thinking you hold the answers.
**Not everyone wants to get married, have babies, or do other conventional things. Asking people incessantly when they will do these things, and then prying when they say they don't ever want to, shows your lack of creativity. There are so many fulfilling ways to live a life.
**Traveling is important.
**Reading is important.
**The show you have to watch on TV, that you skip studying for, skip reading a really good book for, skip having sex with your partner for, probably isn't that good and you'll not remember much about the show in a couple of days.
**Take advantage of the fact that we are not the past generation. There is a lot more we can do. Do it.

...there are more, I guess. These are just some of the ones I have been thinking most about lately.