I fall into habits in my speech and action so quickly that I have a hard time coping when I start to find them embarassing. Recently, I've been tipping an invisible hat to everyone who leaves the office. Christ. I also can't stop calling clever or smart moves, "slick." Objectively, these are far from the worst ticks of my history, but I would like to be able to wave goodbye again. Instead, it is happy trails to every Emory student. My go-to adjective can be used to describe a good lube. I recognize that these too will pass away, going the way "swank," "choice," and the opera voice. They'll be haunting my old habits graveyard by January. In the meantime, though, they are coloring my normally sitcomesque life cartoonish.

I am no Bugs Bunny. I am no Wile E. Coyote. I feel oddly out of place. If this is the way adult life is going, I hope the Acme anvil drops soon and ends my misery.