Ten Things I Hated About Me
Stolen from likeiwassaying, here's ten things I would tell the me of five years ago, back at age 20 in the summer of '03.

1. Ditch the horse. If you have to wait for Elaine, do it. If you have to look for better, do it. But you don't really like her, and all this time is just getting you comfortable with settling. Do better.
2. It's time to stop doing the serial format. You aren't getting the feedback you want, and it isn't doing the right things for your writing. Sit on these ideas for a while. The good ones will keep anyway.
3. Lose the beard. Trim it down to a goatee.
4. Stop pretending to give a crap about things you don't give a crap about. It's only hurting you in the long run.
5. Start planning for the long-term instead of the right now. It's closer than you think.
6. In seven months you are going to face a choice. If you get involved, there will be moments of beauty mixed in with a whole lot of garbage, and ultimately you're not going to be forever there anyway. You might want to start thinking about which option is really better right now.
7. When you get FFXI, just play a White Mage.
8. He's a better friend than you think. Try to be better about not losing touch.
9. Leave the anime club. It's been a long time since you cared.
10. Spend a bit less money, would you? You don't even like Star Wars, leave the game on the shelf.

On a slightly related note, a conversation from Elaine and I yesterday:

Elaine: "When I get old, I want to be so grizzled that I -"
Me: "You can't be grizzled. We're going to be married, it doesn't work."
Elaine: "Well, I meant after you died."
Me: "All of my plans involved you dying first, and me being an attractively stern older widower."
Elaine: "Oh, I get it. You wanted a hot younger wife."
Me: "Now that's not true. My plans didn't include marrying her."