At some point sometime in the future, when people actually read this blog (yes, I know people stop by every now and then), I will receive a message from some stranger, asking "wtf is xor?!" Stranger, this entry is for you.
Our good friend dictionary.com defines xor as "A logical operator that returns a true value if one, but not both, of its operands is true. Also called exclusive OR."
What does this have to blogging? Almost absolutely nothing. It is only relevant in the fact that blogging is the modern equivalent of the ship's ledger. Most blogs deal with personal details of the blogger's life (hence the name "LiveJournal").
And life is ultimately about choices. A large portion of the choices we face in life are irrevocable. For example:
While walking past Widener Library, an attractive member of the opposite sex (or of the same sex, depending on your fancy) smiles at you. Do you:
a. Smile back.
b. Remind yourself to call your significant other when you get home.
c. Scowl.
d. Continue walking past them, only realizing that they smiled at you after it is too late for you to smile back. As recompense, you attempt to smile at the next three people you walk past, who all give you strange looks.
Walking past someone is an event that lasts only a few seconds, yet it happens every single day. The majority of people that I see when I am walking are complete strangers. I do not remember seeing them, nor do I expect to ever see them again. This means the choices that I make in our interactions are virtually permanent; I can only choose once, which makes every missed smile poignant.