After previously doubting the stature of OS X Leopard, I am now writing to let the world know that I have indeed upgraded.

My decision to do so was affected by many things. The most persuasive influence was undoubtedly Mr Swope's generous offer to allow me to use one of the installations on his Family Pack; as you can imagine, this was the most influential force in my decision. Had the opportunity not arisen, I would not be typing this post, and I would be bereft of the cool translucent menu bar and the 3-D dock with its icy blue LED-like indicator lights. (I also wouldn't be investing in another gig of RAM, but that's another matter altogether.)

I must say I'm enjoying Leopard a lot. The upgrade was extremely simple, and best of all it kept all of my applications and files from Tiger. The visual effects (Dashboard, Spaces, Exposé) are a lot more responsive, and I'm assuming it has to do with the coding itself since they weren't as streamlined in Tiger. Safari and iChat's new features are rather taxing on my poor dial-up connection, so I can't really give an honest opinion about either, although I am a huge fan of the WebClips feature in Safari. I'm greatly impressed with the new features in PhotoBooth/iChat, which made the underwater background possible, although the disturbing grin is my own doing (and my own undoing, I'm sure).

I haven't gotten to use Leopard much since I upgraded, so this weekend I hope to look around some more and uncover new and wondrous things in it (Biblical allegory, anyone?). So far my conclusion is thus: if switching to a Mac is the equivalent of salvation, then Leopard is promotion to sainthood.

If you ever do something stupid, blame it on a disease.

That's what everyone's doing now, especially when it comes to academic achievement. Don't mind the hyperactive people in your class, because they all have ADHD. And the neat freak of the class? Just another textbook case of OCD. And we can't possibly fault the innumerable people who suffer from depression, or the moody bipolar crowd either. Everywhere there are diseases up for grabs––just pick the one that suits your particular exonerative need.

I don't mean to be insensitive towards people who genuinely suffer from the above conditions, which is why I'm so annoyed at people who pretend to have OCD just because they express preferences, or hide behind what they think is ADHD just because they're easily excited. I'm sure you've encountered such people: they do something absolutely ridiculous, and then brush it off with a "Don't mind me, I'm ADD" or whatever their disorder du jour is. Most, if not all of the people I'm talking about have never had a doctor diagnose them with any such deficiency. So what I'm saying is, odds are that few of the gothic/emo people at your school actually suffer from clinical depression. Like most of humanity, they just suffer from perpetual idiocy.

And one last consideration: as far as I know, people have disorders. I have never known a person who was actually the disorder per se. It makes no sense to say "I'm OCD" unless you happen to be the physical embodiment of serotonin. The next time you find someone referring to themself as a disorder, flick them on the nose as hard as you can. I'm serious.