She wasn't sure exactly what to think about being proposed to by a six-year-old. It had made her laugh. After all, he had spent the entire flight trying to woo her, in typical six-year-old fashion: showing off his video game skills, drawing a picture of her (in which she had no hair on the top of her head), and bragging about his new shoes. How could that not make a person laugh? It was just that she was left with the nagging feeling that her love life had hit a new low.

More signs that I am spending too much time with my thesis:

I come up with words like "amorphous" at the drop of a hat, but fail to come up with words for basic, everyday items. Consequently I say things like, "Could you pass me the...that...er...thing? The one on the...over there."

I have difficulty coming up with information that is not related to my thesis. Consequently I say things like "I watched a really good movie. I forget what it was called. It has that guy in it. What's his name? He's in that other movie. You know. The one with that girl with the hair."

My actual understanding of how to dress for the weather has completely disappeared since I am always inside and therefore usually cold. Consequently when I do venture outside I am usually way overdressed and have no idea how to pack for a trip that won't be spent in offices and coffee shops.

Signs I have been spending too much time with my dear thesis:

I come up with words like "tenements" as my first option, and actually can't think of a simpler synonym.

I press Command+S ever time I pause in my typing, even when I am not working in a word document.

I contemplate what kind of attitude toward nature is revealed by a fondness for backyard campfires.

There is a man sitting in the coffee shop who has brought a phone with him. Not a cell phone, mind you, but an actual phone - the kind you would find in someone's house, connected to the wall. I am left pondering the possible reasons for doing this.