A sobering perspective from the BBC to begin the week:

• Men in Zimbabwe (the country with the lowest life expectancy) on average do not live past 37
• Women do not live past 34, on average
• This disturbingly low number has fallen by two years in the last 12 months
• The 10 countries with the lowest life expectancies all are in Africa
• Japan has the highest, with people there living on average until 82

It is strange to think that if I had simply been born in Zimbabwe rather than the U.S. (whether because of the alignment of the stars, an act of God, etc.) I would, at 23, already be middle-aged and the entire generation of Baby Boomers, to which my parents belong, would be practically nonexistant.