Graduation coming up. Need something to make up when people ask me what I'm going to do with my life.

Tell them you are off to Oxford to start your Rhodes scholarship studies, and you have been scheduled to attend a royal dinner as Pippa Middleton's personal companion.

"I believe I'll have the answer to that by the end of Rumspringa"

Considering you majored in chemistry and biology, I would tell them you are researching a groundbreaking compound that increases the freezing temperature of water so that it stays in solid form at room temperature. If it is dropped in a lake, the entire lake will freeze in the middle of the summer. You plan to further study this compound in graduate school after taking a year off to experience other things.

For some unsolicited life advice, most people you will meet in your entire life will be like your family, even if they have different political beliefs. It would be in your best interest to drop the dismissive attitude towards them, accept them for what they are, and thank them for the support during this transitory time in your life. Being independent with a family drastically changes a persons outlook on things (Although I do believe supporters of the Republicans you mentioned lack abilities in critical analysis and believe whatever they want to hear).

Over the next few days, I would recommend dreaming up fantasy jobs and what you want out of life in the long term. Then figure out ways to pursue the life you desire. Along the way, don't forget that enjoying the present and people around you are most important, but not in a reckless manner.

A more clever things to do in the presence of your relatives would be to ask them about how they ended up in their careers. If the conversation turns towards politics, force them to think deeply about their beliefs to understand what led them to believe what they do. If they do ask the question, have a canned response such as "there's so much information and so many choices and my career priorities got jumbled up during college, I've lost my direction a bit. In the meantime, I'll try to find something to keep my head above water and figure things out along the way." Then they will inevitably ask you what you would life to do in an ideal situation. Don't think too hard about this. Tell them thanks for the advice if they offer any.

Based on the limited information I've obtained about you from your writing, avoiding a truthful answer to their questions is a response to your lack of confidence in where you have arrived in life. It's a defense mechanism. Life's hard for everybody. Everybody has mixed feelings about their families. Being a smartass in front of the people that have come to support you is a not a wise idea. They will see through your insecurity.

And if you made it this far, read this:

http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/paleopsych/2005-May/003252.html

Now if you actually have a job or grad school lined up or a plant, congrats. You did a great job trolling me.

Tell them you are going to become a doomsday prepper

tell them you're thinking about going back for a masters

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.

Look them dead in the eye and say, "I can't really talk about it, but if you've ever seen Flubber, you have an idea of what I'm working on".

Definitely tell them you are doing some consulting, which gives you a flexible schedule - therefore making it easier to write that novel that's been bouncing around in your head.

You are transforming your body into a cyborg to better fight crime.

Say that you're getting into the pimp game - the canine pimp game.

"I want to be the next Christopher McCandless"

Thanks for the advice, but you couldn't be more wrong about me. I have a well-paying job in my field this summer and am applying to PhD programs next fall (I have good grades and experience, I just wanted a year off to travel). I'm not insecure about it at all. I just find no enjoyment being around my relatives and wouldn't even have invited them if I didn't feel like I had to. I also joke around all the time, so it's not me trying to be a smartass to them, it's me being pretty much my usual self to make an otherwise unenjoyable time enjoyable, probably at my own expense as they'll all think I'm nuts if I tell them something like "I'm going to give up all my posessions and go live in the forest for a while." I feel like you're the one who has problems if you're reading so much into a few sentences of mine to lecture me on problems with insecurity.

And no, not trolling. I was just looking for creative ideas like my post said.

I heard there are openings in the Secret Service.

Ok, fair enough. I always said the exact same stuff as you about my family, but they are decent people just very different from me and my values and what I do with my life. The problem wasn't them, it was how I treated them. I hope your family drinks alcoholic beverages because that usually makes family gatherings more fun. If they don't, then that just sucks for everybody.

We all got problems, buddy. My handle is "crazy person" for a reason. It's a lot more fun to embrace your problems than squirm about them.

"I think there's a huge market opportunity for a new breed of porn that doesn't debase women."

Tell them you're going to be a professional neighborhood watch volunteer.

young grad guy wrote:

I have a well-paying job in my field this summer and am applying to PhD programs next fall (I have good grades and experience, I just wanted a year off to travel)