Sui Generis is aptly applied to the essay

Are you between 20-29 years old? Can you write in English? You may be eligible to win $20,000. That is, if you can write an essay better than Sui Generis can. Wanna go head-to-head in a contest of words against the SG? Random House is soliciting nonfiction essays "about, but not limited to, the following subjects: Family, Career, Sex, Society, and Self." Instructions that vague would seem to bestow a hefty portion of artistic license, but they narrow it down a bit by requiring the essay to discuss "something that defines you as a member of this burgeoning generation."

Hmm.

Something that defines me? If you've been reading this blog* for any length of time I'm sure you've noticed that it suffers from a bit of a personality crisis. Is it about law school? Is it about reading, or writing? Bikes? Dogs? Victorian-era homes? I mean, come on.

How do I define myself, after all? What is the specific "something" about me in particular that sets me apart from the other members of my "burgeoning generation"? That is the question I must answer before I can write an award-winning essay and pocket twenty large. But what a question!--it gets at the heart of my very self and soul--I've got some digging to do. I'd better get started. Although, with the deadline located conveniently at the end of National Novel Writing Month, I'm hard-pressed to resist the temptation to procrastinate and write the whole mess in one bloody night.

*and what is this blog except a series of short nonfiction essays about myself?