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The new semester starts in the morning, so I'm having a late night of marking final exams for my second year quantum mechanics module.
(Go me and my rockstar lifestyle!)
Getting through 169 exam scripts is particularly boring, so I've been playing classic 80s videos and petting Stumpy to keep me company.[*]
Winds of Change by The Scorpions just came on the mix. It made my think of this entry, which I wrote back in the Summer of 2013.[**] That entry was a happy and hopeful piece, reflecting on the state of the world following a lovely 10K run that started in Gorky Park and followed along the Moskva River.
Gods, how things have changed.
On my bedside table sits It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, the 1935 biography of our so-called President. After years of inaction, I have been to two different rallies this week. Following decades of rising inequality caused by neo-liberalism, we are at a tipping point. I hope that we can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old. I fear that a new age of facisms stands ready to consume the West -- particularly the country of my birth (and if that happens, can my adopted country be far behind?).
I'm using the anarcho-syndalist icon for this post, though I don't know if I am an Anarchist anymore. That identity -- held for over two decades -- relied on a fundamental belief in human beings to be both good and capable of making sound decisions on a significant scale. I'm not saying anything definitive yet... just that I am doing a lot of questioning.
So much more I could say but, for now, there are still 36 more quantum mechanics exams that need marking... and I have a lecture to give in the morning... and a draft of a research proposal to submit on Tuesday.
Maybe more later, if anyone's still on Livejournal to read it.
[*] This is made somewhat awkward by the fact that Stumpy wants to sit in the office chair. Every time I stand up, she steals it. She is an unrepentent seat thief! Even worse, if I lean forward, she will sit behind me and stretch out, until I am sitting at the very edge of the chair. If I try to take any more room than that, she complains and makes annoyed cat noises at me.
[**] How was that three and a half years ago??!
(Go me and my rockstar lifestyle!)
Getting through 169 exam scripts is particularly boring, so I've been playing classic 80s videos and petting Stumpy to keep me company.[*]
Winds of Change by The Scorpions just came on the mix. It made my think of this entry, which I wrote back in the Summer of 2013.[**] That entry was a happy and hopeful piece, reflecting on the state of the world following a lovely 10K run that started in Gorky Park and followed along the Moskva River.
Gods, how things have changed.
On my bedside table sits It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, the 1935 biography of our so-called President. After years of inaction, I have been to two different rallies this week. Following decades of rising inequality caused by neo-liberalism, we are at a tipping point. I hope that we can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old. I fear that a new age of facisms stands ready to consume the West -- particularly the country of my birth (and if that happens, can my adopted country be far behind?).
I'm using the anarcho-syndalist icon for this post, though I don't know if I am an Anarchist anymore. That identity -- held for over two decades -- relied on a fundamental belief in human beings to be both good and capable of making sound decisions on a significant scale. I'm not saying anything definitive yet... just that I am doing a lot of questioning.
So much more I could say but, for now, there are still 36 more quantum mechanics exams that need marking... and I have a lecture to give in the morning... and a draft of a research proposal to submit on Tuesday.
Maybe more later, if anyone's still on Livejournal to read it.
[*] This is made somewhat awkward by the fact that Stumpy wants to sit in the office chair. Every time I stand up, she steals it. She is an unrepentent seat thief! Even worse, if I lean forward, she will sit behind me and stretch out, until I am sitting at the very edge of the chair. If I try to take any more room than that, she complains and makes annoyed cat noises at me.
[**] How was that three and a half years ago??!
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