Derek and I are just truckin' along here in Denver. Have reached the half way point in the quarter and it looks like hopefully this quarter will only contain two major melt downs by Melissa. They were pretty bad this time, but we made it through. One took place in the library when I had the overwhelming realization of exactly how much work lay ahead of me over the next couple weeks and then other happened a few days later when I realized once again exactly how much work lay ahead of me and that nothing had changed since the last realization except that I had done NOTHING and my time for completion was shorter!!!!!!! I cried it out (snot and hiccups and all) with Derek being supportive (and probably wishing he was single), got myself back on track and decided to cut down on some other things until after finals. What a novel idea! Derek on the other hand is Mr. Studious. Seriously. Blah, blah. Such good priorities and all that....
It is officially fall and on occasion it seems to be pretending to be winter. It is cold today and was yesterday too. Derek offered to bring the winter clothes up from the basement, but I am just not ready to commit to that yet, although I have brought out the humidifier and we are excited to do a little skiing.
We are approaching our one year Denver anniversary mark. Can you believe it? I feel like we have both grown and changed so much. Much of this growing and changing has come at a disappointing cost as I realize that the world is much more messed up then I ever thought possible. This realization has come in small doses and then all at once something big will hit me which takes me a few days to recover from (see Confessions of an Economic Hitman). Recently I was watching a documentary on the Dark Ages from Netflix (yes, for fun, I know, I know, get a life) and got hung up on the way they described the situation back then. The historians and scholars emphasized how disease/famine, misconstrued religious ideals and corrupt leadership all played an equal role in creating the climate of violence, death and hopelessness that was the Dark Ages in Europe. What really got me thinking is how that description is the exact way much of Africa is described today. It shouldn't be that way. Look at how far we have come as a human race. Look at all the lessons we should have learned. We have the Internet and vaccines and penicillin and airplanes. We have knowledge upon knowledge about best practices, human rights, culture.
What is really discouraging is that much of the situations in Africa are correctable. Oh no. Stop. I have to go back to finish work on "Disappointments over Democracy in South Africa" by Melissa Eli.
PS: Please don't think I am a down and outer. It's the gloomy weather. I believe things will get better here in the US and other places, but I also believe it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The title of The Week last week was "A Bitter Farewell to the Free Market" and true, true, but I believe it will be a long and painful death.
It is officially fall and on occasion it seems to be pretending to be winter. It is cold today and was yesterday too. Derek offered to bring the winter clothes up from the basement, but I am just not ready to commit to that yet, although I have brought out the humidifier and we are excited to do a little skiing.
We are approaching our one year Denver anniversary mark. Can you believe it? I feel like we have both grown and changed so much. Much of this growing and changing has come at a disappointing cost as I realize that the world is much more messed up then I ever thought possible. This realization has come in small doses and then all at once something big will hit me which takes me a few days to recover from (see Confessions of an Economic Hitman). Recently I was watching a documentary on the Dark Ages from Netflix (yes, for fun, I know, I know, get a life) and got hung up on the way they described the situation back then. The historians and scholars emphasized how disease/famine, misconstrued religious ideals and corrupt leadership all played an equal role in creating the climate of violence, death and hopelessness that was the Dark Ages in Europe. What really got me thinking is how that description is the exact way much of Africa is described today. It shouldn't be that way. Look at how far we have come as a human race. Look at all the lessons we should have learned. We have the Internet and vaccines and penicillin and airplanes. We have knowledge upon knowledge about best practices, human rights, culture.
What is really discouraging is that much of the situations in Africa are correctable. Oh no. Stop. I have to go back to finish work on "Disappointments over Democracy in South Africa" by Melissa Eli.
PS: Please don't think I am a down and outer. It's the gloomy weather. I believe things will get better here in the US and other places, but I also believe it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The title of The Week last week was "A Bitter Farewell to the Free Market" and true, true, but I believe it will be a long and painful death.
