Monday, May 16, 2005

Blech

Reasons for depression:


  • I feel sick. I thought Saturday I was just lazy, then yesterday I felt like I was getting sick, and today I am. Some kind of lung/sore throat thing that I initially mistook for allergies. Conniption was just here and told me he's got it too, and has for four days. Ugh. According to BroJ, with whom I spent a tedious hour on the phone last evening, Pork Heaven was sick with the same bug for six days.
  • I just read Harper's and The New York Review of Books. Both contain excellent reporting on our 2 major domestic problems: a fervent societal belief in irrational "free market" ideology and the growing Christian fascism bent on media and political dominance. Harper's has a great article by Chris Hedges, whose book War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning will change your life. NYRB has a very interesting review of William Pfaff's The Bullet's Song: Romantic Violence and Utopia, which goes immediately into the 500-deep stack of books I need to read. I've been worried about this problem since I was a teen, because I grew up in scary Christian churches and read Robert Heinlein's "Future History" novels. Heinlein's once-ridiculous vision of the USA as a fundamentalist theocracy looks more possible by the day.
  • I just read Jane's fine postings over at firedoglake; as is often the case, she sums up exactly what I'm worrying about with facts and figures and such.
  • Because it's exam week my grad assistant can't work, so I'm here at the Liberry until midnight tonight and tomorrow night, and it's fucking busy right now.

Reasons NOT to be depressed:

  • Yesterday was the last Sunday I have to work until September.
  • It's finals week, which means all the fucking students will be leaving Towson soon, and my neighborhood will be much quieter for three glorious months.
  • I'm going to drink beer when I get home, and I don't have to wake up tomorrow until 3pm if I choose.