Notes

I am sitting in the cafeteria at the community college (not my uni). I came here today with Kelly First because if I have a biggish assignment due tomorrow and if I try to work at home, I end up doing everything but work. I end up watching movies on Netflix or reading celebrity gossip online or napping. I don't end up reading papers about the vascular pathway effects on induced responses in plants. That's the way The Brain likes it.

So I started out at the library. I call it a library despite the fact that there are only about ten books there. The books are outnumbered by the computers, which is slightly sad. Anyway, I started out in one of the study rooms (yes, with my computer open in front of me) and was very nearly driven out by a man who decided that the library is just the place to talk loudly on his cell phone. I held my ground and held my tongues even when this idiot later asked me if I would watch his stuff while he went to the bathroom.

(And can I just say, am I the only one who, when asked to watch someone else's things, wants to wait until they're out of sight then grab everything and run? Is it only me who wants to rob blind the earnest strangers who trust me? )

This woman cannot be trusted!

Anyway, I eventually needed a change of scenery, so I packed up, went down to the coffee shop in the library, bought a coffee, and then went and found a large, empty study room. I set up my computer again and actually got about another third of my assignment done before another young man came in and sat down with me in my study room. Just me and him and his iPod cranked up so that I could very clearly hear tinny hip-hop music. He wasn't studying. He wasn't reading. He was just sitting, listening to his music, checking his text messages. Chilling. You know, in the same room where I was trying to work.

(On Monday, when I went in to have my teeth cleaned, I had a quick chat with the dentist. For some reason, we ended up talking about the state of young doctors today and how she's terrified of getting old and/or sick because the young people she meets today--the doctors of tomorrow--are so self-absorbed as to seem imbecilic. They're brain damaged by their own conceit.)

I packed up my computer and wandered around a bit. I went to the bookstore and bought some highlighters that I don't need.  I ended up in the cafeteria where I bought a giant diet Pepsi and a bagel. I sat down at a table and I finished my assignment.

Now I only have to catch up with the rest of my studies and I'll be golden.