This is a fucking disgrace.
At New York University, a bunch of spoilt naive twats have staged a 2-day long protest against the way that their university is run. Read all about it. It wasn’t a peaceful protest though, they “stormed” the building, causing damage and injury. It really is pathetic.
Ames at Submitted to a Candid World has a couple of very good articles about the situation with TBNYU, with this nice summary of the ridiculousness:
American South, 1960s: brave black Americans refuse to budge from segregated restaurants, risking injury, imprisonment, and death to stand for equality. China, 1989: college students take to the streets, many giving their lives to stand for democracy. Iran, 1999: college students riot, risking their lives to stand against theocracy. Manhattan, 2009: privileged white college students risk a slap on the wrist to stand for… a look at the school budget, and redress for self-inflicted wounds.
What more is there to be said? These people have lost their way(s?).
There are very few places where I feel I can write completely contendedly. I require relaxation, peace and quiet, comfort (seat, climate, posture), a clear head and good writing tools. I do love my pens.
Satisfying such requirements can be problematic. I’m not OCD about this; it’s doesn’t have to be exact, but each aspect is important. I can still function reasonably well with the majority still satisfied – for example, right now I have a very slight headache (not a clear head) and farts brewed from my roast chicken dinner linger in the stale air (comfort). This chair is a bit shit too.
If there’s one thing you should know about writing, it’s that for the majority of the time spent writing, no words leave the pen. To be able to know what you want to write, you first must know what you think, what you believe. Writing is – or should be – polished thought, and nothing less. It is the necessity for deep and careful thought which makes the relaxation, comfort, and peace and quiet so important.
At home, I never have much of a problem with writing. Being in my own space with my own kit, all that can go wrong is me. And it does, all the time. If I had a choice, I would write thousands and thousands of words every day, but there’s so much working against this that it’s just impossible. Sometimes I’m too tired, sometimes I’m too busy, and sometimes I’m just not in the mood. I can’t be bothered. Even at home, the most controlled writing environment that I have, I usually find barely an hour or two every week to sit down and write.
Having to write is something else entirely, and something that I do not enjoy at all. No time was this realised moreso than during Higher English – especially at the exams. One of the papers lasted 90 minutes, during which I had to write two critical essays.
The first of my requirements for good writing is violated immediately: relaxation. It’s an exam, for fucks sake, with a ridiculously short time allowance. I can’t think well under pressure, hence I can’t write well. How about peace and quiet? Well, it’s certainly quiet in there, but a room so full of such nervous tension and rabid scribbling is anything but peaceful. The comfort’s gone too. Shitty wobbly tables and crappy plastic chairs. Awful fluorescent lighting.
And then there’s me – tired, nervous, and under pressure. At least I can still choose my own pen.
For some reason I just can’t seem to get into shows set in Seattle, which are almost always filmed up in British Columbia. I don’t know why, but a guess: because they’re shit.
There’s Kyle XY, which whilst being OK, is just pretty boring. And then there’s The 4400. I watched the first episode of this a couple of weeks ago, and last night I finished the first season (only 5 episodes long). The premise is initially intriguing – some people were abducted over the 20th century and returned with special abilities.
But something’s not doing it for me. Maybe it’s the mediocre writing (leading to boring acting). Maybe it’s the simplicity of the story (I don’t really give a shit what’s going to happen). Maybe it’s because “Seattle” feels like such a small-town isolated boring place. It’s also too predictable for me, at least so far.
For the first time in months, I was bored when I watched this. I doubt that I will proceed any further.
Like, Robin fat.
After finished Battlestar Galactica seasons 1 & 2, I took a little break. There was only so long that I could stay away from it though, and having watched the Resistance Webisodes, I am now onto the third season. Wish me luck.
