Oh foul business

Work is extremely busy right now so I don't have much time for a well thought out post. Instead, this is a random collection of thoughts spewing forth like putrid vomit from a raging alcoholic.

Apparently, it is possible to get sunburned in London. Last Friday, it was extraordinarily hot, by that, I mean it was in the 80s. Of course, 85 degrees here is really hot because of the urban air pollution that magnifies the effect, but still, it's not like it was 99 like it gets in DC, NY, Chicago, etc. But the Londoners were warned to stay inside between the hours of 11 and 3 and I can attest, it felt pretty damn hot. I didn't get sunburned that day. I knew better. No, I got sunburned on Saturday when it was partly cloudy and in the upper 60s. Don't ask me how. Some people have suggested that the clouds cause the sun to reflect downward and that could be it. Others have mentioned a weak ozone layer or urban pollution. I think it could be all of those combined with the fact that I'm a white boy who burns easy. At any rate, I have healed up and I now have a nice cherubian rosy color splashed across my forehead. Good to have some color.

I'm getting quite tired of Real World of late. Shocking. Her birthday was Wednesday and she was making a huge deal out of it. I got her a card. What really annoys me about her, above and beyond anything else, is her inability to speak the English language. Not only that, we're literally in the last month of our master's program and she still has not learned a single thing. We discussed her thesis yesterday and it became clear that the word "argument" has not entered her vocabulary aside from post-coital pillow talk. It is utterly flabbergasting to me that she could reach this point in her academic career and not understand that it is insufficient to write a paper, not to mention a thesis, that argues that the US violates human rights domestically. As eloquently asked in one of the most annoyingly stupid movies ever, "And then?"

See this is galling to me because frankly I don't think she should be at this point without having understood that arguments have two parts: premise and implication. In fact, I think she should have failed out of the program (although you pretty much have to not be fluent in English to fail out...wait a minute...). At any rate, I gave her a bunch of advice, she took notes, and hopefully she's on her way. I'm just frustrated that she can be so thick headed and that we have to have the same conversation again and again.

I'm also a bit perturbed for more selfish reasons - she has an interview with Amnesty International next week for a good job that she is clearly not qualified for. I know I should wish her the best, but I find that difficult. I don't want the job she applied for - it's a budgeting position more than anything. In fact, I applied for a totally different job that is more up my alley. No, the real problem is that I'm trading on my paper - my degrees, my writing, my experience as is everyone else. The fact that "MA - Webster Graduate School" could carry the same weight for her as it does for me is frustrating. It's clearly not worth the same. I work my ass off in this program, I've learned a lot, I've grown as a thinker and a writer. She has partied her ass off, barely completed the assignments, learned next to nothing, and slid by because they pretty much never fail anyone in grad school. How could she possibly be employable by an organization like Amnesty except in an admin position?

At the end of the day, I know that I'm just espousing petty whines at the moment. But this blog is somewhat of a confessional and a safe place for me to vent this type of frustration. As a human and a friend, of course I want Real World to be successful in whatever venture she engages in. I'm just a bit put off by the idea that, on paper, it looks like we're equal candidates in our field. Of course, I probably would care a whole lot less if I had a job lined up or knew what the hell I was going to do come August, but like I said at the start, it's a selfish complaint.

Anyway, I have some thoughts about my future that I'll be putting in here in the next day or two. I've been thinking an awful lot about it and time is running short but I think I have a plan. Of course, I need to finish this degree first (thesis!) and that means I probably need to quit my job. I'll make that decision once my financial aid is in, but I have to say right now, I'm working all day today and I feel the pressure. I should be in a library or on a computer somewhere. I have much too much work to do and not enough time. Maybe I'll ask for an unpaid leave of absence.

Finally, I was sitting in class yesterday grinning like a pig in sh*t for really no reason at all. Someone asked me later why I enjoyed the class so much. It's globalization (which I think is a great topic because it has incredibly vibrant debate ground) but the prof is not the greatest. Then it dawned on me - this is it. I'm about a month away from the end of school (for the moment). Unlike college where I was eager for the end and celebrated like it was 1999 when it was over, I'm not eager for this to end. Instead, I'm relishing every moment because it's a unique, irreplaceable time in my life that I will always value and cherish. And that's why I'm in such a great mood - because I know how fortunate I am at the moment and I'm making the best of it. Good times.