I know it's time for school to start when my map directions read "Commerce St Crowdus", and I immediately wonder who Crowdus was and why the church canonized him.
Seriously, though, I'm starting to miss writing papers - that building excitement when you finally ask the right question for your thesis. The silent cheer when you stumble across the perfect passage for your argument that you hoped existed but couldn't quite remember. The confusion and tentative self pat-on-the-back upon re-reading a cogent and artful paragraph you never recall having actually written.* I'm almost to the point of missing research and libraries and electronic databases, but not quite yet. I had a few bad semi-manic moments due to the sheer amount of time I spent in library cubicles last semester.
I think academia is stuffy and overblown. I also think the experiences it can provide, when managed well, are singular and extraordinary. It is a shame many of the books read in a well-rounded university education are only read in universities. It's all a matter of balance. Becoming too absorbed in academics leaves one incapable of dealing with real life, but there are many things discussed in academics that matter. Good, evil, beauty, love, friendship, ethics - these are important and need to be considered.
On a completely different note, I finally saw Dark Knight Rises. Selina Kyle and I would be friends. Good friends. Tom Hardy sold Bane, Alfred was good old Alfred, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robin - well, I want one, please. Dadgum, he was adorable and driven and just...a good guy. And that "Rise" scene. And the army of cops. And the ending, really. I can't believe Nolan got away with that ending without excess sentimentality or triteness. Who writes like that?** *runs off to watch Inception again*
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*To borrow from Gaiman and Pratchett, in the back matter of Good Omens, oftentimes one's work starts to generate text on its own, with no authorial input.
**Wow, I just wrote a paragraph about Batman with no spoilers. I didn't know whether I could manage it.
I LOVED INCEPTION.
ReplyDeleteBut I found a point on which we differ: I do not like writing papers. There are some triumphant moments, but usually I'm just relieved when I finish.