A...strange week
This week has been...I dunno...strange. Something about it just doesn't seem real...I can't quite place my finger on it. I don't know if it's because of the new mandatory sleeping and eating policies I'm enacting in my life to keep myself from burning out, or the way things have been going in the lab, or the elections, or what. Maybe some combination of those things.
I almost never care about politics...normally I prefer to let the people who are only interested in talking just talk to themselves while I team up with people who actually want to make a difference and go for it. But now...I know where to go to read our actual California constitution. This week I learned the difference between the civil code and the actual constitution. For the first time ever in my life, I watched the concluding speeches of both presidential candidates, McCain promising his support for President Obama, and the new big man excited and ready to take on the world. I don't know what it was, but watching President Obama walking across that stage with his wife and kids...it kinda gave me hope. I don't know how else to describe it, the future just seemed brighter. On a campaign founded on change, all I can wonder is, "Are we changing for better....or for worse?" I guess only time will tell.
It's nice being in the protective shell of grad school; it keeps me safe from a lot of the real world stuff...a world full of hatred. Apparently today there was massive protesting in Westwood...people either protesting for or against prop 8 I think...I really don't care at this point. Streets blocked off, cops beating people down...meanwhile I'm safe in my lab...getting in at 8am and not leaving until well after 8pm, missing all the hours of disruption. The media I'm sure is loving all the hatred mounting right now as a result of all the different outcomes of the election; it becomes more and more clear that even the most righteous leader can't keep the people of this country from tearing each other apart. I had such a clear picture today of how a society built up on hatred, fear, and self-centeredness could destroy itself in an instant, with even the most active leaders helpless in the fray. Obama's passion for change may bring me hope, but the reality of the hatred and pride instilled in everyone shows me that no one will want to change.
The only change anyone wants is for the rest of society to change for them.
Maybe I'm just thinking about the chance I have of losing my little 'protective shell' this quarter. With Dr. Liao threatening all his students, not to mention the fact that it looks like we might have to move out of this apartment in the next month or two, due to some very...unique...circumstances, I don't know what things are going to look like in January. It's not that I'm worried, whatever happens happens, I just have this feeling that a lot of tough battles are around the corner; like this week is just a foretaste of things to come.
Oh well. In the words of one of my favorite super heroes, Super Chicken: "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it." That I did, Super Chicken...that I did.
I almost never care about politics...normally I prefer to let the people who are only interested in talking just talk to themselves while I team up with people who actually want to make a difference and go for it. But now...I know where to go to read our actual California constitution. This week I learned the difference between the civil code and the actual constitution. For the first time ever in my life, I watched the concluding speeches of both presidential candidates, McCain promising his support for President Obama, and the new big man excited and ready to take on the world. I don't know what it was, but watching President Obama walking across that stage with his wife and kids...it kinda gave me hope. I don't know how else to describe it, the future just seemed brighter. On a campaign founded on change, all I can wonder is, "Are we changing for better....or for worse?" I guess only time will tell.
It's nice being in the protective shell of grad school; it keeps me safe from a lot of the real world stuff...a world full of hatred. Apparently today there was massive protesting in Westwood...people either protesting for or against prop 8 I think...I really don't care at this point. Streets blocked off, cops beating people down...meanwhile I'm safe in my lab...getting in at 8am and not leaving until well after 8pm, missing all the hours of disruption. The media I'm sure is loving all the hatred mounting right now as a result of all the different outcomes of the election; it becomes more and more clear that even the most righteous leader can't keep the people of this country from tearing each other apart. I had such a clear picture today of how a society built up on hatred, fear, and self-centeredness could destroy itself in an instant, with even the most active leaders helpless in the fray. Obama's passion for change may bring me hope, but the reality of the hatred and pride instilled in everyone shows me that no one will want to change.
The only change anyone wants is for the rest of society to change for them.
Maybe I'm just thinking about the chance I have of losing my little 'protective shell' this quarter. With Dr. Liao threatening all his students, not to mention the fact that it looks like we might have to move out of this apartment in the next month or two, due to some very...unique...circumstances, I don't know what things are going to look like in January. It's not that I'm worried, whatever happens happens, I just have this feeling that a lot of tough battles are around the corner; like this week is just a foretaste of things to come.
Oh well. In the words of one of my favorite super heroes, Super Chicken: "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it." That I did, Super Chicken...that I did.