Words...

Since we last spoke, I've moved in and out of a period of crippling loneliness and existential panic (as one does) and entered writing binge on full attack mode. Music's great, but I think it's words that soothe my savage beast. Yes. Beast.

I just completed a fairly coherent first draft of an essay about songs and singing in The Odyssey, and I think I really hit gold with my argument here, although I'm a little worried my tutor will interpret it as going off on a tangent... I'm not sure if I'm overestimating my intelligence or underestimating hers. Both probably. Anyhow, I'm discussing the implications of song in the epic with regard to identity and autonomy. I won't go into it much, because I'm paranoid the anti-plagiarism software will pick this up and blame me for ripping off the blog I wrote two hours after I finished the essay (because that makes sense). But I swear, it's nifty.

I've also officially officially started writing my book about my time in Kenya (one can only outline so much), which is quite exciting! I'm not really restricting it in terms of voice just yet, so at the moment it's more of a stream of consciousness than anything else. This being said, I haven't boarded the first flight yet, so any claims I make now about the whole thing are purely conjecture.

Also on the writing front, thanks to my dear friend the Mollusk, I have now been turned on to NaNoWriMo. "What is this nonsense?!" you ask. "National Novel Writing Month," I reply as I smoothly deliver the link. "Isn't the internet an absolute wonder?" I ask. Basically, you write 50,000 words in 31 days. The website is there for moral support and posting your novel in order to feel special. Also it just gives you an excuse to write a bunch. When you're a full-time student who is really paranoid about things you "should" be doing, things like this are useful. So, yeah. I'm going to write a novel this November. While also keeping up with coursework. While also writing my Kenya book.

"... What is this nonsense?!" you still ask.

To Begin

It is late evening in St Andrews, and rain is pouring outside my window. The double bed in my dorm room is neatly made, but the Ikea alphabet duvet cover is strewn with random, damp articles of clothing. The desk is cluttered as usual but in a charming way, of course. 

My tea has reached the Goldilocks zone of hot beverages. The one in which I won't subject my tongue to a steaming and, well, the tea won't be cold. 

I'm not exactly sure why I'm writing this and I'm not sure I'll ever be moved to write another post ever again. But I just rather felt like it tonight. Today I decided to consider law school instead of academia. This is a pretty large leap for me, someone studying anthropology. It completely baffles me how this came around, but somehow it just kind of makes sense at this point. I want to achieve something in my life and make some sort of positive change that isn't completely arbitrary and personal. And simply put, I'm fed up with idiots who don't know what justice is (see below). 

I think it was yesterday I heard about Malala Yousufzai -- fourteen years old -- shot in the head by members of the Taliban in Pakistan. She was attacked because she advocated for education. She was attacked on a school bus. Malala survived (meaning she's in stable condition after highly invasive brain surgery), but the Taliban says they plan to attempt the murder again. Something about this struck me on a personal level. This young girl, braver than anyone I know and thought anyone could be, was cut down for wanting something I consider to be one of the most fundamental rights of an individual living within a society. The fact that someone was shot for wanting something so simple as that in the year 2012 astounded me. 

It got me thinking. Let's be honest. What am I fighting for if I get a Ph.D. in palaeopathology? What ideal would I be pursuing? Whose lives would I be affecting? And the answers to all of these questions were severely disappointing. I just find that I cannot live my life solely for myself when people like Malala are getting shot for what they believe. So... Maybe law. 

More on this at a later time. 

Night night.