cool it

It's Friday. It's time to get the Led out, as they say.

This has been, not to put too fine a point on it, a hell of a week. Just since Wednesday, I've been in meetings as a CFA rep presenting testimonials to the campus president, as an IRB member and CFA representation committee member in a meeting about research protocol compliance, and a meeting of the IRB, in addition to classes. Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot. But it is. And the kind of energy and attention it takes to talk about Augustine in my 9:05 Intro to Phil class, to talk about forming ethics rules in my two Pro Ethics classes, to talk about Borges' "Library of Babel" in my Human Interests and the Power of Information class, and then shift into two different modes of committee-speak, back and forth, repeatedly, is hard to explain.

Academics don't work more or harder than anybody else. If they say they do, they're lying. But I think a reasonably committed academic works in more mind-bending ways in an average week than most people do.

So, Led.