TwelveLittleGrrrls

Chicago Reader

Oh, the places I've gone.

On Wednesday I began a 15-page paper for my History Of Medieval South Asian Religions class. I think that's what it's called. It may have been the hardest 15 pages I've ever written. In fact, it was only 13 pages. That could be bad, but my sources were hardcore. I mean, half the book was written in Urdu, what can I do? Urdo or Hindi, maybe. Not that I know the difference. So anyway, the paper was due Thursday morning at 9. I worked overnight at the library and handed it in at 8:30. Awesome. But that didn't count the two days before that where I was reading these books and going "WUH?" after every paragraph.

Deadline flatlining. That's normal for me, and everybody knows I have this "problem". But it's not a problem, baby. It's a superpower. I can stay up till the cows come home while writing a 20-page essay about the migratory patterns of cows. Word. Moo. All you need is a diet soda and a dream. There's a corner in the library with microform machines; it's quiet there. So that's where I spent the last night. There was an Indian guy there (I should have asked for some help on my paper, ha ha he he) that studied nonstop from about 10:30 AM (so he said to his friend) to about 3 or 4 in the morning. That guy rules. It sucks he has all that work, but he's gonna make some serious paper someday.

Friday, I needed to recoup. My dude compadres hung out w/o me so's I could get rest. Ali had the fruit punch. I ran some errands, you know, took my momma out to dinner and all that. I should call her back sometime.

Saturday meant prep work for a new paper. I can't start a paper until the last night it's due, and you know it. So lately I've been promising myself to go a day early to the library with my laptop "just in case I'm inspired to write". But I know myself. So I take my books and peruse them. I glean stuff. I learn through osmosis. I get a feel of the literature. I read only the introduction and conclusion, and maybe a couple of pages that look interesting. I left the library at 4 AM, with some American History--"Taylorism, on my mind. Time to get some sleep before the big night.

Sunday, I got up at noon. I ate some carbs. I ate more balogna than carbs though. Either way I needed that food. I was about to step out of the house when I found out Office Space was on. Oh, Oh, Oh, I'd never seen it the whole way through. So I watched it. I was fulfilled. Time to work. I arrived at my library table at 6 PM. That Indian guy was there again! How does he do it? Someone extend his VISA. He stayed until about 3 or 4 again, but his friend was there until like 6. Freakin' amazing. By then, however, the place was mine all mine.

The paper was much easier than my HOMSAR class's, and not just because this one was 12 pages. Still, it was a difficult operation. Some of the sources were sociology, some were industrial science. Some were socialist political mumbo jumbo. One was a literature study. I had to learn the theory behind every "-ism" on every page. Writing was off and on. I lucked out because I'd taken notes on one of the books months ago, but decided to use those notes for this paper instead. They fit perfectly. Bam--three pages right there.

But I got stuck at page 11. How the crap do I fill this out and reach a conclusion? Well my paper's about work efficiency. What if I just quoted Office Space? Duuuude. When you've been up for 24 straight hours (currently 38) that's a GREAT idea. Boom, done. Based on the paper, it's not as crazy an idea as it sounds.

But I just noticed the title of my report: "Taylorism, Production, and Society." DUDE! TPS REPORT! THAT'S AWESOME!