... and the band played on.

When I was overseas it became abundantly clear to me how people could spend a solid year in research. Now, it has become equally clear as to why it takes folks so long to go through everything. The dictation software I have works pretty well, however, I don't see myself relying on it exclusively. It's certainly helpful when taking notes on material, but there's something to be said for actually typing out text that necessitates thought. One other piece of advise I got this past week (or should I say, received again) was to start writing. Don't worry about going through every single little piece of research. As you write you'll have a better idea of what, exactly, you need, which prevents spending ungodly hours trolling through material you probably won't need. The goal is to chip away at the stone. And that's certainly what I'm trying to do!

In other news. The Red Bull Flutag was in Chicago this past weekend. I went down to check it out with some friends. It was entertaining, but we didn't stay for the whole thing. There were a ton of people there and the novelty wore off after a while. By attending the Flutag I missed a good portion of the Michigan game. They looked pretty good when I left, but as I read the game recap it seemed pretty clear that this was not maintained throughout the rest of the game. I watched a bit of the Notre Dame game, and they looked just as pathetic. Apparently a fourth quarter rally enabled them to beat a team they were trailing for most of the game and who had lost to Cal Poly the week before (my parent's alma mater; No offense Dad!). Hopefully, the UM quarterbacks will pull their heads out of their assess long enough to put together a win this week.

Finally, I actually watched sizable portions of both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. I have to admit that I tend to lean republican, but really consider myself a moderate. In the present election, however, I have no idea why anyone would want to vote for John McCain. I felt like writing something following his speech and that of his proposed veep, but refrained. Perhaps that was a good thing. It's disturbing that the republicans are trying to make this an election about personalities, again, while Obama addresses the issues and offers concrete proposals. As someone who hopes to work in the education field, I cannot understand how anyone in that industry would vote republican given the current education planks in their platform. Granted, I like the idea of small government, but in some sectors I think it's beneficial to have the backing of Uncle Sam: education, health care, and the environment. Those are areas I can support "big government." One might notice that all of these are long-term issues, that contribute to social well-being. Shouldn't be a surprise there. These are all areas that have systemic problems, need to be addressed quickly (i.e. the health care system needs to be blown up and started from scratch if you ask me), and, unfortunately, will probably continue to be ignored until it's too late. Anything beyond these issues, I prefer small government.