Wednesday

Taking a moment to chill after another long day. I have a test tomorrow in my elective class, which is devoted to the topography of ancient Athens. I'll do fine. It's an interesting class, but it feels odd to have a test. I haven't had an honest-to-god college "test" since my last UNL course in summer 2006. I guess it's important to stay in touch with your past. I, after all, have been cutting it out rapidly -- after a heartwarming stroll down memory lane the other night, looking at pictures of drunken undergraduate me, I went in today and removed the link to my profile from all of them. Growing up, as you may have already determined, is a drag.

I spent my whole day today on our group radio project, which I'm excited about. I've always tried to dig deep and summon my radio baritone when I want people to take me seriously. And I've always written, sometimes unconsciously, with the spoken word in mind, which is why my writing comes off as stylized. Same old troubles, though -- I spent the day trying to get MIT or Harvard people to agree to a short interview about the rising price of oil. Some people were gone, some were busy, some referred me to others who referred me to others on the opposite coast, which does me no good. Things are going to come together, despite my hand-wringing, but I've haven't gotten any better at coming to grips with that. We journalists are charged with providing some perspective on this world, but too often we haven't got any ourselves. And sources aren't obliged to return my calls or let me interview them -- we live by goodwill, and so often we have little of it to give.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit the phones again, and then take a test, lord help us, and then we're going to a Boston gas station to get interviews about high gas prices. People, if you haven't heard, are upset.