i finally finished my paper on lincoln's temperance and cooper union addresses. it was, in a word, shitty. here's another word: scant. i actually had to do that thing with the margins, where you make them as wide as possible and kick the font size up a notch, just to get to the minimum page requirement. very tenth grade.
then, in class, i realized there was a factual error in the paper. and i had two or three moments of clarity as to what i SHOULD have written about. my whole academic life flashed before my eyes.
and then, when someone attempted to hand in his paper, the professor was mystified. "isn't this a week early?" it wasn't. but he let us pretend it was, and those of us who wanted to could keep working on our papers. i was one of only two who opted to. and i actually had to think about it, because it sure was nice, in those few hours between finishing the paper and contemplating turning it in, to feel like it was done, even crappily so. but i decided it would be nicer to turn in a decent paper.
so if you don't hear from me next week, you know where i'll be: holed up in front of the computer, trying to say something that's not yet been said about one of the most well-documented public figures in history. yeah. good luck with that one.
*image from constitutioncenter.org
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