well, i've reached about the halfway point in my first quarter at northwestern, and i feel like i should have something meaningful to say about the experience thus far. but, shocking no one, i'm sure, i, uh, don't. it's had its ups and downs. the first quarter of the first quarter was undeniably exciting and new, as it always is, i think, with most experiences; the second quarter of the quarter has been a slow realization to the fact that a lot of what i'm learning is really kind of a pain in the ass. this quarter is essentially journalism 101, and there's a reason some people try to opt out of it if they can: it's boooorrrrring. it's all AP style and skimming ethics and bullshit papers and some kind of bullshitty articles. some of the stuff i've written and reported on has been genuinely fun and quality; i think i've churned out a bunch of decent articles. other times i think i'm just spinning my wheels. most of all i think: i REALLY don't want to be a reporter!

but am i feeling this way because i think i am so awesome and above it all that i shouldn't even have to suffer through the indignities of learning the basics? and the answer is yes. totally. so i'm just shutting up and finishing up the rest of the quarter and looking with much anticipation towards the next three, where i really think i'll be getting into more interesting stuff.

on the plus side, all my professors and classmates are truly wonderful, so i'm having a great time there. on the minus side, NUN has discovered the joys of techno music in the afternoons, so i'm about to kill myself. not that he has anything to do with jschool, but he sure does make it difficult to read me some 80 pages of media law. so i've been taking to the coffee shops. something i NEVER thought i would do. and all i can say is, caribou coffee, why the fuck are you so popular? you serve shitty drinks, you look like a log cabin threw up all over your inside, and THERE IS NEVER A SEAT FOR ME AND MY PILE OF BOOKS AND SHINY LAPTOP. my other option is a cute if tiny cafe down on broadway run by a nice but leering eastern european man, and to get to the bathroom you have to go behind the counter, with his permission, into the dank inner bowels of the store where mops and buckets and presumably dead bodies and rats rein supreme to pee in a 2x2 space where the door doesn't even latch shut properly. but he makes yummy cappucinos and has free wifi. so i shall return.

also, if anyone has brilliant insights on if bloggers should be protected under a federal shield law, leave 'em here. i have a bullshitty research paper to write. the brilliant matthew yglesias has already contributed his thoughts; YOU TOO CAN BE IMMORTALIZED.