1. I’m extra late this week. I wish I could say it was for a good reason, but no, it is mostly a matter of not wanting to do any work yesterday, I’m afraid. Been a while since I’ve gone all the way to Sunday.

2. It’s been an extremely busy week of prepping the exams, trying to finish up lessons, and other end-of-the-semester activities. Upshot is I had to change one of my exams from what I’d planned simply because we didn’t have time to go over the lesson in class. But I kind of like what I have now better anyway, so that’s that.

3. Every year I swear I’ll get my Christmas shopping done early, and every year I’m scrambling at the last minute. “For the good which I will, I do not.” I’m pretty sure St. Paul was talking about Christmas shopping when he wrote that.

4. One of the features of the west today is that we’re mostly ruled by people who are actively hostile to their own nations. And I would like to emphasize, they are all either elected or appointed by people who were elected.

5. Reading Thomas a Kempis last night: “All our peace in this present life should depend on humble forbearance rather than on absence of adversity.”

That’s one of the skeleton keys of life right there.

6. I didn’t check my mailbox for almost the whole week, and when I did everything in it (apart from a coupon or two) was shredder fodder.

7. And as a former programmer, I thought this song was equal parts awesome and hilarious: