I have noticed something terrible about my semester so far. My weekends have disappeared. Yeah, I actually know what they are — I’m supposed to get some time to rest, but instead I find myself sucked into a terrible time.

One little thing: apparently, some students have a party house on my street, and every Saturday night/Sunday morning I’m going to be awakened by young people having fun. 2am: a flock of girls stroll past my front window, laughing loudly and getting into an excited discussion. 4am: a mob of boys are getting heated about sports, and bellow slogans at each other. Those I can live with, but what drives me nuts is the rude person who is shuttling people to and from the party, who has to honk their horn to let them know they are waiting. Some advice: get out of your car, walk to the door, knock, have some pleasant conversation with the party-goers, then drive people about quietly. There’s also someone who revs their engine and races up College Avenue. Stop that.

These are minor disruptions. The bigger issue right now is that I’m teaching a new class this year, and my weekends are consumed with composing new lectures, which I can do in the time I have available, except that my brain doesn’t stop at 10pm to let me sleep. I go over and over these lectures all night long, spiced up with cars honking and chattering passers-by. Here it is, Monday morning, and I’m worn out. I go to work to let my brain relax into a routine…but not to sleep, unfortunately.

Now I have to go to class and somehow talk to them about the contrast between Bacon’s confidence in induction and Hume’s doubts about the same. Good thing I’ve been rehearsing it all night long!