Tuesday, March 31, 2009

the common experience of solitude, in the evening.

when i was a graduate student, i never minded late nights in the office. maybe it was because someone else was always in the department, working on something.

in this building and department, where i am a postdoc, the floor is rather silent. the hallway lights turn off automatically, after long periods without any detected motion.

it's kind of dreary..
.. but then i think about it a little:

i know that elsewhere, my friends and colleagues may still be in their offices, working further into the night, or if lucky or tired, readying to leave. i can't see them down this hallway, but they are working, too, in their own buildings.

that makes it less dreary -- knowing that out there, we are all working.



to come: thoughts about the conference, last weekend.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are definitely not alone. I frequently work very late. It comes with the territory of 3 preps and an expanded family. So if you're working sometime between 10pm and 3am, I am almost always right there with you (lately that has seemed accurate even in the measure theoretical sense - ha!).

It was good to see you this weekend!