Much Ado About Calculus

School has started, yet again, and the reason I'm writing this beginning-of-the-year post now, when we're already a couple of weeks into the semester, is actually quite simple. And pathetic. 

It's because I'm spending, on average, three or four hours each day doing math homework. I've probably written enough pages to fill a standard sized workbook, and we've only had two weeks of class. I don't really have anything to complain about; it's an interesting course, and I'm not losing (that much) sleep over it. But it does mean that I have next to no free time. Because what time I have left over after slogging through thirty, forty, or occasionally seventy-one math questions is spent chipping away at a list of literature. This wouldn't be so terrible if I didn't have to take notes on them. 

Enough whining. There are children in developing countries desperately wishing for an education like this. And I'm going to have to learn to manage my time properly sooner or later. What better time to do it than now? 

The thing is that I don't feel like I have interests anymore. No, that isn't quite right. I still have things I'm interested in: I want to read things and write and draw and experience all sorts of new things. They've just taken a backseat to proving why arccot(x) = π + arctan(1/x), if x < 0. (Which, by the way, I figured out while mulling it over on the bus. I don't know why it took such a long time to puzzle out, because the solution was pretty obvious after doing the other questions.) I'm always thinking about finishing up so I can start doing something enjoyable when I'm working, and it never seems to happen. All these productive things are sitting on my plate, waiting for me to eat them, but I'm already full after the three other courses. 

It's going to be 11:30 soon, (which I would have considered very late a year ago) so I'm going to wrap this up quick. With all of these busy things going on and not much room for much in the way of personal pursuits, I'm really hoping that all these opportunities in my way will not walk right past me because I was in too much of a disarray to notice. In the meantime, I'll try to clear my thoughts, prioritize, and bide my time for an afternoon to use at my own discretion.