with pride and strength no one would test If you guessed that I was late handing in my term paper again, you'd be right. I'm not so great with academic deadlines these days. It's strange this time, because I've actually done quite a bit of preparation for the paper, and feel comfortable with the material, but just haven't mapped out a writing strategy yet.

The fact that my prof is a pretty rambling and ineffective lecturer has been a blessing and a curse, in that his classes are pretty excruciating, and if you want to grasp the material, you better just teach it to yourself. So that's what I've done. I'm all over the Plato and Augustine stuff, I really am, and maybe you'll understand why I'm having trouble getting started on the actual writing when you read the topic:

At the centre of Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine is the idea that the well-ordered relation of two people – in this case, neighbours – is the building block of political community. Self-consciously and explicitly, Augustine distinguishes this building block from the classical Greek alternative - friendship. Explain how and why Augustine deviates from the Greeks, and what the limits and possibilities of neighbour-love are for him.

The part I'm having trouble with is the notion that Augustine talked about "political community" in a piece called "on CHRISTIAN doctrine". He actually doesn't mention politics. He talks about God. A lot. God this, God that. So I'm going to just extrapolate from his discussion about how you must "love your neighbour as yourself" and no more, and that together the two of you are busy loving God "with all your heart, soul, and mind" in some kind of political (?) community. Or something.

In real life, I quit my job recently. It didn't take long working at the new law firm to be reminded just how you get treated at law firms. Not to paint all lawyers with the same brush, but it just seems like there are always those ones who come out of law school knowing how to rub their assistants the wrong way. I kinda clashed with Reuben and gave myself permission to walk away. Right after I did two straight weeks of nothing but filing...

The job was a good introduction to the Ottawa job market, though, so I've got some momentum (hopefully) and don't plan to be unemployed long. I've embarked on the drawn-out process of applying with the federal government. Silly written tests, multiple-choice French comprehension tests, interviews - here's hoping one of them pans out soon 'cause I'd sure like to join my neighbors in a political community of civil service.  | ¶ 11:01 p.m.