Rousseau, you know.

Grrr. So I thought I had TMA05 wrapped up. How wrong I was. I emailed my new tutor yesterday just to find out if I should be taking Rousseau into account in the first part of the assignment as I had not, only to be told that yep, I should.

Argh! No!

So, I have spent this morning reading parts of the Rousseau section again and rehashing part one of the TMA. I'm not sure I've finished yet, maybe some touching up to the conclusion to do, but otherwise I think I may have cracked it! I just want to shave a few more words off to bring it closer to the 1,200 word limit.

Principessa has been fantastic while I have been working. She has been playing games on the laptop and having tons of fun with a box and some bubblewrap. She is just as amused by popping the bubbles as I am!

Anyway, TMAs to write, tennis to watch, books to read to Principessa.

I don't like Mondays...

Just a title. I have no reason not to like Mondays. Monday is just like any other day. Now I shall stop rambling.

I am so very tired today. Principessa decided she had to stay up past 11 last night. I tried everything possible to calm her from her excitable mood; shower Doctor Who, Green Eggs and Ham audiobook, making pompom and pipe cleaner bugs. Nothing worked. She was a veritable Energiser bunny. When she finally did settle I was in no mood to sleep, so sat down and trundled through an hour and a half of studying Rousseau, democracies and persistent minorities. I am constantly surprised at how interesting this all is, I never thought I would enjoy this section. Unfortunately, late nights being the time that is available to study, it sets my brain going and stops me from dropping off to sleep. I think I spent half an hour dramatically miming along to 80's power ballads (why, oh why did I put Heart on the IPod? It's like finding an old friend!), then completely wound down reading some more of Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. (Yes, I know. I said a few days ago that I was reading Dust by Elizabeth Bear. Couldn't get into it. Brain is not in gear for that sort of story at the moment.)

I am just about to do some more studying, now Principessa has gone to bug her Nanny. I think I will start putting down the bones of the next assignment while the information about persistent minorities is still fresh in the mind. I might think about lunch first, though.

Are we what we are?

Principessa this morning:

• You are a drum. Nanny is a giraffe. I am Principessa.

So there you go.

I went a bit ITunes crazy yesterday. After playing GH, some of the tunes have become so ingrained that I need to listen to them some more. I bought some Muse, Heart, Killers and Weezer (though not the song on GH3, but 'Gone Fishin''). And because I just love the video, and I'd never bought a video for the ipod, I got 'Here We Go Again' by OK Go. Such a good vid, and there is an advert on TV that copies it, though I can't remember what for. Ah well.

Rousseau is still feeding my brain at the moment. It's all very interesting reading (oooh, here's a song I haven't heard for ages - 'All I wanna do' by Heart. Love a good rock ballad, me! Sorry for the interruption!) and it is churning the creative juices, though what Rousseau has to do with robots - I have no idea! Wow, six months ago I never thought I'd be talking about Rousseau and how his mental ramblings would inspire me. I didn't know who Rousseau was, let alone be thinking of studying more philosophy. Hmmm.

Rousseau before bed = weird dreams

So. I have decided that it is not worth wasting all my time trying to write (though I should really say writing. There is either do or do not, no try) TMA04, and have started reading the Rousseau section of block 3. Big mistake. Not because I don't understand it (once you get into it, it's okay), but because it sets my subconscious off on one while I am sleeping.

• Implicit assumption: Rousseau before bed = weird dreams.
• Premise 1: I read Rousseau's thoughts on legitimate authority versus naked power (that can conjure interesting, yet disturbing, images even before sleep!) before I went to bed.
• Premise 2: I had weird dreams about men with guns kidnapping me and some friends, not wanting them to drill through my head, so doing what they said to save myself and my friends because they now had guns and drills and therefore had naked power over us.
• Conclusion: So reading Rousseau before bed gave me weird dreams.
  

All through the dream it was a constant struggle to do what the men said to stop them from drilling my head ('Is it safe?' now echoes in my mind!), while trying to find a way to escape, therefore disobeying their instructions. More and more people seemed to end up being kidnapped and sitting with me. Somehow or other, the men and their threats became tolerable, though we were still making plans to escape. We finally got our chance when they went outside to a small brick building to sleep. It was still worrying because if they hadn't gone to sleep they could see us trying to escape through the open front door (this is how cruel my mind is; the door was open so we could see our deprived freedom). Just as we were about to make our escape, the children ducking down and out through the front door, the adults over the fences of the back gardens, I woke up.

I hope this doesn't happen every night I read the Rousseau section. Or maybe I do. It might provide some useful ideas for stories. It's also nice to know that my brain is trying to work at some level to make sure I understand things, even when I am asleep!