First off, another Atlas Shrugged observation: for all Rand loathes communism (though she doesn't call it by that name), there are some surprising similarities between her theories and those of Marx. For example, both believe that economic productivity is what gives meaning to people's lives, and that production that one does not keep or control is worthless and immoral.

I still haven't started the write-up for my summer research. I told myself I'd do it the last week I was at Colgate, but it didn't happen. So I told myself I'd do it over the weekend when I was home. That didn't happen. It's Wednesday, and I haven't written a word. I don't even know how long it will be (there's no length requirement on this -- just however long it needs to be to do justice to my research). I have finished all the reading I have for it, although I know there's plenty more reading I ought to do (which is fine, as this is in some ways just a preliminary draft of my thesis). But I hate writing a paper when I know there's reading on the topic that I haven't done, information that I haven't considered. On the bright side, I do have a nifty flow chart depicting the snowballing nature of hunter-gatherer intensification, combining the political and economic aspects. Which I'm sure is a topic you're all passionately interested in.