A sunny Monday in the Middle West with unremarkable temperatures, and it’s one of those days when it feels like the world’s got its hands in my pockets. Spent an hour on the phone haggling with health insurance, then car insurance, and I lost both arguments. It takes so much work to be a person.

Meanwhile in strike land, where The New School spends only 14% of its budget on the part-time professors who make up 87% of its faculty, the university’s lawyer is trying to bust our union by forcing a vote on a contract that pits those with health insurance against those without. Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks use these hardball tactics. Not higher education. This could set a chilling precedent.

This afternoon I ran beneath an overpass with faded graffiti that read like a vanished wish: planet over profit. But some happy news: I’m enjoying Mastodon. I found Michael Donaldson over there, and he turned me on to a nice sludgy Joy Division cover, which is the whole point of social media. 

Tonight I’m making motions toward packing for our road trip. So far, I have two items on my shopping list: ice scraper and nicotine gum.