Pros and cons

The salon was occupied this morning, so I had to escape the cleaning lady to the library. I found a book that looked promising - about conceptions of judicial decision making in the 18th and 19th centuries. Quite pleased with my discovery I started to read and after only six pages I was ready to throw the book into the wall. It enlightened me on one rather important aspect of decision making and I realised that it didn't interest me one single bit.

So, there I was, about to fall into despair with the darling dissy again, also realising that I have only read about one third of the amount of books one really should read for a dissertation. And with no real interest to touch another. So I did what I do in cases of big decisions - I started scribbling down pros and cons. Or rather where the old research questions would lead as compared to the new approach. I discovered that the new approach leads to new questions and the old one doesn't lead anywhere, since I don't really get it. The pretending part didn't help after all. So I started to get excited again, looked at the magazines in the library with new eyes and then went to order some new books.

I found eight ones in perhaps fifteen minutes. Just like that. Just few search words typed in and pop. Lot's of books that just asked to be read. I had to wait for three hours for the books to be available, so I had lunch and then went to read another article in the salon. Disziplinierung stuff. Because that is what courts are about: protection and control. It's about who gets to protect and control, how and why those functions are carried out and what is considered worth protecting and necessary to control. Among other things. It is also about enlightenment and the values of an estate society.

It was a rather good article and proved what I had known all along. I do not have too high standards concerning research at all, I've just been working rather "unprofessionally" so far and nowhere near those standards. Of course lot of people think that anything to do with "softy" things like mentalities, values, equality or justice aren't really "professional" either - or at least do not belong to the law faculty. But of course the danger doesn't lie in the topic so much as in the questions and methods. Yep, we will see.

Now I think I will go fetch those new books of mine and then I will go eat. I've still got a few hours before I need to head out. Vera and I are going to the movies, you see. It is possible that I am in the process of acquiring one of those things, which in some circles are known as friends.