Well, I announced it...

Remember how I was talking about declaring my office at work a "Politics-free zone."

Well, I did today.

Two colleagues were...discussing VP picks in the hall. I came walking down the hall (I had been to the restroom and was heading back to my office, which they were standing outside of), looked at them, and declared, "I'm through with all of this. My office is now a politics-free zone."

And I kept walking.

Of course, the problem is, I'm known for having a somewhat dry sense of humor, and they may have interpreted it as me, joking. I hope not.

If it keeps up? I may see if I can find, secondhand, a reasonably priced white noise machine (like they use in doctor's offices to keep confidential conversations in the exam room confidential when the walls are thin) and keep it running in my office.

Because I'd rather hear that kind of static these days.

Because I really, honestly, truly, totally am fed up with it. Fed up with all of it. It's been a brutal summer (My mom mailed me a copy of my aunt's obit. It came today. I opened it and read it and felt...I don't know, like "Well, it really happened, didn't it." It was a good picture of her but it still makes me sad.) I want to focus on the things I have some power to actually change.

Sitting around and griping about the choices for this fall, or saying mean things (and trust me, some of the discourse about Palin was mean) doesn't solve anything.

So I'm going to concentrate on rewriting a couple of journal articles, and reading lots of supplemental material to add in to my lectures, and maybe even read some stuff that I've always wondered about but never taken time to learn.

And I'm going to leave the politics to those who actually have the stomach for it.