*grunt*

i've been staring at text all day. tediously deciphering convoluted sentences (now i know how the poor souls marking my english essays must've felt - me and my lengthy sentences - my sis and i figure it runs in the family..) for meanings which are almost always lost on me, and combing through bewildering chunks of prose searching for that faint gleam of possibility that something in that voluminous manuscript might just be applicable to the wretched, miserable point of research i'm tasked with. and woe betide me if i happen to miss something along the way or make a careless assumption as to the relevance of a particular fact or detail. sure, plenty of brain power required, but SURELY there are more inspiring commitments to apply one's powers of deduction and creative capabilities to!