Yesterday I was rung up and asked if I am interested in a position as a “community counsillor”. Which brings me a bit in a odd conflict. I haven’t yet followed the discussion about the whole new restructuring and development of decision-making in local communities. Also not sure if it is an (un)accountable, unelected position, if it is a representative position of power, which we anarchists would reject, as we don’t want to claim to represent anybody other than ourselves. Also I might not be British enough. Also not sure if it is worth doing it, if it is just a consulting post.
I do think it is a voluntary position, too.
Fluffy the hamster has now built himself a summer residence out of hay and hamster bedding. He has rejected his little wooden hamster villa and after falling asleep in his wheel, decided he would build himself his own favorite extension, which looks a bit like a hamster garage now. Me and my boyfriend had big but funny discussions this week if it is unethical to deprive the hamster of his wheel during the day.
On Thursday, it seemed like everybody had a bit of a tough day at uni, although some of the conflicts I did not really understand. There is a bit of trouble with the magazine looming, as it is very much organised from the top down to the bottom and time pressures. Unlike alternative media, where you first have the content and then everything else is organised around how to publish it, in this more professional organisation now, the advertising and therefore the target audience dominates all the content – the length of articles, the point of view, the issues and layout. This drives me slightly crazy, as I am not used to it.
However, it is good to get to know how it works.
This week I also found out I passed my law exam – just about. It was coinciding with the Dalkeith Park eviction, which I would have much more prefered to make a video or report about and spend more time there supporting the protesters.
There is a discussion going on if the marking and teaching of law would have been unfair and it probably was to some extend. The question now is, if complaining would actually help either the students who failed and/or the students next year. Micah thinks it is better to keep out of it, as it would not affect me anymore, and as he rightly points out, it would be unsatisfactory to persue an initiative, when most collegues look down on grassroot and students’ struggles anyway.
This week I also have seen the first vacancy ever for podcasting. Never considered it a possible career path before.
I also try to preserve the newspaper articles about the G8 by laminating them. Unfortunatley most newspaper pages are much too big to squeeze them into DinA4.