E-mail Is a Cruel Mistress

It would seem more appropriate, of course, to use "master," but it just doesn't fit the phrase.

I can't seem to find a way to order my Mail rules efficiently. I keep getting messages filtered into my inbox that are from residential college listservs, and the "new mail" sound goes off about every 15 minutes when I have nothing new but more res college listserv messages that have already been marked "read." But the sound makes me look up and fills me with the momentary hope that I have something interesting to read. Alas, no.

It's 8:24 and I still haven't finished the book I need to write a paper on tonight. I have more than a hundred pages left, so I need to start skimming. But it's not like I'll be able to crank out these measly four-to-five pages before dawn anyway. It's just my way.