I’ve been “trying” to write my final exam for the last four hours, and during a break in spider solitare decided to call my mother. She gave me some sage advice on writing from her experience writing her Masters thesis at Cornell: Every morning she would get up early, take a refreshing swim in the lake (in November), and make herself an espresso with a shot of Courvoisier and whipped cream. She said it worked wonders to help her get it done. Well I’m not one for turning down good advice, so I poured some scotch in my tea. Either I’ll speed through the final, or, more likely, I’ll fall asleep.