User blog:RenaissnceMan/K. Malcolm Lawson spends a Second Week in Isolation - Downtime Activities for the Week of 3/21/20 - 3/28/20

Another week of quarantine, this one even lonlier than the last, as Malcolm heard from absolutely no one aside from his family for six days straight. Nothing from Nicholas, no word from Albina, and  Shiloh didn't text or call him at all. With the quarantine becoming more stringent every day, Malcolm didn't want to chance going out unless it was absolutely necessary, not with his city becoming the Coronavirus Capital of the United States, with thousands of new cases and hundreds of new hospitalizations every day. No way was Malcolm going to chance becoming the next victim of that.

Which meant he was, again, alone with his work. And there was always plenty of it. Malcolm found solace in his routine. Up with the Sun most days as usual: calisthetics, Tae Kwon Do, meditation, - of late, Malcolm has been reconsidering his position on the Stoics, as their perspective will likely help him survive this enforced isolation - then shower and breakfast before tackling the ever - growing pile of Law School Assignments.

Most of his professors had adapted to the new online - only curriculum with aplomb, replacing in class discussions with discussion boards with mandatory minimums in lengths and replies, but they were a poor substitute for lively debate in class. Malcolm missed that stimulating conversation, and would make a point of calling some classmates just to discuss the day's lessons and the upcoming Bar Packet submission window. Malcolm has his materials prepared, as do most of his peers, but they are all worried the Coronavirus crisis will postpone - or worse, cancel this year's Bar Exam, which would mean that none of their class would actually get to practice for another year. For a lot of them, that would mean the crushing weight of student loans would descend before they could use their degrees to earn a living. This was a nightmare Malcolm preferred not to dwell upon.

To that end, he kept busy with his work, writing his case briefs and updating his outlines, and also working on his submissions for the Columbia Law Review and for Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the journal where he was the Editor this year, chosen by the Review's Board from the rising 3rd years last year. For the Columbia Law Review, he was working on a Case Study of the existing law on public powers of the government in enforcing disease quarantines, gathering existing case law from previous challenges to quarantine orders to demonstrate that it was, indeed, constitutional and legal for the government at all levels to take such drastic measures to safeguard public health. For his own journal, Malcolm was writing about the conflict of treaty obligations regarding Free Trade and the closing of international borders due to quarantine, as Conflict of Laws was something he was getting quite good at at the Internship, which he didn't know how badly he would miss until he could no longer go.

Dinner and calls home continued as usual, with Malcolm always starting with reassuring his parents that he hadn't gone anywhere that day, even though they didn't ask, he didn't want them to worry. He only watched a single news show, the local one, and that was all the Coronavirus he could take for any one day. He would clear his head nightly with a bit of light reading. Star Trek paperbacks that waited for just such an occasion were being joyfully consumed before Malcolm dived into his nightly research into the Arts.

Satisfied with his progress in the Ars Spirituum, having at last a good feeling that he might have understood the rituals after all, and when he got the chance to try them out, Malcolm might not immediately expose himself to possession by angry spirits or instantly offend the local Umbrood just by looking into their affairs, he set aside that research until he had the opportunity to practice the rotes in a safe environment, and picked up his stalled research into the Ars Materia  once again.

Despite having an Alchemist for his initial tutor, and an artificier for his current teacher. Malcolm just couldn't wrap his head around even the basics of the Sphere of Matter. Like all Spheres, he knew its foundation would be in analysis of the object to be changed by the magic, but he couldn't figure out how the alchemists could do it just by glancing at a thing, to know everything there is to know about it. Malcolm found the references in the old primers confusing and frustrating, their descriptions vague and difficult to follow, and the few rote magics required materials and reagents he had no real understanding of, much less clue how to use. Knowing it was probably a problem of differing instruments, he searched his reference material in vain for something that would align with his methods better. He would have to take the research question to the Chantry, in hopes of finding better materials. In the meantime, he took to picking one or two objects in his possession, examining them closely with all of his senses, trying to get an intuitive feel for them at a glance, like the Alchemist's manuals suggested he do. However, the result was nothing but more frustration. A chair was a chair. A book was a book. A mug was a mug. Nothing was working. But Malcolm persisted, hoping for insight that did not come. Putrefacation before Transformation, as Mater Albina always said.

And then, out of lonliness as much as boredom, Malcolm texted Shiloh late Saturday night. ..