I wake up at 5 nowadays. Ever since I had to for Internship last year, I have somehow made myself into my own alarm clock. Before it used to only happen in a weird circumstance. If I drank wine, I would wake up early. The more wine, the bigger the headache, the earlier in the morning. No joke, 3 am hangovers are a thing people, especially after drowning a 1.5L bottle of Merlot because you are too attached to characters in Game of Thrones.

Put some coffee on, get that yogurt bowl going, and tune in to the daily dose of news. Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers are the usual morning routine. I would sit there and laugh at their witty jokes. Some of them, I swear, could not be better written. I am especially fond of Colbert's way of introducing anyone he talks about with a hilarious comparison to something only he, or the writers, could think of.

Lately though, the laughs have stopped being as long and joyful. They will make a joke of whatever ridiculous thing happened the night before, and after I laugh I get a weird aftertaste. I realize that even though I am laughing, I am laughing at the situation that I am in. I realize that this is real life, and its no longer about someone unfit taking office but about human lives. About human rights and common sense. About morality and ethics. About world peace and safety and acceptance for all.

I am afraid. Everyday's newest happenings are getting darker and darker. The terms Nuclear Warhead, Nazis, KKK keep popping up, and it isn't in History class, or an Ethics class. This is happening every morning as I sip my coffee and eat my Greek yogurt bowl as I get ready for work. I'm not a business man reading the paper, smoking my pipe, condemning the "commies" as I order my wife to make me another slice of toast for the extra bacon on my plate.

No, this is happening as a 23 year old tries to find where he will end up employed after graduating college. Well, that is if we are not all ash by then. ~ad astra ultraque