Earlier this morning, I was ruminating on the effectiveness of coffee as a stimulant. When I was falling asleep as I was studying for a midterm exam on J. S. Mill's On Liberty (I love the book, but I have read it three times, for three different government classes), a cup of joe perked me up (and is probably the sole reason I did not fall asleep during the midterm, as is my wont (I am not sure whether that says something about my sleep habits, or a lack of interest toward my writing). As I strode back to my residence after the exam, still stimulanted from the combination of Free Trade coffee, cheap cream, and Hawaiian raw sugar that I had earlier made, I determined that coffee was not the great evil I always assumed it was.

This BBC News article (courtesy of Slashdot) seems to vindicate those thoughts. As the head Teaching Fellow of one of my other classes states:

As you all know, tomorrow afternoon you will have your first test for the course. You should be well into your studying by now. Both the studying and the exam-taking are part of the learning experience of the course so please try to enjoy it and take away a better understanding of the material.

By the end of this week, I will probably be trembling from head to toe with the heartbeat of a jackrabbit.