Pangea-monium

After amassing a respectable sleep debt, I am either on the verge of an intellectual breakthrough or a nervous breakdown. Currently, I'm on a writing tangent about the implications of modal verbs, which are really cool. Basically, modality is the way in which grammar expresses subjectivity, often by making claims of necessity or possibility (think of the verbs should, might, and must). Modality exists across languages, meaning that the desire to explore and communicate potential alternatives is universal. And though that's not news to anyone (who doesn't love to discuss daydreams?), I'm weirdly overjoyed that this desire is preserved in language, perhaps because that makes it seem more concrete.

To level with you, I slept for an hour and a half last night, so I would probably be just as excited if a stranger high-fived me on the T.

...And there you have a modal verb (would) in action.

But because I am anxious to get back to my work, I leave you with this cool map of Pangea, marked with the current corresponding political boundaries.