Here again
The friendly people at Bell tell me that I might have to wait another 5 business days before I can smell internet in my home. Somehow I don’t believe them, but I don’t want to use up all my daytime minutes on hold to the bastards. This is a three month test, and thus far, I can’t say that I’m enamored of their service. So, yes, I’m back in Ottawa. Back at Carleton University using their internet.
There’s a lot that I can do, and nothing that I really have to do before school starts. I picked up an application for work at the bookstore… Should I take the minimum wage or should I try and see how TAing is going to work first?
The money would be very helpful…
Saw “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry” over the weekend. This is the kind of movie that doesn’t need a review. If you saw the trailer at all you’d know exactly what was coming. And it delivered. I had quite a few out-loud guffaws and what more can you ask for. I loved Ving Rhames performance as a gay guy. Hilarious.
I listened to a few good audiobooks recently: Just finished “Freakonomics” by Steven Levitt and Steven J. Dubner. (Levitt is the economist brain behind the book) And if I remember correctly, Serene read it and hated it. Am I right?
I found it interesting. From the supplemental information they provided it seems that the book is really a greatest hits compilation of Levitt’s more interesting academic papers. How about this idea: The radical drop in US crime in the 90′s was a result of legalized abortion. Try wrapping your mind around that.
That explanation really flies in the face of what “the Tipping point” author Malcolm Gladwell had to say. I find it interesting how the two books overlap on so many subjects. Almost as if they’d been written in response to each other. I’d still recommend Gladwell if only for his analysis of ’6 degrees of separation’ and his analysis of the phenomenon of word-of-mouth.
But “Freakonomics” is worth at least a look, if only for gems like: what’s more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?…
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:48 pm
TAing in addition to working at the bookstore? If it’s a choice, i think TAing pays way more. I want to go see Chuck and Larry! Is that abortion thing connected to that guy on the radio who said that aborting black babies will reduce the crime rate in America? I think the gun and swimming pool thing is a double jeopardy…
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
The abortion thing is probably related to it, influenced at the very least. Swimming pools are 50 times more likely to kill a child than a gun is. (I think I got that statistic right – don’t quote me)
August 24th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Well since you asked . . . TAing–despite any downsides it might have–is definitely the better way to advance your career as a student and, ultimately, a professor. The bookstore won’t be quite as impressive on your resume. Just my two cents.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Thanks for the tips. But I think Ive been misunderstood. TAing plus bookshop or just TA. I’m not going to not TA. I need extra cash. The question for me is can I handle both or is the TA enough work as it is… But thanks for the responses
August 28th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Yeah, I hated it. Very out-of-the-air, and uncritical. Surefire success with the masses, though, I suppose; but pretty much un-backed-up bullshit.