When it rains, it pours. But only when it rains. Otherwise, it doesn't really pour.

So I did another job interview today, and, upon getting home, got a call half an hour later telling me that I'd gotten the job.

Which would be great. Except I'm in a bit of a pickle as to which company to choose.

Moot point really, since I've already signed with one, but now I'm beginning to doubt my choice.

See, this is what happens when you get to choose. Life is often so much easier when you don't have a choice.

Anyway, I think I'm happy with my choice. They're all pretty similar anyway. I'm going to see if I can negotiate vac work for both. If not, well, I guess that's that sorted out.

And Arsenal won!!!

Happy days.

Word of the Day: Pickle

Superfluous linguistic funness!

Props to my good friend Meng for this engrossing and interesting video. I have no idea why he posted it on my wall (I think he may have been taking a dig at me). But it's good stuff. I highly recommend that you watch/listen.

I did a bit of research to find out the background of this speech/video. This website explains it quite well. Essentially, it's a well-constructed rant on language change and overly-pedantic people.

This, along with my Linguistics lecturer this semester (goes by the name of Howie), have re-affirmed my belief that language should be fun, and that we shouldn't be all that pedantic about languagy things. I still do think, however (and I think this is where I disagree with Fry...I think), that there's wrong, and then there's wrong. I still think that well-written prose, or, at least, readable prose, has its place in society. Yes, often we can infer from context what something means. Yes, we all get things wrong, and we think they're right.

But surely I'm not the only person who cringes when people write 'your' instead of 'you're'. To me, it just looks stupid. And yes, I do think it is a marker of education. And it is a very important indication of whether someone cares about something or not.

I have never read something beautiful, or moving, or has any sort of impact on me, written in text speak. Well, maybe that time I got rejected by that girl. But you know what I mean. And that wasn't even in text speak.

So, I guess, to clarify, there's wrong, and then there's really, really, hurt-your-eyes kind of wrong. There's no point getting into a fluster about the fine points of grammar that nobody knows about, but I think the basics, like there, their and they're, shouldn't even need to be thought about.

I am aware that language change occurs. All the time. The English that we speak now is very different to English spoken a hundred years ago. Which is fine. I just don't think that that should be used as an excuse for screwing up 'you're' and 'your'.

Finally, I would like to agree with Stephen Fry about his point regarding how nobody has fun with language anymore. I would know. I get shot down for using 'big' words. Most of the time, they're not even big. They're just slightly obscure. Often they're not even that obscure. But sometimes, I just find it difficult to convey ideas without using them. And other times, I may think that it's a really suitable word to use in the circumstances. But I'll get shot down because of it, because people think I'm being pretentious, or whatever.

It's this horrible social pressure of dumbing yourself down to fit in, I think. It kind of relates to this thing that Sarah and I were discussing the other day. People worship pop stars, or whatever. But when a guy is in high school, any high school (probably bar Melbourne High), he will get ridiculed. It's odd how people think that pop stars just appear out of thin air. So the guy in high school stops singing.

It's the same with language. It's the reason why black people, if you've ever read Freakonomics, speak the way they do. Because they get picked on for speaking 'white'.

I'm thankful that most of the people I know aren't like that, but I know there are people that think, and act in this way.

Anyway, that's my little (big) rant for the day (or possibly the week. Or month). Watch the video, and have some fun.

Word of the Day: Engrossing

First world problem #483435329872

So I got Vac Work at Deloitte.

Woooooo!!!

Gotta organise dinners, drinks, etc.

While I was ecstatic immediately after being told, for some reason, I'm a bit in the dumps right now.

I think it's all the worrying about things that shouldn't be worried about.

Like, for example, my Leaders Program seminar thing that I'm running. I'm worried that it will be lame, that no-one will turn up, that we won't get another guest speaker, etc. But then, I reason with myself. How bad can it possibly be? At worst, it will just end up with me cringing in a corner.

It also doesn't help that the person running this program appears to be a bit disorganised. She sends us sporadic emails, doesn't tell us when we need to tell her things by, etc. Whatever.

My workload is also immense. Like, a towering tower of immenseness. If there were a comparative metaphor representing how immense my workload in first-year is compared to now, it would be as a mouse compared to an elephant. The biggest elephant on Earth. With a rhino perched on top. And a finch. I like finches.

In amongst uni work and part-time work, I've also got to get Rui's present, Father's Day present, Michelle's birthday present, and I have two job interviews this week. I'm seriously thinking about bailing on the one on Thursday. It's a really long one, and I'm pretty sure I won't be available to do the job anyway even if they wanted me to.

To cap it all off, I'm slightly worried about Arsenal and the rut they're in right now. I have no idea what's going on with that team. It seems like a conspiracy theory when I say it, but there's something fishy going on there. Why do they never spend any real money? It's been squillions of years since any established players have been bought. We let one of the best players in the world go (for probably about 60% of his actual market price, I might add), a half-decent left-back, and about to lose one of our best performers of last season. And yet, we haven't actually done nearly enough to replace them.

It can't just purely be because of Wenger's philosophy. Surely he, being in the know, is able to see the deficiencies that anybody who knows anything about football can see. Why does he not seem to have the money to fix it, despite always saying otherwise? Strikes me as being a bit bizarre.

Anyway, we're almost half way through the semester! That means about 8 weeks away from summer holidays! Yes, I am conveniently ignoring the existence of exams!

Word of the Day: Squillions

It will go down in the pages of history

So it's been a pretty big weekend. Maybe not so big as to ensure it's own place in history, but big enough.

What's more surprising is the fact that it happened during the semester. And I'm also sort of on top of uni work.

Actually, it's not even really worth writing about. Well, it is to me. But you, dear reader, probably couldn't care less. But since everything I write here is about me anyway, and you (presumably) read it anyway, I'm going to go ahead and write it.

First half of Friday
Had a job interview, went ok, probably won't get to the next round due a combination of mediocre performance and not very many available spots. Blah, blah, blah, boring stuff, you're approaching Care Factor 0, moving on.

Called up JB Hi-Fi. They didn't have the deluxe edition of Watch the Throne in stock yet. Boo-hoo, go have a cry, who buys CDs anyway, move on.

Second half of Friday
This was where the real fun began.

So I got Zara on the way to Safeway on the way to Irene's trivia night gig. We basically bought everything that could be bought at Safeway, and went to Clayton Hall, and managed to not get mugged. Was probably due to our red attire. Red is the colour of winners. Or something like that.

Needless to say, fun(ny) times ensued. Basically had high hopes of a win, and came closer to losing than winning again. On a less heartbreaking note, I won a raffle prize (!). I was pretty stoked. It's always nice to win something. So for the second successive year, I went home from trivia night with a Maxwell Williams Breast Cancer mug. So manly.


For some reason, upon reflecting on the night's frivolities, a similar image came up in my mind.

Fun times, and all that. A lot more fun than I've probably conveyed above. Excitement doesn't come across too well when typed. Should do it again some time soon.

Saturday
Did Auditing work. Did Corp Fi work. Downloaded Chrome 14. Felt like a bit of a Fandroid.

Sunday
Felt upset that Arsenal didn't win. Cursed Joey Barton. Consoled myself that the Arsenal are still unbeaten for the season. Read Auditing book. Will read Corp Fi book.

...

Ok, so basically, my big weekend was trivia night. And it wasn't strictly a weekend. I'm sorry if I've deceived you. If you feel aggrieved and misled, well...deal with it. Anyway, I'm liking this balancing of work, uni, and fun times. It's a new sensation for me. One that I quite enjoy. I'm pretty much going out every week, unlike the back in the olden days (I know, what a loser right?). I think it may be a combination of me actually doing work, actually reading the relevant readings before lectures, and having two days off uni.

That's another thing. There's seems to be a massive emphasis on reading before lectures this semester. I swear they never used to tell us to do that. Now EVERY SINGLE LECTURER is encouraging us to do it. I blame it on the erasure of Week 13.

Busy period coming up in a few weeks, so I should probably lay some proverbial groundwork, and cut back on the fun times. Maybe just a little bit though.

Word of the Day: Erasure

London burns

People, families, and communities have their possessions, their jobs, and their loved ones destroyed and ripped apart by natural disasters. Most of the time, we can't avoid this. We do the best we can to prevent this from happening, but more often than not, we end up directing all of our efforts to recovering from it.

The London riots are similar in their result, but not in their origins. The carnage is completely man-made. I am astounded by the sheer stupidity and thoughtlessness of the people rioting.



Photo from The Australian

I understand that some of them feel oppressed, or hard done by by the government. How is burning down the neighbourhood grocery, or the barber next door, or bakery, or the school, going to improve their plight? They'll wake up from this madness, and realise that they have destroyed the house of their neighbour, the shops that their friends owned, schools that their siblings attended.

Looting shops is not fighting oppression. Burning property is not fighting oppression. Throwing petrol bombs at families, with parents who have come home from a long day of trying to do what's right by their families, that isn't fighting oppression.

There are also idiots that run around setting fire to things, looting shops and assaulting people because they think it's fun. Or something. I have no idea what's going through their minds, to be honest. That's all they are. Idiots, and probably cowards as well, who wouldn't even think of doing something like this if they didn't have a mob behind them.

The saddest part about all this is that it's caused by people. Not a cyclone. Not a tsunami. Not an earthquake. All this carnage is caused by individuals who think they have the right to destroy the livelihood of people who are actually trying to do the right thing, and barely getting by as it is.

I'm not going to tell them to stop in this post, because I know they won't see it. I know that even if they do, they most likely wouldn't care about it anyway. If they did, they wouldn't be doing what they are now. I guess what I'm trying to say is, before doing something destructive, think of the lives that you're destroying. Because life for many people is hard enough as it is, and destroying them isn't going to make it any easier.

Word of the Day: London