Tuesday, August 29, 2006

And he'd probably kick your head in to boot

There's always somebody taller with more of a wit
And he's equipped to enthrall her
And her friends think he's fit
And you just can't measure up no, you don't have a prayer
Wishing that you'd made the most of her, when she was there
--- Arctic Monkeys, "Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts"

Today is Math Concepts at 7:00 p.m. I'm trying to get back into the habit of sneaking a nap in between work and class, but so far all I do is toss and turn on the bed for a half hour or so.

I went up to State School early so I could pay $110 for a textbook I'll probably get little to no use out of, and resell (if that's even possible, for they "update" almost every year, making these absurdly overpriced books obsolete regularly) for about $20. Sweet Shiva but this schoolbook scheme is a licence to print money.

Speaking of books, I've noticed that college students are most often using these side bags, like gym bags, with one long shoulder strap, to carry their stuff. When they do use backpacks, they use both straps instead of dangling the whole thing off to one side, as was the custom when I was a wee bairn in high school. Back then, it was considered extremely "nerdy" to use both straps and have the pack full on your back. Of course, I always used both straps anyway, because (a) nonconformist little rebel that I was, I enjoyed kicking against the pricks of conventional wisdom in any case, and (b) the backpack is designed to go over both shoulders --- the "cool" kids were stupidly putting the full load on one side, sacrificing muscle strain and permanent lopsidedness on the altar of that false god fashion.

Now that I think about it, back in high school you were considered a real hoopy frood if, after you pulled on your gym socks, you pushed them down again. People who pulled their socks up their legs were real kneebiters. Perhaps this is true to this day. I never got that either; why should I waste precious energy pushing my socks down after I put them on? If they ought to be down there by my shoes, let them fall down there of their own accord. Lazy socks.

Anyway. Clearly I had mental problems. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Math Concepts. This is turning into a real math class, not the pablum we were spooned out in Math Methods. Indeed, I seem to be behind some of my fellow students; high school and undergrad was a long time ago for me, and I find myself scrambling to recall things such as how to calculate the slope of a graph, set terminology and notation, the equation y=mx + b, and so on. Graphs and sets were actually the math concepts I always had the least aptitude for, but as I am adept at thinking algebraically, I enjoy the class as much as is possible to enjoy this stuff.

4 comments:

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill said...

You can't go wrong with an Artic Monkeys quote!

daveawayfromhome said...

To this day I cannot make myself use both straps of a backpack except in extreme circumstances. Yesterday my daughter, hands full and only one strap up on her backpack, says, "Can you put the other strap up for me?". When I told her that was the way I always wore my backpack (okay, I wore it right when bicycling, too), she just looked at me like I was nuts. Maybe so, maybe so.

EHT said...

When I was in school it was extremely nerdy to have a book bag at all. The school I went to was arranged in many different buildings over a large campus. I lugged heavy, thick books all over the place with no assistance. Guess we were just tougher back in the olden days (1970s):)

Nacho Lover said...

lazy socks! i love it. please start a band named that!

in my schools one was supposed to wear the bag on one shoulder too. i conformed, because i'm a sheep. but in college, i finally realized that my shoulders hurt, and joined the two-strap brigade. by then everyone else was too and no one cared, to boot. stupid nonsensical trends!