1. If the library could be called my office, and I think four hours a day constitutes an office, then my place of work is highly secure! At Queen's you could wander into Stauffer and it didn't matter who you were - the security guard at the front desk was usually reading the paper. At UofT, if you want to get to floors 5-18 you need to flash your card to the student on duty (I wonder what they would have done if I had declined). Here at Warwick, the only way students can enter the library is by placing their card on a laser reader which opens the turnstyle type barricade and allows entry one by one. This makes for some lineups at the entrance. Further, you must complete the same process upon exiting. If you lose your student card in the library, I guess you're stuck here forever. There is even more security for Post Graduate students. I've chosen the PG study area as my preferred place for setting up shop (no kids around!) and this too requires I use my student card to electronically unlock the heavy door. Only postgraduate cards can open these doors. Elitist? I think so. My favourite feature of these systems is that the laser readers are so powerful, they can read my card from inside my wallet. So I simply place my wallet on the reader and everything is unlocked for me. Jason Bourne, eat your heart out.
2. Interesting British vocabulary: POSH. I'm sure all of you have about wondered the etymology of the word. In fact, Victoria Beckham was not the first to use the phrase! One of my English friends tells me that one of the possible origins of the word is actually an acronym that was used on ships that traveled to and from the colonies before the advent of air conditioning. Because there were cabins which shaded passengers from the sun on both legs of the journey, the most desirable (and naturally most expensive) ticket was the "Port Out, Starboard Home." There is debate as to whether this is the true etymology, but a neat fact nonetheless. I wonder if "Port Out, Starboard Home" Spice would have been as catchy as Posh. I'm sure she would have had sailors knocking on her door regardless.
3. Christmas bonuses aren't just for bankers anymore! If any of you were considering sending in an application for the programme of which I'm currently a part, let me give you one more incentive. I woke up this week to a surprise email from the Director informing us that they are giving every student in the program a December bonus. I was flabbergasted. The money is suppose to aid in relocating to our places of mobility and cover Holiday travel costs. Since my relocation costs are minimal, Canadians don't need visas in the Netherlands, I'm treating it like a Christmas bonus and a pat on the back for the stellar work I've been doing all term. This may be the only bonus I ever receive, so I'm going to spend it on traveling in December and January. Oh, and on pastries. Lots of pastries.
4. "Time, is on my side, yes it is." Popular lyrics to a song. They lie. I know it's extremely common to observe that "time is flying" or "time seems to be going by quicker as the years go by", but has anyone done any research on this? Does perception of time change in the brain when we mature? We're currently closer to December than we are to October, closer to 2010 than we are to 2005, and I'm closer to the end of term that I was to the middle of it. Because I can picture the going away party in Toronto so vividly, it seems like it was two weeks ago. Even crazier is the New Years 2008 party we had that feels like two months ago. Soon we'll be reading lists about "The Best _______ of 2008", Time Magazine will proclaim Barack Obama its "Person of the Year", and we'll all be writing 2009 at the top of our ledgers. On one hand it's great that time is flying (because that means coursework will soon be wrapped up), on the other it's scary because my time in Europe is ticking rapidly away even if it appears that I'm here for ages. I think this is a balcony topic.
5. Do you read your horoscope? Usually I don't. If I have a paper around and I happen to think about it I might glance and see what is suppose to be "in store" for me on any given day. Yesterday, however, I happened to be web procrastinating and wandered along a link to a horoscope site that related to careers and work. The Libra forecast for yesterday looked like this: The illusion that everything would be better if only you had a better view or a different assignment to work on is just a distraction from reality. Stick with current projects and offices. The days previous I had been bitching to everyone who would listen about how tedious this group project is. Now, I didn't take this as a sign from the divines, but rather just a reminder that I should suck it up and get on with it. Sometimes you find insight in the most unlikely places.
Upcoming:
Thursday I spend ALL day with the First Year Aspects of Practice Students. I meet each group for an hour in blocks from 9-6pm. While I'm certain to be worn out by their energy, it will be great to dramaturg and offer directorial advice to their works-in-progress.
Friday evening I leave for a weekend in Stockholm. This will be country number four that I will have visited since arriving (Scotland counts as a spot along the way, but I'll be there again for New Years). I am really looking forward to a fun weekend in a totally new and exotic place.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: Maybe it's worth taking a look at your horoscope today - just for entertainment sake. Even if you don't believe in it, I consider myself highly skeptical as well, maybe it'll give you something to ponder while you wander.
6 comments:
hey Doc - ok so sorry that I missed your calls last night..I left my computer on and walked away...I wish I didn't walk away!!!
Anyways - in other news I enjoy how secure the Libs is there! I would feel very special if I got to work there...I work on my computer either in my room or at the kitchent table...
we'll spend time in the TR discussing time.. i love that one.
also, the "closer to.." really rattled me, especially 2010. .. because it was 2005 that blue window happened, "never going home" was coined, and the crew really gelled. (fine. you were gelled. i just joined..) point is, 2005 seems like yesterday, and 2010 sounds like UFOs. it's rattling.
xo
agreed on the rattling....
ya thats right I don't do anything at my job and check these blogs 2-3 times a day!! wahtever!
I promise that I didn't just wait until I could discuss etymology before I posted. I only just found the blog today.
But, speaking of etymology: I have heard that explanation of the origin of "posh," but I suspect it has no more validity than the old "fornication under consent [of the] king" idea (it's more likely an old English word derived from Teutonic sources: v. the German "ficken.") We're crazy for acronyms now, but its a fairly recent fad, based, I suppose, on the simultaneous emergence in the 20th century of cumbersome names for bureaucratic institutions and of the necessity of communicating rapidly in written texts.
Anyway, it seems that "posh" was part of the 18th century London underground slang before it ever entered common usage, and given that many of that crowd were illiterate, the notion of an acronym seems unlikely. Instead, it may have been derived from the Romany (i.e. Gypsy) word for "half." Because the stereotype associated gypsies with thievery does have some historical basis, a certain number of Romany words entered the London thieves cant, and, by a misconstrual (e.g., half crown, half-shilling, half-pence, etc.) the word "posh" became associated with money, and later with the rich.
I knew that you were secretly pining for my lectures on etymology.
Craig, you got me.
I've been looking for just the right etymology debate to coax you into posting since I hit European soil. My friend rightly told me it's most likely a myth, but I figured there was a word specialist out there who just couldn't resist. God help me if I had been discussing Waiting for Guh-do.
My history teacher actually taught us about "fornication under consent [of the] king." A pretty appealing theory to a 16 year old. There seems to be some novel currency in the longevity of these acronyms.
Thanks for the post.
Two laughs:
"If you lose your student card in the library, I guess you're stuck here forever"
&
"Sailors probably would have been knocking on her door either way."
Great post.
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