alexiscartwheel | Entries tagged with mcgill

I went to pick up a book from the library today and found, much to my dismay, that the library had been temporarily shut down because of something to do with student protesters. (My French reading skills lack any ability with nuance.) Since people we're saying it was for the rest of the day, I just turned around and got back on the Metro to come home.

According to the Montreal Gazette student strikers are protesting a tuition hike of... wait for it... 100 dollars. Seriously? As part of the strike, protesters wanted to stage a sit-in at the Grande Bibliothèque, hence the closure. Maybe it's just me, but that's just absurd. First off, you can strike from school? I thought there was another name for that? Oh, right. Cutting class. (I wish I would've done so this morning, but that's a different story. As much as I don't enjoy my classes, I'm glad that McGill students are basically staying out of this. I don't care to be on strike, thanks.)

From what I've read, CEGEP and University tuition in Quebec has been frozen for the past decade, so they haven't had an increase recently. Perhaps it's simply a matter of perspective, but a 100 dollar increase after ten years seems pretty reasonable--it's probably not even keeping up with inflation. Also, it's not as if the tuition is that expensive to begin with; that's part of the reason I'm here. Even state universities in the US are much, much more expensive, and many have tuition or fee increases ever year. Do Quebec students seriously not understand how good they've got it here? I think they should go back to class and pay the 100 bucks. It's really not a huge deal.

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After three straight days of non-stop group project work (ugh), the LIS 5 a 7 at Thompson House was a welcome relief. Yay for the grad student bar, pitchers of beer, and yummy nachos. Later, I accompanied some friends to a "Grade 7 Minutes in Heaven" themed party. Basically, the idea was to wear outdated clothes (what you would have worn in Grade 7) or just something ridiculously ugly. I wore my matching Adidas track suit, which my sister expressly forbid me to ever wear as a complete set, but I figure this was a special case. We had a really, really awful bottle of wine, so luckily we met some nice francophone guys who took pity on us and shared their beer. They claimed that my French sounded just fine, and laughed when I used one of my stock phrases and offered them each a grapefruit. :D

Saturday and Sunday were somewhat less fun. Saturday I headed in to the computer lab to take screen shots of my database project, but didn't have time to do the write up that's supposed to go with them because for some reason the lab has ridiculously short hours on the weekend. If we're not out on time, the doors get locked, so the only way out is through a fire door that sets off an alarm and summons security. Not good. Sunday was even more of the same. I was back at the library by 11 am to work on my database project again, then work on my other project (making a poster feels so 3rd grade), then a break for Timmy's, then cataloging exam review, then dinner break, then more cataloging studying. Tomorrow I'm due back at the library by 9am to return my closed reserve textbooks, then I've got a full schedule of more studying and project work! (Time to make friends with the Anglo-American Catologuing Rules.) Of course, there's a second midterm for Rico Suave's class on Friday, but I won't have time to start studying for that until Wednesday, once the projects are turned in and the cataloging exam is over.

Thank goodness we have a study break next week. I need it to restore my sanity. And to clean up my room. Cause yikes, it looks like a small tornado hit in here.

In better news: I watched the latest episode of The Office, which was, as usual, amazingly good. I think The Office is my new favorite show. (Sorry, Danielle, I know the people on The Bionic Woman are hawt and all, but The Office is on a whole different plain of awesome.) It's consistently funny, and it's such a welcome break from all my boring studying. Unlike other shows I watch *cough*Grey's Anatomy*cough* it doesn't make me want to go hurt the writers.

( Spoiler-ish )

The Ohio State took down Kent State on Saturday, and after more losses by top-ranked teams, the Buckeyes are ranked #1 in the first BCS rankings of the year. This football season has been crazy! How come all the other ranked teams keep losing? Why is the rest of the Big 10 completely lackluster? And what was it again that I didn't stay for my fifth year? Anyone?

Current Music: Violent Femmes - Add It Up

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The books that I have to read for my classes are all tragically boring. I thought Silas Marner was dull back in high school, but now I've got gems like Introduction to Cataloging and Classification and Build Your Own Database. If I really want to put myself to sleep, all I have to do is study The Anglo-American Cataloging Rules.

To make up for the extreme dullness of my assigned reading, I've been reading (and re-reading) a lot of novels, which brings me to today's random book recommendation: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. It's part historical romance and part spy caper, set during the Napoleonic wars. The protagonist, Eloise, goes to England to research the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation, famous English spies and colleagues of the Scarlet Pimpernel, for her dissertation. (The Scarlet Pimpernel, incidentally is another good read!) Eloise discovers the papers of Amy Balcourt, which she thinks will lead her to the true identity of the Pink Carnation, and uncovers a few surprises.

My paperback copy has 426 pages, but it's really a quick read. Most of the narrative stays with Amy, who runs off to France under the auspices of visiting her elder brother, but really dreams of becoming an invaluable member of the League of the Purple Gentian. There's plenty of random literary references, if that's your sort of thing. It's light, it's funny, it's got sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Actually, minus the drugs and rock and roll, but with spies! With capes and masks!

And for

d4ni, a sample passage. I will be highly surprised if you can't identify the literary reference. (Hint: Everything in literature is either an allusion to Shakespeare or Christ symbolism... ::rolls eyes at high school English teachers::)

"My lord!" Amy hastily stepped back, this time banging into a bust of Brutus that wobbled ominously on its marble pedestal. Amy grabbed at Brutus before he could take a suicidal leap of the stand. "I didn't... that is..."

It's sooo obvious. :D Hah. Anyway, there are currently two sequels: The Masque of the Black Tulip and The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Both the sequels are equally frivolous and fun. They're great anytime, but especially if you need a nice break from your boring job, midterms, real life, or just The Anglo-American Cataloging Rules.

ETA: The fourth book in the series, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, is scheduled for publication in January. It has both "seduction" and "crimson" in the title, so it must be good!

Current Music: Coldplay - In My Place

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I kept seeing the career meme pop up everywhere, so I gave in and took the test. I think first it said I should be a tour guide, but then I specified my level of education, and the results changed accordingly. Check it out!

( Not a zamboni driver... )

Today was the first meeting and officer elections for the McGill CLA chapter. I won the (uncontested) election for secretary! I guess nobody else wanted to take minutes. But, hey, can't be worse than transcribing Bukusu.

I still haven't bought my textbooks, so today I thought I'd look them up on Amazon. It turns out they're significantly less expensive. For instance, the bookstore is charging $106 (CDN) for the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, while Amazon only charges $65 (US). Even with international shipping, that's a huge difference. I'm glad I didn't run out and buy the books right away, then find out later I got riped off. So until I can get copies from Amazon, I'm sticking with the library copies. The mysterious missing Introduction to Cataloging and Classification reappeared today! It was (surprise) shelved wrong when I turned it in on Thursday. ::rolls eyes::

In random, unrelated news, I made an omelette for dinner tonight, and it actually looked like an omelette instead of a goopy mess! Usually I have trouble getting them out of the pan in one piece. I am so talented. Maybe chef should be on my career list!

Current Music: Rascal Flatts - Mayberry

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On Friday I had my very first class as a McGill grad student. We talked about the history of computers (starting with the abacus) then moved on to computer hardware. Normally I'm not crazy about the standard Power Point lectures, but we got to watch videos! That automatically makes class better! My favorite was this one, featuring John Cleese, a PC, and a dead fish:

( If you're looking for a powerful portable computer that doesn't smell... )

In the afternoon we had lab, but all we did was learn how to log in to WebCT, which isn't exactly rocket surgery. Next week the real fun starts. Our first project is to build a database. I foresee spending lots of hours in the computer lab. Unfortunately, the software we're using is Windows only, so I can't work on it at home. I am pondering buying a new computer, but I'm sticking with Apple. I was thinking about another laptop, but the new iMacs look pretty spiffy.

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computers,
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Today was day one of two of my SIS orientation. We met the GPD and the GPC, talked about KM, and heard about the activities for CLA, ACA, MLISSA, and SLA. And then all of our heads exploded because they couldn't hold anymore acronyms! Actually, orientation was moderately interesting, but I was really tired during the morning session, so my mind was straying a bit. Breakfast was provided (yay!) but non-coffee beverages were not (doh!), so I was sadly uncaffeinated. I did learn some useful stuff though. For instance, some of the faculty are weird. This, I think, will be a good thing. A teacher with a weird sense of humor always makes for an interesting class, like my delightful American History and Government classes with the Reverend Holy Foley. Interesting profs even make subjects like "Knowledge Management" sound like fun.

There about 70 first year MLIS students; I've really only met a small group of them so far. But that's okay, because I'm glad we didn't have to do any ridiculous ice breaker things, or go around the room giving our names and "one interesting fact" about ourselves. "Um, I like books?" :P One of the girls I met said she's really into American college football, so she was jealous that I've been to so many Big 10 games. Unfortunately, she's a Michigan fan. Ah, well.

My room is finally in a state that could definitely be classified as "organized." I predict it will until approximately tomorrow at whatever time I get home from orientation day two. Incidentally, my room here is actually bigger than my room at home. Not like that's hard, but I was a bit concerned. Even with the random ugly chair that serves no purpose sitting in the middle of the room and my bike leaning against the wall, I still have plenty of room to move around. I'd still really like to have the bike outside somewhere, but I haven't figured out where I can lock it. I walked to the library today because it's really not all that far, but I noticed tons of people on bikes on campus. There were bikes locked to, well, everything. Usually fences, light poles, or parking meters. Maybe this weekend I'll head out for some biking exploration. That and the million other things I've got to do.