“Dear Hannah
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I must forward [the BP's] apologies as he is no longer available on Wednesday 8 October to meet with you.Would you be free on Thursday 16 October at 4.30?”
1. He can appologise for himself if he wants. He’s a grown up.
2. Unforseen circumstances? As far as I’m aware there has been no major explosion in any university building – it’s a small town, I would have heard it. Are the university administration negotiating a bailout package for a failing back (probably not a good idea, really)? Is the world going to cease spinning on its access if one man bails on an admin meeting for 30 minutes to go to a supervision meeting. If it’s a real emergency he should be bailing on today’s plans – not Wednesday’s.
3. A meeting that was scheduled in MAY. Frankly, I’m a little pissed. That should mark his diary as unavailable for anything other than the university falling down. This is a very much forseen circumstance. And it’s HALF AN HOUR. On my more cynical days I accept that the university doesn’t really believe in educating so much as processing students, but you’d think they could fake it.
4. Yes I am free then, but I would mind. Kthx.
Seriously, I’m not a demanding student. I don’t run round after him going ‘read this, read this, sign this, write this reference NOW bitch.’ I have scheduled meetings. I send him work well in advance, so that he can look over it in time. I know that if I want references or introductions I need to plan ahead. I would like very much not to be considered as a moveable monkey.
Today is already off to an interesting start, with various things freaking me out and irritating me.
Lily Allen has released a cover of Mr Blue Sky. why why why why, world. why? Why is this necessary? The original is utterly wonderful and this adds nothing to it. Pah.
iTunes 8 is giving me a wiggins. Genius bar? I doubt its genius potential. Also, the new browsing feature of pictures, pretty, except for their choice of pictures. Can I change them?
Our department now has electronic swipe card things at the doors in order to let us in, so the secretary wants the actual keys back. But what happens when there’s a powercut or the computer with the list of who can get in crashes, and I need to get into the building because I’ve left something inside. What if that thing is my house keys? Or medication? Huh? And what is she going to do with them – melt them down? Eat them? They’ll have to be prised from my cold dead fingers. Or with threats of scholarship-removal.
On the plus side, the world didn’t go up in a puff off logic when the particle accelerator was turned on, which is nice. Mel sent me Amanda Palmer’s I Will Follow You into the Dark, which I love. I put coffee on. And I got a lot of work done yetserday so I may finish this section before I go to London. May.
I got annoyed by Sarah Palin’s speech last night. That’s probably fairly noticeable. It was a well written, well delivered piece of work, and it was bitchy and partisan as hell.
It’s one thing to disagree with your opponent, it’s quite another to dismiss their career path with a sneer. ”Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organiser”, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
Bada-bing-bang-boom. Community Organisers *so* lack a sense of responsibility. That’s why they took the job, rather than getting straight onto the political ladder by becoming mayor of a small town.
But then we get this little gem.
“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people. Politics isn’t just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.”
Basically, “I’m not a member of the Washington elite, and therefore I’m more likely to change things than him, except, could you please forget that thing where I literally just said I have more experience than him because I got into politics as a mayor whilst he was faffing around doing jack shit in the South Side of Chicago.”
And that’s before we get into the ‘My family are off limits for political games, because they didn’t chose this, but I get to parade them around like there’s no tomorrow,’ crap.
I’d never heard of Russell Howard till a week and a half ago. Now this is one of my favourite pieces of news comedy from this year. It is absolutely spot on, and hilarious. It’s from Mock the Week.
