Hmmm, I did a good job with that writing sample, go figure

So, I was perseverating about what to send as my writing sample for the GAO interview followup, and then I ran across the writing sample I constructed for my “get a job, you slacker” seminar course last semester. It was good. It included the good parts of many previous things I’d written, demonstrated my skills, and left out the icky parts. It even made me feel better about my capabilities. So, go me of december. Good job. =)

That’s depressing: Anti-homo violence

I got out of the habit of reading the Stranger when I moved to SF. Then, in ‘s journal, made reference to it, so I went to check it out. The front page story is about a rural homo raised in a fundie family, denied opportunity to pursue greatness in gymnastics, runs away from home, turns to prostitution & drugs, and ends up getting cut up and having the shit kicked out of him by east european immigrant fundies in Seattle for walking down the street and not taking their shit. The immigrant fundies end up going to jail.

A compelling story, but how representative is it? Scary, yeah. Same as the story of the DC sniper. “It could happen to you”. Enh, shouldn’t let it get me down. Back to readings.

Difficult Decisions: Dropping a course

It’s all sort of come to a head today. I have a rough draft due in transportation and land use at 4.

In economic development, I had a prelude to a paper due in early march. List your sources and describe them, write a page or so about the notion of your 10-15 page (I think) paper. I’ve found some sources, and haven’t read them. Professor Schuh is pretty cool, and has said that he’s okay giving me an incomplete. Professor Krizek, my instructor for Transportation & Land Use, when I told him I was having surgery said “Well, make sure you talk to your classmates to get the notes for any days you miss.” But I digress.

I’ve made a script to convert real-html to joke-html for my research assistantship. It needs a couple of corners finished before I use it to go on a cut & paste spree. That’s all I’ve done for that since my surgery. I turned in a half-assed paper for creating good work at the midsemester. I turned in a 2 hour abstract for t&lu (the one on which he suggested I use a map).

Of my courses, gymnastics doesn’t really count as a cutting target because a) it’s only one unit, b) it keeps me sane, c) all I have to do for the rest of the semester is show up and I get my grade, and d) it wakes me up for cgw. Economic development I can’t drop the first half of, and it fulfills requirements for my concentration. Creating good work also fulfills the same requirements. Multivariate Techniques is so easy and trivial that it scarcely counts. Plus, it’s useful. Transportation and Land Use gives me units, but does not otherwise advance me towards a degree, nor has it offered me much, pedogogically, outside of lab. Furthermore, even without t&lu, and not counting gymnastics, I’ll finish up this semester significantly more than halfway through the credits I need to graduate.

I did find the data for the paper. I was initially told I could find it here, but it appears that I’d have to go to pittsburgh to find it (maybe) and devote some of my vacation time to getting it, so that I could do the analysis and write the paper in the following week and a half, when I’ll also be working on my cgw and ed papers. In short, screw that.

Previously the thought of working for the physical infrastructure team made me think that keeping t&lu might be relevant, but if it is, then I really don’t want to work for PIT.

My sole misgiving on this is the lab, and my 11th hour abandonment of my group (including the inestimable ). I’ve told one member already, this may inform another, and the third will probably find out later today. I’d really like to have a little more of my life back.

GAO take 2

I think it happened about 30 seconds after I said “I think I screwed my GAO interview,” for the umpteenth time. I got a call from the 312 area code. I thought “great, this is the ‘no job for you'” call because I confused that with washington’s area code, 301. I was talking, so I just turned off the ringer and continued the conversation about bleak internship prospects with a fellow first year.

Well, 312 is chicago, downtown chicago. The guy who called wanted to see if I’d actually dropped out of consideration with the gao, because apparently I’ve been marked as such in their database, if I’d be interested in doing health care stuff despite not clicking that box, and whether chicago would be an okay place for me (hmmm, desperate much? ;).

I called him up, assured him that chicago is my first choice town, that while I interviewed in washington, I had not yet received an offer, and that the health care division of the gao would be quite interesting to me, even though I hadn’t marked it. (It was borderline, I was pretty sure it was physical infrastructure that was going to call me in, so I was a little flippant in clicking those boxes. Heh, seems I was right)

In short, phone interview friday. And an info interview wednesday with the green institute. Hmmm. Maybe I’m not so screwed… On that front. =)

I am somewhat disappointed with their nonprofit fair today. I was hoping for some renewable energy activism organizations. Enh, oh well. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.