| Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job |
[Aug. 4th, 2009|11:35 pm] |
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/03/new.york.jobless.graduate/index.html
I found this via the Consumerist. The vigilant defenders of consumer values over there naturally raked her over the coals for having the gall to expect something for her $70,000. It is, of course, very easy to call her suit meritless. She seems very nearly unemployable, at least as far as the kind of work she believes her degree entitles her to is concerned.
But this strikes me as a very nearly perfect example of what is wrong with the university system. She enrolled on the implicit promise of better employment, performed as was required, and now holds a $70,000 piece of wall decoration. Because not only has her education not provided her with the ends she sought, it has also pretty evidently failed to cultivate the skills it is expressly for. She can't even spell the goddamn word "tuition." And for the privilege she's probably leveraged the next twenty years of her working life to Sallie Mae.
I certainly wouldn't hire her, but she damn well does deserve her money back. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 21st, 2009|11:27 pm] |
I had a dream that I was in a train station with steep and narrow stairs, like a cliff face.
I climbed to the top of the stairs but there was a woman in front that wouldn't move so I had to throw her off. The other side was like the backstage area of a theater.
There was a fat psychic in tattered rags that seemed like a secondary character on lost, but was really just a customer from the store. The psychic who sleeps with his sister said to me, "I play the game now better than I ever have before." |
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| Puns I like too much |
[Apr. 15th, 2009|08:50 pm] |
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Tonight's brand new episode of Lost is called "Some like it Hoth". |
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Tiefling options for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mordicai |
[Apr. 11th, 2009|06:57 pm] |
Tiefling Options
Because of their varied backgrounds, tiefling appearance can be quite varied. It is also possible, and even likely that not all tieflings will have the same innate powers. Because of this, the following two tables were created to add variety to tieflings, and should be used at the time of character creation.
The tiefling ability table should be rolled on five times, the results used in place of the standard infravision, darkness, 15' radius ability, and resistances to cold, fire, electricity and poison. Note, however, that all of these abilities occur on the table.
Tiefling Appearance
01-04 Small horns on forehead
05-06 Small horns on temples
07 Single horn on forehead
08-09 Long, thin face
10 Fangs in mouth
11 All teeth are pointed
12 Forked tongue
13-14 Pointed ears
15 Fan-like ears
16 Extremely long nose
17 Very small (almost unnoticeable) nose
18 Extremely long eyelashes
19-21 Red eyes
22-23 Black eyes
24 Feline eyes
25-26 Extremely deep-set eyes
27-28 Green hair
29-30 Blue hair
31 Multi-colored hair
32-33 Six fingers (including thumb)
34-35 Three fingers (including thumb)
36-37 Black fingernails
38-39 Red fingernails
40-41 Fingers one inch longer than normal
42 Arms six inches longer than normal
43 Legs six inches longer than normal
44-46 Horse-like legs
47-49 Goat-like legs
50-52 Goat-like hooves
53-55 Long, thin tail
56-57 Horse-like tail
58-59 Lizardlike tail
60-62 Spiny ridge on back
63-65 Spiny ridges all over body
66-68 Hairless body
69-71 Body covered in short fur or long hair
72-73 Body covered in striped markings
74-75 Extremely greasy skin
76-80 Scaly skin
81-83 Leathery skin
84 Small feathers rather than hair on 10-100% of body
85 Green-tinted skin
86 Blue-tinted skin
87 Red-tinted skin
88-89 Special side effect (roll on table below)
90-94 Roll twice again, ignoring rolls above 89
95-00 Roll three times again, ignoring rolls above 89
Tiefling special side effects
01-10 Ashy odor surrounds body
11-15 Sulfurous odor surrounds body
16-20 Rotting odor surrounds body
20-25 Skin exudes ashy grit
26-30 Body casts no shadow
31-33 Body has no reflection in mirror
34-40 Susceptible to spells such as spirit wrack and cacofiend
41-45 Tanar'ri react toward tiefling as though baatezu
46-50 Baatezu react toward tiefling as though tanar'ri
51-60 Presence causes unease in animals
61-65 Presence causes unease in NPCs. Reactions at -4
66-70 Prolonged touch withers normal plants
71-75 Fingers treated as claws (1d4/1d3 damage)
76-80 Touch inflicts 1 point of damage due to high body heat
81-85 Touch inflicts 1 point of damage due to cold body temperature
86-90 Odd skin composition results in base AC of 1d6+3
91 Cannot reproduce
92 Holy water inflicts 1d6 damage
93 Exposure to direct sunlight inflicts 1 point of damage per round
94 Cannot enter "holy" areas
95 Harmed only by magical or silver weapons
96-00 Intuitively can speak the language of one fiendish race
Tiefling Abilities
01-03 blur one time per day
04-06 charm person one time per day
07-09 chill touch one time per day
10-12 comprehend languages one time per day
13-15 darkness, 10' radius once per day
16-18 detect good/evil two times per day
19-21 detect magic three times per day
22-24 ESP one time per day
25-27 invisibility two times per week
28-30 know alignment one time per day
31-33 mirror image one time per day
34-36 misdirection one time per day
37-39 pyrotechnics three times per week
40-42 suggestion one time per week
43-45 summon swarm one time per week
46-48 vampiric touch one time per week
49-51 whispering wind one time per day
52-55 half damage from fire
56-59 half damage from cold
60-63 half damage from electricity
64-67 half damage from acid
68-75 infravision 60'
76-79 +2 saving throw vs. fire
80-83 +2 saving throw vs. electricity
84-87 +2 saving throw vs. poison
88-91 +2 saving throw vs. cold
92-95 +2 saving throw vs. acid
96 +2 saving throw vs. petrification/polymorph and paralysis
97 +2 saving throw vs. rod/staff/wand
98 +2 saving throw vs. spells
99 Roll twice, ignoring results over 95
00 Roll three times, ignoring results over 95 |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|11:54 pm] |
I dreamt that overnight the owners had removed all the store's inventory and replaced it with weird Dr. Seuss clothing and added a room filled entirely with glowing wooden disks that hung suspended in midair like fish in an aquarium. The store had also grown larger and been moved from a dark and dingy side street to a sunlit corner.
We were doing a steady trade in our new stock when I came in but I couldn't help but be mad about the lost books. I'd put a whole lot of effort into acquiring the orders and adoptions for them and I didn't see how we could sell these clothes and wooden disks upstairs while doing the textbook business out of the mysterious new basement. I was especially mad that I would have to get all the damn books back.
There was an immaculately slovenly group of people sprawled on a set of new Ikea easy chairs having a loudly self-satisfied conversation. I suspected they were my new staff. I glared and asked if they worked at the store. They said yes, and I told them they wouldn't be if they kept up the godawful racket. I woke up feeling very satisfied about being mean to them. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 11th, 2009|09:57 pm] |
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Alright, so I have four short boxes and one long box worth of comics I just don't want. I can't think of a way to sell them that will make enough money to be worth the time or will sell enough copies to free up the space I want back in my apartment. The fee structure and software fees for the online listing sights are all so terrible I am dead certain I would end up paying more money than I'd make. The issues I own that might have some collectability are generally also ones I like or have some kind of attachment to. Any ideas about how I can give the unwanted ones away? I'm filled with a far too great sense of vestigial attachment to just toss them in the recycling yet. But that'll go away soon because every week these things are taking up more and more apartment space. |
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| I <3 youtube |
[Mar. 8th, 2009|12:55 am] |
I am sad this clip isn't the entire appearance. I could watch these people dance to "Down In It" all day.
The future was funny in the 80s.
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 20th, 2009|11:29 pm] |
Today I whacked my head on the time clock again. Last time my I dug out a pretty good divot, this time I just felt headachey and eventually queasy.
I got into a disagreement with a school teacher who came into the store. She was under the impression that schools were closed this week to celebrate three different presidents. I told her they picked the week around President's day for the week long holiday so the Board of Ed. could save money on heating by turning off the schools' furnaces for a week. When she said, "That's not what they told us" I told her that's what the city told the newspapers when they started doing it more than a decade ago. |
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| Pies Alicia and I have made |
[Feb. 3rd, 2009|12:04 am] |
For Halloween with Maggie and Emily:
1 apple pie
3 pumpkin pies
For Thanksgiving:
3 pumpkin pies
Christmas test run:
1 pear w/2 apple gruyere pie
Because I couldn't get rhubarb before Thanksgiving:
1 rhubarb pie w/ blackberries and raspberries
For Christmas:
1 pear gruyere pie
Alicia made these with her friends and not me:
1 rhubarb and 4 mini apple pies
After Christmas because pie is delicious:
1 pear apple w/ a little gruyere
I want to make because I think I could make it not be disgusting:
1 lemon meringue pie
The textbook rush is maddening. My feet and knees hurt every day. Today is the first day in a month that we've finished all of the pending textbook receiving. I just had to stay until after 11 PM again to do it. I think we're doing really well. We've also invented ways all of the other stores could be making more money, and it would be nice if the owners would get them to do it so we could all keep our jobs in a dying retail industry for a while longer. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 21st, 2009|08:23 pm] |
So I'm pretty sure I'm done with my three months of being really, really mad. There were a few times I actually felt physically ill I was so damn mad. There hasn't really been any change, still just got a goddamn raw deal and have to suck it up. But I'm done with the part where I'm generally furious about it. So that's okay.
Recently, I've gotten really into Hellblazer. I've made my way through all of the Jamie Delano stuff that's in trade, which cover about the first 40 issues. There was a kind of hilarious moment in the middle of the first one where I realized I'd previously read it four or five years ago. Well before I'd read Swamp Thing and actually came to like the character. I've never had the experience before of so completely forgetting I'd read something. Usually I'm pretty on top of that kind of thing and can at least tell you I've seen the thing before.
I've been letting the whole thing steep in my head for a comprehensive review, but it's been a long week of waiting since I ordered in the next few trades in the series and I keep wanting to talk about it. It's been a while since I've gone on this kind of comics binge and I am not ashamed to tell you that it is deeply satisfying to be in the middle of. The sense of imminent enjoyment of a thing makes my toes tingle. It makes sleeping on a good thing worthwhile, being able to spend weeks neck deep in it. |
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| "I'm lookin' for a man. A salesman." |
[Jan. 6th, 2009|10:39 am] |
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I just netted the first large order since I started. It's a core requirement with a 600 student enrollment, which, if I am not mistaken, will be the largest exclusive order we've had yet. Also, I think it's our first exclusive for a core class. Interestingly enough this is pretty clearly a result of a couple emails I sent almost two months ago. Fire and forget salesman! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|10:27 am] |
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Here is the thing I would do to fix textbook pricing and make the market for them stop being so broken: eliminate gratuitous desk and exam copies. If professors and universities had to directly bear the price tag they'd take real action to reduce prices. Currently? Professors complain and then assign the overpriced book anyway. For many, prices never even enter consideration as a factor. There's a lot of ink spilled on publisher's practices when the real problem begins and ends with faculty. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 19th, 2008|07:59 am] |
Christmas double feature:
It's a Wonderful Life
Back to the Future Part II |
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| Vividity |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|12:35 am] |
I keep forgetting to mention I was in this movie. I play a killer. The day of the shoot I terrified a woman walking her dog in Brooklyn Heights with my fake gun. Nobody could convince her not to call the cops, least of all the cop who was there to oversee our permits. Not to spoil the surprise for you, but I get killed in it. I fell over on the pavement like five times and spent the next three days with aching ribs. I kind of wish you could see the director's previous short. mordicai gets beaten up by a drawing of a giant samoan come to life in it. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 6th, 2008|11:15 pm] |
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So, I'm watching You've Got Mail because it's a terrible movie and I have a secret love of watching terrible movies on cable. And the thing about it that outrages me most is not its treacly cliches and its ridiculous depiction of a New York that only exists in Nora Ephron's adderall riddled brain, it's the off-hand comment by one of the characters about the annual sales of Meg Ryan's tiny independent children's book store. I am sorry, but you cannot run a three employee bookshop on the Upper West Side in Manhattan on only $350,000 a year in sales. That's goddamn ridiculous. You'd have to run that damn store by yourself. Clearly there's something wrong with my brain. |
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| Failed Etiquette Roll |
[Nov. 19th, 2008|07:54 am] |
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Yesterday, while looking for an Economics professor who puts many thousands of dollars of business through our doors, I introduced myself to the Chinese professor who shares his office. I popped out a card, gave it to her, and rolled out some version of the spiel. She took my card with both hands and carefully read it while I talked. Later, I remembered that I was supposed to present it with both hands and not like I was passing her a cigarette or something. I've become pretty interested in the kind of non-verbal signaling involved in this part of the job. Like tweed apparently works as a badge of office. If I show up in the Harris Tweed sportcoat I found for $15 at Beacon's Closet people might just say "You're here from the bookstore, right?" |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2008|07:04 pm] |
I was thinking today that I would maybe like to get out of the business of cultural products and into a commodities business. No more books, I want to sell paper. I just don't want the hassle of legging my way up a business that people "have always wanted to work in." I want to do something that makes people's eyes glaze over the moment you tell them about it. And when they maybe say, "How can you do that? It sounds so boring." I'll say "I make a good living."
I just feel like here in book world the compensation is thinned out by the fact that people love 'em and want to work with them. Every semester we get to cherry pick from abundantly over-qualified people for a minimum wage position, really when you get down to it a job no better than slinging hash at a McDonald's, because people really want that little bit of prestige they'll get for working with books. Me? I want to be a hash slinger if the pay is higher and it'll get me some benefits.
For now I'm just going to aim to cut the heart out of this little corner of Barnes & Noble and howl over its grave. I'm thinking I've got a decent shot in the next few years. I'm already set to prize the student aid money out of their claws. |
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