You look for subchapter 1.16 in between subchapters 1.1 and 1.2.
You find “Conic Sexxxtions” to be a good name for a strip club.
You do mathematical proofs [e.g. using Taylors to show e ^ (PI * i) = -1] when you find yourself bored in class.
You find your classmates’ and professor’s failure to follow the Appendix in People v. Collins a shade disturbing.
Come up with your own!
Take a brokerage house (say, ShareBuilder) and have it set aside 100 custodial accounts with $500 in each. Work out a deal with five school districts (preferably poorer school districts, where the students’ parents have a spotty history of saving) to offer a class on financial security (where the students would learn about balancing a checkbook, the true costs of credit card debt, trading stocks, etc.). Limit enrollment to twenty students. Give those students free reign over the custodial accounts, but limit their ability to withdraw until they reach the age of 21. Call it charity. Call it investing in future investors. Call it marketing. Call it a public relations coup. Relatively inexpensive, but assuming the brokerage house’s marketing department has any kind of capacity to spin and get news coverage, a win. Also keep in mind the costs are less than they initially appear: not only will the $500 be sapped by transaction fees, at least some of these youngsters will eventually become real traders. Sure some will blow whatever is left after they turn 21. But others will deposit more. And perhaps serve as an example to their families, their friends, etc.
I started reading Gregory Maguire’s Wicked a few days ago. This is actually the second time I picked it up. The first time, I think I was expecting a Terry Pratchett novel set in Oz instead of Discworld. So I didn’t get very far. But after hearing it recommended over and over, I decided to give it another go. Wow, is it worth it. [Word of caution: you cannot go into it thinking "comic fantasy novel," although on some level it is. But it is more "comic" in the sense that Michael Chabon or Tom Robbins is comic. Not "comic" in the Douglas Adams or Jasper Fforde sense.]
I am only halfway through, and it is already easily one of my favorite novels. And this from someone who thought Baum’s Oz was a confused mess without significant purpose or developed narrative. Maguire can write, which is probably the most important quality in a writer. Maguire has ideas, which is perhaps the second most important quality in a writer. And Maguire has wit, which is almost certainly the third most important quality in a writer.
I must confess that until recently, while I found the goal of archive.org laudable, I found its selection of books, films, and music simply too spotty to justify regular visits (as an alternative to the regular visits I make to the local library). I had found a few gems there in the past. Mike Doughty and Pinback concerts, for example. And classic Roger Corman and George Romero films. But on the whole, not enough to alter my lifestyle.
But, bored on a Saturday night and without much a plan, I decided to check to see what had cropped up recently. And imagine my surprise to see amazing selections like Charade, His Girl Friday, D.O.A., and Meet John Doe had somehow found their way into the public domain. Wow.
Wow. I just checked out the results of The Satire Awards‘ 10/1/04 – 1/15/05 Members Choice Winners. And guess who made an appearance. That’s right: Generally Awesome. But more importantly, Yodelling Llama. Just take a look. YL apparently had the third “most believable” story with Bush: “Kerry” Is Osama Bin Laden in Rubber Mask and the second best “established site.” Which just goes to show how wretched most of the satire is on the Internet.
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