King of Tangential Thinking

Right now I'm wondering whether it's a good idea to change the name of this blog to KOTT - the King of Tangential Thinking. Like the Beach Boys, I get around...in a topical sense, and I think that the variety and irreverence of the writing here is its strength. Plus, a name change at this point isn't something bound to spark outcry from the Internet community. This certainly could be the moment to set myself up for the big-time, with a simple acronym that even the most stubborn technology-phobe could punch in his IE (since that person wouldn't be using Netscape or Mozilla) and allow the thoughts to embrace him. Anyway,...I'll stick with the Climber now because it's a great name and I'm rambling. Time to focus.

Today, we're discussing my second summer job -- passing out flyers on the UC Berkeley campus. I didn't know what the flyers were advertising until I got the giant stack. Speed-reading, you all. What the hell is speed-reading? Is Ice Climber stubborn like the IE user from the previous paragraph? Is my pessimism toward alternative learning techniques unwarranted? Am I trying to raise the Flesch Reading Ease value for this post? Somehow I just know that speed-reading courses have never helped anyone learn better, except that they may prompt students to read more...not faster. Anyway, there was a free seminar where they could coax you with statistics and then the real shit cost $90.

Flyering: The sneaking-into-classrooms-after-the-buildings-are-opened-but-before-students-arrive part actually isn't that bad. You have to run around to get into as many classrooms as possible in a 30-or-so minute period, but you're alone in the early morning (early birds know the early morning has unique characteristics that make it a truly enjoyable time of day) and aside from dodging janitors and security it's pretty relaxing.

Part 2 tomorrow...