never again

First day of term2 at KoolPurple school, and QuietBoy has proved to be the fastest learner. Chatterbox moans about the pain in his fingers, Dreamboat throws fits of willfullness where she dumps her cello on the floor and refuses to play. And she thinks she knows everything! That's really the hardest kind of student to teach I think. But right under my nose, I think Chatter box is trying to hook up with Dreamboat! He tried to make a date with her at "the North Pole" at "Club Penguin" - this online game thingy. Unfortunately Dreamboat was already meeting someone else at "American Pole". I watched in fascination at Chatterbox's totally disappointed "aw shucks" face. Chatterbox is only 8.

Today's also the first day I went for consultation in my entire uni life. For the uninitiated, consultation is when you go to a lecturer's office feeling stupid, ask questions that make you appear stupid, and come out of the session feeling stupid.

I never felt a need to go for consultation, because I hate wasting other people's time. But this time I really couldn't help it, because my research lecturer was totally confusing in her simplicity. Maybe it's just because I confuse myself; my mind goes off on its own tangent and thinks itself into messes it can't get out of.

Classically enough, the first question that popped out was "What's objective and subjective?" with reference to qualitative and quantitative research, immediately establishing myself as a "you-should't-be-in-uni" person. Before I could change my question, the lecturer went to great detail to patiently explain that "the paper is yellow" is objective and "the paper is soft" is subjective. *wince*. She is painfully patient.

But what I actually meant to ask was, who determines what is objective and subjective, and if the whole quantitative/objective, qualititative/subjective dichotomy was a bit simplistic because the 'objective' might be attained only by setting subjective standards, and the 'subjective' might be a person's objective reality.

I did get down to asking those things in the end and the answer, as always, is that there is no definite answer. The wonders of consultation.