Tuesday is the day! On Tuesday afternoon, I’m defending my Master’s Thesis, the product of the last 16 months of my working life. I feel inspired by the Olympics to defend. Seeing all these athletes come out with intensity and passion has been fuelling me to cut down my academic committee on any question they can come up. For those unfamiliar with the process, here’s how it works. Two weeks ago, I gave my academic committee (made up of my supervisor and two other professors at the University) a final copy of my thesis manuscript. They have spent the last two weeks reviewing it, poking holes in it and trying to find mistakes. On Tuesday, I have to give a 20-30 minute presentation summarizing the thesis, and then they will set about their task of challenging me on every aspect of the document. In response, I have to defend my work. I’ve heard of thesis defences that were quick and easy, lasting maybe half an hour. I’ve heard of marathon defences that go on into the night. Whatever the case may be, I will resist the temptation to break down and curl up on the floor. I will stand tall, I will be proud of my work and I will defend it to the death. OK, maybe not to the death… 
Last week’s articles were featured in a number of carnivals and link roundups this week:
Are We Funding Our Own Demise was featured in:
- Carnival of Money Pros, hosted by Finance Product Reviews
- Carnival of Retirement, hosted by Debt Black Hole
- Yakezie Carnival, hosted by See Debt Run
- and you’ll never expect to see what you’ll see on Blue Collar Workman‘s link roundup, For the Love of Feet.
The Value of the Corporate Social Responsibility Label was featured in:
- Young and Thrifty‘s Weekend Ramblings
- Carnival of Financial Camaraderie, hosted by My Money Counsellor
- Modest Money‘s Beginning of August 2012 Favorite Blog Posts
- Finance Carnival, hosted by Wealth Artisan
- Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by My Personal Finance Journey
- Boomer and Echo are celebrating their two year blogging anniversary with a big giveaway!
- Teacher Man at Young and Thrifty posted an interesting article about hedge funds and how mutual funds are like the minor leagues of investing.
- Jordann at My Alternate Life reviewed an eco-friendly, biodegradable dog poop bag that is worth a look if you’re a pet owner!
- Shawanda at Fabulously Broke in the City makes a case for living in small spaces. I live in a pretty small space, and the biggest thing to overcome is the accumulation of stuff!
- Daisy at Add Vodka gives some recommendations for saving money on road trips. I’m thinking about going on a road trip before the end of the summer, and one of the things I’m looking forward to is the cheaper gas in rural areas.
- Daisy also did a guest post at Prairie Eco-Thrifter, highlighting some green, frugal alternatives to going to the gym. Really, unless its snowing outside, all the cardio workouts you do at a gym can be done for free outdoors. Here in Toronto, we now have some parks that have outdoor gym equipment for the public to use.
- Squawkfox shared a great idea that has sprung up in her community – a book tree. I would love to see something like this in my community. Maybe I should start it…
- Sean at One Smart Dollar shares some ideas for making money at home. This past spring, I got a freelancing photography gig. I’ve been long thinking about maybe trying to sell some of my prints at a local farmer’s market if I can get over the hump of the initial capital cost to make all the prints.
Lots of great articles this week! Happy Weekend Everyone and wish me luck!
Good luck defending your thesis! It sounds like it could get pretty intense. Since you are so passionate about your topic I’m sure you’ll have no problem.
Thanks Jeremy! I hope that’s the case
Good luck on defending your thesis! A photography gig, that’s pretty awesome. Where did you find one?
Thanks Daisy! A friend of mine works in marketing, and was able to get me some work with a chain of local coffee shops based on an online portfolio that I maintain.
Wow sounds like you have quite the intense week coming up. Good luck. Thanks a bunch for mentioning my article.
No problem Sean! Thanks for stopping by
Good luck and thanks for the mention!
Your welcome Jordann! Funny story, I was actually hanging out with friends yesterday and one of my friends pulled out one of the eco-poop bags out of their purse. It really did smell like lavender!
Thanks for the link!
Good luck defending, you’ll do GREAT! And c’mon, even if you fall on your face, you won’t die. Right? Right. So hey, no chance of death is pretty awesome. So get in there and knock their socks off!
No chance of death is definitely reassuring! Thanks for the encouragement
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