Correlation or Irony?

I bought two things at the bookstore today: The first thing was a new 200-sheet pad of engineering computation paper. (For my engineering classes I’m required to use this type of paper to submit my homework.) This might not seem significant but I’ve already gone through one 200-sheet pad and the semester is barely half over. In the past I’ve bought 50-sheet pads and it lasted the whole semester and then some. Why is this significant? It’s an indication to me that I’m doing a ton of homework. It’s not uncommon for me to spend 12 or more hours a day on campus attending class and studying. (If it’s a Tuesday or Thursday I never leave the Clyde Building.)

The second thing was a book on dating that I had read about in the Daily Universe. It seemed to have a different approach on the subject compared to other books I’ve skimmed in the past so I decided that it was worth the $12 investment. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I bought such a book, but not ashamed enough to not share this story through the most public medium on earth.

Now I’m trying to decide if these two purchases are correlated. Am I spending so much time doing homework that my dating life needs help? (Or is a lack of dating life driving me to spend countless hours analyzing indeterminate structures and open channel flow?) The phrase “Correlation does not imply causation!” from Patty, my stats professor will be forever ingrained in my mind, but I wonder. Either way I couldn’t help but see the irony in the situation.

To top it off, with my purchase the bookstore gave me a voucher for a ticket to an upcoming jazz concert on campus. That’s half a date right there. Maybe I should get started on that book, someone else can analyze those structures.