Today has been deemed THE BEST DAY EVER.
1. I am 5 degrees from Eddie Izzard (me, my friend Chris, Eddie Izzard's niece [who Chris met in Vietnam], Eddie Izzard's sibling/sibling-in-law, Eddie himself)
2. I am 4 degrees from The Doctor (me, my friend Chris, Eddie Izzard's niece, Matt Smith [who EI's niece met in London, before he was The Doctor). -- Just in time for the DW marathon this weekend! WOOT!
In other news, I passed the 25K mark in HAREM today, which is exciting.
I also owe some people major huggage tomorrow, and some bake-age if this weekend is not a disaster.
Also, the Career Center is the stupidest thing ever. I called to ask if they could help me out with potentially finding money for grad school and the girl asked me 1. if I read the grad school's website (no, I was too busy staring at a blank wall) 2. if I read the Career Center's website, because that was all the help they could give me. I was about three seconds from flinging my phone across the room and running up the Hill to kill her. Why is it that the CC is only geared to 1. the stupidest kids at Hamilton 2. only Economics and Government students? Too bad I'm a self-sufficient student who has exhausted all of the possibilities I could find and need a little advice to find money. Too bad I'm not a friggin trust fund baby. Too bad I can't just sell my Audi. TOO FRIGGIN BAD! AHHH!!! At this point, I really hope that I'll be able to defer a year so that I can work and save money, and THEN go off to grad school. Maybe by then, I'll have published a book and written a movie and sold a comic book. Or hit the lottery. That's acceptable too. (Also, did you know that the federal government made it illegal for women to sell their eggs? I actually was looking into that as a possibility, but the government made it illegal. HOWEVER, it's still legal to sell sperm. Yet another evil strike against equal rights.)
Back to work! *little angel/demon on shoulder whips me*
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Still alive
She LIIIIIIIIVES!!!!
sort of.
In the lab - again, keeping myself sane and functioning through a combination of Hank Green's music (I'm so glad the playlist on the ning is there) and Opus chai (I got a large tonight. hooboy.)
And while the cake may be a lie, I have a gloriously large double chocolate muffin that currently exists, although probably will not continue its life on this plane of existence in very short order. (om nom nom...)
Anyway. procrastination break over. My goal (goat? what? spelling!fail) tonight is to be asnooze before 2 am. However, the over-riding goat (sorry. I just had to) is to beat my data into shape and then squash it into five minutes of presentation. So. We'll see if the 2 am thing happens. I do have to be alert enough to give said presentation tomorrow afternoon, so I need to get quite a bit more sleep tonight than I have been getting this week. *sigh*
Toodle-oo.
Personally I like the "buy furry pet" form of procrastination.
May I suggest this one?
sort of.
In the lab - again, keeping myself sane and functioning through a combination of Hank Green's music (I'm so glad the playlist on the ning is there) and Opus chai (I got a large tonight. hooboy.)
And while the cake may be a lie, I have a gloriously large double chocolate muffin that currently exists, although probably will not continue its life on this plane of existence in very short order. (om nom nom...)
Anyway. procrastination break over. My goal (goat? what? spelling!fail) tonight is to be asnooze before 2 am. However, the over-riding goat (sorry. I just had to) is to beat my data into shape and then squash it into five minutes of presentation. So. We'll see if the 2 am thing happens. I do have to be alert enough to give said presentation tomorrow afternoon, so I need to get quite a bit more sleep tonight than I have been getting this week. *sigh*
Toodle-oo.
Personally I like the "buy furry pet" form of procrastination.
May I suggest this one?
Cuuuuuuute!
(Baby Procrastination!Goat takes over the world)
(Baby Procrastination!Goat takes over the world)
Point of fact
PerverselyAwake!Dalek I have been awake for 21 hours.
Holy crap.
On the plus side, the last 6 and a half of those hours were ridiculously productive.
I vote NO to 9 am class. (I also vote no to walking home at 6 am in the cold but it seems I have little choice about that if I want to sleep until noon in my own bed rather than somewhere in the science center.... not that I've done that before...or anything...)
In case you were wondering, the answer is yes. I am insane.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Job!fail
So I didn't get the job at the company I've been interning at for 3 years. Somehow, it seems grossly unfair, but "we hope that you can join us in a full-time capacity in the not-too distant future."
Yeah, whatever.
So now I have to re-up my job search. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have 6 other positions out there, but haven't gotten anything back yet, so I'll have to call, which, while not bad, I can't do for another 2 weeks or so.
It really sucks when you can't even get a job at the company you have massive amounts of history with. So it's back to careerbuilder.com and website scouring for me. Bah. This is all pretty damn depressing.
Edit:
Once upon a time, there was a aphorism: "When one door closes, a window opens."
Door: Didn't get job with R&T.
Window: Got into Kingston University.
This happened within 5 hours of each other, and while I'm excited, it's also time to whip out the Pro/Con list. BAH.
Yeah, whatever.
So now I have to re-up my job search. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have 6 other positions out there, but haven't gotten anything back yet, so I'll have to call, which, while not bad, I can't do for another 2 weeks or so.
It really sucks when you can't even get a job at the company you have massive amounts of history with. So it's back to careerbuilder.com and website scouring for me. Bah. This is all pretty damn depressing.
Edit:
Once upon a time, there was a aphorism: "When one door closes, a window opens."
Door: Didn't get job with R&T.
Window: Got into Kingston University.
This happened within 5 hours of each other, and while I'm excited, it's also time to whip out the Pro/Con list. BAH.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Willpower for the win!
Working!DalekThis is going to be quick, but I figured I should get it out of the way since I will have no time later today. I am currently celebrating my victory over the fanfiction (I had quite the battle with myself upon finding out that I didn't actually have a homework assignment due for my class tonight...but I still have so much to do that I really can't waste time today...so I won!) ... I am also waiting for my caffeine to cool down enough to not give me second degree burns.
(Yes, instead of reading fanfiction, I traipsed downstairs for caffeine and am updating this blog. Got a problem with that?)
Traipsing down and up two flights of stairs was fun. Naturally, it being one of the busiest weeks this month, my body hates me....and has no qualms in telling me so. Loudly.
...Opus chai still too hot. (What am I going to do about my Opus addiction in a month-ish??? Yikes!)
Oh - interesting things I learned in social psych today: (we're doing the chapter on attraction. I'm intrigued.)
- Obscene amounts of perfume/cologne will actually hurt your chances of someone being attracted to you (even if they like the smell.) While smell does have an impact on attraction, it actually works better if its something your brain takes note of subconsciously because then you can't attribute your liking to the smell, but rather say "Oh, hey, there's something about this person I really like....can't quite put my finger on it." and leave it at that. (If you can smell it consciously its more along the lines of, "I could perhaps like this person, but I can't tell if its just the way they smell that's making me happy or if its the person him/herself.... obviously its just the smell and I should walk away now before he/she starts hitting on me again.")
- Secrecy increases attraction. It could be because people like those who are similar to themselves, and sharing a secret could be another form of extreme similarity, because its just between the two of you. It could be a variation on thought suppression - the more you try not to think about something (or to hide it from other people, I guess), the more you end up thinking about it. This is why crushes are so much fun (cause you can go all giggly over being sneaky and stuff... not that I have any personal experience in this area or anything). It also explains part of the thrill people have during affairs... or on a more positive side, when they've just entered into a relationship and haven't told anyone about it yet.
- Live close to your friends, live closer to your enemies. A big part of why you're friends with who you are is how often you interact with them. (Obviously, its difficult to be friends with someone you've never seen or spoken to or anything...) I mean, you probably have stuff in common with them - shared sense of humor, taste in books, or music, or whatever... but it helps if you see them often - take classes together, are friends with the same people, that sort of thing. There's this theory called "mere exposure" wherein the more often you are exposed to something (benign), the more you like it (like the .... interesting shade of orange they picked for the psychology floor of the science center). However, the more often you're exposed to something you dislike (someone's annoying habit, etc.), the more strongly you feel about that too. As I noted before, it is said that you live close to your friends, but you live closer to your enemies (because maybe they wouldn't be your enemies if their obnoxiousness wasn't in such close proximity to you and constantly pissing you off. This does not relate in any way, shape or form to anything in my life. Nope.)
And now my caffeine has cooled enough to be palatable. Huzzah! Also, when I start a post with "this is going to be quick, but..." I really ought to start hearing alarm bells clanging away in my head or something. That was obviously a lie. Stupid social psych - why must you be interesting?!
(Non-classroom related knowledge I picked up yesterday that I wanted to note: the speed of passing time increases exponentially with the level of enjoyment you're currently having. This knowledge could perhaps be rephrased as time flies when you're having fun. Somehow or other I lost three hours last night when I was with my boyfriend. Where did they go? And where the heck can I get myself a time-turner? Also, why do my decision-making/willpower skills always disappear whenever I have the most work to do? Seriously, I think my brain has masochistic tendencies or something.)
What's This? Blogging?
Nicole here. I did promise to blog more, so here I go.
Things I Learned Today (b/c I do love me a good list):
1. The proper pace to perform CPR at is to the same beat as Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Irony, I smells it.
2. Job hunting sucks. Don't do it. I don't want the competition, and it's generally painful. More later.
3. My public presentations (nudity) for graduating are as follows:
a) Reading from my novel, TOMORROW
b) Craptastic, last minute presentation I pulled together for my fellowship, MAY 4.
I hate the vulnerability, hence the nudity.
4. I'm nearing page 80 of my novel, and that excites me like NONE OTHER. It's the longest single body of work that I have created to date.
5. Chuck is awesome, but Chevy Chase is evil.
6. Looking for Alaska is a great friggin book. Thank you John Green, I look forward to An Abundance of Katherines (in my pants).
7. My mother still thinks I'm a small child, who needs constant direction in every single aspect of my life, including, but not limited to:
a) job interviews
b) what jobs I should apply to
c) my choice in men
d) how to operate a stove
e) how I should deal with Other Human Beings
f) what my career goals should be
g) what my life plans should be
h) how much money I should demand for a job
Sometimes, my mom thinks I'm really awesome and should demand THE WORLD of people. Then, there are other times when she says things to the effect of: "Well, know your worth. You're despensible."
I think that's all I can cram into a list at the moment. Now, on to job hunting.
OMG, I friggin HATE job hunting. It's time consuming, exhausting and generally unfulfilling. No one gets back to you, no one makes it easy to find a phone number for you to get back to THEM, everyone demands that you have more 'experience' than a normal person should have, and it's just painful all around. I have currently applied to...7 jobs (? -- I might have rounded) and have sort-of-kind-of heard back from one, a full-time position at the job I already work at as an intern. And I'm jumping through all sorts of friggin hoops for it, which is just uncool. It's been about three weeks now, and I'm still waiting to hear a 'yes' or 'no' and I won't hear definitely one way or the other until Friday. FRIDAY! It makes me want to flail about and hit things while terribly drunk. And the thing is, the job is AWESOME. Yes, it's in children's music (kind of) and I'll have to learn new stuff (which I'm totally cool with), but it shouldn't be this hard. If I got the job, I'd supposedly be 'in charge' of a 25-city mall tour. Travel (+)! Malls (meh)! Pre-teens (uuuuhhhh....)! Whatever.
I also applied to some bitchin' jobs at various publishing houses which would ROCK if I got them, but I'm not holding my breath.
So yes. That has been my epic last few days/weeks (time: it's kind of melding together into one endless hallway of wakefulness briefly punctuated by restless sleep).
In other news, my ex is driving me absolutely insane. *eye roll*
Well, back to writing.
BEST WISHES!!!! - N
Things I Learned Today (b/c I do love me a good list):
1. The proper pace to perform CPR at is to the same beat as Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Irony, I smells it.
2. Job hunting sucks. Don't do it. I don't want the competition, and it's generally painful. More later.
3. My public presentations (nudity) for graduating are as follows:
a) Reading from my novel, TOMORROW
b) Craptastic, last minute presentation I pulled together for my fellowship, MAY 4.
I hate the vulnerability, hence the nudity.
4. I'm nearing page 80 of my novel, and that excites me like NONE OTHER. It's the longest single body of work that I have created to date.
5. Chuck is awesome, but Chevy Chase is evil.
6. Looking for Alaska is a great friggin book. Thank you John Green, I look forward to An Abundance of Katherines (in my pants).
7. My mother still thinks I'm a small child, who needs constant direction in every single aspect of my life, including, but not limited to:
a) job interviews
b) what jobs I should apply to
c) my choice in men
d) how to operate a stove
e) how I should deal with Other Human Beings
f) what my career goals should be
g) what my life plans should be
h) how much money I should demand for a job
Sometimes, my mom thinks I'm really awesome and should demand THE WORLD of people. Then, there are other times when she says things to the effect of: "Well, know your worth. You're despensible."
I think that's all I can cram into a list at the moment. Now, on to job hunting.
OMG, I friggin HATE job hunting. It's time consuming, exhausting and generally unfulfilling. No one gets back to you, no one makes it easy to find a phone number for you to get back to THEM, everyone demands that you have more 'experience' than a normal person should have, and it's just painful all around. I have currently applied to...7 jobs (? -- I might have rounded) and have sort-of-kind-of heard back from one, a full-time position at the job I already work at as an intern. And I'm jumping through all sorts of friggin hoops for it, which is just uncool. It's been about three weeks now, and I'm still waiting to hear a 'yes' or 'no' and I won't hear definitely one way or the other until Friday. FRIDAY! It makes me want to flail about and hit things while terribly drunk. And the thing is, the job is AWESOME. Yes, it's in children's music (kind of) and I'll have to learn new stuff (which I'm totally cool with), but it shouldn't be this hard. If I got the job, I'd supposedly be 'in charge' of a 25-city mall tour. Travel (+)! Malls (meh)! Pre-teens (uuuuhhhh....)! Whatever.
I also applied to some bitchin' jobs at various publishing houses which would ROCK if I got them, but I'm not holding my breath.
So yes. That has been my epic last few days/weeks (time: it's kind of melding together into one endless hallway of wakefulness briefly punctuated by restless sleep).
In other news, my ex is driving me absolutely insane. *eye roll*
Well, back to writing.
BEST WISHES!!!! - N
Monday, April 20, 2009
Please take note...
This is not a real post - I would just like to mention a fact which I find...well... not exactly amusing, because it's actually rather sad and pathetic, but at least interesting.
I am back in my lair of a lab... less than 10 hours after I left it.
This is one of those days (weeks, perhaps) when I kind of hate my life... or at least my schedule... that I have forced upon myself because I procrastinated....like whoa.
Woot.
Back to work.
I am back in my lair of a lab... less than 10 hours after I left it.
This is one of those days (weeks, perhaps) when I kind of hate my life... or at least my schedule... that I have forced upon myself because I procrastinated....like whoa.
Woot.
Back to work.
My bad...
I'm back! Huzzah! And I'm procrastinating! Life is good.
Actually, life is pretty good - I had a very relaxing weekend. Mostly because I took Saturday off to celebrate my two year anniversary with this totally awesome guy I happen to know... (two years - holy crap! When did that happen?) Slept in, watched some movies, ate some pizza... handed over a particularly embarrassing (but complete!!!) year-long project of mine that I just barely scraped through before my self-imposed deadline for. (He likes it. Or says he does.)
A really great day. I mean, we've gone the shnazzy celebration stuff before - getting all dolled up (which I do enjoy having an excuse for time to time) and going out to eat somewhere... but I don't really feel the need to do that sort of thing often... and... let's face it.... all I really wanted to do this weekend was (finally) relax and spend some quality time with my super-significant other.
Right now, all I want to do is to not work on my thesis. Hence the jaunt down three flights of stairs for munchies (om nom nom) and a bit more procrastination as I finally update.
On the downside, my presentation is in just barely over a week. And then the final write-up is due a week and a half after that.
As of yet, I have no significant findings to present...although I haven't completely exhausted all of the possibilities for analysis yet. So I live in hope.
But still - deadlines loometh.
I have this very ambiguous love-hate relationship with deadlines. I'm still working on the whole...willpower...thing... so motivation from some sort of external source is almost essential to get me freaked out enough to work on something. So deadlines are good. Granted, it takes until they're looming ominously before I get really sufficiently freaked out...so....yeah.
Commence the freak-out. (And all of the irritating side effects that go with it. Stupid shoulder muscles. My friends the knots get positively gleeful towards the end of the semester.)
On the plus side, I just checked, and I must have lucked out with super-minions-of-awesome or something because with very little help on my part, there are only 20 more participants' sessions to transcribe! That's like... 10 hours of work or so! That's fantastic! (I was anticipating very...very long nights in the near future to get all of this stuff sorted, but dude! I could get some serious analyzing done by Wednesday! Excellent!)
On a completely random side note, apparently not only do I talk in my sleep (I knew this already) but I also talk awesome in my sleep. (Ok, granted, all I said was "DUDE!" when the lovely roomie came in after I'd gone to sleep... but people, its the tone of voice and...intent... that count, right?) Alright, fine. I was amused at least.
Anyway, as it is nearly 1 am, I'm going to finish my munchies, edit what I have of my thesis, and maybe get stuff set up for further analysis in the morning (holy cucumbers, batman, I'm even making to-do lists on this freaking thing. What gives?) and then I can walk home and still get to sleep before said lovely roommate.
Glee.
ADDENDUM: 1:04 AM
I just logged in to Northwestern's application website...for the kicks.... and guess what - as of today, the application decision link is up. I'm not in. Surprise!
What took them so long to tell me that? And after the admissions deadline for basically every other program out there. If I'd actually been waiting on them, I'd be screwed.
Those *EXPLETIVE DELETED* little *EXPLETIVE DELETED*s.
....I feel strangely better.
Actually, life is pretty good - I had a very relaxing weekend. Mostly because I took Saturday off to celebrate my two year anniversary with this totally awesome guy I happen to know... (two years - holy crap! When did that happen?) Slept in, watched some movies, ate some pizza... handed over a particularly embarrassing (but complete!!!) year-long project of mine that I just barely scraped through before my self-imposed deadline for. (He likes it. Or says he does.)
A really great day. I mean, we've gone the shnazzy celebration stuff before - getting all dolled up (which I do enjoy having an excuse for time to time) and going out to eat somewhere... but I don't really feel the need to do that sort of thing often... and... let's face it.... all I really wanted to do this weekend was (finally) relax and spend some quality time with my super-significant other.
Right now, all I want to do is to not work on my thesis. Hence the jaunt down three flights of stairs for munchies (om nom nom) and a bit more procrastination as I finally update.
On the downside, my presentation is in just barely over a week. And then the final write-up is due a week and a half after that.
As of yet, I have no significant findings to present...although I haven't completely exhausted all of the possibilities for analysis yet. So I live in hope.
But still - deadlines loometh.
I have this very ambiguous love-hate relationship with deadlines. I'm still working on the whole...willpower...thing... so motivation from some sort of external source is almost essential to get me freaked out enough to work on something. So deadlines are good. Granted, it takes until they're looming ominously before I get really sufficiently freaked out...so....yeah.
Commence the freak-out. (And all of the irritating side effects that go with it. Stupid shoulder muscles. My friends the knots get positively gleeful towards the end of the semester.)
On the plus side, I just checked, and I must have lucked out with super-minions-of-awesome or something because with very little help on my part, there are only 20 more participants' sessions to transcribe! That's like... 10 hours of work or so! That's fantastic! (I was anticipating very...very long nights in the near future to get all of this stuff sorted, but dude! I could get some serious analyzing done by Wednesday! Excellent!)
On a completely random side note, apparently not only do I talk in my sleep (I knew this already) but I also talk awesome in my sleep. (Ok, granted, all I said was "DUDE!" when the lovely roomie came in after I'd gone to sleep... but people, its the tone of voice and...intent... that count, right?) Alright, fine. I was amused at least.
Anyway, as it is nearly 1 am, I'm going to finish my munchies, edit what I have of my thesis, and maybe get stuff set up for further analysis in the morning (holy cucumbers, batman, I'm even making to-do lists on this freaking thing. What gives?) and then I can walk home and still get to sleep before said lovely roommate.
Glee.
ADDENDUM: 1:04 AM
I just logged in to Northwestern's application website...for the kicks.... and guess what - as of today, the application decision link is up. I'm not in. Surprise!
What took them so long to tell me that? And after the admissions deadline for basically every other program out there. If I'd actually been waiting on them, I'd be screwed.
Those *EXPLETIVE DELETED* little *EXPLETIVE DELETED*s.
....I feel strangely better.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Real World WIN!
In honor of the recent, awesome, news that Jess and Nicole will, in fact, be moving in together after graduation (yayayay!), we have decided to make a list of all the things we will need to make our house THAT MUCH MORE AWESOME. And we're posting it here so that we don't lose it. Cuz we lose things a lot.
Things to Get
Things to Get
- Kitchen
- Towels
- Pots
- Pans
- Cleaning supplies
- Mixing bowls
- Mixer
- Blender
- Toaster
- Microwave
- Tea Kettle
- Bathroom
- Towels
- Cleaning supplies
- Toilet paper
- Toiletries
- Bedroom
- Beds
- Lamps
- Linens
- Hangers
- Library (yes, we're going to have a library)
- Shelves
- Couch
- Lamp
- Coffee Table
- Stereo
- Books
- Living Room
- TV
- Couch
- DVD player
- Dining Room
- Table
- Chairs
- Plates
- Silverware
- Bowls
- Glasses
- Mugs
- Office
- Desk
- Printer
- Lamp
- Various and Sundry Paper Goods
- Stapler
- Paper clips
- Misc.
- Vacuum
- Paint dining room NOT seafoam green.
- Paint bathroom NOT ugly color.
- Paint kitchen NOT pink.
- Move in furniture.
- New back door (?).
- Plant garden.
- Get internet/phone/tv
- Move couches/furniture in.
Oops
I have no excuse.
Except that yesterday was super-duper busy....
.... and I had to stay up till 2 reading An Abundance of Katherines.
Spending the day in the lab (once I get out of the house, that is) doing analyses and studying and stuff.... so an actual post will be forthcoming.... once I have something to write about.
Except that yesterday was super-duper busy....
.... and I had to stay up till 2 reading An Abundance of Katherines.
Spending the day in the lab (once I get out of the house, that is) doing analyses and studying and stuff.... so an actual post will be forthcoming.... once I have something to write about.
Monday, April 13, 2009
A Short Blurb
This is going to be extremely short because I have a lot of little things to do tonight which add up to one big, time-consuming thing...and I need to stop procrastinating and get to work, pronto. Thus: list time!
- It saddens me to drive for (under!!!) 5 hours to get back to school, only to remember that I have work waiting for me at the finish line.
- It also saddens me that I have a ton of stuff to do this week, and that I may not be able to break my Lenten fast of fanfiction as quickly as my mother broke hers on peanut butter. (I'm invoking some superserious willpower right now because I know if I even type in a website that involves fanfiction, I shall be lost to the world, and nothing will get done.) ...I also have two and a half new books in my bag begging to be read and I refuse to even look at them for fear of destruction.
- My acceptance (and check!) to NYU is in the mail as of about 11 am this morning!!! *does a happy dance.... in my mind*
- Super motivation of awesome to get things done reasonably quickly tonight: housemates of awesome saved the new Who for me since I wasn't here this weekend. Squee.
- Five is a nice roundish number to end on. I don't actually have anything else to say. Procrastination is fun. Oh! Data analysis commences tomorrow afternoon. And then we shall see if all of my hard work has borne any fruit.... or statistically significant findings... or something.
Edit 8:26 pm:
6. Retcon! It's REAL!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Looking for Alaska
Perhaps my favorite gift to get is books. Money for books, specifically, so that I can pick out the ones I want... but I also greatly enjoy receiving books themselves (because generally that means its something someone thinks I'll enjoy)... or even just discussing books we've mutually read, or books we will have mutually read in the future because recommendations are fantastic*.
[Both my parents and my aunt and uncle gave me gift cards for my favorite place ever (also known - in the mundane world - as Barnes and Noble). Mom and I ran errands today, and took a detour to said favorite place. I have books. I may or may not have inhaled one already tonight.]
I have a recommendation for you. Read Looking for Alaska. Immediately**.
Yes, its marketed as 'young adult' - read it anyway. I don't care if you're 13, 30 or 75. Read the book. And I'm not just saying this because I think John Green is amazing (which he is). I haven't read YA lit in quite some time...if ever. (I don't really count Tamora Pierce or Diane Duane's Young Wizards series as YA even though that's where you can find them in the bookstore.) Truth be told, I stick mostly to fantasy/sci-fi and the occasional myth/historical fiction/mystery... not too much fiction fiction for me.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but know this: Looking for Alaska is compelling, funny, well-written (seriously sucks you in - trust me, I couldn't put it down... much like Turn Coat last week. Darn you, Jim Butcher!), and will resonate deeply, no matter who you are.
Looking for Alaska. Tell your friends.
Anyway, the light behind me (on a timer) just went out, reminding me that it is nearly 1 am, and that I have to get up for church with my family tomorrow morning. Happy Easter, everyone***!
*Speaking of recommendations, I seem to recall talk of a fanfiction rec list for a certain someone who gave up a certain something for Lent... hint hint?
**Nicole, I'm bringing my copy (and An Abundance of Katherines, which I also bought today - Paper Towns is still in hard cover, and I didn't want to blow through all of my gift cards in one day...) back to school. You may have dibs. Assuming my sister doesn't steal Alaska from me before I can get away.
***I approve of the polar bear - go straight for the ears.
[Both my parents and my aunt and uncle gave me gift cards for my favorite place ever (also known - in the mundane world - as Barnes and Noble). Mom and I ran errands today, and took a detour to said favorite place. I have books. I may or may not have inhaled one already tonight.]
I have a recommendation for you. Read Looking for Alaska. Immediately**.
Yes, its marketed as 'young adult' - read it anyway. I don't care if you're 13, 30 or 75. Read the book. And I'm not just saying this because I think John Green is amazing (which he is). I haven't read YA lit in quite some time...if ever. (I don't really count Tamora Pierce or Diane Duane's Young Wizards series as YA even though that's where you can find them in the bookstore.) Truth be told, I stick mostly to fantasy/sci-fi and the occasional myth/historical fiction/mystery... not too much fiction fiction for me.
I don't want to give away any spoilers, but know this: Looking for Alaska is compelling, funny, well-written (seriously sucks you in - trust me, I couldn't put it down... much like Turn Coat last week. Darn you, Jim Butcher!), and will resonate deeply, no matter who you are.
Looking for Alaska. Tell your friends.
Anyway, the light behind me (on a timer) just went out, reminding me that it is nearly 1 am, and that I have to get up for church with my family tomorrow morning. Happy Easter, everyone***!
*Speaking of recommendations, I seem to recall talk of a fanfiction rec list for a certain someone who gave up a certain something for Lent... hint hint?
**Nicole, I'm bringing my copy (and An Abundance of Katherines, which I also bought today - Paper Towns is still in hard cover, and I didn't want to blow through all of my gift cards in one day...) back to school. You may have dibs. Assuming my sister doesn't steal Alaska from me before I can get away.
***I approve of the polar bear - go straight for the ears.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Decisions, FTW
I just send an email to Ohio telling them that I will not be attending in the fall. I also just transferred $250 into my checking account so that I can send the deposit to NYU as soon as I finish filling out the paperwork.
My parents are being negative. Its annoying me. (Are you sure? Northwestern hasn't actually said 'no'... what if they say yes tomorrow?)
If they say yes tomorrow, I'll be ticked off, and will consider forgiving them for being obnoxious... and if I decide to do that, then I'll be out $250. Big deal.
Anyway, there seems to be a plate of Easter Macaroni Pie over here with my name on it. Sugar overload!!!! (You would not believe what goes in this thing. Its sooooo good.)
So I will leave you with that for the time being, and go enjoy my dessert.
My parents are being negative. Its annoying me. (Are you sure? Northwestern hasn't actually said 'no'... what if they say yes tomorrow?)
If they say yes tomorrow, I'll be ticked off, and will consider forgiving them for being obnoxious... and if I decide to do that, then I'll be out $250. Big deal.
Anyway, there seems to be a plate of Easter Macaroni Pie over here with my name on it. Sugar overload!!!! (You would not believe what goes in this thing. Its sooooo good.)
So I will leave you with that for the time being, and go enjoy my dessert.
Friday, April 10, 2009
A brief note
Hail from Jersey - we had quite the adventure today in NYC, but that will have to wait for another time, because my sister brought Bedknobs and Broomsticks home and we absolutely have to watch it. : )
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Actors Should Do Politics? aka Celebrity!Fail
Okay, yes, I may have posted earlier this morning, but this needs some attention.
Kal Penn Leaves Cast of 'House' for Position In White House
He's taking the position of the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. I'm not sure that
1. that's a good idea
2. what his position does/means exactly.
3. President Obama thought THAT one out fully.
What are other countries going to think when they're liaison contact in the White House is stoner dude Kumar????
Kal Penn Leaves Cast of 'House' for Position In White House
He's taking the position of the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. I'm not sure that
1. that's a good idea
2. what his position does/means exactly.
3. President Obama thought THAT one out fully.
What are other countries going to think when they're liaison contact in the White House is stoner dude Kumar????
Dear Missouri...
So, thanks to Jess and my increasing frustration with having no freaking clue about what's going on in the world, I've started reading BBC news (and listening to the Global News podcasts, but that's mainly just to listen to the accent for a half hour or so). Anyway, my favorite article so far today is probably this one:
Dead Mayor Re-Elected in US Town
The article talks about how this Missouri town re-elected their beloved mayor, weeks after he had died. WEEKS! And the thing about it is as follows:
1. They HAD to have known that he had died.
2. It wasn't the FIRST time this happened in Missouri.
*facepalm*
This makes me feel really bad about people in the United States. Dear Missouri.... FAIL!... All the best, Nicole.
In other news, North Korea's evil grandmother, Kim Jong-il appeared in public for the first time in years, looking thinner in his (rather un-) stylish khaki military track suit. Everyone thinks he had a stroke last year (blast! He's still alive and kicking!), and N. Korea made changes to their constitution during Grandma Kim's Day Out. Assumption: he's going to kick it soon, and is trying to assure a successor that he approves of. The UN is still sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, wondering if N. Korea should be punished for their little 'rocket launch' escapade on Sunday. I mean, I can understand the UN's hesitation. It was only a little ROCKET. And it was only shot into the OCEAN.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME, the UN? N. Korea is BAAAD. EEEVIL. Grandma Kim Jong-il is an evil despot who has been terrorizing North Koreans, and the rest of the world, since 1994. That should really be brought to a stop. With the Evil Baby Orphanage.
That's what I have to say about news for today. I feel really bad about having not blogged in a Very Long Time, so I'll try to remedy that problem in the near and coming future. As Jess said, pictures of our freaking sweet t-shirts will be posted shortly, mostly when I upload them off of my camera.
In other news, my senior fellowship defense is Monday, I've got a novel, a comic and a movie in the works, and I need to stop going to bed at 5 in the morning. I should probably go do that work now.
Dead Mayor Re-Elected in US Town
The article talks about how this Missouri town re-elected their beloved mayor, weeks after he had died. WEEKS! And the thing about it is as follows:
1. They HAD to have known that he had died.
2. It wasn't the FIRST time this happened in Missouri.
*facepalm*
This makes me feel really bad about people in the United States. Dear Missouri.... FAIL!... All the best, Nicole.
In other news, North Korea's evil grandmother, Kim Jong-il appeared in public for the first time in years, looking thinner in his (rather un-) stylish khaki military track suit. Everyone thinks he had a stroke last year (blast! He's still alive and kicking!), and N. Korea made changes to their constitution during Grandma Kim's Day Out. Assumption: he's going to kick it soon, and is trying to assure a successor that he approves of. The UN is still sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, wondering if N. Korea should be punished for their little 'rocket launch' escapade on Sunday. I mean, I can understand the UN's hesitation. It was only a little ROCKET. And it was only shot into the OCEAN.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME, the UN? N. Korea is BAAAD. EEEVIL. Grandma Kim Jong-il is an evil despot who has been terrorizing North Koreans, and the rest of the world, since 1994. That should really be brought to a stop. With the Evil Baby Orphanage.
That's what I have to say about news for today. I feel really bad about having not blogged in a Very Long Time, so I'll try to remedy that problem in the near and coming future. As Jess said, pictures of our freaking sweet t-shirts will be posted shortly, mostly when I upload them off of my camera.
In other news, my senior fellowship defense is Monday, I've got a novel, a comic and a movie in the works, and I need to stop going to bed at 5 in the morning. I should probably go do that work now.
The Dangers of BS
So I'm writing early today because I'm stuck in the lab timing tapes and I'm out of practice for judging how long to fast forward... so I've got a little leeway time between timings while I have to listen to (and ignore) the last minute or so of each tape. gar. very irritating.)
Nicole and I made t-shirts last night - they're awesome. Pictures to follow, soon.
I just listened to a guest lecture about ambivalent sexism in my social psych class - it was interesting and thought-provoking, and I might get to show the professor around campus a bit between lunch and my last participant ever. (Woot!)
He was talking about how there are two kinds of sexism - hostile and benevolent. The difference is kind of obvious... hostile is more along the lines of actually degrading women and whatnot, while benevolent sexism is more... protective, I guess. What's weird is, women are more likely to go along with benevolent sexism, even though it can keep them from achieving the sort of high-powered jobs they might desire, that sort of thing. Second interesting point that I remember off the top of my head: benevolent sexism actually predicts violence towards women. Its a sort of contract in which the man says "I will protect you IF...." that falls to the wayside when the woman does not fulfill the traditional, subservient role.
This is going to be a terrible blog because I'm multitasking and distracted and didn't take all that wonderful notes during class today. (Most of my notes consisted of a to-do list of things I want to get done before I leave today (yikes!) and stuff I want to remember to pack so I don't have as much to cart home after graduation. (double yikes!) ... seriously - I can't believe that my thesis is due in a month. Scary!!!) Anyway, I'd wanted to write something insightful and interesting about benevolent sexism (BS!) and how its good and bad and all of that nonsense, but its blatantly not happening. Maybe I'll update this idea later... when I'm not quite so busy.
NEXT POST FROM NEW JERSEY!!!!
Nicole and I made t-shirts last night - they're awesome. Pictures to follow, soon.
I just listened to a guest lecture about ambivalent sexism in my social psych class - it was interesting and thought-provoking, and I might get to show the professor around campus a bit between lunch and my last participant ever. (Woot!)
He was talking about how there are two kinds of sexism - hostile and benevolent. The difference is kind of obvious... hostile is more along the lines of actually degrading women and whatnot, while benevolent sexism is more... protective, I guess. What's weird is, women are more likely to go along with benevolent sexism, even though it can keep them from achieving the sort of high-powered jobs they might desire, that sort of thing. Second interesting point that I remember off the top of my head: benevolent sexism actually predicts violence towards women. Its a sort of contract in which the man says "I will protect you IF...." that falls to the wayside when the woman does not fulfill the traditional, subservient role.
This is going to be a terrible blog because I'm multitasking and distracted and didn't take all that wonderful notes during class today. (Most of my notes consisted of a to-do list of things I want to get done before I leave today (yikes!) and stuff I want to remember to pack so I don't have as much to cart home after graduation. (double yikes!) ... seriously - I can't believe that my thesis is due in a month. Scary!!!) Anyway, I'd wanted to write something insightful and interesting about benevolent sexism (BS!) and how its good and bad and all of that nonsense, but its blatantly not happening. Maybe I'll update this idea later... when I'm not quite so busy.
NEXT POST FROM NEW JERSEY!!!!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
...Dwarves
So I'm attempting to be productive - getting my homework done and stuff for next week since I'm leaving for home tomorrow afternoon and won't have as much time this weekend (nor will I have access to the school's library database at home, and I need to find 10 articles for Tuesday) ... and I'm multitasking by being productive while visiting my boyfriend, who I will not see all weekend (being a state away will put something of a damper on things, methinks)... and I'm actually getting quite a bit of work done. What's funny is, while I'm answering emails and taking notes on things and being generally productive, he's holding a one-sided conversation with his computer - rather, he's talking to the dwarves who are messing around in the game he's currently playing (Dwarven Fortress) and not doing what he wants them to.
I think its adorable, naturally. (He doesn't agree.... also naturally.)
Anyway, I don't really have anything drastically important to say.... that can't wait until sometime tomorrow (perhaps after I've gotten home) to write about. Plus I want to get some of this research out of the way in the next hour so that I can go home and make nerdy t-shirts with my roomie. : )
I think its adorable, naturally. (He doesn't agree.... also naturally.)
Anyway, I don't really have anything drastically important to say.... that can't wait until sometime tomorrow (perhaps after I've gotten home) to write about. Plus I want to get some of this research out of the way in the next hour so that I can go home and make nerdy t-shirts with my roomie. : )
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Late but still here - that counts doesn't it?
I have an even better reason than last night as to why I'm an entire hour late with tonight's BEDA entry - my boyfriend and I were going on a therapeutic walk after Heroes tonight during which I had fun mini-breakdowns about the scary prospects for next year and all that they entail.
Squee.
I had a pro/con list for all three (I say three although my first choice is still not actually certain because they won't freaking get back to me) but I was getting a little too excited about the pros and not all that realistic about the cons. Reality check ensued, and it was less than fun...although definately necessary. *sigh* I hadn't really considered the financial situation, or how much work it will be to make ends meet if I decide in favor of the school that is giving me not much in the way of monetary assistance.
We also discussed how each of my options would be potentially good for me - in different ways. The school that I was getting super excited about is close enough to home to not be ridiculously scary in that respect - and I wouldn't have to live by myself. (Living alone is actually a really scary prospect - I'm not entirely sure that I would take care of myself all that well.) It would be the comfortable option and wouldn't really make me expand my horizons or make new friends or deal with living in a completely foreign place. On the other hand, the school farther away wouldn't make me deal with scrambling to make ends meet, a really long commute, or going to classes at night in a (scary) big city.
This may all be a moot point if the latter school doesn't get back to me, and soon! *grumbles* Seriously - this is getting ridiculous.
On a slightly different note, let's discuss my neuroses for a moment. Allow me to tell you about the dream I had last night - I think that it will explain a great deal about me. For one, the fact that I dreamed and remembered it is interesting all by itself - I don't usually recall what I dream (unless it is a nightmare...and I have had a number of those over the years, some interestingly recurring). So in this dream, I dreamed that I had overslept (I knew what day it was and what I had to do this morning) and had completely bailed on the participants I was supposed to run today, making everyone disappointed in me. Not only did I dream that I overslept, I dreamed that I dreamed that I overslept and then woke up (still in the primary dream) to find out that I actually had overslept and that everything had turned out as I dreamed it. Needless to say, I woke up this morning (before my alarm) quite alarmed, frantically checking what time it was.
Dreaming about dreaming - I wonder what Freud would have to say about that.
Squee.
I had a pro/con list for all three (I say three although my first choice is still not actually certain because they won't freaking get back to me) but I was getting a little too excited about the pros and not all that realistic about the cons. Reality check ensued, and it was less than fun...although definately necessary. *sigh* I hadn't really considered the financial situation, or how much work it will be to make ends meet if I decide in favor of the school that is giving me not much in the way of monetary assistance.
We also discussed how each of my options would be potentially good for me - in different ways. The school that I was getting super excited about is close enough to home to not be ridiculously scary in that respect - and I wouldn't have to live by myself. (Living alone is actually a really scary prospect - I'm not entirely sure that I would take care of myself all that well.) It would be the comfortable option and wouldn't really make me expand my horizons or make new friends or deal with living in a completely foreign place. On the other hand, the school farther away wouldn't make me deal with scrambling to make ends meet, a really long commute, or going to classes at night in a (scary) big city.
This may all be a moot point if the latter school doesn't get back to me, and soon! *grumbles* Seriously - this is getting ridiculous.
On a slightly different note, let's discuss my neuroses for a moment. Allow me to tell you about the dream I had last night - I think that it will explain a great deal about me. For one, the fact that I dreamed and remembered it is interesting all by itself - I don't usually recall what I dream (unless it is a nightmare...and I have had a number of those over the years, some interestingly recurring). So in this dream, I dreamed that I had overslept (I knew what day it was and what I had to do this morning) and had completely bailed on the participants I was supposed to run today, making everyone disappointed in me. Not only did I dream that I overslept, I dreamed that I dreamed that I overslept and then woke up (still in the primary dream) to find out that I actually had overslept and that everything had turned out as I dreamed it. Needless to say, I woke up this morning (before my alarm) quite alarmed, frantically checking what time it was.
Dreaming about dreaming - I wonder what Freud would have to say about that.
Monday, April 6, 2009
BEDA almost!fail - It's totally still Sunday since I haven't gone to sleep yet
My obnoxious grading took longer than I had wanted it to tonight, and although I found some scrumptious articles earlier, I was putting off actually posting the blog because I wanted them to congeal a bit more (as opposed to the frantic what-will-I-write? moment last night).
Anyway, 3 hours later, the grading is done (for the most part. I have one left, which will take me about half an hour because its all kinds of weird... so I need to finish this up super-quick if I want to be in bed before 1 am.)
And now for today's post, which should have been titled: "Pirates, Porn and (more) Pirates." Enjoy.
Pirates part 1:
Once again, while poking around BBC, I found a lovely article about a rather lovely group of modern-day pirates. No lie. Awesome quotes from this article include:
They're even talking to the press, now! Capitano Sin Nombre just wants his 15 minutes of fame (and or lots and lots of booty), just like the rest of us, after all.
I'm going to reassess my list of things no one should ever be without (MacGuyver style!) ... it used to just include useful things like duct tape and a swiss army knife (for your beans and beer opening pleasure...and to create a makeshift tourniquet for your thumb when you nearly slice said appendage off whilst trying to get the damned can opener to work). Apparently barbed wire should also find a place on this list of awesomeness. Use in a similar fashion to the fire hose (you know - in case of fire, break glass?) .... just have a thing of barbed wire laying about somewhere with a label - In Case of Pirate.
Porn:
Once again, BBC pulls through for the win - a lovely and informative article titled, "What porn is really for." Thanks, BBC! I always wanted to know.
The majority of the article centers around a bit of controversy... UK style... involving the Home Secretary's husband, who tried to get public funding to pay for his adult movies as a business expense. (The Home Secretary herself was attempting to pass legislation to keep businessmen from counting a visit to a strip club as part of their 'expenses' - irony? or just really bad planning on her husband's part?)
It's the later part of this story that actually interested me. The author attempts to explain (as the title suggests) what porn is really for. Here is my favorite quote, for your reading pleasure:
Interesting. Very interesting. I still have no desire to watch porn, so this is one scientific analysis I shall have to pass on to someone else.
and lastly...
Pirates part 2:
Seriously, who couldn't love these guys? One of my favorite songs from that crazy summer camp I went to as a child:
Oh snap! I'm so impressed with myself that I figured out how to get that in here!
Argh - this took a lot longer than I had wanted to spend on it. Time for some serious speed-grading for me!
Anyway, 3 hours later, the grading is done (for the most part. I have one left, which will take me about half an hour because its all kinds of weird... so I need to finish this up super-quick if I want to be in bed before 1 am.)
And now for today's post, which should have been titled: "Pirates, Porn and (more) Pirates." Enjoy.
Pirates part 1:
Once again, while poking around BBC, I found a lovely article about a rather lovely group of modern-day pirates. No lie. Awesome quotes from this article include:
One pirate in the northern port of Bosasso, who asked not to be named, told Reuters he had been part of an aborted attack on another large commercial vessel late on Saturday.
They're even talking to the press, now! Capitano Sin Nombre just wants his 15 minutes of fame (and or lots and lots of booty), just like the rest of us, after all.
An Israeli cargo ship came under fire from pirates en route to Kenya on Saturday but was apparently saved by coils of barbed wire hung around the hull to repel boarders.
I'm going to reassess my list of things no one should ever be without (MacGuyver style!) ... it used to just include useful things like duct tape and a swiss army knife (for your beans and beer opening pleasure...and to create a makeshift tourniquet for your thumb when you nearly slice said appendage off whilst trying to get the damned can opener to work). Apparently barbed wire should also find a place on this list of awesomeness. Use in a similar fashion to the fire hose (you know - in case of fire, break glass?) .... just have a thing of barbed wire laying about somewhere with a label - In Case of Pirate.
Porn:
Once again, BBC pulls through for the win - a lovely and informative article titled, "What porn is really for." Thanks, BBC! I always wanted to know.
The majority of the article centers around a bit of controversy... UK style... involving the Home Secretary's husband, who tried to get public funding to pay for his adult movies as a business expense. (The Home Secretary herself was attempting to pass legislation to keep businessmen from counting a visit to a strip club as part of their 'expenses' - irony? or just really bad planning on her husband's part?)
It's the later part of this story that actually interested me. The author attempts to explain (as the title suggests) what porn is really for. Here is my favorite quote, for your reading pleasure:
From the erotic angle, adult entertainment movies are made for men whose idea of the adult barely gets beyond the babyish. For anyone with a brain, there is not only no question of being aroused, there is a detectable shrivelling effect on the libido. In time, a connoisseur of the form learns to trust it as a sure-fire means of getting the mind off sex.
Interesting. Very interesting. I still have no desire to watch porn, so this is one scientific analysis I shall have to pass on to someone else.
and lastly...
Pirates part 2:
Seriously, who couldn't love these guys? One of my favorite songs from that crazy summer camp I went to as a child:
Oh snap! I'm so impressed with myself that I figured out how to get that in here!
Argh - this took a lot longer than I had wanted to spend on it. Time for some serious speed-grading for me!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Its II pm - do you know where your children are?
Scrambling to find something to write about before midnight because grading these annoying homeworks took me way longer than it really ought to have... (very irritating)... I was scouring BBC news for anything at all cheerful, without much luck. It was such a grey and miserable day here (it rained all night and then as soon as I was going to set out from home this morning, it turned into this windy, snowy/sleety gunk that physically hurt to walk through. boo. hiss.) and so I really wanted to post something uplifting/quirky/funny/all around awesome and BBC has never failed me before.
I thought tonight might actually be the first time. The front page was full of links to stories about police officers being shot, immigrants to Rome living in the sewers, torture, bodies, the works. I may go back and read those eventually, but what I really need is something a little lighter.
The story I found that was share-worthy is not exactly lighter, per se, but it's definitely more hopeful. Facebook, FTW!
The most important thing that I got out of this particular article is a reaffirmation of one of my most dearly-held beliefs that everyone can make a difference, even if they don't think that they can because they're just one insignificant little person. Facebook may be addictive, it may be an excellent form of procrastination, and all of that, but in the end it provided what really matters - a connection with another human being, however distanced or superficial - for one particular individual in need.
I've often considered running off to the woods to become a hermit and live in communion with all the little forest creatures. (Naturally, I'd drag all of my books with me.) I love the peace and seclusion of the woods - there's nothing better, in my opinion. I used to consider this a lot more seriously in the past (particularly elementary school and middle school - which sucked just a tad...) but I always came to the same conclusion: I could never actually go through with my plan, because no matter how tranquil such a lifestyle would be, I would not really be able to enjoy conversing with the squirrels and fuzzy bunnies. However annoying my human companions may be at times (some more than others) I don't think that I could survive without some form of contact with them.
Having come out of my shell quite a bit in the past few years (those of you who know me now but did not know me in high school probably do not realize quite how much, actually), I've realized, too, that while the internet is an awesome, awesome thing, its a pale substitute for real interactions. (For one, the internet cannot give backrubs. And to be without backrubs should be a serious crime, in my opinion.) But there's just something about facing a living, breathing human being and connecting with him or her that's absolutely essential.
I'll let you know when I figure out what that is.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Today's Word Brought To You By Scrabble...
Dear Kyla, e-twat is not a word. Kthanksbye... Facebook Scrabble.
... that wasn't actually what I was going to say. But Nicole just said it and I couldn't resist. And hey - it relates!
So I was amused by everyone else's amusement of my play of the word "twat" in our communal facebook scrabble game... and so I was curious... what happens if you type "twat" into BBC news as the search term?
Amuse thyself.
Coming soon to a blog near you - (hopefully) ... a review of the absolutely fantastic book I picked up in Boston - Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. You might think that after a day spent working on my thesis in psychology ... figuring out how we're going to analyze the data next week, fiddling with the data files themselves, and setting up syntax files so that we can analyze things faster... that maybe when I get home I wouldn't want to read more about psychology.... but that would be untrue. (Normally, I'm all about getting away from it for a while.) But this book is great. Its a mix of equal parts social psychology, philosophy, and pure awesomeness. It may help that I have a grasp on most of what he talks about, but even if I didn't, I think that his writing style would keep me engaged anyway.
Apparently I have to wrap this up so that we can finish our scrabble game... and then drabble for the first time since we went home for spring break! Huzzah! Check out the fic journal or DrabbbleQuest itself for our insanity to follow.
... that wasn't actually what I was going to say. But Nicole just said it and I couldn't resist. And hey - it relates!
So I was amused by everyone else's amusement of my play of the word "twat" in our communal facebook scrabble game... and so I was curious... what happens if you type "twat" into BBC news as the search term?
Amuse thyself.
Coming soon to a blog near you - (hopefully) ... a review of the absolutely fantastic book I picked up in Boston - Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. You might think that after a day spent working on my thesis in psychology ... figuring out how we're going to analyze the data next week, fiddling with the data files themselves, and setting up syntax files so that we can analyze things faster... that maybe when I get home I wouldn't want to read more about psychology.... but that would be untrue. (Normally, I'm all about getting away from it for a while.) But this book is great. Its a mix of equal parts social psychology, philosophy, and pure awesomeness. It may help that I have a grasp on most of what he talks about, but even if I didn't, I think that his writing style would keep me engaged anyway.
Apparently I have to wrap this up so that we can finish our scrabble game... and then drabble for the first time since we went home for spring break! Huzzah! Check out the fic journal or DrabbbleQuest itself for our insanity to follow.
Facebook Scrabble... Fail
Clit-Tuner
--(probably NOT a) noun
a) ....What you need when your clit is out of whack.
b).....helps pick up vaginal radio stations (?)
Also, points for Jess for using "Twat" in the scrabble game. That alone makes me feel better about losing.
--(probably NOT a) noun
a) ....What you need when your clit is out of whack.
b).....helps pick up vaginal radio stations (?)
Also, points for Jess for using "Twat" in the scrabble game. That alone makes me feel better about losing.
Facebook Scrabble... Win?
Peen:
*not just short for 'penis'. Huh.
–noun
–verb (used with object) | 1. | a wedgelike, spherical, or other striking end of a hammer head opposite the face. |
| 2. | to enlarge, straighten, or smooth with a peen. |
| 3. | to strengthen (a metal surface) by light hammering or by bombardment with steel balls or shot. |
*not just short for 'penis'. Huh.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The trials and tribulations of those applying to grad school
Pissed-off!DalekI'm taking a break from grading statistics homeworks to rant for a little while about the stupidity of graduate programs. So here's the setting, for those of you who do not know: the deadline for accepting admission to a program is (generally speaking) April 15. Today is April 2. I have heard positively from two programs (the PhD program at Ohio University and the Masters program at New York University, both for psychology). I am still waiting for Northwestern (another PhD program) to get back to me. I interviewed there in the middle of February and was told at that time that I would likely hear back from them about their decision by mid March or so.
Mid-March came...and went... with no word from Northwestern.
I emailed the professor I would be working with somewhere in the vicinity of the 20th, wondering when I might hear back. She never replied.
I called the secretary on Tuesday, asking if a decision had been made and I just hadn't been informed yet. She couldn't find my file, and on the list, my name had no decision next to it. She said she'd email me when she tracked down the program director.
It is now Thursday. I called back this afternoon because I have received no email, and the program's website still shows no decision. She told me that the professor I'd emailed still had my file and they were still deciding... and that she would email me when she knew, but that they might update the decision on the website before telling her, so I would have more luck checking that compulsively.
Oh-em-gee.
I heard from NYU as a complete surprise - I had forgotten that I checked the box that said I would apply to their Masters program at the same time as the PhD. Lucky for me, I got into the MA but not the PhD program. On the plus side for them, its only 2 years, I could live with Nicole for cheaper than renting a place for myself in either Athens, OH or Evanston, IL. On the minus side, its only an MA, I wouldn't get all the nifty financial aid that goes with a PhD program, and I had been slightly off-put by the gates and the locking and all the hassle that goes with commuting into NYC every day. I have until 4 weeks from the date on my letter (putting it slightly after April 15) to let them know.
Ohio demands an answer by the 15th. They have not yet mailed me anything offical, I just got a letter via email. So, being slightly worried, even though they are currently my 3rd (maybe) choice, I emailed their secretary today, asking when I might get the stuff in the mail so that I can affirm or deny that I want to go to school there...officially. She says, "Oh, that... they're just signing it and sending it to the Graduate Studies Office today... the people there have to do stuff to it and then we'll send it to you. But you don't have to wait to tell us if you're coming...just...email us or something.
Me: Oh yeah, that's real official. Mhm. PS - I don't like you anyway!
...I just took a break and asked my thesis adviser about this because she came in and was fiddling with the immense stacks of paperwork in our lab. She thinks its weird that Northwestern is being poky about this too (according to the little red dots, it is spelled 'poky' and not 'pokey' ...which just looks weird to me). Perhaps it is a funding thing...and that's why they're taking longer to figure stuff out. Gar.
On the plus side of life, I now have minions. I. Love. Minions. (Maybe I'll put that on one of the new t-shirts this weekend instead of a Nerdfighter reference...it looks nice. and dorky.) For my thesis (for which we're starting to analyze the data tomorrow afternoon. Expect jubilation or extreme sadness when next I post), I have to listen to all these audio tapes, record how long it takes people to start talking, and then transcribe everything they say so that I can count the number of times they refer to themselves (words like I, me, my, myself) or mention the study they're taking, or use obnoxious filler words (um, uh, yeah, you know) .... speaking of, do you know how difficult it is to transcribe filler words? Sometimes I have to rewind to make sure I noted everything down correctly and I find that I have to go back and fill in all of the filler words I missed because they're so innocuous that my brain just skips over them when I hear them.
But yeah. Minions. They're going to transcribe some of these for me. Oh joy and happiness! The first girl sat down for an hour or two and basically doubled my productivity from this morning. And there's another one coming in at 4 so I can show her the basics of the nifty machine we get to use (it has a foot pedal for play and rewind, essentially. so cool!) ... point out where we keep the tapes, and where we hide the files on the network server...and all that jazz. My work for this (which is extremely time consuming and deadly dull) has now been thirded. (That's totally the word...right? I mean cut in half is "halved" isn't it?) I can actually, you know, work on my actual thesis write-up (the one I meant to finish editing over spring break, but didn't) or not stay up till 4 am finishing grading these obnoxious stats homeworks (I have come to the realization recently that I truly dislike grading) or ... well... I can't say spend time with the boy tonight... or most of tomorrow... or probably most of Saturday as well, actually, since that's when his next evil paper is due... but I could hypothetically spend time with the boy were he free as well. *sigh*
Anyway, I should probably wrap up day 2 of BEDA so that I can get a few more homeworks graded before Minion No. 2 shows up / the boy calls to tell me that he's done with his meeting with his adviser and I can actually spend a whole hour with him before he has to leave for the swanky senior dinner (I'm avoiding mine - next week - like the plague... but he actually has friends in his major)... and then I get to go cheer Nicole and Kyla on when they present their film pitches tonight with the three other finalists. (Huzzah! We have captured a majority of the brainpower and creativity on campus, and it lives in our house!! Woot!)
PS: I'm going to go back and put in author tags like we have on the fic site so we don't have to actually say which one of us is posting... in the post... anymore. I thought that was a rather brilliant idea of Nicole's, and so I am stealing it. (Bwahahahah.)
PPS: New Who coming soon! *fan-girl screams are heard echoing across the nation... nay! the world!*
PPPS: No... I'm not avoiding going back to work! What makes you think that?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Terrible News on the Tea Front
Jess here, reporting the latest buzz in the world of tea... according to my highly reputable sources... at BBC News.
The first article that caught my eye described the recent price increases in tea - due to a lower production level in drought-ridden countries. (One reason I love BBC so much is because they have such catchy article titles. This one is called "Tea prices are surging. Is your mug next?") The article itself is interesting, and I recommend that you read it yourself... but my main concern is, naturally (selfishly) how much will this turn of events impact my tea-guzzling ways? (The next worse thing that I can think of would be a sugar shortage.)
All kidding aside, though, the real impact of this news story is to really drive home in ways that hadn't quite clicked before exactly how much things that happen elsewhere in the world can affect each and every one of us. It really is a small world, after all. Its easy to ignore the problems other people are facing - they aren't really real to us most of the time. We can't identify with them or with their various crises... and so we feel less of a need to do something about it.
Its 1:30 in the morning so I'm not going to find any kind of cool numbers or interesting facts to bombard you with - because I wanted to be asleep an hour ago. I will say this, though: its not just current weather patterns or countries not getting enough rain to grow tea. One in six people worldwide does not have access to clean drinking water. That's just ridiculous. If you are at all interested in this topic and want more information, I'll probably be going into it more in the future (when its not so late at night, perhaps). But for now, I shall direct you to one of the more compelling sites I have found. (Seriously - watch their PSA. It's only 30 seconds long, and it really gets the message across.) If after reading the information they provide, you feel the need to do something productive about it, their site can help you to accomplish that as well.
The other blurb I wanted to discuss (briefly, as I am rather sleepy now... and my computer is apparently done updating whatever it was trying to update an hour ago when I wanted to go to sleep) was a second article that BBC led me to when I finished with the first tea-related piece. It read, "Steaming hot tea linked to cancer."
Ok. I'm intrigued. I'll bite. Tell me more.
Apparently its not the tea itself, but the temperature that raises the risk of oesophageal cancer
(I really just had to write that for the British spelling - it cracks me up).
[For the record, this is an absolutely awesome super-easy conversion site for those of us who don't understand anything metric. Especially temperature.]
Alright - so the main point of this article is that drinking really hot tea (over 70 degrees Celsius - that's 158 degrees Fahrenheit) is bad for your esophagus. Surprise! Those of us who like to wait until the tea is bearable (or put milk in it to get just the right flavor as well as temperature) should be ok, since that brings it down from super-duper-owie hot to merely lukewarm (65-69 degrees Celsius/149-156 degrees Fahrenheit). Just for reference, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit - not that you would want to pour actually-boiling water down your throat or anything.
Additionally, it matters how fast you drink your tea.
Doesn't it take that long to steep properly.... and for all of your sugar/tasty tasty bee barf (yes, I relabeled our jar of honey just this evening....why do you ask?) to mix in for that perfect cup of tea? Plus, for the first few minutes, the mug of tea is really just serving as a nice-smelling hand warmer, is it not? (Maybe that's just me. I have no idea.)
Geez, BBC - way to get me all worried that my tea habit was going to cause all sorts of serious problems down the road.
That's a terrible ending to all of this fun and thought-provoking stuff.... but in my defense, its now almost 2 am and I have been super sleepy since before I had to go to class (at 6 pm!) tonight. (Incidentlly, we were discussing sleep disorders tonight. Coincidence?)
On the plus side, I'm all sorts of excited about the challenge to blog every day in April (BEDA) ... thanks Nerdfighters for clueing me in to such a great procrastination idea! (Plus it'll probably be good for divesting myself of brain crack. Always a good thing.) I'm hoping that even if I can't manage a blog a day myself, perhaps the ever-lovely Nicole will be amenable to sharing so at least the GuardRailFail blog itself will have a daily update.
Gar - 2 am exactly. Bedtime!
The first article that caught my eye described the recent price increases in tea - due to a lower production level in drought-ridden countries. (One reason I love BBC so much is because they have such catchy article titles. This one is called "Tea prices are surging. Is your mug next?") The article itself is interesting, and I recommend that you read it yourself... but my main concern is, naturally (selfishly) how much will this turn of events impact my tea-guzzling ways? (The next worse thing that I can think of would be a sugar shortage.)
All kidding aside, though, the real impact of this news story is to really drive home in ways that hadn't quite clicked before exactly how much things that happen elsewhere in the world can affect each and every one of us. It really is a small world, after all. Its easy to ignore the problems other people are facing - they aren't really real to us most of the time. We can't identify with them or with their various crises... and so we feel less of a need to do something about it.
Its 1:30 in the morning so I'm not going to find any kind of cool numbers or interesting facts to bombard you with - because I wanted to be asleep an hour ago. I will say this, though: its not just current weather patterns or countries not getting enough rain to grow tea. One in six people worldwide does not have access to clean drinking water. That's just ridiculous. If you are at all interested in this topic and want more information, I'll probably be going into it more in the future (when its not so late at night, perhaps). But for now, I shall direct you to one of the more compelling sites I have found. (Seriously - watch their PSA. It's only 30 seconds long, and it really gets the message across.) If after reading the information they provide, you feel the need to do something productive about it, their site can help you to accomplish that as well.
The other blurb I wanted to discuss (briefly, as I am rather sleepy now... and my computer is apparently done updating whatever it was trying to update an hour ago when I wanted to go to sleep) was a second article that BBC led me to when I finished with the first tea-related piece. It read, "Steaming hot tea linked to cancer."
Ok. I'm intrigued. I'll bite. Tell me more.
Apparently its not the tea itself, but the temperature that raises the risk of oesophageal cancer
(I really just had to write that for the British spelling - it cracks me up).
[For the record, this is an absolutely awesome super-easy conversion site for those of us who don't understand anything metric. Especially temperature.]
Alright - so the main point of this article is that drinking really hot tea (over 70 degrees Celsius - that's 158 degrees Fahrenheit) is bad for your esophagus. Surprise! Those of us who like to wait until the tea is bearable (or put milk in it to get just the right flavor as well as temperature) should be ok, since that brings it down from super-duper-owie hot to merely lukewarm (65-69 degrees Celsius/149-156 degrees Fahrenheit). Just for reference, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit - not that you would want to pour actually-boiling water down your throat or anything.
Additionally, it matters how fast you drink your tea.
Drinking a cup of tea in under two minutes straight after it was poured was associated with a five-fold higher risk of cancer compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured.
Doesn't it take that long to steep properly.... and for all of your sugar/tasty tasty bee barf (yes, I relabeled our jar of honey just this evening....why do you ask?) to mix in for that perfect cup of tea? Plus, for the first few minutes, the mug of tea is really just serving as a nice-smelling hand warmer, is it not? (Maybe that's just me. I have no idea.)
Geez, BBC - way to get me all worried that my tea habit was going to cause all sorts of serious problems down the road.
That's a terrible ending to all of this fun and thought-provoking stuff.... but in my defense, its now almost 2 am and I have been super sleepy since before I had to go to class (at 6 pm!) tonight. (Incidentlly, we were discussing sleep disorders tonight. Coincidence?)
On the plus side, I'm all sorts of excited about the challenge to blog every day in April (BEDA) ... thanks Nerdfighters for clueing me in to such a great procrastination idea! (Plus it'll probably be good for divesting myself of brain crack. Always a good thing.) I'm hoping that even if I can't manage a blog a day myself, perhaps the ever-lovely Nicole will be amenable to sharing so at least the GuardRailFail blog itself will have a daily update.
Gar - 2 am exactly. Bedtime!
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