| It's all Greek Paradox to me. |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|12:42 pm] |
After a discussion or two with Penny, Meg's interesting new gluten-free quest, and an insatiable wondering about what horrible diseases my secret genetics poses to dish out in twenty years, I have taken up a new book: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246466660&sr=1-1
Namely, it is a critique of food science as unhealthy reductionism, diet/nutritionist advice as ideology, and industrialization as a quantity-over-quality approach to human health. It's also a nice change of pace to have scientific advice that encourages me to eat real butter and drink every day and not feel guilty. French Paradox, greek paradox, whatever, its all food.
I also read (most of) his book The Omnivore's Dilemma. Which is quite enjoyable. But get this one, it's a treat.
Oh yeah, and apparently wheat is good for you. Screw off low carb bullshit. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 29th, 2009|10:31 am] |
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I'm turning in my thesis today. Yesterday is the first time that my advisor/committee chair read my discussion. *grumble* Almost done. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|11:56 am] |
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I swear on my own soul I will never as bad an advisor, teacher, or so inconsiderate a person. |
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| Success! |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|07:28 am] |
I PASSED. WOOOOOOO. I'm officially certified for some HR shiznit. . . . I feel like I should go out and bust some unions or sexually harass a coworker now, just out of spite for that damned test. Clearly the education didn't take. Oh well.
It wasn't overly difficult question by question, some I just plain didn't know. How is anyone supposed to remember how many months an employee's divorced wife is entitled to take COBRA benefits? There's a GI Joe joke in there somewhere, but it's too early in the morning for that. The 3+ Hour test of nuanced multiple choice questions took its toll and I felt terrible last night and went to bed early. But now, I can revel in my passing. And I got my schedule for next year. Yay!
PSYC 607: Experimental Psychology (Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:10am-12:25pm)
PSYC 611: Personnel Psychology (Tuesdays 1:00-4:00pm)
PSYC 620: Theories of Social Psychology (Wednesdays 9:00am-12:00pm)
PSYC 691-607: Research (First year doctoral student colloquium series; Mondays 1:00-2:00pm)
Not too shabby.
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| You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home! |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|02:20 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | gettin' focused. | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Toad the Wet Sprocket | ] |
'bout 2 hours before I take this godforsaken human resources certification exam. I've studied my ass off for this stupid thing. I've got nothing to lose, hell, it's technically a different career path. I gotta get this achievement addiction out of my system before I take on some other ridiculous education.
I'm a bit worried because its a really poorly worded multiple choice computer test. Ya know, one of those tests where its more important to know hot to take multiple choice than to actually know the content. It's inspirational for my career, driving a passion to design better tests and measurements. On the minus side, I still need to pass the damned thing. Wish me luck!
In other news, I'm in Tennessee working on my thesis. Almost done, or at least turned in. Might be an all nighter so I'll have time to get it in for some edits from another prof. *Sigh* I need tenure, I'm tired of deadlines and bureaucracy and being at the mercy of advisors.
My motivation for working hard this week and finishing means that I'll finish this and have the time to see the people I care about this summer. And not feel guilty for being a procrastinating slacker for doing so. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|02:37 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | Nostalgia | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Death Cab? Thats not a good sign. | ] |
I really just want to have enough time. And not be stressed about something inconsequential. Or worry about what I have to get done next. Or wonder if I have enough time to do the things I really want. There's never enough time.
I need more time being unemployed. It seems like we always find a way to fill free time with crap, no matter how much of it we have.
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| Freudian slip while writing my thesis |
[Jun. 5th, 2009|03:41 pm] |
"Using the Defining Issues Test-1, a stupid sample’s moral reasoning ability was assessed and regressed onto ratings of a transformational leader."
Student, stupid. Same difference. Damn MTSU undergrads.
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| Well? How did I get here? |
[Jun. 5th, 2009|01:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | quietly hopeful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads | ] |
Update? Wot-wot? I've been happily back in Maryland and able to see friends and family, thankfully able to relax a bit. Or at least get a change in scenery. I do really miss my friends in Tennessee, I feel a bit guilty or sad for leaving some times. I'll be back though! and I'll make sure to have some free time for everyone.
It's good to be home, but I am still a bit on work mode. I'm studying for my PHR certification and the Thesis is taking a bite out of my life satisfaction. It's uninspiring to work on an experiment with precisely no significant results and a poor sample. I can't even confidently state my results were insignificant! How terrible is that!
My experimental self-esteem's to the point where I hope Texas A&M will still accept the damned thing. I'm sure I'll graduate fine, but I'm not sure its up to PhD caliber work. I just feel very lost thanks to some problematic advisors. I know a significant chunk of the problem is my fault and/or responsibility, but I'm just very beat down when every meeting my advisor told me I screwed up something after I already did it. Bad teachers inspire me to go into Academia. Dangerous or healthy? Hmm. Still sucks for the time-being.
I feel like I have some good research ideas for the future, I just gotta get my shit together and stop beating myself down. Andrey made me feel better today when he said he wants to keep in touch because we would be "superheroes" of research together. Yay self-centered career-climbing faith in me! Particularly since if I want to redo my thesis I'll need his quant psych skills for some linear mixed-modeling . . . Yay mutually beneficial selfishness!
On the plus side, lots of Megaman X2 lately and almost finished 4 books this summer already :) Okay, so maybe I'm procrastinating a little. I should be procrastinating with rpg-plotting . . . . hmmm . . .
And the days go by . . .
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| Win? |
[May. 8th, 2009|10:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | corporate and evil | ] |
Laura: hey you I was thinking about you this morning Laura: I'm reading American Psycho |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 29th, 2009|01:20 pm] |
I was attacked by the bird again.
I think I'm gonna start using the backdoor. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 27th, 2009|10:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | embarassingly dumb | ] |
This is a story of life and death, a mother's defense and a young warrior's bravery. This is the story of me walking back to my car after work. I was texting, not paying attention, walking through the parking lot, and all-in-all minding my own business. Oblivious, like the absent-minded nerd that I am. I hear a buzzing noise and feel some air rush past my neck. Annoyed at the giant mosquitos that plague Tennessee, I look around and see a bird whizzing past. Huh, that's a bit closer than birds voluntarily get. Weird.
And then it swooped again, after a surprisingly sharp turn in the air, nearly hitting my head. Huh, that's weird. It's this gray little thing, sparrow, or something, I have no idea. It's got a beak and it flies, I don't know. At this point, after noting its color and size, it goes in for the kill and aims for my head. I, valiantly and charmingly, break out into a girly run towards my car. I do not stop. I run across the parking lot in front of the whole office building while people are leaving from work. I get into the car, slam the door, and realize the bird probably retreated halfway before I reached my car. Because it's sitting on top of its lamppost on guard.
At the I/O Social this weekend, I relate this story to some students and one of the professors promptly tells me, "With that description, it was probably a Mockingbird's nest. They don't have any talons or anything." . . . thanks Mike. But of course, what my drunk, paranoid brain encoded was "Mockingbird's can sound like anything."
So walking to work this morning, along the same path, I notice how many trees have potential nests in them. And I keep hearing different bird calls. All sorts of different birds . . . That mockingbird could be anywhere. It could be any one of them, they know, they know about the nest. They're just waiting, freaking me out, doing all sorts of different bird calls everywhere just to screw with me. So now whatever call I hear, I think, "That goddamn bird is close . . . "
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| Obligatory update! |
[Apr. 26th, 2009|12:35 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | studying outside | ] |
| [ | music |
| | the rhythms of my washing machine and dryer | ] |
Uh, guess I should update this thing every once in awhile. It's been busy lately, but not with too much fun stuff. Just school. Yay. On that note, a quick academic update.
Thesis: 213 participants (yay, over my set goals!), 24 pages, and I'm writing my discussion before I even start analyzing my data. Screw you ethical considerations!
Class: Uh, mostly over. I usually read for it. Ish. Sometimes I stop doodling in class and pay attention. Most of the time I show up. It's either senioritus or tenure.
PHR: I've been working on my professional of HR certification, because I have an insatiable need for achievement.
On the work route: I'm in talks about two projects, one with GamesWorkshop and one with Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's strategic mgmt dept. We'll see how those go. It's entirely possible nothing will come from either of them and I'll be out of work this summer. Or I'll get both, be in over my head, and work 60 hours a week. Consulting, feast or famine. But it makes me happy that I'm just barely out of my master's degree and doing independent consulting using my own networks and could feasibly make enough to get by.
I talk too much about work and school. I've considered using another blog to separate the two. Both for my own work/life balance and to allow my dear readers the option to ignore me.
We had the I/O Spring Social yesterday. I made drunken dogs and cranberry-banana bread. And we put on a skit parodying our professors (its a tradition). After a mocking, sarcastic portrayal of my advisor I have realized that I still need his signature on my thesis. *Gulp* He had a pretty good sense of humor about it at least! And sadly, mocking all our professors strange grammar and diction went unnoticed. Which is comical in its absurdity.
"Additionally, I also think that Vroom et al. as well too. . . . Tambien." |
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| Re: Ridonkulous. |
[Apr. 17th, 2009|10:47 am] |
In lieu of a real post, I present you some ridiculousness for today.
First, I may live in the first state to secede from the union since the Civil War.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/16/texas-governor-says-secession-possible/
Ridiculous? Yes. Likely? . . . I honestly don't know. I mean, when the governor is willing to vote for CHUCK FUCKING NORRIS AS PRESIDENT OF A NEW COUNTRY . . .well, hey, no one thought Reagan, Sonny Bono, or Arnold would be in politics. Either way, I'm updating my passport, just in case.
Now, I present to you my most recent zombie dream. Allow me to set the stage:
Interior, reinforced steel room, possibly a bank vault. There's a steady sound of scraping, pounding, and moaning at the front door. I'm hunkered down with ammo and a shotgun in my hands ready. The horde breaks through, pouring through the door, as I unload round after round into their heads. Quickly, they overwhelm my meager defenses and I find myself surrounded by shambling hungry undead.
Andrew: WAIT!
Zombies Moan
Andrew: WAIT, I'm retarded. You don't want to eat me!
Zombies moan:
Andrew: Guys, I'm really retarded. You don't want to eat my brains, I'm like, totally retarded and you'll get sick.
Zombies: Seriously?
Andrew: Yeah, seriously. Like, really retarded.
Zombies: Are you sure?
Andrew: Oh yeah, totally. Mad retarded. You eat my brains, you'll get sick, and I'll be dead. No one wins here.
Zombies: Ugh, fine. *Zombies exit*
Andrew: Phew.
Zombies on their way out, turn around: Honestly?
Andrew nods: Yep, totally. Sorry about that guys.
Survival is convincing the Zombie horde your brains are too stupid to eat. |
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| AFK, Tornado |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
Just in case you didn't see Facebook: The tornado that hit Murfreesboro barely woke me from my hungover sleeping. And all my friends and compatriots here are fine. Lotta people lost their homes, but luckily there were few deaths.
With this and Gettysburg's incident, there's entirely too much mortality saliency in my life. It's rather depressing. |
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| Kneedeep in academic anxiety |
[Mar. 25th, 2009|09:26 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | fraudulent | ] |
| [ | music |
| | weird elevator music my Persian coworker puts on | ] |
So my brain is a bit of a mess lately anyways. But I'm going to texas today until friday night, then have my comprehensive exams saturday morning.
Really? REALLY? Why do I do this to myself. The only reason Im functional is because Im so excited whilst being stressed that I'm on crisis mode. Mmm adrenaline.
Anyways, I'm not whining, things are going well in the education department. I'd just like people to know why Ive been a bit out of the communication loop. and sounding vaguely insane. |
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| I had a nightmare about my thesis advisor. |
[Mar. 24th, 2009|07:55 am] |
I fell asleep, exhausted, and listening to my roommates loudly playing Left 4 Dead on the xbox. I expected and hoped for a zombie dream. But no. What did I dream about?
I dreamt I had a party, and invited professors who I assumed wouldn't show. Naturally,I was unprepared for them to actually show up (I was in pajamas). So when they did I was horrified, but glad they were all professors I liked. So the horror was more worry for offending them.
Then Rick showed up, awkwardly, unexpectedly, at a bar we were all at.
And I woke up, in a half, hours before my alarm and couldn't go back to sleep.
If dreams do mean something, I shudder to think what that could mean. I need to get out of this place soon. |
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| IIT |
[Mar. 19th, 2009|03:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | drinking again, oops | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Policy of Truth ~ Depeche Mode | ] |
You're accepted, but we need a deposit of 100 dollars? . . . . Guess I'm not going there.
In other news I . . . .
Didn't do my homework due today.
Didn't do any of the reading for my OD class.
Didn't do any of the reading for my Compensation class.
Attempted to make discussion awkward because I'm pissed at this school, namely through attacking my professor's pet book "Good to Crap" er, great. something like that.
+ side: Got out a shit ton of cover letters only to realize I desperately miss Games Workshop, already wrote a proposal for it, and probably could get back in there if I wanted to.
For a delicious warm beverage, heat two parts milk in a saucepan. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in hot cocoa mix. Add to one part bailey's. Top with marshmallows. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|04:14 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Ms. Jackson ~ Outkast | ] |
Seriously, I got rejected from a school I was waitlisted at, before the deadline? Were they just thinking, no, we totally made a mistake on that one, let's cut our losses now. It just strikes me as weird. That was Colorado State.
Oh and George Mason rejected me. I know I'm in and most likely going to Texas, but it annoys me when my only mail is rejection letters now.
So, that's two more rejection letter postings to put onto my wall of failure, to stare don at me while I work, judging.
*Sigh* |
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| Life isn't fair. |
[Mar. 5th, 2009|09:16 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | praying for his great aunt | ] |
JOHN DALTON
On March 4, 2009 John passed away at home and is now at peace. He
was the most patient person who was always good for a witty joke and
ready to lend a loving hand. Born January 3, 1949 in Washington, DC,
he is the son of late Roy Dalton and Wilma Magney Dalton. Retired
from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center as Deputy Director of Space
Science Exploration Directorate. He received the Meritorious
Executive Award in the Senior Executive Service by the President of
the United States in 2003. He never passed up an opportunity to
travel with friends and family and had a passion for boating and
skiing. John enjoyed every moment of life and always caught the
last ski run of the day. His zest for life and adventure lives on
through his best friend and wife of 39 years Joan Tippett Dalton, son
Tom and daughter-in-law Holly. “Pops” always lit up when he saw his
two grandsons, Flynn and Blake. He left us in body but his strong
spirit will live on in us every day of our lives. We love you “Pops”!
Mass of Christian burial will be held at St. John's Catholic Church,
Hollywood, MD March 7 at 11:00 a.m. Internment at St. John's cemetery .
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Saint Mary’s Hospice,
P.O. Box 625 Leonardtown, MD 20650
My great uncle, just retired. We were never very close, but he was a good man and I love my great aunt Joan to death. It's such a terrible situation |
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