Between now and Wednesday, my life is hell, for a variety of reasons.
Again, the whole only parent who isn't a parent at home thing is stressful. While it's really fulfilling to help my sister with her school stuff, to have carved a pumpkin with her tonight (my first time ever doing it...goddamn stringy things), and hoffentlich to be able to go to Woodland Park with her this weekend (Donut Mill excursion and a short scenic drive), it's really stressful. I'm spending hours doing math homework with her when I have a stack of thesis books waiting on me. Between her, my job, my school, and the whole family stress thing going on with my grandfather dying after a LONG bout with dimensia (actually, the stress isn't him actually dying, we're all kind of relieved, honestly, it's what we're going to do with my grandmother and her Alzheimers...what kind of support is she going to have? etc.), I'm burnt out. And I have 50 days between now and when school gets out.
One slightly less stressing thing: I've paid off my plane ticket to Munich.
That's definitely one thing I've learned. My grandfather died yesterday with $500,000 to his name. Fortunately, it's enough to support my grandmother for up to eleven years, but I seriously doubt she'll live much more than five--she might even die pretty quickly, he was her life. I can't imagine all the experiences that they missed together with that much money. They could have seen the world ten times over, but they didn't. They stayed in the same home for 40 years, only traveling to see family, to go to Hawaii three times (which was forced on them), aand maybe one trip to Tennessee. Granted, being in WWII, they both got to go to the South Pacific and France, but they never really did much. After his heart surgery in 2000, they slowly stopped living. I would really say that by 2004, they stopped LIVING. Sure, they existed in the routine of sameness, but they stopped doing the things they used to do, like volunteering at hospitals and church, going to senior meetings, etc.
That's what killed him. She's going to die of Alzheimers and loneliness, but they missed so much opportunity at life.
I'm not going to let that happen to me. I know I'm spending all kinds of money I don't have on going to Munich in November and Ireland in January to February. I know I'm wasting all kinds of time on scientific research by going into the Peace Corps and getting masters degree(s?) in international studies (and maybe history?). Chances are pretty good that I'll take another trip I can't afford in May or June. But goddammit, I want to say I lived. I've left Colorado twice in the last five years, never for enjoyment.
In the meanwhile though, I have to suffer through the monotony.
Good things that have happened:
1. I DID finish that history of medicine and my 10 pages of thesis
2. I got a 103% on a German test for which I didn't even study
3. I am ALMOST done with my thesis research
4. I've gotten This Land is Your Land down on piano with broken chords, albeit slowly playing it, and I'm almost there on Silent Night and the Forty Finger Ensemble.
5. I picked my courses for this semester:
GER 102: German II
FR 212: French IV
P AD 5285: Health Policy
PHIL 950: Independent Study, philosophy
P AD 5001: Intro to Public Admin.
6. Did I mention I ALMOST have my Munich plane trip paid off?
7. Did I mention that I leave for Munich in three weeks?????
BAD THINGS:
1. Oh, my history of medicine never ceases, with another take home exam due on Tuesday, my outline and biblio for my second paper due on Tuesday, and a ton of reading.
2. Thesis.....I only have 10 pages done, I'm only up to about 1630 in my work, and I need to get to about 1690.
3. Languages: I really am not devoting the time I should be to these
4. Housework: Holy Shit. I have some cleaning to do this weekend.
5. I am so damn tired. I may go to bed soon, if the pot of coffee I just drank doesn't fuck me up.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
In how many ways can a fire burn??
This week has been all about stress management and barely making deadlines meet. This is, in part, not entirely my fault, for reasons that I don't really care to discuss in this forum and, part, it is entirely my fault. In the end, both are based in biology and are completely unwanted situations right now.
So Tuesday, I barely manage to turn in my history essay on Arrowsmith (terrible book, ne le lirez pas) in any kind of cognizable condition. Today, I get my 10 pages of my thesis (I only needed 6, so I am a little ahead of the game) turned in at 4:30, and it's due by 6:30. by the way, I do have a rant on this. So, I make reference to James I of England and Ireland in my paper. However, I mention it like this:
With the accession of the Scottish king, James I(1), to the English and Irish crowns, one monarch ruled over the three kingdoms of the British Isles.
(1) In this paper, I refer to Stuart monarchs by their English and Irish titles, as opposed to their Scottish titles (e.g. James VI) or their Anglo-Scottish titles (James VI/I).
For those of you who read this, do you understand what I mean? My thesis partner sent me an email twenty minutes later slamming me, saying that this was totally incomprehensible and that I basically don't know history. I don't know if it's just that he's an idiot, or if what I'm saying makes no sense. I am definitely leaning to towards the former option, probably because my professor and I had to spend three weeks convincing him that the English Civil Wars were not fought between Catholics and Protestants....
Whatever.
Anyways, next week is loads of more fun, with absolute loads of History of Medicine to do, such as an outline/bibliography for my second paper (due November 20) and a take home exam due on Tuesday, both of which are worth 10% of my grade. That class definitely makes me want to drink absinthe, however, my grades have remarkedly improved, and I now have a slightly more solid A in the course. If I get solid B's on the test and the essay, still have an A- in the course.
I also have a German and a Greek quiz, and no doubt a million piano pieces to learn.
Finally, I'm playing 'stay at home, part time working, single parent' this week. Not at all fun.
So Tuesday, I barely manage to turn in my history essay on Arrowsmith (terrible book, ne le lirez pas) in any kind of cognizable condition. Today, I get my 10 pages of my thesis (I only needed 6, so I am a little ahead of the game) turned in at 4:30, and it's due by 6:30. by the way, I do have a rant on this. So, I make reference to James I of England and Ireland in my paper. However, I mention it like this:
With the accession of the Scottish king, James I(1), to the English and Irish crowns, one monarch ruled over the three kingdoms of the British Isles.
(1) In this paper, I refer to Stuart monarchs by their English and Irish titles, as opposed to their Scottish titles (e.g. James VI) or their Anglo-Scottish titles (James VI/I).
For those of you who read this, do you understand what I mean? My thesis partner sent me an email twenty minutes later slamming me, saying that this was totally incomprehensible and that I basically don't know history. I don't know if it's just that he's an idiot, or if what I'm saying makes no sense. I am definitely leaning to towards the former option, probably because my professor and I had to spend three weeks convincing him that the English Civil Wars were not fought between Catholics and Protestants....
Whatever.
Anyways, next week is loads of more fun, with absolute loads of History of Medicine to do, such as an outline/bibliography for my second paper (due November 20) and a take home exam due on Tuesday, both of which are worth 10% of my grade. That class definitely makes me want to drink absinthe, however, my grades have remarkedly improved, and I now have a slightly more solid A in the course. If I get solid B's on the test and the essay, still have an A- in the course.
I also have a German and a Greek quiz, and no doubt a million piano pieces to learn.
Finally, I'm playing 'stay at home, part time working, single parent' this week. Not at all fun.
Friday, October 24, 2008
In the beginning stages of collapse
Ok, I'll admit it. I think I succeeded. I've finally gotten to the point where my life stress has overwhelmed my ability to counter it. My body and my mind are just giving up right now, and I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to hit rock bottom and bounce back in time to finish the semester in style. Actually, I don't know how I'm supposed to be able to finish all my apps to grad school and Peace Corps at this rate. I have like two essays to write for each, and I just cannot bring myself to finish them.
This weekend, I have to write 5-6 pages for my thesis. Not terrible, considering I probably have 2 already (or whatever). I turned in an outline today on the thing, and it wasn't great, but whatever.
I also have to write a prospectus for my paper on Avicenna for History of Medicine (my current 'let's kill Ray' course) by Sunday. Then I have my fun fun fun Arrowsmith essay due on Tuesday, on which I KNOW I will not do well. On top of that, there's a German test that same day.
The good news thus far is:
1) I got over 100% on my midterm in music.
2) I got over 100% on my midterm in Greek.
3) My biochem professor wants me to apply for the CU system-wide Thomas Jefferson award. From what I understand, it's the most prestigious award available to a student in the CU system.
Guess what my current history of medicine grade is? It's on the BARELY an A level right now, which leaves me at all A's.
I'm going to bed. My head hurts.
This weekend, I have to write 5-6 pages for my thesis. Not terrible, considering I probably have 2 already (or whatever). I turned in an outline today on the thing, and it wasn't great, but whatever.
I also have to write a prospectus for my paper on Avicenna for History of Medicine (my current 'let's kill Ray' course) by Sunday. Then I have my fun fun fun Arrowsmith essay due on Tuesday, on which I KNOW I will not do well. On top of that, there's a German test that same day.
The good news thus far is:
1) I got over 100% on my midterm in music.
2) I got over 100% on my midterm in Greek.
3) My biochem professor wants me to apply for the CU system-wide Thomas Jefferson award. From what I understand, it's the most prestigious award available to a student in the CU system.
Guess what my current history of medicine grade is? It's on the BARELY an A level right now, which leaves me at all A's.
I'm going to bed. My head hurts.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Only you can prevent forest fires
by not procrastinating. Sigh....unfortunately, procrastination right now is my best bet. I must say with some delight that by this time at the end of the week, I'll be done with at least 15 cell lines on 4 chemos and that by the end of next week, I should be done with 19 or 20 cell lines with 4 chemos. That would leave 20 cells lines and 3 chemos left, one of which currently doesn't exist in lab stock, so that's weird.
I have so much school work to do, it's not even funny. As soon as I put out one fire, another one crops up. I finished my annotated biblio last week, and then I got hammered this weekend with Greek, German, and Hist. of Med. I've got an outline for my thesis due Friday, and an essay due on Tuesday in hist of med on that goddamn book. It's going to be worth like 10% of my grade, but every little bit counts....
Frankly, I'm ok with getting an A- in that class (he says lyingly). I just want the next 60 days to go by so fast (it's two months left as of yesterday), it's not even funny. Well, maybe the next 30 days. I do want to have fun in Munich in November.
Speaking of which, I'M POOR.
I have so much school work to do, it's not even funny. As soon as I put out one fire, another one crops up. I finished my annotated biblio last week, and then I got hammered this weekend with Greek, German, and Hist. of Med. I've got an outline for my thesis due Friday, and an essay due on Tuesday in hist of med on that goddamn book. It's going to be worth like 10% of my grade, but every little bit counts....
Frankly, I'm ok with getting an A- in that class (he says lyingly). I just want the next 60 days to go by so fast (it's two months left as of yesterday), it's not even funny. Well, maybe the next 30 days. I do want to have fun in Munich in November.
Speaking of which, I'M POOR.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Week of Hell, the Second
Omg. This has been the WORST week possible, not only of this semester, but of the entire year. Well, the week I had the flu was probably a little worse, but this one has just been awful. Things that have really sucked this week include:
1. My annotated bibliography. I worked at least 40 hours this week on it, going to bed at 2 AM every night this week to get it done.
2. The ridiculous amount of lab work that I have to do. Basically, I'm on this huge pusch to finish all of my research on my first four chemos before Thanksgiving. As of tomorrow, I'll be at 70% of my metabolic studies and 60% of my cell surface studies. This next week is going to suck even more, as I have 180 samples on Monday to run, probably 144 on Tuesday, 120 more on Wednesday, 120 more on Friday, and again, 120 more on Saturday. That will put me at 85% completion on both studies.
3. The total lack of payment for my work. I had been promised a pay-raise at the beginning of the summer of over 2 dollars an hour. I got 34 cents (university mandated funding, not altruistic at all). It looks increasingly likely that I will be paid nothing for the lab that I'm helping to teach. I love how promises of pay turn into volunteer positions.
4. History of medicine is looming.
5. I put myself into a ridiculous amount of debt...because on top of my trip to Ireland in Januray, and my family trip to Death Valley in December, I decided to go visit my cousin in Munich over Thanksgiving. I paid off about $400 of my $900 that I now owe on my credit card for this plane ticket. My rationalization? I need to have these huge debts that I pay off so that I can get student loans....right.
Course schedules came out at UCCS today. My current leanings include:
P AD 5001: Intro to Public Administration
P AD 5615: Health Policy
P AD 5004: Research and Analytic Methods (UWY requires one of these courses)
BIOL 541: Virology
GER 102: German II (PPCC?)
GRK 102: Greek II
I desperately want to take Medieval England too....maybe the professor will let me sit in on the class for free?
Ugh. Too much.
1. My annotated bibliography. I worked at least 40 hours this week on it, going to bed at 2 AM every night this week to get it done.
2. The ridiculous amount of lab work that I have to do. Basically, I'm on this huge pusch to finish all of my research on my first four chemos before Thanksgiving. As of tomorrow, I'll be at 70% of my metabolic studies and 60% of my cell surface studies. This next week is going to suck even more, as I have 180 samples on Monday to run, probably 144 on Tuesday, 120 more on Wednesday, 120 more on Friday, and again, 120 more on Saturday. That will put me at 85% completion on both studies.
3. The total lack of payment for my work. I had been promised a pay-raise at the beginning of the summer of over 2 dollars an hour. I got 34 cents (university mandated funding, not altruistic at all). It looks increasingly likely that I will be paid nothing for the lab that I'm helping to teach. I love how promises of pay turn into volunteer positions.
4. History of medicine is looming.
5. I put myself into a ridiculous amount of debt...because on top of my trip to Ireland in Januray, and my family trip to Death Valley in December, I decided to go visit my cousin in Munich over Thanksgiving. I paid off about $400 of my $900 that I now owe on my credit card for this plane ticket. My rationalization? I need to have these huge debts that I pay off so that I can get student loans....right.
Course schedules came out at UCCS today. My current leanings include:
P AD 5001: Intro to Public Administration
P AD 5615: Health Policy
P AD 5004: Research and Analytic Methods (UWY requires one of these courses)
BIOL 541: Virology
GER 102: German II (PPCC?)
GRK 102: Greek II
I desperately want to take Medieval England too....maybe the professor will let me sit in on the class for free?
Ugh. Too much.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Week of Hell: Part One
This coming week is going to probably be my worst so far this semester, despite the history test of earlier in the semester. Why? Well, first off, my annotated bibliography is due this Friday in my thesis class and I don't have the kind of research done that I should have done, thanks to all of my other classes, especially history of medicine. I basically have 6 more books to read and about 40 articles between now and then and then I have to write something about how all of those are supposed to contribute to my paper.
On top of that, I have a lot of work security issues going on, that I probably shouldn't talk about online because I don't know if people from there read this somehow. Basically, I've come to the conclusion that it's best to get as many hours in as possible as soon as possible because I sense an axe in my future. To that end, I now have 96 out of 280 total tests done in the lab, and I have another 32 in progress as of this time tomorrow. I've learned that when it comes to things happening in the lab, I'm one of those people who only should know something on an absolutely necessary basis. The lab in which I work is also always subject to item theft--not as in some outside person taking things, but other people in the lab take stuff from where I work down the hall. I've taken to hiding resources in my part of the lab so that other people can't find them, and then if I'm there and they ask, I'll just say I don't know and that someone else took whatever it is that they are looking for.
Finally, my biochemistry is killing me...I'm supposed to have a draft of my article done by tomorrow and I think that'll take a good few hours tomorrow at the least. Fortunately, we have the method and intro sections done, I just need to finish up the discussion and implications and future directions of research.
The fortunate thing is that all of these things are not make or break. Keep in mind that 80% of my history grade is determined by my final product, and I'm not as obsessed with getting all A's as I once was.
Tomorrow is basically going to be a sequester day with me going into the lab, finishing up some work for Sunday thru Tuesday, then pounding out research for my thesis like crazy and finishing that biochem draft.
On top of that, I have a lot of work security issues going on, that I probably shouldn't talk about online because I don't know if people from there read this somehow. Basically, I've come to the conclusion that it's best to get as many hours in as possible as soon as possible because I sense an axe in my future. To that end, I now have 96 out of 280 total tests done in the lab, and I have another 32 in progress as of this time tomorrow. I've learned that when it comes to things happening in the lab, I'm one of those people who only should know something on an absolutely necessary basis. The lab in which I work is also always subject to item theft--not as in some outside person taking things, but other people in the lab take stuff from where I work down the hall. I've taken to hiding resources in my part of the lab so that other people can't find them, and then if I'm there and they ask, I'll just say I don't know and that someone else took whatever it is that they are looking for.
Finally, my biochemistry is killing me...I'm supposed to have a draft of my article done by tomorrow and I think that'll take a good few hours tomorrow at the least. Fortunately, we have the method and intro sections done, I just need to finish up the discussion and implications and future directions of research.
The fortunate thing is that all of these things are not make or break. Keep in mind that 80% of my history grade is determined by my final product, and I'm not as obsessed with getting all A's as I once was.
Tomorrow is basically going to be a sequester day with me going into the lab, finishing up some work for Sunday thru Tuesday, then pounding out research for my thesis like crazy and finishing that biochem draft.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Late posts=short posts
It's 11 PM, and I want to post something, but I am le tired. Sort of...I had tea and chocolate not too long ago, so I'm kind of in this delerium.
Good notes/Bad notes/notes:
I decided to actually vote on US House and Senate. I went American Constitution. How will the major parties not realize that people like me are sick of them if I don't cast my votes for third party candidates? I'll talk more about this on my other blog when I also preview this Saturday's big matches in football. I also did decide to abstain on Amendment 48 because there is no "sort of" vote.
I got a 94% on that bugger of a history test. I dunno how I am supposed to feel about it. μεν I probably got the highest score in the class, and it is an A, δε I still think that for all the work I did and for how little time she gave us to do it, I should have gotten higher. The really disturbing thing in that class is how content people are with their grades. From my basic surveys, I'm the closest person to an A (I'm sitting at high A- [like a 92 I think]) right now. The vast majority of people are ok with getting C's and B's. I dunno. When was it ok for us to go and say that C is good enough? I mean, people in other countries commit suicide over C's. (I almost did over a B+ on a quarter grade--long story). In the US, a C gets Joe Six Pack (well, in college it's more like 12, isn't it?) the EXACT SAME DEGREE that I get, after having worked all of these years to get nothing but the best.
All of this is why Greek is so comforting to me right now. It's like this safe haven where the pressure's off of me to perform, because langauges are natural to me.
I'll tell you, it's not possible, I think to do 4 jobs and 16 credit hours. I'm more stressed this semester than I have been any other semester of my life. I wish I would have taken Ottoman Empire or something like that....
I've come to the decision that I hate religion. All of them, perhaps because of my incredible skepticism of any kind of authority figure, as well as the constant pressure to have financial contributions to things you frankly don't care about, and the insistence that someone else knows what is better for a soul that quite frankly probably doesn't exist than you, the supposed proprietor of said soul, do. And by the way, I don't believe in all of that 'spirituality' and 'mysticism' stuff. As my Greek friends would say: "Ειναι εστι πoνειν".
I hate politics for said reasons. I find myself increasingly frustrated with one-issue voters, because everything ties back to this one thing that hinges on the fate of America or whatever. If the only reason to vote is to 1) put an African-American/woman in office, 2) to stop the war in Iraq, 3) to stop homosexual marriages/abortions/whatever social issue, 4) to get some financial benefit, then it's a wasted vote. Vote on the goddamn amendments that apply to your issue and don't vote for the rest.
Ok, my rant against college students is over.
Good notes/Bad notes/notes:
I decided to actually vote on US House and Senate. I went American Constitution. How will the major parties not realize that people like me are sick of them if I don't cast my votes for third party candidates? I'll talk more about this on my other blog when I also preview this Saturday's big matches in football. I also did decide to abstain on Amendment 48 because there is no "sort of" vote.
I got a 94% on that bugger of a history test. I dunno how I am supposed to feel about it. μεν I probably got the highest score in the class, and it is an A, δε I still think that for all the work I did and for how little time she gave us to do it, I should have gotten higher. The really disturbing thing in that class is how content people are with their grades. From my basic surveys, I'm the closest person to an A (I'm sitting at high A- [like a 92 I think]) right now. The vast majority of people are ok with getting C's and B's. I dunno. When was it ok for us to go and say that C is good enough? I mean, people in other countries commit suicide over C's. (I almost did over a B+ on a quarter grade--long story). In the US, a C gets Joe Six Pack (well, in college it's more like 12, isn't it?) the EXACT SAME DEGREE that I get, after having worked all of these years to get nothing but the best.
All of this is why Greek is so comforting to me right now. It's like this safe haven where the pressure's off of me to perform, because langauges are natural to me.
I'll tell you, it's not possible, I think to do 4 jobs and 16 credit hours. I'm more stressed this semester than I have been any other semester of my life. I wish I would have taken Ottoman Empire or something like that....
I've come to the decision that I hate religion. All of them, perhaps because of my incredible skepticism of any kind of authority figure, as well as the constant pressure to have financial contributions to things you frankly don't care about, and the insistence that someone else knows what is better for a soul that quite frankly probably doesn't exist than you, the supposed proprietor of said soul, do. And by the way, I don't believe in all of that 'spirituality' and 'mysticism' stuff. As my Greek friends would say: "Ειναι εστι πoνειν".
I hate politics for said reasons. I find myself increasingly frustrated with one-issue voters, because everything ties back to this one thing that hinges on the fate of America or whatever. If the only reason to vote is to 1) put an African-American/woman in office, 2) to stop the war in Iraq, 3) to stop homosexual marriages/abortions/whatever social issue, 4) to get some financial benefit, then it's a wasted vote. Vote on the goddamn amendments that apply to your issue and don't vote for the rest.
Ok, my rant against college students is over.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Trudging Through
So it's the beginning of October, and I have a basic progress report on my life with school and such:
Grades are ok so far. My languages are clearly going to be my crutch, as I have 100% in German right now and over 100% in Greek. I actually think that piano is going to possibly be an A too, as my technique has much improved and I've gotten A's on all the quizzes so far.
History of Medicine is looking up; after a horrendous start to the semester, I have finally broken through the glass ceiling and gotten an A. Since the prof turned the second essay of the class into an extra credit assignment, I have the potential to seal my A with work on it.
Thesis is ok, my research is NOT progressing as hoped, but I've gotten so far ahead in all of my other classes sufficiently to let me get ahead this week in my research.
Finances are finally improving, as I now have no credit card debt and over $1300 to my name. Frankly, I should have $3300, but my guess right now is that my methods class has turned into a volunteer position. My boss has the occasional tendency to forget things and I don't ahve enough balls to insist on payment.
Ugh, I'm reading this book called Arrowsmith right now, and I hate it. I have to read it for his of medicine, but it has the worst plotline of any book I've read since The DaVinci Code. I just don't do well with fictional books. Despite its awfulness, I have about 150 pages left to go, and I intend on finishing it within the next 12 hours. Ten pages an hour? Doable.
Que mas? Hmm, oh yeah, I suppose that I should spill the beans on my current plans as I am really close to finishing everything for it:
1. I'm not going to grad school for immunology right away. My current goal is to do a 2 and a half year combined Master's-Peace Corps stint, and then come back and get my Ph.D. in immunology/microbio/something like that.
2. After getting my Ph.D., I don't want to do academia, because I've seen what it looks like, and I can't stand the overwhelming selfishness that is tenure track style all mine research. I'm hoping to get a position with the navy as a civilian and work in naval labs (the navy handles all the bioterror/epidemic stuff for some reason). Maybe on top of it, I can teach immuno/micro at the Naval Academy.
So yeah, that's life plan right now. Exciting, isn't it?
Grades are ok so far. My languages are clearly going to be my crutch, as I have 100% in German right now and over 100% in Greek. I actually think that piano is going to possibly be an A too, as my technique has much improved and I've gotten A's on all the quizzes so far.
History of Medicine is looking up; after a horrendous start to the semester, I have finally broken through the glass ceiling and gotten an A. Since the prof turned the second essay of the class into an extra credit assignment, I have the potential to seal my A with work on it.
Thesis is ok, my research is NOT progressing as hoped, but I've gotten so far ahead in all of my other classes sufficiently to let me get ahead this week in my research.
Finances are finally improving, as I now have no credit card debt and over $1300 to my name. Frankly, I should have $3300, but my guess right now is that my methods class has turned into a volunteer position. My boss has the occasional tendency to forget things and I don't ahve enough balls to insist on payment.
Ugh, I'm reading this book called Arrowsmith right now, and I hate it. I have to read it for his of medicine, but it has the worst plotline of any book I've read since The DaVinci Code. I just don't do well with fictional books. Despite its awfulness, I have about 150 pages left to go, and I intend on finishing it within the next 12 hours. Ten pages an hour? Doable.
Que mas? Hmm, oh yeah, I suppose that I should spill the beans on my current plans as I am really close to finishing everything for it:
1. I'm not going to grad school for immunology right away. My current goal is to do a 2 and a half year combined Master's-Peace Corps stint, and then come back and get my Ph.D. in immunology/microbio/something like that.
2. After getting my Ph.D., I don't want to do academia, because I've seen what it looks like, and I can't stand the overwhelming selfishness that is tenure track style all mine research. I'm hoping to get a position with the navy as a civilian and work in naval labs (the navy handles all the bioterror/epidemic stuff for some reason). Maybe on top of it, I can teach immuno/micro at the Naval Academy.
So yeah, that's life plan right now. Exciting, isn't it?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Various notes
Ok, so I have a new blog: footballcoffeeandpolitics.blogspot.com. Here I discuss less personal things and more my perspective on the really important things out there. somewhat. I'm so sick of politics right now, but I figured it would be a catchy title.
So with regards to personal things, I am finding that Greek is infiltrating my language a lot. As you notice, almost every sentence starts with so (oύτος--I think, I may have that confused with another word. It's 11 PM, give me a break), and I've been having a lot of sentences involving "one the one hand...and on the other" (μέν...δέ). Pretty much every Attic Greek sentence thus far that I have read contains one of these two words.
I'm also noticing German infiltrating my language skills too. Today walking to school after practicing piano (at which I am getting MUCH better, thankfully. I doubt I'll continue after this semester, but it was good to do) in the trailers, I said "Je ne veux pas acheter de büch". This is really starting to get frustrating. My language barriers, rather than being reinforced with more languages, are breaking down. Soon, I'll make no cognizant sense whatsoever (not that I'm all that far from it).
In good news, my history work on both fronts has greatly improved. My thesis advisor told me that I'm one of the top three in terms of how far along my ideas are. Then, in history of medicine, I FINALLY BROKE THROUGH THE GODDAMN CEILING. Yep, Ray got an A on a written assignment. Before October. In even better news, iba this paper that was supposed to be requisito, mais the professor decided to make it extra credit.
See, there go the languages.
Anyways, I'm still waiting to get paid for the lab class I'm helping with. I don't know how long I should go before actually going into my boss and asking if she changed her mind and I'm supposed to be doing this as a volunteer position.
I'm about two days away from revealing the big secret on this blog. I have some more paperwork to fill out and a few essays to write and then I'll post what kinds of epic changes I'm going through.
I hate this feeling that there's so much to know, and I can't possible know it all. 5000 languages, all the science that there is out there, the intricasies of ideas and of events. Ugh. That's just my main areas of focus. What about all those things I've never studied?
Anyways, I have to be at school in like 7 hours, so I need some sleep.
So with regards to personal things, I am finding that Greek is infiltrating my language a lot. As you notice, almost every sentence starts with so (oύτος--I think, I may have that confused with another word. It's 11 PM, give me a break), and I've been having a lot of sentences involving "one the one hand...and on the other" (μέν...δέ). Pretty much every Attic Greek sentence thus far that I have read contains one of these two words.
I'm also noticing German infiltrating my language skills too. Today walking to school after practicing piano (at which I am getting MUCH better, thankfully. I doubt I'll continue after this semester, but it was good to do) in the trailers, I said "Je ne veux pas acheter de büch". This is really starting to get frustrating. My language barriers, rather than being reinforced with more languages, are breaking down. Soon, I'll make no cognizant sense whatsoever (not that I'm all that far from it).
In good news, my history work on both fronts has greatly improved. My thesis advisor told me that I'm one of the top three in terms of how far along my ideas are. Then, in history of medicine, I FINALLY BROKE THROUGH THE GODDAMN CEILING. Yep, Ray got an A on a written assignment. Before October. In even better news, iba this paper that was supposed to be requisito, mais the professor decided to make it extra credit.
See, there go the languages.
Anyways, I'm still waiting to get paid for the lab class I'm helping with. I don't know how long I should go before actually going into my boss and asking if she changed her mind and I'm supposed to be doing this as a volunteer position.
I'm about two days away from revealing the big secret on this blog. I have some more paperwork to fill out and a few essays to write and then I'll post what kinds of epic changes I'm going through.
I hate this feeling that there's so much to know, and I can't possible know it all. 5000 languages, all the science that there is out there, the intricasies of ideas and of events. Ugh. That's just my main areas of focus. What about all those things I've never studied?
Anyways, I have to be at school in like 7 hours, so I need some sleep.
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