The Jeff Chronicles

Good to know...

Mon, 01 May 2006 20:51:50 GMT

You scored as Old School Democrat. Old school Democrats emphasize economic justice and opportunity. The Democratic ideal is best summarized by the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

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Old School Democrat

85%

New Democrat

80%

Green

65%

Libertarian

50%

Foreign Policy Hawk

50%

Pro Business Republican

15%

Socially Conservative Republican

What's Your Political Philosophy?
created with QuizFarm.com

Spring Break?

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 18:55:09 GMT

Officially, my school says I am currently on spring break. My classes for the semester has ended. Now I have one (or possibly two) weeks before I have to attend classes for the summer semester. However, while I do not have any classes, I DO have to work at my clinic pretty much full time during break and I have to defend my CCE against the faculty. This requires much research and hard work. So no, I don't really have a spring break. Then again, I'm 24 and I probably shouldn't expect such vacations anymore. Maybe it's the stuff of undergrad and high school.

I can't help but feel burned out.

After I'm done writing and revising my reports for the day, hopefully Carey and I will sneak off and see The Sentinel. It looks really good, plus good ole' Keifer is in it. Sounds like a good time.

Maybe I'll get drunk tonight. It's been awhile and long over due.

The End

Mon, 03 May 2004 23:36:27 GMT

Well, my last exam at Michigan State is over at 12:00 PM tomorrow. I've spent most of today studying and saying good bye to faculty and friends. It's kind of sad, but I'm glad to be done. This will be my final post until sometime in September. As always, have a great summer!

By the way, since when did they replace the guy on the Brawney paper towel wrapper with some new guy? The old image was a well proportioned man with a mustache and looked like a cross between Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck. Now it's some young, muscle-bound guy. What's up with that?

Credit Trouble

Wed, 21 Apr 2004 19:42:17 GMT

I've recently been interested in applying for a credit card since soon I'll be living on my own and more than likely will need to charge certain items. So I decide one day to apply for Mastercard or something, and I get mail back saying that I have a delinquent credit history and that I have been turned down. I found this kind of odd, considering I have never owned a credit card before. However, it did recall an earlier event when I was in high school involving credit cards. Discover Card sent me a card in the mail and said that all I had to do is call to activate my account. I never did. Instead, I cut up the card and all other contents and threw them away. This must have been in 2000. Well, I go off to my freshman year of college and when I come home in the Winter for break, my mom gives me a couple billing statements from Discover Card. Why my mom 1) Didn't tell me about credit card bills coming to my house, 2) Didn't give them to me on previous trips home, or 3) Didn't open this piece of mail like she opens all other pieces of my mail (separate problem,...perhaps I can get her tossed into a federal prison) is still a mystery to this day. But apparently Discover Card charged me $50 on my discover card (which I never activiated or owned) a anti-theft plan or something. So I called them up and they said they "assumed" that I would want anti-theft coverage even though I didn't have an active card but they'd take care of everything. Bills stopped coming to my house, so I was happy.

Fast forward to 2004.

I am now a senior in college applying for a credit card. I get mail saying I have a delinquent credit history. So just now I called Discover Card and they found the problem: Apparently when they took off my $50 charge and the interest that accumulated, they didn't fix my credit history that was ruined because I was at college and unable to receive these bogus bills. So I asked the guy I was talking to to fix it. He couldn't figure out how to do it since it was from 4 years ago (understandable) but he has requested account information and notes that were posted on it. He should receive them by next week and he'll call me back. Good grief. I hope this is all straightened out.

In better news, I found out that my aunt and uncle are going to be having twins! They already have a 9 month old, so they will have three kids under 1.5 years of age. That'll be hell for them, but fun for me and my family now that there are more kids to pass around!

Riddle me this

Tue, 20 Apr 2004 23:53:55 GMT

You're in a room with two doors. One is wired with explosives, but you don't know which one. There are also two computers in the room. One always tells the truth and one always lies, but you don't know which is which. What ONE question can you ask both computers that can guarantee your safety?

A little help, please! This is messing with my mind. Any suggestions?

Nineteen and counting

Mon, 19 Apr 2004 23:18:11 GMT

Only nineteen more days until I graduate! I can't wait to be done here. I always like end of the year stuff because things are starting to wind up in class. I have half my computer science project done and I have researched for my final paper in my Personality Theory class. I have to write an outline of what I'm going to talk about in my paper (which is about self-esteem and cheating on tests), but I thought better of it at the last second and decided to update the ol' journal. Unfortuntely I have nothing to really write about since I have done nothing but school work lately.

I went and saw Kill Bill Volume II and I thought it was better than the first one. This volume is primarily character driven and really develops The Bride and explains Bill, Elle, and Bud (the surviving bad guys that gunned down The Bride's wedding party.) It was much lighter on the violence than the first one, although there were some absolutely disgusting moments in the movie and I discovered a couple ways I would rather not die from the movie. All in all, a definite "must see." I will be purchasing both volumes when they come out on DVD, assuming I can afford it. I'm swiftly running out of money.

Why, you ask? Well, I am going to be in Josh and Emily's wedding as an usher in September and they want everyone in the wedding party (ushers included) in tuxedos. Okay, fair enough. Unfortunately, they went for the Tommy Hillfiger tuxedo brand. Yes, there is such a thing. It's pretty snappy looking and there's no doubt I'll look rockin' hot in it (actually more like physically hot, but hot none the less). To rent one of these bad boys costs about $160 or so and it needs to be payed in the next couple weeks. Well, I have approximately no where close to that, so that should be interesting. Apparently this tux is made of light material to let it breathe naturally, plus there is satin or something woven inside it to make it feel good against your skin. No bow ties, thank god. The color, much to my dismay, is periwinkle. Why not go with something red? But no, it's periwinkle. Oh well.

I've also been working on my study about laterality of brain function and face perception. So far I have about 300 participants who took my questionnaire, which is exciting. I'm hoping for 400 more people before I start doing data analysis. I will be in contact with my professor I'm working with over the summer so we can write up the results and get it published. Very exciting.

What I'm most looking forward to is Dr. Condie Rice speaking to us at my convocation ceremony. All politics aside, I think it'll be awesome to listen to someone speak who is in the presidential adiministration, not to mention that she's the first woman to ever hold the position. She also grew up in Mississippi during the whole turmoil around civil rights, but she managed to get her doctorate and was the provost at Stanford. In some ways, she is very admirable when she isn't lying to the 9/11 commission or being Bush's puppet. My dad has decided come hell or high water he was going to the ceremony to listen to her speak. He is a die hard republican and is extremely excited.

Well, sadly that is all that's been going on. In closing, I must quickly say that Jack from Alias is awesome and he had me worried for a while but once again he was the man! Now if only Vaughn's wife would get killed already I'd be a happy man. Curse her, precious.

The final lap

Sun, 28 Mar 2004 23:44:57 GMT

Tomorrow marks the final leg of my journey at Michigan State. This is the last "period" of classes before finals. Only a month of classes left and then I'm out of here. I have approximately 475 pages to read for one class, two papers in another, a large commulative final in another, and my research I've been working on since mid-autumn of last semester has been approved by our Internal Review Board to continue. Now I get to start the data collecting stage and write up my findings for a grade by the professor I work with. Looks like things will be wrapping up quite nicely.

Meanwhile, procrastination has gotten a lot worse. I really should be reading right now, but I thought I'd update the good ol' journal first. Anyone can see I have nothing to write about. The highlights of tonight are watching new episodes of Alias and The Practice. I also will start the process of looking for apartments in Chicago. The school I'm attending officers student housing, but it seems pricey, so I'll shop around and hopefully come up with something that's safe, affordable, and close to school.

Well, in order to procrastinate for a few more minutes, I suppose I'll go shave.

Entertainment news

Sat, 27 Mar 2004 18:07:38 GMT

They're making another Law and Order spin-off! I can't believe it! Isn' t three enough? This new one is called Law and Order:Trial By Jury. This is nuts.

Also, The Practice is ending it's 8 year run on TV, but will have a spin-off starring James Spader and William Shatner. Also, I read on tvguide.com that Peter Jackson is going to make The Hobbit, probably in 2006 or 2007. I nearly wet myself. Also coming out around that time is Spider Man 3. Toby and Kirsten have signed on already and Sam Raimi is going to direct again. Wow.

Jeff: Pimp-daddy or social idiot?

Sat, 27 Mar 2004 05:38:58 GMT

I'm not a social idiot by any means. Some people may consider me a social idiot because I avoid large parties, groups, and so forth because I don't "know how to interact with people." Quite the contrary, I am actually avoiding these situations because I don't like them. For example, I find small talk with complete strangers that you are only going to see once or twice a semester annoying. Why bother engaging in it if it is pointless? Some might say, "If you don't do small talk then you aren't going to meet anyone new." My response to that is the same my grandma used to use all the time: "Shut up before I put my foot up your ass!" I just find it pointless and therefore don't engage in it. I don't like large parties because I find them stupid. It's warm, crowded, smokey, and 90% of the people are wasted or passed out within two hours (so have been my experiences.) So I just avoid them. Having said that, this sets up the rest of my day.

First off, I was in my sociology class Wednesday. We were having a review session for the exam that was today. So this girl named Kate sits next to me. She seemed really nice and funny and we did some witty banter back and forth until class started. After class she asks if it'd be okay to photocopy some of my notes that she missed a couple weeks ago, or something like it since I was putting my stuff in my bookbag and wasn't paying attention. I said it'd be no problem so she took them and left the room. I waited and she didn't come back. I waited some more, and she didn't come back, so I left my class believing this woman had just stolen my notes that I need for an exam in two days. I found it pretty funny, but also very nerve-wracking. Anyway, later that day she emailed me (my name was on the notebook so she could look up my email address) and she told me to meet her at the library on Thursday at 4:30 and she'd give me my notebook bag. Turns out I didn't hear the part that she didn't have time to make copies of my notes right after class because she needed to get to work. So I meet her at the library and she gave me back my notes.

Fast-forward to today.

So I'm in sociology class and Kate walks in and sits next to me again. As she walks by she thwaps me on the head with her notebook and asks how I'm doing and stuff. Blah blah blah, could only talk to her for a couple minutes because the exam started. We were joking around about how everyone wants to look at my notes since I'm very anal about that sort of thing and I (jokingly) accuse her of buttering me up with nice conversation to get my precious notes. I played it off like she was taking advantage of me and so forth. You all know how it goes. So I get done with my exam and leave before she gets done. I have time to kill before my next class so I get a newspaper and sit on the floor and start reading. A short time later someone kicks my foot. I look up and it's Kate. I was just about to ask her if my wondeful notes helped her on the test when she said to me with a wide grin, "For your information Mr. Stine, I didn't even need to copy your pathetic notes. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you." She then ruffled my hair and told me she'd see me in class on Monday. I was speechless, but I think I nodded my head and waved or something.

I'd like to think I'm quite charming, but I have a feeling a blind man could have seen some signals she was giving off. Only in retrospect could I identify some of the signals. Pimp-daddy or social idiot?

On a related note, Kelly Shingledecker and her friend from Western University came to Lansing and wanted Adam and me to go drink with them, but Adam was busy with Elyse and I didn't have a car to get out there. Plus, I really wanted to see 21 Grams at the free theater on campus!

Pimp-daddy or social idiot?

Well, I need to be up at 8:30 AM on Saturday to go to my student council meeting since we are picking the commencement speaker tomorrow. Why they are having us meet so early in the morning on a Saturday is beyond me. Off I go.

"You know what people don't talk enough about in public? Pussy farts."

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 20:18:02 GMT

Those were the first words uttered by George Carlin Monday night at a comedy concert Justin and I went to. George Carlin is one of my favorite comedians and another goal in my life has been reached, namely seeing him perform live. He was hilarious and vulgar and piloted some material for an HBO special he'll be doing soon. Justin and I talked about how we were both amazed someone as "controversial" as George Carlin could somehow come to our conservative little town. Glad he did though. He was awesome. We had great seats too. Yay George! Justin was kind enough to drive me back to Michigan State after the concert so I would not miss an exam in my computer science class. He stayed the night and went home the next day. Yay Justin!

I've not updated my journal lately because nothing really interesting has been going on. I wrote a paper recently. That's about it. Just busy classwork. I have two exams on Friday that I should be studying for, but we all know how that goes. I have to start looking for an apartment in Chicago pretty soon. When I was at my interview for graduate school, one of the people I talked to said something about the Illinois School of Professional Psychology buying housing for students, but I haven't heard anything about it since then. Plus, the school is currently moving more towards the Shaumburg area so it's hard to get ahold of people and their website isn't very up-to-date. Sigh. I signed up for a Graduate Assistantship which involves either teaching some undergraduate psych courses (obviously psych 101 or abnormal psych) and/or working with a professor on research. It knocks about $1000 per semester off my tuition bill. My god, this is going to be expensive.

I suppose I have spent enough time avoiding studying. Off I go to learn about cults, psychosurgery, psychiatric drugs, and schizophrenia.

Advice

Tue, 02 Mar 2004 18:38:47 GMT

When would one need to start looking for a place to live in Chicago when one has to move there in August/September?

One week and counting

Tue, 02 Mar 2004 18:20:53 GMT

Ahhh, this is the last week of school before Spring Break. I can't wait to get away from this place for a week. I've been really antzy lately and this place is driving me up the wall. I've been extremely productive and have worked a week in advance in two of my classes and a whopping three weeks in my other classes! I'm just trying to keep myself occupied so time will go by faster and I graduate what will feel like sooner rather than later. Having nothing better to do, I have decided to start reading a book called Mad in America which is about how schizophrenics in America are actually worse off health-wise than schizophrenics in developing countries because of the way our healthcare system is set up. Should be interesting.

In other news, I found out that I got a $2500 renewable scholarship for graduate school, so I'm pretty happy. Adam and I are going to dinner tonight and then off to see Passions of the Christ, which I have been looking forward to seeing since I heard Mel Gibson was making it. It should be pretty awesome.

Well, off to class and my night of fun.

Laundry of monumental proportions

Mon, 23 Feb 2004 23:46:22 GMT

That's right, nearly everything in my wardrobe is dirty and I have taken it upon myself to wash all linens, pants, shirts, socks, underwear, etc until it's all clean. I have six washing machines going simultaneously, all churning away.

Sadly, this is the high point of my day.

I was 1 in 3!

Sat, 21 Feb 2004 04:38:24 GMT

I purchased a diet pepsi from the vending machine in the psych research building before I went to work on my project. As I sat down behind my desk and unscrewed the cap I found out I was a winner of one free song that could be downloaded from itunes! I was very excited. So the second I got back to my dorm room I hopped on my computer and downloaded a song. I was beside myself with joy until I found out that it can only be played through the itunes program. You are forced (apparently) to download the song in m4p format, which I never heard before, and it can't be burned onto a CD-R directly, only in data format. So it's retarded that I can use Windows Media Player to play all my music except for one song that I got because of the Pepsi deal. So I decided to convert all my music to the itunes format so they could at least be together, but not all my songs will go to that format. I swore violently at my computer and we've not been on good speaking terms since then.

I was only modestly productive today. After working on my psych project with Dr. Harris for a couple hours, I came back to the dorm, watched some Seinfeld, filled out my FAFSA forms for graduate school, researched alternate ways of funding my higher education, and found three good sources for my paper about extraversion, life satisfaction, and depression that's due on Thursday (which, consequently, I haven't started yet.) Now I'm tired and probably won't do anything for the rest of the night. I haven't been able to sleep-in for ages due to a myriad of factors, among those being noisy suitemate and his girlfriend (sigh), homework, and general nightmares.

Yes, I've had the most nightmares in my life in the past two weeks or so, including one very weird incident which I might as well explain since I won't be doing work tonight. My alarm went off at 9:00 AM like it does every school day so I got out of bed, turned it off, stumbled to the bathroom, and did my business. WHen I got out, I walked to my closet area and stepped in something wet. When I looked down, my right foot was right next to my shoe (which I keep right next to my closet) and it had a perfect circle of water around it. I mean a perfect circle of water. Oddly enough, I had worn my shoes all that previous day in my room so no snow could have been caked on the bottom of them and melted onto my floor. I was confused, but I grabbed some papertowel and cleaned it up and threw it in the trash. Suddenly, my alarm went off and I suddenly found myself standing in front of it, even though I don't recall ever walking from my closet area to my alarm clock (which shouldn't have been going off in the first place.) Becoming very alarmed, I turned it off and immediately went to my shoes. No puddle of water. I went to my trash can. No papertowel remains in there. Needless to say, I was freaked, hurried and got dressed, and went to class. I have no idea what happened, except maybe I was dreaming or sleepwalking. I've been dreaming so much lately that it could be a possibility. But I've never ever sleep walked.

Wow, this entry is long so I'm going to end it here. Maybe I'll be more productive tomorrow. 'Night.

Gotta love Sundays

Sun, 15 Feb 2004 18:39:27 GMT

Not a whole lot to do today except meet with two other guys in my personality psych class to go over our presentation on Tuesday, but who knows how long that will last. So since I have free time for a change, I was thinking about talking Adam into giving me a ride to the movie theater so I could see Monster. I hear it's really good. Unfortunately, Adam informed me that Elyse is coming over at 2:00 and she'll be spending the night.

Now I'm looking for an alternate way to entertain myself. Maybe I'll just read for my classes next week and be ahead of the game for a change. All new Alias and Practice on tonight. Rock on.

Done and done

Fri, 13 Feb 2004 19:57:37 GMT

Well, got both exams out of the way and now I'm done for the week. Glad to be done.

It's very windy here and my crappy windows constantly blow open all the time, sending cold gusts of air into my room. Not a very happy camper at the moment.

Wed, 11 Feb 2004 20:10:05 GMT

Well, all of my hard work here at Michigan State has finally payed off. On Monday I found out that I was accepted to the Illinois School of Professional Psychology doctoral program. What was even more surprising than my acceptance was that they want to offer me a couple scholarships as well. As if that wasn't good news, I was also accepted to the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. These two schools are highly competative too. Now I have the luxury of choosing where to go to graduate school. There are pros and cons to attending these schools:

Illinois School- Out in the suburbs, free parking, cheaper to live, offered me scholarships, must have a car, better academic standing, and decent internship programs.

Chicago School- Right in downtown Chicago (which is awesome), expensive living conditions, would not need a car, parking is expensive (if I got a car), slighty lower ranked academically, extremely good internship programs.

So now I'm torn in terms of where I want to go. Economically it would make sense to live in the suburbs because it's so much cheaper, but I don't own a car and would need to buy one before I went there. However, I would be missing out on the experience of living in downtown Chicago. Plus, if I lived downtown, I wouldn't need a car. Justin made a good point by telling me that I could always visit downtown if I wanted to and I didn't really need to live downtown since it was within driving distance. However, I'm still torn. I really don't have that much of a preference for one school or the other since I was just hoping that SOMEPLACE would accept me. Oh well, I have a couple months before my final decision. Before then though, I must deal with the dreaded financial aid question. Graduate school tuition for these two schools is about $32,000/year. Good grief, how will I ever get out of debt?

On a more stressful note, I have yet to study for my Freud class and the exam is Friday. I have, however, studied for my sociology exam that is also on Friday and I know I'll get a good grade. Tomorrow I have to meet with my project group in my personality class to go over our presentation on Tuesday. We have yet to do anything for it, so it should be interesting. Our topic: Is it better to study personality traits, motives, or cognitions. Yes, it's just as boring as it sounds.

Ha! I have a Dean's Student Advisory Council meeting tonight! Good thing I remembered that. We get to meet with the dean of social sciences to discuss who are graduation speaker is going to be. That'll be worth the twenty minute walk in the cold snow.

Wow, it's only Wednesday.

Those who do not live by the sword can still die upon them

Tue, 10 Feb 2004 22:57:00 GMT

There were monstrous snow flakes falling this morning. It was amazing, although because I was running late I was jogging to class and I inhaled them and they tasted nasty. Nothing like polluted snow flakes. Yuck. But I got to class in time to take my exam today. It was a computer science exam and I didn't study for it, but it wasn't very hard.

I decided to go and update my journal and now that I'm sitting here I realize I have nothing to say and I probably should get back to work. Two exams on Friday and I haven't studied yet. Let the procrastination begin!

Amusing

Wed, 04 Feb 2004 21:22:54 GMT

THE LONELY LITTLE BRAIN CELL

Once upon a time there was a female brain cell, which, by mistake, happened to end up in a man's head. She looked around nervously, but it was all empty and quiet.

"Hello?" she cried, but no answer. "Is there anyone here?", she cried a little louder. But, still no answer. Now the female brain cell started to feel all alone and scared, and she yelled at the top of her voice, "HELLO, IS THERE ANYONE HERE?"

Then she heard a very faint voice from far, far away.........

"We're down here."

Nipplegate

Wed, 04 Feb 2004 18:30:19 GMT

All right, does anyone else find it amusing that one woman's breast that was on-air for one second at least can cause this much controversy and turmoil? If it was Janet Jackson's completely exposed breast, areole and all, hanging out there then I could see why there might be a cause for all of these apologies and investigation by the FCC. But I mean common folks, a ninja-star pastie was covering the most objectionable part of her and it was on TV for ONE second!

Here is where I would enter my patented tirade about the FCC not being an elected body, but rather appointed by the President without Senate confirmation and such (info taken from the words of George Carlin) and how people will object to a nipple-covered breast (and nudity in general) on TV but no uproar is heard about the thousands of on-screen murders, implied rapes, shootings, stranglings, beatings, and stabbings on TV. You would think that these people would first object to the violent images their children see on TV before objecting about a one-second titty shot.

I could care less if all of the above mentioned actions are shown on TV as long as I know that it might not be suitable for all ages. I understand that everyone was caught off guard by Janet's nipple during the Superbowl. But I think Dennis Miller made a good point on his show last night that the Superbowl commercials featured a dog biting a man's penis, horse farting, spousal abuse, and impotence.

So I just wish everyone would quit freaking out over these things. If you are a concerned parent (which hopefully all parents should be) you would take your kid aside, explain that what Janet did is wrong (depending on your beliefs on the matter) and that Janet is the most normal one out of the whole Jackson bunch.

Then go rent your child a violent video game to take their mind off Janet's breast.

End tirade.

The stars are veiled...something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice...

Tue, 03 Feb 2004 03:21:04 GMT

Well, Adam and I were wrestling not too long ago and now I'm hurt. I'm not quite sure how the whole thing started. Much like how a cat will run full-tilt across a room for no apparent reason, men sometimes have a tendency to just break into spontaneous wrestling. Since it was a 165 (at best) pound male going against a 375 pound juggernaut, I really had no chance. After much tussling around, I had grabbed both of his wrists and planned to push him backwards until he fell on his bed. Unfortunately, he did not budge and instead catapulted me accidently into his dresser. My elbow collided with the exact corner of the dresser and now it hurts to move my fingers, let alone bending it straight. Needless to say, the match was over and he proclaimed himself victor.

Last night I was lying in bed and I happened to turn on TBS in time to catch the last ten minutes or so of Sister Act. I don't know why, but I love that movie. The idea that a Vegas nightclub singer of loose morals witnesses a crime and enters a Convent to hide herself is hysterical to me. Did anyone realize Whoopi Goldberg doesn't have eyebrows?

And I caught Days of Our Lives not too long ago. Marlena is the killer and Tony is dead! The hell?!?

Triumphant Return to livejournal

Sun, 01 Feb 2004 05:22:49 GMT

It has been months since I have updated my journal, and I can honestly say that in the few months that my rantings have been absent from livejournal, not much has been going on sadly. I am enjoying the fact that this is my last semester at Michigan State before moving on to bigger and better things. Since December I have been trying to figure out the confusing application process of graduate schools. This is how I understand it for those who are as confused as I am about the whole process:

1. There is generally an admissions application for the actual school you're applying to AND a separate admissions form for the department you are applying to (i.e. MSU graduate school AND department of Psychology.) Warning: this is only true part of the time.
2. Essays, resumes, and or vitaes are standard forms you have to send in.
3. Transcripts are a must (no brainer.)
4. Some schools want General GRE scores, some want GRE Subject Test Scores, and some want both. There is no rhyme or reason as to who wants what.
5. You normally need at least three letters of recommendation from professors in the field you are majoring in.
6. There are "letter of recommendation forms" that you (generally) give to the professors that you are soliciting the letters of recommendation from. These forms supposedly help schools learn more about you.
7. And of course, the $25-$75 application process fee check you must send before they look at your items.

So when one applies to a large amount of graduate schools like I have done, it becomes quite the process and takes up a large amount of time. You should also prepare to go on interviews that are extremely nerve-wracking and prepare to get your (figuritive) balls busted. It is well worth it in the end.

So the majority of my time over break has been taken up by this insane process. Now I'm back up at school enjoying my computer science class, my Freudian Theory class, my social stratification class, hating my personality theory class, and enjoying working with Dr. Lauren Harris on a research project.

When not doing class work, I have been trying to get my computer to work. When I came back from Winter break, my computer was acting strangely. It was shutting down all the time, error messages, and the dreaded blue screen of death. Those who have seen it will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, some how my antivirus program was permanently disabled so I couldn't scan for viruses so I had to reformat my whole system. Turns out I had multiple viruses. Now most of the problems are gone and I'm virus-free, but I can't seem to get some of my video games running. The games always crash back to my desktop and I am suspecting an over-heating problem.

Yes, this has been my life for two months.

Told ya you didn't miss much.

Ho ho ho hum

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 15:52:33 GMT

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time, and unfortunately now I have only a few brief moments to write before I head off for my last final this semester and head home. So when I get back (sometime around January 12th) I will update this thing about all that has happened to me over the last month. Until then, everyone have a merry christmas or happy holidays.

These pretzels are making me thirsty

Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:03:10 GMT

Ha, I just read an email my mom forwarded to me about embarrassing moments people experience. Here's a good one from her email:

This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for
2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who
will, in the future, likely think before she speaks.
What happens when you predict snow but don't get any....a
true story...
We had a female news anchor who, the day after it
was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the
weatherman and asked: "So Bob, where's that 8 inches you
promised me last night?"

So it's snowing now and the wind is gusting through my drafty windows and I am freezing. I have no papers due this week so I am actually enjoying a little relaxation time, although I should be preparing my resume' and personal statement for grad school applications. Actually, I have been toying with the idea of not going to graduate school right after I graduate from Michigan State. First of all, the competition is extremely fierce, and I doubt I can compete. By itself, that is not a good reason to not apply to grad schools, but I kind of dug my own grave on this one. Graduate school applications are very confusing and I am not sure how letters of recommendation are to fit in these applications. I guess one of the three professors you choose to write you a letter of recommendation has to write the letter and send it to the institutions you are applying to, but you also need to give your professor a sheet that they have to fill out about whether or not you're "worthy" of going to grad school. Since I had no idea how complicated this was, I am now extremely short on time. So do I hurry and do all of this half-assley, or do I take a year off and do it possibly better? Ugh, I don't want to think about it right now.

So tonight after I'm done with a couple of errands, Adam and I are going to continue our tradition of watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles the week of Thanksgiving. It's a hilarious movie about Steve Martin and John Candy trying to get home for Thanksgiving. I highly recommend it. Adam and I watch it every year and I can't argue with tradition. It'll be fun.

Ha, no heat is coming out of my heater. Never a good sign.

Thu, 20 Nov 2003 19:25:37 GMT

I know all of you have been waiting for it, and I am happy to get to announce it: Wu -Tang Clan is getting back together for a tour!