You Are, It's True

Fuck you, flu. Just when I thought we were done for good, my fever comes back today and I'm quarantined in my bedroom again. *Sigh* At least I was able to hijack the laptop and I still have the special features from I Love You, Man to watch (so hilarious). Too bad I have a shit ton of work to do this weekend/beginning of next week. Not to mention the Cowboys are playing the Panthers Monday night and I really wanted to hit the bar to watch it after my Bioethics class lets out. Should be an easy win (knock on wood) and I'll be getting rowdy (translation, DH won't appreciate me watching the game at home). Hopefully this Tamiflu won't let me down and I'll be back up to 100% by Monday.

So, everyone in my house has the flu and I'm feeling pretty out of it today (good sign that I'm next). Sucks.

Tomorrow is DH and I's 2nd wedding anniversary. I just found out that it is also National Celebrate Bisexuality Day tomorrow. I just picked 9/23 as a wedding date cuz 23 is my favorite number. Funny.

I missed Pride yesterday because of work I had to do for school. It was supposedly awesome. We took the kids last year. It was cool because, after the parade, #2 told us he didn't know yet if he liked boys or girls but it is cool to know that we'll accept him, whether he's gay or straight. That was what I was hoping the kids would get out of it (plus the culture, of course). I'm such a flaming liberal.

Oh yeah, and the IRB approved the study, finally. Woot!!

Who says academia can't be sexy?

Today, someone asked me, "What's up with the Hustler shirt?" that I was wearing. A witty comeback like, "Oh, it came with my subscription," would have been awesome but the question caught sleep-deprived me by surprise and, of course, a clever retort didn't pop into my head until way later. Instead of a nice sarcastic, "Oh, yeah. They give me these whenever I finish a photo shoot," I just blushed. The literal answer would be that Larry Flynt is a feminist and Hustler, preferably the Canadian version, is the only "mainstream" porn I can buy w/out feeling like a bad feminist or driving all the way to the xxx store. Oh yeah, and the shirt was $2 at the thrift store. Ha.

It has been a long and busy start to the semester. All my classes are going well. Cognitive Psych is maybe my favorite class that I have taken thus far. I have multiple nerd-gasms during each lecture. It's so fascinating. The time flies by. My lab partner (cute outdoorsy chick that I was in 3 classes with last semester) and I both groan in disappointment when each class ends. It really is that interesting. Plus, I don't know what people are talking about when they say Dr. RH is a bitch. Sure, she expects her students to attend class, pay attention during lecture, read the textbook, and at least make an effort to do well but I have had nothing but good experiences with her thus far.

Speaking of, after learning about my career goals/interests in working with veterans with PTSD Dr. RH let me know that she had done some research in grad school with vets who had PTSD so I met with her on Monday to ask her about her experiences in more detail. We had a really good conversation. Turns out her dad, husband, and son were/are in the military (her son just got back from Iraq) and so we talked about our personal experiences with our family members who have served. She's a first-generation college student like me, is homeschooling her daughter (and homeschooled her son) like I plan on doing (or rather my house-husband aspiring husband will mostly do), and we are very similar in our passion for psychology and intrinsic motivation for learning. She had some really great advice on grad school, becoming a professor, working with military service men/women in research, etc. I have to admit, it feels really great to get along so well with someone that everyone else greatly admires (and fears).

The research project that I'm working on with Dr. A is going through it's 3rd (and hopefully final) IRB evaluation. The IRB (institutional review board) at SCU is ridiculously strict. I'm not going to bore you with the details of what they have asked us to change before resubmitting our study for approval, but lets just say they are acting like our survey asks participants graphically detailed questions about past sexual abuse (it doesn't...nothing even close).

Other than that, it's going great. Preliminary research is done. Lit review outline is done. Survey is up on the survey host website and ready to go once we get approval to start recruiting participants. Dr. A and I work together well (so far and from my perspective anyway). ;) I set tomorrow aside to start writing the lit review. I can't wait to start analyzing data. Goddamn litigious society.

I saw super-ridiculously hot grad student who taught the Abnormal Psych class I took last semester. She stopped by to say hi while I was in Dr. A's office for a project meeting today. We hugged (she touched me...*sigh*). Haha. She's so sweet. We got along really well last semester and kept in touch over the summer. I gave her a bunch of info on some stuff we're both interested in and links to great teaching resources last semester and she talks to/treats me like an equal. We're supposed to get together for coffee soon. We have freakishly similar personality traits, demeanor and interests. The way she utilized her personality in the classroom is what made me realize I could teach. Oh yeah, and she's so hot. And not just "hot for a professor (or I guess in her case, grad teaching assistant)" but "stranger who stops you in your tracks as she walks by" hot. But I digress...

My Cowboys won against the Buccaneers Sunday, which made me a very happy J. I went over to Jed's* to watch the game on his mega-screen. DH came over a little later with the kids to hang out with Leslie*. Jed & Leslie are our (DH & me) "couple best friends," if that makes sense. Anyway, someone was asking me why my hubbie didn't watch the game with me. I told him that DH doesn't like to watch football. This Cretan said, "What?? Well, he must not be a real man if he doesn't watch football!" I looked Mr. Gender-Role Compliance in the face and replied, "I didn't know watching football is what makes you a man. Maybe I should let my vagina know about this." He looked pretty horrified. I don't know if it was because everyone else laughed or because I said "vagina" instead of something else to describe my female-ness (ha!).

Anyway, until the next time I can't sleep but am too tired to do anything other than ramble on and on...

It takes courage to enjoy it. The hardcore and the gentle, big time sensuality.
-Bjork

-Me

*Names have been changed to protect anonymity.

Are you ready for some football??

Tomorrow marks the first regular season game for the Dallas Cowboys. I am so excited. Every year, after the Superbowl ends, I slip into a slight depression that slowly lifts the closer and closer we get to the first day of the NFL regular season.

My husband does not share this exuberant anticipation with me. Poor hubby has tried, with valor, to share my love of the sport with me. I have politely asked him to give up on this commendable effort, though I do appreciate it.

You see, my hubby does not enjoy watching team sports at all. He especially doesn't enjoy football. He doesn't know the rules (which always fascinates me since he played football in high school and I've explained them to him over and over and over again), he thinks it's unnecessarily violent, and he thinks the games are sexist sporting events that exploit women and perpetuate the "masculinity myth" (I never should've made him watch Tough Guise).

Yet, he has made a good effort to watch the games with me in the past 3-4 years. What ends up happening though is he either falls asleep, asks me questions about the rulings the entire time, or talks through the game but watches the commercials (esp. during the Superbowl). So I told him I appreciate the effort, but no offense, I'm going to watch the games with Jef this year.

He was relieved. *Phew* He did tease me and say, "Men who love sports cheat on their wives with women who love sports." I replied with, "Maybe women who love sports cheat on their husbands with men who love sports." He paused and then glared at me.

I love my wife. ;)

Going 70mph in a 20mph School Zone

God, this weekend went by way too fast. This semester is going to go by really fast, I can tell that much already. I always do best under pressure, though, so I'm not stressed. I'm going to bitch about it anyway. Funny how I bitch about not being busy enough and then bitch about being too busy. I doubt a happy medium exists for me.

I loooooove CogPsych. Fascinating, fascinating shit. Last semster I took PhysioPsych, which focused on the physiological mechanisms behind mental processes. CogPsych builds on my knowledge of the anatomy/function of the brain with detail about the mental processes themselves. I will be getting my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology but Cognitive, Experimental, and Neuro Psychology are all so fascinating. I wish I could just stay in school and get 5 doctorates...

We did have to do some silly exercises in CogLab today though. We had to run through some traffic cone mazes that Dr. RH set up outside. We were supposed to be role playing the "Tolman rats." Then, once back inside, we had to role play action potentials along axons. I got to be the terminal button. I decided to release dopamine.

Oh my god. I am such a fucking nerd.

My labor day weekend was filled with a friend's daughter's first birthday party (babies discovering cake = cute moments hall of fame), reading approximately 25 empirical studies/lit reviews, and doing online CogLab activities. Unfortunately, no beer was consumed. I will make up for this during the first regular season game on Sunday (Go Cowboys!!).

Oh! Oh! A new Michael Moore movie is coming out on October 2nd. I just saw the commercial during one of my Law & Order indulgences (I <3 Goldblum). Anyway, there have been so many movies that have come out recently that I've sworn I'd go see but didn't (e.g. Funny People, District 9, Extract - mmmmm, Jason Bateman...). But Capitalism: A Love Story must be seen opening night.

Speaking of movies, is it just me of should "Love Happens" be renamed to "Another Shitty Jennifer Aniston Romance Movie Happens"?

Insomnia

It sucks when you finish studying at a point in the evening at which it is too late to take your Ambien. *sigh* It's time to get used to morning classes again. It's not that I mind getting up early when I get a good night's sleep... I just so rarely get to sleep before 4AM...

Boo.

New Semester and Blogging Controversy

I know it has been a while, 2 people who read my blog, but I only had 2 weeks of actual summer so my first priority was not sitting at the computer and trying to be witty.

The Fall semester started on Monday. I already love all of my classes.

I'm taking History of Modern Science from a professor who believes in science above all else, like me, and is also really funny. It's not a class in my major, but it will be fun (unlike all of the non-major classes I took for my Ass Degree).

The professor for Experimental Psych is a "heart-throb" according to all of the ladies in my class. So his code-name this semester is "Dr. Heart Throb" or "Dr. HT". He's funny and the class is interesting but I don't think I would describe Dr. HT as a heart throb myself. But what do I know? I'm in love with Keith Olbermann.

The professor for Cognitive Psych looks like she uses the exact same hair dye that I do so I'll call her "Dr. Red Hair" or "Dr. RH". She's a total bad ass. Really knows her shit and doesn't let people get away with being lazy ass snowflakes. This makes sense, as it is a senior level class and required for those on the Grad School track so she has to weed out the losers, yet I keep hearing what a "bitch" she is. When students around campus tell me that Prof. So-and-So is a bitch or "way hard", I immediately sign up for his or her class as it means that Prof. So-and-So will actually challenge me academically. I'm pretty sure the opposite is also true. If I tell someone to avoid a class because the "professor" (usually a grad student) is a dumbass, all the lazy students immediately sign up for the class because it means you really aren't going to have to actively learn anything. But I digress...

I have a Bioethics class this semester too but the first one was canceled and it is a once a week Monday class so I won't know what the professor is like until the 14th.

I have my first meeting with Dr. A tomorrow for the research project I'm assisting him with. I'm so excited! I can't wait to get started. Plus, Dr. A is a badass.

Oh, there was some fairly recent controversy over some stories on my blog being "made up." Frankly, if you can't tell when I'm making something up to be funny versus telling a funny story that actually happened to me, then you don't deserve to know. Those who know me well know when I'm kidding. Plus, this is my blog, on which I post commentary and jokes, updates and fantasies, all of which came from my sick and twisted mind. That should be enough to make it real. Otherwise, why does it matter? If it made you laugh, my job is done.
Al Franken had this same problem, which he addressed in "The Truth (with jokes)":

After my last book, some of younger and/or less bright readers complained that
they couldn't tell when I was joking and when I was merely reporting true things
in a comedic manner.

The only difference between Franken and I is that he went on to inform his readers of when he was joking or not joking. I am not that nice. Plus, I'm not being paid to write this blog, so I don't have to worry about confusing my readers.

So, there!