psychy 101

I haven't blogged in a while, but I haven't had anything to blog about. here goes: I have a deep dark secret that in this 'dog town' may seem a little blasphemous: I don't care about animals. I've always felt guilty about that fact, and never understood it. I'm not saying I hate them, and it's not even that I strictly tolerate them. I've lived with a few, had some cats growing up, and done my share of dog sitting, and I really don't mind them. I just have never been able to connect with them in the way some people seem to. I wonder if it's even possible for me to do so. As I said I've always felt guilty about this fact. I like kids, and I like baby animals. I'm environmentally conscious, a pacifist, and generally believe in caring and good will towards all creatures. So I should adore animals. I have some reservations about dog ownership if you don't have a lot of open space for them to run, and they are A LOT of work. I also think bird ownership is re-god-damn-diculous. I mean, what is it about birds that we find so fascinating and admire? They're magnificent ability to soar. So what do we do with them? We put them in a cage so small they can barely walk, let alone fly. Most other caged animals that we keep; lizards, hamsters, etc, are ridiculous by similar logic. But I digress... I was killing time so I decided to google the question "Why don't I like animals". I only found one site that attempted to answer the question. The grammar was strange, leading me to believe it was poorly translated english, which didn't lend too much credence, also it had one of those 'cosmo-magazine-quiz' rundowns of who likes and dislikes different kinds of pets along with a quick psych profile of each. At the end, though, it discussed the apathy towards all animals. First off it said that animal apathy didn't make one a bad person. Phew. Then it gave 5 or 6 reasons why one may feel that way. The last one made sense, and I think I have solved, or at least deduced it's source in myself. To paraphrase, it said that one might find pets 'a poor substitute for human contact and connection'. I'm not saying that I intellectually agree with the idea, but I think that subconsciously that is how I feel. Of course, this opens up a whole other can of worms, and now I have another 'why' to solve, but it makes for something interesting to chew on.

you don’t know from busy

You wanna know about f'in busy? I'm so busy I fell guilty taking the time to write this blog. I just finished my third week of school and things are going fairly well. I am not out of money yet and my bills are paid till the end of november. That's pretty cool, eh? I bought some new glasses and some other stuff, not too much to show for my financial aid this round but that's okay, I had alot of old debts to pay off. School isn't really that hard, just tons of work. I am still a research assistant, which currently entails finding and copying articles for my professor, and also some IT work(as usual). I also got elected secretary of the society for physics students, which is additional work. I really need to get ahead of my homework, though. Yesterday I woke up at 10 and went directly to school, then I did homework till 10:15 at night, went to bed at 10:30. I don't mind doing it because I have decided that Saturday evening I stop, no matter what, and start again Monday morning. I have to be in the lab on Saturdays this quarter so I can't go out on Fridays anymore, but that'll just save me money and liver. I still cut loose Saturday night, and one night is really all anyone needs. I will have to do some work on Sundays as I have to study for the first comprehensive exam on Nov. 30th. All graduate students at PSU have to pass with 50% one of two exams covering thermodynamics, mechanics, experimental physics, quantum mechanics and modern physics. I have until winter of 2010 to pass. It is strictly from memory, no notes or anything! I think I can do it but its gonna take some hard work. I'm currently taking 'current electricity', 'electricity and magnetism', and 'experimental physics' which is essentially a circuit building class. So after this quarter I will be the world's leading expert on electricity. Not really, but I'll know alot about it. I have three chapters to read by tomorrow night, and also some journal articles. Also, two books on crystallography that I have to fit in somewhere. I think the hardest thing is not actually doing the work, but budgeting my time. I will never again take vacations for granted. Bye.