Just a little F.Y.I.

Nope. No research today! I've been struggling to find a topic for my latest blog post that would be useful and beneficial to those who read it, but I've come up short. I've perused ScienceDaily.com all the way to (gasp!) wikipedia.com and I can't seem to come up with a topic.

So, I'll just share what I know: fatigue.

It's come to my attention that at this point in the quarter (week 8, to be exact), my brain and my body do not cooperate with one another. I can take my body to all the places it needs to go (school, appointments, and the like) but my brain keeps checking out, getting distracted, and just, well, plain not cooperating with my plan for the day.

So, given the fact that I'm a "talk therapy" advocate, I'll "talk" about it.

I'm frustrated with the fatigue that hits me at this point in the quarter. I try to accomplish homework and my other life obligations and I just can't seem to get the motivation up to even exercise (which is a 5-times-weekly activity for me, so I'd say it's already a habit and shouldn't be subject to "motivation"). However, I have to get into acceptance about the fact that my body can only do so much. But, I still balk at the idea of "letting things go." After all, there's always so much to be done! But, as I've heard before (from a wise person, I'm sure), much more useful work gets done if one is prepared and well rested for it.

I think I'll go take a nap. Just kidding. Maybe...

Addicted to Facebook?

• CNN has an article online (click the blog title to check it out) on Facebook addiction and the signs to look for if you're a proponent of staying on the computer way past your bedtime and ignoring things like *life* to check in on the computer.

Facebook users are even posting links to satires of the Facebook phenomenon, underscoring its salience in today's technology. Check this one out:  "Failbook"
It shows the possible (and probable) banter that occurs daily on the hit url.

Pretty interesting how we have laymen who understand the psychology behind how and why people post the things they do online for the world to see, mindless as they are, and then can't seem to untangle themselves from the keyboard long enough to grab another cup of coffee. See, this is me doing that same thing right now. Perhaps I'm addicted.

But before we go that far let's peruse a few of the "warning signs" CNN believes either supports my argument that I'm a Facebook-freak, or shoots it down altogether:

• Pile's "Facebook Compulsion Inventory" is a psychological test-of-sorts that shows whether or not your interest in Facebook is minor, or social life threatening: Pile's Facebook Compulsion Inventory --The test includes items such as the following:
1. "I have more in common with the people I chat with on Facebook than I have with my spouse or partner."
2. "Sometimes I lose sleep because of the time I spend on Facebook."
3. "I feel excited and energized when I access my Facebook page."
4. "I feel that others would think less of me if they could see my private messages on Facebook."

There's several other criteria that tend to point to Facebook addiction, but I think you get the idea. Take the test. That is, if you're not too busy on Facebook.

When the going gets tough, the tough go.... shopping.

Me and my friends refer to shopping as "retail therapy" when it's taking the place of other personal coping techniques. This is because we tend to shop when we're feeling angry, confused, out-of-sorts, or...well...just plain bored. I like shopping during these occasions because it takes me away from the following:

• Rude people (if shopping online)
• Mundane house chores
• Homework
• Stress
• Boredom

and it also makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something! I'm aware that this sounds trite and superficial, but I think we all need to lapse into a state of semi-consciousness for brief periods of time every once in a while.

For instance: If I'm irritated at my (fill in the blank) and I decide it's more in my head than it is in "blank's" behavior, I'll oftentimes decide not to say anything about it. To anyone.

C'mon now -- haven't we all had a bad day and we know it's "just us"?? Shopping is perfect for this occasion! I can pick an item (or three -- to up my chances of finding at least one) to buy at the store and when I find it -- hooray! -- I've succeeded at something and my mood goes north. Try it sometime. I bet the marketing geniuses out there will love you for it.

So, I have a sense of humor. And no desire to type papers...

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I needed a break from all the studying and academic typing I've been doing for three months straight, and this did the trick. I hope you all enjoy it. It's not contributing to academia whatsoever, but everyone needs to laugh! After all, "Laughter is the best medicine!" (I dare say, that was at least a contribution to the medical field)...

Watch out for the evil octopus... ;-)

I was bored out of my skull in Genetics this evening and would rather tell you about the octopus than the fact that I finally took allergy meds and am happy to state that I am no longer trying to scratch my eyelids off or pull out all my eyelashes... enjoy! thanks to eureka! science news.com (either click on the title above or copy and paste the code below into your browser...
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/04/15/tentacles.venom.new.study.reveals.all.octopuses.are.venomous

Facebook Users and Lower College Grades (click on this link for story)

As if it wasn't sad enough to give up what little I *had* of a social life, now they're saying that Facebook use has been linked to lower grades in college. Although there's more than one study that has shown results similar to this type of result for Facebook usage, I believe there still needs to be studies done to counter this argument. :-)

Source: esciencenews.com

And I can't even seem to remember a 10-item grocery list...

Hey y'all. Taking a break from 4.5 hours of research lab work and almost 2 hours of class to share the following link:

http://laurafreberg.com/blog/?p=417

Go to it, read it, watch the clip -- and the whole thing and actually pay attention to what they're saying (I seem to have trouble with this quite a bit myself)... and voila! You'll actually learn something new! I love it when that happens despite my grumbling and digging-in of heels.

It's about a savant named Stephen Wiltshire. Don't know what a "savant" is? Go look at the site!!! It's good!

Thank you Laura Freberg for enriching our minds and managing to have a sense of humor at the same time!

Humor in finest form...

Just a quickie -- I thought this was really funny:

"When you get a BS you think you know everything. When you get your MS you realize you know nothing. When you get your PhD you still realize you know nothing but it is ok because now you know no one else does either."

I found it on a Student Doctor message board. I don't think it's original, so hopefully I don't have to worry about copyright infringement.

Parenthesis Overload

quotient (def)- "the ratio of two quantities to be divided"
a.) proportion - the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole


As much as it gives me an ego-trip (wait, where'd she go???.....) to know I scored 132 on an online IQ site (and trust me, I could use the ego-boost sometimes!), I wonder if the whole premise of the thing (not doing in-depth research, and all) is that the test compares one person's intelligence to another's (this is measured by questions such as: "If you were given the letters 'G-F-N-E-A-L' and asked to rearrange them, would you come up with the name of an
: A) cat B) building C) city D) store ). Of course, for copyright purposes, I modified the question, but you get my drift.

I wonder (and I REALLY wonder -- so much, in fact, I went and looked up "Mensa" at the local library and picked up a book on their kind of brain teasers since I received an on-the-cusp of a Mensa-qualifying score on the particular test I took) how qualified this type of testing really is for measuring intelligence because it certainly doesn't measure common sense (in my opinion, common sense is choosing to do the appropriate thing for the situation at hand regardless of the level of pre-existing intelligence) and I have proven this. Who came up with this test, anyways? If you know, I'd be more than happy to let you do the research because I'm too busy avoiding my it-took-me-all-quarter-long-to-write-this-research-paper paper that's due in three days to do it myself. Go figure (refer to previous posts to see this pattern of avoidance in full effect! Go on, I dare ya'!)

But, for now, I shall continue my love affair with (parenthesis) and continue on my merry, having a 132-IQ-that's-readily-accepted-by-most-Americans-as-making-me-smart, score and smile all the way to my flash drive which holds the file necessary to determine this student's decision on "Will She or Won't She: The Student's Avoidance Procedure of Research Papers".