#1 Present

My mom got me these for Christmas (except the piping is black). I have them on right now - they totally rock. Thanks mom!

More Reading

One of the things I want to do before classes start again on January 19th is read every book on my "want to read" list which according to the list I made on Facebook is something like 57 books. Unrealistic?? I think not. So I just finished this book
It was tremendous. If you want an honest view of what it's like to be a female in the service - this is the book to read. The author doesn't pull any punches about her experiences which is refreshing. At the same time it raises alot of questions about what it is like to be a female in the military. In addition to navigating the male dominant hierarchy that is the military she has to deal with all of the sexual bullshit which includes rumors, innuendo's and outright lies from men that she thought were her friends. She was strong enough to deal with it, many women aren't. What happens to those women? That's the problem isn't it? How does a male dominated machine deal with sexual assault within it's own ranks? Usually not that well. They cover it up, keep it quiet or
basically tell the women that it was probably their fault. Nice huh?
This subject makes my blood boil.

Hung Over

yeah it was fun......more later

Christmas

I love Christmas....actually I love the stuff that happens around Christmas. I get to see all of my favorite people and then I get to drink with all of my favorite people. Tomorrow everyone comes here for breakfast, I got to my aunts for dinner and then I go to friends for the evening. I usually end up staying overnight there because we just have too much fun. Well I always have fun with this particular group of people but Christmas just makes it better.

So Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas. To the rest of you enjoy your holidays.

Putting Stuff Off

So right now I'm putting off a project I should pretty much have done - I'm sure many of you are familiar with that prediciment. The project is this - a friend of mine who is a professor at Lesley University has a contract to turn her PhD dissertation into a reference book. It seems like it would be pretty easy right? Just take out anything that might sound like it was written right to the committee and update any research that may have been done since the dissertation's publication...right? Well it would be easy except the dissertation is written in APA style and for some reason the publishing house wants it in Chicago Style. They are totally different ways of writing and frankly Chicago Style is a pain in the ass.

So today I'm not getting dressed, I'm going to sit in my father's easy chair with my computer on my lap, work on this silly thing and watch the Patriots hopefully win.

Wish me luck.

Reading For Fun

One of the things I have missed dearly over the past couple of years is reading for fun. It's been a very rare occasion that I've been able to pick up a book that hasn't somehow been school related. Luckily my pleasure reading has taken on a bit of a research edge, so if I'm reading something that technically isn't for school, I'm still going to get something out of it. Take for instance the book I just finished. It's called "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and it's about Vietnam. It's an amazing book of stories from out on patrol, life prior to the war and life after the war written by someone who was there. I made the mistake of picking this up during finals - let's just say my finals got done but it was a struggle.I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Vietnam - it gives you an interesting perspective.

There is a young adult series written by a woman who published under the name Zack Emerson (her name is Ellen Emerson White). The series is The Echo Company Series it's four books written from the perspective of one soldier from the day he lands in Vietnam until the day he goes home. There is a follow up book written under her own name called The Road Home. These books are out of print and hard to find but they are worth the read. As I mentioned they are a young adult series so they are also quick reads.

This brings us to the book I am just about to start. Band of Sisters - American Women at War in Iraq. I'll let you know how it is. I love the cover - it looks like these chicks are coming to kick your ass.

Done

Finals are in - classes are over. Break has officially begun. Now if I can just get rid of this pneumonia then I'd be in business. I can't wait to lay in bed tomorrow and watch The West Wing and then do nothing the rest of the day.......ahhhhhh.

Not losing momentum.....

I don't want to lose my momentum now that I've been posting again, but today this pneumonia is kicking my ass. I have a headache and I'm exhausted. So just for your listening pleasure is my latest favorite band.

Rediscoveries

Recently I rediscovered The West Wing. I had forgotten how much I absolutely loved this show - especially Josh Lyman. The writing was fast and smart and they talked about real things while showing us how ridiculous the people behind the real things could be at times.






This was one of the absolute best stories withing an episode I had ever seen. It's worth the 7 minutes out of your day but make sure you have tissue nearby.




Yes yes I should be writing my paper.....I know.

1996??? WTF??

I am so sick of reading articles like this about the VA. They were told in 1996 to update their computers to make sure that these people got paid and they didn't. That means that there was some tight ass bureaucrat who probably isn't a veteran sitting in an office somewhere saying "ohhhh we'll do that later" well guess what - it's later. Twelve years later jackass. The line in this article that makes me the most angry is "computer glitches often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts".

So I say again.....WTF?

That's some hell of a thank you.

The VA is so fucked up - I don't know if Barack's guy can help but let's hope he doesn't hurt. I do like the fact that he got kicked out of his job for going up against that jackass Donald Rumsfeld - so maybe that means he has a good head on his shoulders. We will soon find out.

Library Time

One more paper due - I'm at the library with my friend Laura who also has one more paper due. Somehow it makes it so much easier that someone else has work to do. Of course she is on facebook and I'm on blogspot so really how much work is getting done?? Not too much that's for sure.

Finally feeling a little better from this pneumonia although I just went up two flights of stairs and my chest doesn't feel so good. So tonight I guess I'll just rest. I think we are watching The Dark Knight. Please enjoy the photo.....

Yes I'm Alive

Ok so a couple of my friends (you know who you are) have been bugging me about updating my blog - so here I am. I am going to be better at updating - I promise. So my two faithful readers here you go.

I'm in the middle of finals week, it's been crazy. I ended up getting pneumonia which hasn't made finishing anything easy but I refuse to ask for any type of extension dammit! I just want to be done. This semester has been ridiculously stressful. The amount of work we have coupled with our placement which is three days a week make the work completely overwhelming.

My placement is at a hospital that has locked psychiatric units. These people are referred to as the "worst of the worst" and "the bottom of the barrel" (these are nursing and mental health worker terms not mine). They are difficult to discharge and almost impossible to place in the community because once they get out of the hospital they stop taking their meds and when that happens all bets are off. Overall though its a great learning experience. I have some interesting patients that I deal with, it's a place that really builds up my skill.

I've been totally stressed out this semester - and now I realize that blogging can probably help that.

Stess #1 - Living In A Dorm- Honestly I'm too old for this shit but it was/is the most cost effective way to do the whole grad school thing. All I can say is I hope I wasn't as annoying as some of the people in this dorm when I was their age. We also have a whole population of people who are majoring in Library Science...do I need to say more? Anyway that being said I have met some great people and have had a lot of fun.

Stess #2:The Amount of Work- Now I am no stranger to hard work, I just spent the last two years working full time and finishing my degree full time. But this is ridiculous. There is absolutely no way you can do this program and have any type of a job. The weekly reading list for each class is HUGE - most Professors will tell you what you have to read to be ready but some want you to read everything. Thank GOD I took two classes this summer or I would really be under water.

Stress #3: Feeling Disconnected- It's strange to hear about other people's lives going on while you feel like you are in a holding pattern. Although I don't miss my condo - I miss living in North Attleboro. I was having a lot of fun there and everyone was close. Even if I didn't have time to see them I knew they were close by.

OK that's enough bitching for now. There are a lot of really cool great things about Grad School too, but that's for tomorrow post.