Averygoodun's Personal File

Went to the college transfer fair, and, well... Hmm. It's possible I will not go for a bachelor's and master's after all. I haven't given up on the idea, but I will need to talk to the admissions and financial aid offices of the universities I'm considering to see if any of them offer scholarships, prorated, of course, to this particular part-time student. Because, well, I can not afford to go to any of those schools without scholarship aid. Not with only 20 post-grad working years projected. Uh-uh. And I am physically unable to attend full-time, even if I wanted to.

Another disappointment, though one with a good side, is that should I manage to find a school that will provide scholarship funds to part-time students, I would be counted as "non-matriculated" - meaning no financial aid at all would be offered, including by the government - if I started in the spring semester. So I don't have to rush the next year quite so much. Meaning, I can take that year and a half.

So... yeah. Perhaps being an acupuncturist-to-D.O. isn't for me after all. Perhaps. As I said, I haven't given up yet. I have a pretty good transcript, so I might be able to wrangle some sort of merit money yet. And, if not, well, that's more time to devote to art, writing and Page. And finding an appropriate part-time job to pay for the health insurance bills.

*shrugs*

Of course, this makes it very tempting to just quit school altogether, especially given how tired I've been lately. But, I am not going to. I WILL get my associates. I WILL. If only because I'll get a better part-time job because of it. *nods*

Without being a senior. Technically, I'm only a sophomore. But, well...

It is so hard getting myself to study these days. I have a midterm coming up on Friday that I NEED to study for (if I want to retain my 4.0 GPA), and all I can think is, "I can do it tomorrow, can't I?"

(The answer to that is a very emphatic NO!!!, as I'm a pathetically slow reader with very short concentration span. I can only read for about an hour before I start falling asleep. That hour is about 10 pages' worth. I typically have only one or two useful studying spans a day.)

The stupid thing is that I'm really enjoying both my classes. The Human Growth and Development course is really interesting, and the classes are downright fun. The photography course is also fun and interesting in its own way, and I'm really glad to be learning what I have been.

I just... I don't know. I guess I feel like I'm being pulled three or four (major) ways, and the studying is suffering because I haven't decided which ways deserve what amount of attention. I would really like some time off. I think I'm really paying for taking that summer course...

:-/

Anyway. Should go study. Either that or rewatch that video with Geoff and Page. But faffing around on the web trying to find something that doesn't bore me is just stupid and I need to stop that.

*nods*

Happy Bartolomé Day to all my American friends. (Because Columbus isn't worthy of celebrating.)

- Well, I'm glad I took Page into the doctor, as, apparently, the skin all around his left eye is infected. It does look absolutely terrible, with red, swollen lumpiness taking over, and I gave him a tylenol tonight because the pain started spiking. I can't remember her diagnosis, but, yeah. Oral and topical antibiotics have been started, as well as lots and lots of mandatory cuddling (his insistence, not mine. I only use the corporate cuddling tactic in extreme anger situations).

Plus side: it isn't contagious.

- I am on the second to last week of computer class. Thank god. It is kind of nice to learn all some of the things that Word 2010 can do, but, lord I don't like my teacher's rubric. Still trying to decide whether to take the Excel class with her next semester or save it for the Spring when I can choose a different teacher... I think I'm starting to lean towards a computer-filled Spring semester. Maybe take Human Growth and Development this fall...

- It's hot out. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwt. And it's supposed to get hotter as the week wears on. I suspect that tomorrow will find me actually dailing a phone to call friends with pools. (That is if Facebook messaging fails.) At least it dips into the 70's at night, which lets the (rising) humidity sink onto the ground a bit.

- The backyard might be completed soonish. The last pile of dirt was spread out today and the capstones were put in place, so it looks like they only have to have a few guys with rakes come over and finish up the smoothing out before they spray grass seed everywhere. Except, of course, for where they're still trying to figure out the drainage problem related to this house.

Did I mention how the other night I dreamt that the construction of a throughway was endangering the entire neighborhood, with houses of incremental closeness being torn down by earthmovers, and the neighbors in complete denial? *rolls eyes at drama queen subconscious*

- My bowl of rocks is very pretty... (Geoff isn't here to mention how tempted he always is to reach in and grab one of the "cookies". They are nice and round-like. :-)

- I have the foundation plants of my backyard design picked and planned out. Basically. I still have to choose a variety of rhodo, but otherwise I'm set. The fence will be lined with evergreen shrubs (the rhodo, pieris, and one each of China Girl/Boy hollies), and a golden elderberry will stand in front of the rhodo and pieris. I have yet to figure out the placement of the detail plants (hostas, ferns and the like), but I will. Oh, and a Sweet Autumn Clematis will be encouraged to climb all over the shed.

Oh, I am looking forward to having a shed!

- Bully for England, passing the gay marriage law. I wish conservatives here could see it the way Cameron does. Ah well. In time. Related to that, Page and I watched ST:NG, season 5's "The Outcast," which was a blatant allegory about the place of gays in American society. I am glad that in twenty years it isn't quite so bad in most American urban areas anymore, but it is discouraging that we have to keep having the same conversation over and over again. And that Riker's voice of reason gets overruled again and again and again...

Aaaaand, that's about it. I am feeling better, both mentally and physically, than I was yesterday around this time, even if it doesn't show through my words.

OhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgodOhgod...

I am so screwed.

I just took the practice algebra test, and I got 41%. Functions and graphing kicked my butt to the door and into the gutter. (I shouldn't count the questions on complex numbers as I haven't reviewed that material yet, but needless to say that added to my miserable outcome.)

The worst bit is that some of the answers really confuse me. Like, why is 2+x+y a factor of 4-(x+y)^2? I do not understand that. At all.

And how does (3(-1)^n-1)/2^n create the geometric sequence 3/2, -3/4, 3/8? Got it. Never mind.

(I also really, really need to review sequencing of all ilks. Only learned sigma's meaning today. Yikes.)

I am so, so screwed.

*meebbles*

( Whinge and whine )

It looks like Geoff will be coming back on time, meaning he'll be leaving Brazil tonight. It still seems unreasonable that he'll have to wait for seven hours once he gets back into this country. (His flight lands in Charlotte at 7:30am; his flight home leaves Charlotte at 2:30pm.) I guess he try for stand-by once he gets through customs...

OMG, Page is talkative this morning. His subjects have ranged from ATP mills (demonstrated by legos) and electron prisons to Narnian wars with the inclusion of Sticky Man.

Oh, great. Just hurt his feelings after he hurt himself (by flailing) for attention. I'm a crap mom in the mornings.

I also have a to do list for the weekend. Yay.

( Said list )

I think that's more than enough to be getting on with. Now need to go apologize to my son and get a cuddle.

ETA: Also, I want to move out of this country. The bombing suspect isn't getting Miranda rights. I understand the rationale, but it's still the wrong way to go. This is not how justice is wrought, and I wonder if most Americans can even see that anymore...

First, a (darkly) funny video.

( The rest of the (mostly) randomness. )

But now it is time for bed. Although napping during the day this week has been good, I do need more nighttime sleep if I'm to get all the way better before school starts up again.

Stupid LJ. Although, at least it saved the entire draft!

But on the plus side, I got lousy sleep because the stuff in my sinuses finally decided to really move. So yay. My headache is much better (although still there), and I feel like the end of this thing is near.

Also, Geoff is coming home in a few hours. That'll be nice.

1. Page is now home from school, sick. Well, feverish, anyway.

2. The crazies keep going off the wall. What is up with denying horrible but very real events? I mean, I suppose I should be thankful that the Sandy Hook deniers aren't also Holocaust deniers, as they need the horror of the Holocaust to fuel up their conspiracy claims, but...

*shakes head*

It's hard to be optimistic about humanity sometimes. However, fear is the real oppressor, so I'm going to continue to believe that the majority of people are actually quite decent, and it's just the media's fault for always highlighting the lunatic fringe, because that's what sells papers.

*shifty eyed look*

Another conspiracy theory, you say? No, because I don't believe (or think) the thirteen owners of western media are actively colluding to spread fear. I think they've just found through practice that this is what sells. Again and again and again.

(I might be scapegoating just a bit, though.)

Oh, how to fix the brokenness, when so much of what's real is broken...

( Where two intelligent people show that being educated doesn't mean they can get the point (and where I Don't. Let. It. Go.) A facebook dramedy. )

ETA: After cooling down a fair bit, I posted this response:

Me: You know, MZ, I was all set to come back to the internet and refute every point and counterpoint you put up, but then you used that essay on inferential distances as an argument *ender* (I lol'd at the irony, btw) and I realized there's no point in trying to get you to see my point. Which is sad, really, because it's just a matter of semantics (contrary to your assumption, I actually do get your point; I just think the semantics are very important where science is concerned). Oh, and here's a wiki article for reference in case you're not familiar with the term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics
Semantics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org
Semantics (from Greek: sēmantikós)[1][2] is the study of meaning. It focuses on ...See More

Me: Honestly, I view the whole hype surrounding global warming with a jaundiced eye. Yes, it's real and threatening, but why isn't the media pointing out hyping the other ecological disasters that are looming? I, personally, think it's because global warming is the one ecological disaster that they can use for power and money (cap and trade). There isn't much to be made by trying to heal the ocean's dead zones, for example, which, if you think about it, are a far more worrisome threat than global warming (global warming = ecosystem upset and change; dead ocean = ecosystem collapse). Oh, and where the ocean dead zones are concerned, it is known, 100%, to be humans at fault. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=44677


I may regret it in the morning, but, well, today is a loss anyway. Might as well end it today rather than continue it into tomorrow.

Fetal Personhood and Criminalizing Abortions: A Prosecutor's Perspective.

"So, personhood for a cluster of cells means that abortion could equal aggravated murder. Really, do Republicans want us prosecuting girls and women for the aggravated homicide of their zygotes? Is that the plan here? Do they actually want to impose the death penalty, or will life in prison be sufficient to satisfy their pathological need to punish women for the crime of being sexually active? Of course, if the woman is guilty, so is the man who facilitates her in procuring an abortion – boys, if you take your girlfriend to Planned Parenthood for an abortion, we’re going to imprison you both for murder. It’s called a “conspiracy.” In case you were wondering.

But if that isn’t their goal, if they would say “of course we don’t want that,” well, then, I have to ask, “what the hell do you want?” Because if you actually believe that a zygote is a person, then how can you demand anything less than justice for the murder victim? Acceptance of less than full accountability means that the zygote has less meaningful protection for its personhood than other persons."


What she doesn't point out is that under some of personhood bills that are out there, a woman could be charged with murder (or at least manslaughter) for having a miscarriage.


Are you pro-life? Are you really?

I think the "pro-life" title is, in most cases, terribly ironic. I'm pro-life. I do think believe life is sacred and should be cherished and respected. I think the death penalty needs to be abolished because it does not cherish and respect the lives of humans. I'm also ardently pro-choice because I think (not believe, but THINK) abortion needs to be legal so as to help cherish and respect the life of those already born.

No, the positions are really either anti-choice or pro-choice. I am anti-abortion/pro-choice. It is possible to be so without being a hypocrite because who am I to say what's an immoral decision for someone else? That would be me judging based upon my set of ethics, experiences and circumstances. The only other being who might possibly have a say in my (or anyone elses) moral decisions is God. If you believe in that. But I do know that when I thought of aborting Page's fetus, it felt evil. So I chose to carry him. Hence being anti-abortion/pro-CHOICE.


How Romney Would Treat Women

And this is why I will move out of the country if Romney is elected. It may take a year or so to make it happen, but to plan to continue living in a country where my opinions and decisions are considered beside the point just because of my sex is not only insulting, but untenable. And I just don't have the energy to fight against what seems to be the rising tide.

Please, please New Yorkers, please don't riot until after the election!

On the other side, however, please, please, get relief to those people soon, government and charity agencies!



And, to show the depths of my compassion, I'll add as a non sequitur that I really don't like accounting problems where the correct answer can only be achieved by typing in the the entire decimal. But I guess it's a good way to show how banks can make lots and lots of money on tiny fractions of a cent...