Zig zag

I'm waffling between two states these days.

Position One, Self-administered pep talk:
I can do it! There is so much fascinating literature out there on Alzheimer's pathology, and so many questions left to answer, so writing one little project proposal is a piece of cake. Just pick something that needs to be elucidated (like the cholinergic hypothesis and amyloid-beta production, or the self-organizational model) and think about one tiny sub-question that a simple experiment will answer. This is totally within my means and experience and might even be fun, if I let it.

Position Two, "I'm going to die":
No way. NO WAY. I only have a week. I know nothing about methods in molecular biology. How the heck am I supposed to make sense of this conflicting gobbeldygook and know what treatments to use? Buffers? Goat anti-mouse IgG? Horseradish peroxidase? SDS-PAGE? Protein kinase C? Amyloid precursor protein? MAP kinase? MAP kinase kinase? I've heard these terms before, and at some point in my life they may have made some kind of sense, but right now I'm totally overwhelmed and can barely make heads or tails of any of it. Oh, and if I can't write this one stupid paper, I will never be a scientist and maybe I'm not cut out for it anyway and why oh why did I go for the Neuro major? Blah. Blah blah blah.

Believe it or not, right now position one is holding its own... but I'm worried. We'll know by the end of the week. I'm not giving up... yet. Back to work.

Compstastic

According to all known physical laws, I am no longer able to procrastinate... and yet, I took the time to watch this today.

Huh?

Stress

Tonic release of glucocorticoids and other stress hormones have been shown to have detrimental effects on sleep, immune function, and various organs and body symptoms.

Good thing I saved all of my stress up for the last week and a half before thanksgiving break. I consider this an investment towards my future health and well-being. So long as writing my comps doesn't kill me on the way.

Accomplished today:

• Scored an hour of data... 6h 15min to go!
• Umm, went to class?
• Started preliminary reading. By "started," I mean "napped through."
• Organized my journal article sources into topical and methodological piles, with color-coded binder clips.
• Began intensive freaking-out process, phase one. Current status: denial.

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh...

I have a chamber singers solo/small group part/whatever it is?

NOOOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

(way!)

Wild Nights

5:30 pm - Senior class dinner begins - boxed wine flows like the Nile

7:30 pm - Senior class post-dinner kegger - Natty Light libations... too bad nobody asked me whether I wanted a beer shower...

9:00 pm - The Company's "Big-Ass Musicals That Everybody Loves" Revue - awesome

10:00 pm - Adjourn to Bryan's room for wild dance party... with fudge!

11:10 pm - B-day shindig for several friends - The land of Grasshoppers (Grasshopper=1 part Creme de Menthe+1 part Creme de Cacao+1 part milk+1 part my most newest favoritest thing in the world) and wild booty-dancing antics

1:30 am - Definitely past my bedtime. Goodnight!

I love chicks that play trombone

I saw a concert last night that totally made my week... Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra. (You know it's good when I buy a CD.) I should have been studying various irregular German verb forms, but this was completely worth it, especially since this year I didn't get my usual summertime fix.

Hmm... how much longer until Thanksgiving?

(too long...)

Irony

I attend the most civic-minded college in the nation, if time spent waiting in line at the poll is an indication.

I didn't get my absentee ballot, because my home board of elections didn't get my request before the Oct. 27th deadline, because I didn't mail it until the 25th.

Well, at least I wasn't in line for nine hours?