Chronicles of the Prematurely Sane

Abstracts/Summaries written: 5 done, 3 to go
Discussion assignments: 4 done, 3 to go
Book Critiques: 1 done, 4 to go
Essays: 1 done, 2 to go
Key Terms assignments: 4 done, 3 to go
Exams: 3 done, 5 to go
Quizzes: 4 done, 3 to go
Books left to read: 3 + 6 academic papers and a handful of PDFs
Term Project: 1 to go
Research Paper: 1 to go

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I am reading you all, but replying to you is a little patchy and for that, I apologize. I am just really swamped for the next month and a half as the term comes to a close. Hold down the forts until I get back? Let's just hope I come back somewhat sane. *flail hands*

So,  for a while, my grandmother (who is in her mid-80s) has been in and out of the hospital. It started when she fell in her kitchen and scrapped herself up pretty good. Since then she has claimed to have fallen in her apartment several times - each time ending up in the hospital.

It turns out that this was a lie. She had not fallen and she was just using the hospital to get attention from her family.

Okay, a little background. My grandmother has always been a little bit, no, scratch that...a lot manipulative. She has always been the first person to lay a guilt trip on somebody. It wouldn't matter how many times you visited with her or went over to see her, it would never be enough. And while you were visiting, you would be treated to all the gossip about everyone else - even people you didn't know. This talking behind other's back has cost her a friend that she had had for 25 years, but that is another story.

This leads to now, with her being in the hospital. While in the hospital she starts not only playing up the "can't walk" thing (yet refuses a wheelchair) but also starts telling falsehoods of neglect to the nursing staff. This leads to the staff calling in a caseworker from the state. She lied and said that her family never checks on her or visits her.

Grandma is assigned the caseworker and the woman calls all grandma's children (one being my mother). She tells my mother, my aunt and my uncle that grandma needs round the clock care and that they have 24 hours to figure out what to do with her.

Well, my aunt lives in a cramped trailer over 2 hours away, my mother is nursing a broken knee and is in the process of moving and my uncle - well, he has frickin' power of attorney over grandma, which is why he checks on her damn near ever day. But Grandma lied about people visiting her, so therefore the state thinks that the family is neglecting an old woman. This despite the fact that my uncle and my cousin, D, check on her on a daily basis and my other cousin, W, drives her around.

So, due to all her lies, she no longer can go back to her apartment. The apartment where she had a lot of freedom to do what she wanted to do and all the independence to do it.  Now, the state is going to send her right from the hospital to a nursing home. One in which she has to be signed in and signed out and they dictate the schedule.

Well, I hope that she is satisfied with what her lying has given her in the end. I am quite sure that it was not her expected outcome. I can just shake my head at the situation. She didn't want to go to a home when the family asked her before, and now, she will probably end up in the same one where she committed her own mother. Irony, this has it.

So, the moral of the story is: don't lie. See, people will find out and it will come back to bite you (even if it takes a while).  I wish I had sympathy for her, but knowing what a liar she is...it may seem awful of me, but I just don't.

I am sure the family can fight the state on the case of neglect to get her back into her apartment, but you know, she has so many of us burned out and just burned now, that I don't know how many of us give a damn. Hell, maybe in the nursing home she will have whatever she wants now - people who she can talk trash to about other people and the opportunity to bitch to us how she is being treated.  I hate to say it, but I don't recognize this woman any longer and I really don't like who she has become.

Maybe I am getting to old to be in school or something, but I wish that some people in my psychology class would grow up.

Now granted, this is a 100 level class (and it is a last minute elective for me), but you people are in college now...be adults.

For example: today in class we are talking about emotion, which also includes arousal and goes to the theories on sex and so forth. Some people are giggling behind me while talking to their friend about how men are whores and such.

Maybe I'm a hardass, but I am here to learn something. And the sad thing is that the professor can barely control the flow of conversation around these assholes.

*grrr*

/end ranty rant

Study study study - that's all I ever seem to do, however, I have a helper!

( Hermen helps me study... )

This was my fault. I left my book for two seconds (only, maybe longer...) with the highlighter with cap off wedged in the center of the book. But...isn't it funny?

( My paw, my paw!! )

And here are just some of the views of autumn around campus:

( ooh...pretty! )


Forgive the construction lines and trucks in a couple of the pictures. The are doing roof construction on one of the buildings which makes my class on the top floor a little interesting - especially when the workers drop something. 

Now, back to having a little random fun before I go back to classes tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who expressed their condolences on the death of my kitty. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness.

I am moving on. It's been a week since his passing and the other cats in our house are doing fine. University is keeping me hopping, so it is a welcome distraction.

I do feel somewhat behind with all of the school work and projects that will be due in about 8 weeks. This means that I am a bit stressed out with everything. I know that it will all get done in a timely fashion, so I probably just perceive more hardship than I actually have. However, sometimes that perceived hardship can be worse on my nerves than the reality of it all.

I also feel like I am getting that cold back that Writer has. See, I gave it to her and I think she is giving it back. Revenge, I suppose. :) Cue my actions: take some vitamin C, immune boosting tea, airborne, garlic...yep, can't get any sicker, right now. Just can't afford it with all the stuff I have to do.

In other news, I have new additions to my flist, so a warm, friendly welcome to all of you. I look forward ti getting to know you.

Now, to go keel over.

( Syrius )

You know, you all, I am so bogged down in reading right now that I have no time for me!

Tomorrow will be all reading all day starting with 30 some odd pages of War Without Mercy followed by a chapter of Pacific history, then a dabbling of psychology and pages 1-111 of the ethnography Some Trouble With Cows.

Also, I still have to wade through those PDFs on the tragedy of Kashmir and start reading all these library books for my paper on the second Sino-Japanese war.

This term is SO MUCH READING!!!

The good news though is that I finally got my hands on next terms course schedule and will be able to see an advisor and get my classes all picked out. I finally have enough credits to be considered a senior and therefore get preferential treatment for the classes need - meaning I get enrolled before all the others. I also have my sites set on a possible graduation date - if I can stay on course - maybe 2010 or early 2011, depending on a trip to Japan (possible next spring or fall, money depending) and whether I can get my classes narrowed down.

I only need 6 courses to complete my history degree and 7 courses to complete the anthropology degree. I do need to head down to the registrar's office and change my minor though. I have decided to add on International and Global Studies as it will marry both degrees together.

Now, all I have to worry about is the financial aid crap and where I am going to get the money to complete my degrees and voila! I'll be all set.

Now to get some much needed sleep so I can hit the books again tomorrow.


*Note to self: don't forget the psych research participation on Tuesday!

I am reading you....

University is just kicking my ass currently.

Let's see....1 research paper, 1 group project, 5 book reviews/critical essays, 4 summaries, several exams and a plethora of things I have probably forgotten.

I am writing, just sadly, not here.

My problem is that 6 weeks into the term, I am just starting to get a handle on everything each professor wants and finally developing a study schedule that doesn't have me changed to homework every waking moment.

On an up note, I was invited to join one of the Honor Societies at the University and will be looking into doing that in the next week or so. It will ultimately look good on my resume.

So, swamped, but alive. Hoping to get a better update up here in the next week. Until then...*goes back to the Indian ethnographies*

Just so no one worries...

Heard from her this afternoon and wanted to let you all know that she is out of surgery. Aside from some pain and drooling, she seems to be coping with her characteristic grace and humor.

She is hopefully going to get some rest, take her pain meds and eat her jello.

Get well soon, K-chan!

A student in the back of my Pacific World class was snoring as he slept through the lecture....loudly.

^^;;;

Might be scarcer than usual this next week as I try to implement a better study schedule.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week! Take care of yourselves.

Somebody, quick, spam me in comments with anything fun - music, fandom, internet sites, cat macros, whatever! I need a break!


After what seems to have taken me forever, I have finally completed this week's online assignment for class. And I know why it takes me so long to do.

First, the text for the class is so damn dry. There is nothing to keep you wanting to read the damn thing for more than a half hour. And just when you think it might be getting better, it feels like they are patronizing you or dumbing down the information.

Second, the questions that the instructor wants answered are multi-part. And he wants you to research the questions outside of the lesson on the internet and reference academia. Blah.

No wonder I am feeling over-worked this semester and I have barely started!

Aside from him, I have a group presentation, a research paper, 6 book reviews/critiques, exams, and participation in a research study or two. Plus having to dick around with Financial Aid... -_-

Will I survive? We'll find out soon enough, I think.

/being a cry-baby

If you could pick one song that I absolutely must give a listen to and/or add to my collection what would it be (song and artist please)?

Handed off the printed original email and the SAR comments to the Financial Aid office today for them to look at and talk about. I left my name, number and email for them too. If I don't hear back from them by Friday, I will be making a phone call to that contact I have from yesterday.

I have been compiling plans in case the money is to run out at the end of winter semester to finish my schooling. It will be tough, but I am not going to stop now. I have a possible lead on a work study position that I will be looking into first thing tomorrow and i can stash that money away for classes or something. Have been looking into scholarships - started this term because I wanted to have some form of grading set up so if they have to they can see how high my GPA is and that it is consistent. Also talked about skipping the accelerated classes in spring and summer to get employment. It wouldn't take much for me to save a bunch of cash since I don't have a lot of outstanding bills. Since times are just a little tight right now and grants will help too.

So, still in a holding pattern, but feeling a little optimistic now that I have several back-up strategies rolling around in my skull.

I will keep you posted on the issue.

I am supposed to be reading something about racism against Native Americans for a class I have, but instead, I am having to deal with financial aid.

Today, I received an email from FAFSA - you know, that stupid federal program that basically says whether a student is eligible for financial aid. It was not a good letter. Basically, it says that I have been selected for review and verification of my financial aid status. This after I already provided everything I had to the university and they awarded me money for Fall and Winter terms.

The email also said that given my grade level they have determined that I may have received student loans "in excess of loan limits established by the federal loan programs." SO, what does this mean? Does it mean that I will still be able to attend school for the Fall and Winter term but next year I am screwed? If that is the case, why should I even bother continuing with this semester if I can't get money for school, right?

Well, these are the questions that I will have for the financial aid office when I march down there tomorrow. I tried to call them today. I was on hold for about 8 minutes and then I let the phone ring for a solid minute with no answer. I still may try to call them back...

Another thing about the FAFSA - they don't recognize (and/or refuse to recognize) non-traditional households, yet they will base the financial aid on the student's financial income - even if that income comes from a significant other.

In other words, there is a box to check on the number of family members in your house. In my case it is two, but because I can't select "married" and I don't have children, they want me to check "1". But even if I check that "1" they will base my household income (since I don't currently work) on that of my partner because you can't just go to school without some kid of income (that's why they base traditional students' income on that of their parents).

It's stupid and moronic and I have no idea what will happen to all this now. If I can't get aid, I can't finish my degrees, simple as that.

Like I said, I was supposed to be reading...but now I am just torn between the what ifs and the possibilities - dwelling a little on the what will happen.

EDIT: Got through to the FA Office. The Federal Loan limit for a borrowing student is $57,500. Because I attended school before for an associates degree (about 16 years ago) and haven't paid off that loan in total, they count that as part of that $57, 500 - even if it has been consolidated, bought out, etc.

The Financial Aid office wants to see the email that I received for further analysis, so I will be taking it to them tomorrow. They are a bit stumped as to why I received it now.

What this means for me is that I may have to figure out funding options to finish my degree...I don't know. Right now, until I know more, I am sort of up in the air.

Or more importantly, I hate having maintenance come in to my apartment. Today they are going to be finishing the patch job on the ceiling where the wasps came in over the summer. They did the mudding yesterday and now they just have to sand and paint.

I guess the reason I hate having them come into the apartment so much is just the simple fact that it disrupts my day. I have to move a lot of my things so that they can get to the areas in question, put drop cloths over everything I don't want dusty, lock up my cats, and take a break on any real studying that I may have to do.

Maybe i am just resistant to having changes take place in my already set schedule - the one I impose on myself; the one that is very comfortable for me.

I guess I just didn't want to have to study over the weekend and now it looks like that will have to happen. *sigh* Oh well, at least I am lucky enough to have two more days to do some of this stuff.

The Cat Piano narrated by Nick Cave:

EDIT: Disabled due to site now requiring a password to view.

Went to campus yesterday for my first classes of the term that I have to sit my body in a classroom. I have one online class that may be a little bit of hell, but that will be determined as the semester rolls on. The three other classes are going to be tough, but I think they will be interesting. By far, the little elective 100-level psychology class will be the easiest.

Unfortunately, I am going to have papers due in all my classes, whether they are book critiques or research papers. Ah, academia!

So, I am sitting in psychology class first thing in the morning. This is a low level class, so there are a lot of freshmen there, some straight from high school. The teacher comes in and says to us all:

"What to you hope to be studying in this class?"

Now, I know she meant, what aspect of psychology did we hope to be studying. She was just trying to gauge the different interests of the students. But me, being the bit icebreaker type, looked up and said "Psychology." Got a nice laugh from the nervous freshmen and opened the door to get others talking.

Also had to go to the campus bookstore yesterday because one of my classes required two more books than what I had. This is called campus booklist fail. Thanks for telling me ahead of time. This now makes 10 books that I have spread out between 4 classes.

Other than studying my ever-loving ass off (you should see my required reading list!), I have been watching movies and trying to relax as much as possible.

Finally saw Coraline, which was delightful and creepy, just as I would expect from Tim Burton. I have always been fascinated by stop-motion animation. Hopefully, I will get around to watching Hellboy and Pleasantville this weekend. I am badly behind on movie viewing, since I really don't like to see movies in the theater - I have an issue with crowds.

Have so much to do today - like go to the post office - but mostly in a holding pattern to see if maintenance is going to come fix the ceiling where the wasps were coming in. I'd really like to get that taken care of this weekend.

I kind of figured that fiction needs more characters with props, so I went and created propfiction.

Basically is it to bunny people (writers and artists) with props for their characters.

Yeah, I know, it's demented. But hey, I want to see more characters with bubble gum.

I am heading back into university in three days, which means that I will be busy, busy, busy with studying. It also means that my fiction reading will be severely limited and replaced with textbook diving. Where will I get my fix for fiction and imagination? Why, in movies and television, of course!

So, what I need from you, dear friends (because I have a lovely little netflix account) is recs! Rec me any good movies you have seen - even if they aren't out to dvd yet! Rec me your favorite television series and your favorite anime titles! Be not afraid of guilty pleasures, because the rec you make could become my pleasure as well...(gods help us all!).

Bonus points if you tell me why you are reccing these things to me.

Further bonus points and possibly the winning of the internet if you get me hooked on a new fandom.

If any of you have come across a fanfiction survey by Dr. Ogi, please don't take it. The reasons why are posted all over the internet:

A long thought-out explanation of why you should not take the survey is right here plus a couple great summaries are here and here.



sister_coyote  on DW said it better than I can:

"A few issues are at play:

1. The researchers seem to be attempting to essentialize female sexuality and use us to prove something about the hardwiring of women's brains, which is a questionable proposition to start with -- and many of the questions are designed unfairly to reinforce their assumptions. For instance, the sexuality question originally didn't have an 'asexual' or 'other' option -- and apparently some of the questions assume that every slash pairing has a 'dominant' partner and a 'submissive' one.

2. Even if you don't care about that: indications are that the survey is not, shall we say, terribly anonymous. This is iffy enough if they're asking questions about puppies and kittens, but IP tracking/lack of anonymity in a survey that discusses sexual identity, sexual preferences, and topics such as illegal drug use? Particularly dangerous. Especially when you note that one of the survey designers has worked in data mining and the other was funded for some time by Homeland Security.

Now, some people are funded by Homeland Security for entirely innocuous things, but... that plus no privacy plus objectifying/essentializing female desire? No, thank you.

I don't want to be the bug under these peoples' microscopes. I don't recommend you be, either."



Follow the links, read what others are saying and use your brains on this one - don't take a survey that is going to label people into neat little boxes on a scientific shelf.