Created by The Car Connection
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I think I blew my Ethics exam.
If I'm lucky, I will get a B on it. But it will probably be a C. Sigh.
The frustrating part? I knew the material. Had it down pat. The problem was that we had to write three essays in 50 minutes, plus answer several multiple choice questions, so in reality it was, hmm, thirteen minutes per essay.
Which would be great, save it took me thirty to write the first. He gave us an "extra" five minutes once class was over, and it's only because of that that I was able to write anything for the third essay.
I can take getting a poor grade when I don't really know the material. But when I do? Grr. I will probably still get an A in that class, providing I don't face the same problem on the final exam, or a B at worst. But it's my favorite class and I dearly want to do well. I feel so guilty for not being able to turn in three GOOD essays. I got an A on the last exam and a compliment on the essay I wrote for it. Hopefully I'll get partial credit for the 2-paragraph final essay, or perhaps he'll grade them in the order he received them and have been beat down by so many bad essays that mine doesn't seem too horrible after all (I'm not being mean; like I said before almost no one else is enjoying the class, and most of them were gone from the room before I was done with my first essay).
But that's probably sheer fancy on my part.
Oh well. At least I have an idea of how to attack my term paper now. Ten pages on the Kantian view of extreme resusciation measures for premature infants? I'm SO there!
The frustrating part? I knew the material. Had it down pat. The problem was that we had to write three essays in 50 minutes, plus answer several multiple choice questions, so in reality it was, hmm, thirteen minutes per essay.
Which would be great, save it took me thirty to write the first. He gave us an "extra" five minutes once class was over, and it's only because of that that I was able to write anything for the third essay.
I can take getting a poor grade when I don't really know the material. But when I do? Grr. I will probably still get an A in that class, providing I don't face the same problem on the final exam, or a B at worst. But it's my favorite class and I dearly want to do well. I feel so guilty for not being able to turn in three GOOD essays. I got an A on the last exam and a compliment on the essay I wrote for it. Hopefully I'll get partial credit for the 2-paragraph final essay, or perhaps he'll grade them in the order he received them and have been beat down by so many bad essays that mine doesn't seem too horrible after all (I'm not being mean; like I said before almost no one else is enjoying the class, and most of them were gone from the room before I was done with my first essay).
But that's probably sheer fancy on my part.
Oh well. At least I have an idea of how to attack my term paper now. Ten pages on the Kantian view of extreme resusciation measures for premature infants? I'm SO there!
Monday, October 27, 2008
This shit is not funny, yo.
I give you the screenshot because I would not believe it otherwise.Very funny, God. This is October. In San Antonio.
This is what the forecast for tonight says:
FREEZE WARNING FOR HILL COUNTRY... RED FLAG WARNING TODAY... Temperatures tonight will drop to the freezing point across the Hill country so take precautions... Low's in the city will be in the low 40's... The weather will be nice over the next couple of days... Halloween evening will be nice with temps in the 70's... Paul Mireles
Goddamn, I miss Hawaii.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
I have finally figured out exactly why I am so misanthropic.
You wouldn't think it would have taken me twenty-nine years to figure this out, but it has. Here is why I hate people:
I cannot stand those who lack intellectual curiosity, and most people do.
This hit me over the head this afternoon while talking to my mother. I bought a laptop with part of my student loan, and right now I am using it wireless. It's not a great connection, though, and I'm about 90% certain it's not ours and the only reason we can get it is that our same-brand router is boosting someone else's signal. (I have tried to get an honest connection up, I really have.) We do have regular cable internet, so if I were to go into the living room & plug my laptop in to RoadRunner via the ethernet cable, we'd have a steady(ish) connection.
While I was heading off to work on Halloween costumes for the girls, my mother asked if she could use my computer. Sure, no problem. But it wasn't online at the time, because I couldn't connect to this wireless network. Happens fairly often. I told her that she could get it to work just fine if she plugged it in. She would, she said, but she didn't know how.
Now. There is only one cord coming out of the router that isn't plugged into something. There is only one port on my computer that this cord will fit into. Anyone familiar with telephones could look at one and then the other and figure out how to do it; it took me about 30 seconds the first time.
But my mother simply has no interest in figuring out how to do this on her own. Or anything else, for that matter. My laptop, hell, every computer I've ever owned or used, my cell phone, my digital camera...All of these I figured out how to use through trial and (some, usually minor) error. It is not rocket science, and to me it doesn't take a lot of brainpower.
What it takes is initiative.
I've known some genuinely stupid people in my time. The mildly retarded, folks with Down Syndrome, and folks who are just "slow." I don't hold it against them. I can slow myself down and explain stuff to people if need be. That doesn't bother me in the slightest.
What frustrates me are those of normal intelligence who refuse to use it. Most folks, it seems, learn just enough to get by and entrust others with the rest of it. This is a scary thing, especially, during an election cycle. Too many folks trust others to make their decisions, or vote for a politician based on some idiotic criterion like whether they'd make a good drinking buddy.
But it's endemic to our society. A lack of initiative and curiosity has saturated every layer of our culture. Oh, it's not complete, but it's pervasive as hell. If ever I question that, all I have to do is listen in before my Ethics class. My teacher is the best in the school, apparently. He's also the hardest. Amazing how many of my classmates equate "best" with "easiest." I actually had to spell that out one day. "Good does not connote easy."
Thank God they all seem to understand why Ethics is a prerequisite for nursing school, at least. Even if several are planning to drop the course and retake it from someone easier.
>>>Lest I forget, I must thank JayG for the link from his blog. Speaking of intellectual curiosity! It's something I think those on my blogroll have in spades.<<<
I cannot stand those who lack intellectual curiosity, and most people do.
This hit me over the head this afternoon while talking to my mother. I bought a laptop with part of my student loan, and right now I am using it wireless. It's not a great connection, though, and I'm about 90% certain it's not ours and the only reason we can get it is that our same-brand router is boosting someone else's signal. (I have tried to get an honest connection up, I really have.) We do have regular cable internet, so if I were to go into the living room & plug my laptop in to RoadRunner via the ethernet cable, we'd have a steady(ish) connection.
While I was heading off to work on Halloween costumes for the girls, my mother asked if she could use my computer. Sure, no problem. But it wasn't online at the time, because I couldn't connect to this wireless network. Happens fairly often. I told her that she could get it to work just fine if she plugged it in. She would, she said, but she didn't know how.
Now. There is only one cord coming out of the router that isn't plugged into something. There is only one port on my computer that this cord will fit into. Anyone familiar with telephones could look at one and then the other and figure out how to do it; it took me about 30 seconds the first time.
But my mother simply has no interest in figuring out how to do this on her own. Or anything else, for that matter. My laptop, hell, every computer I've ever owned or used, my cell phone, my digital camera...All of these I figured out how to use through trial and (some, usually minor) error. It is not rocket science, and to me it doesn't take a lot of brainpower.
What it takes is initiative.
I've known some genuinely stupid people in my time. The mildly retarded, folks with Down Syndrome, and folks who are just "slow." I don't hold it against them. I can slow myself down and explain stuff to people if need be. That doesn't bother me in the slightest.
What frustrates me are those of normal intelligence who refuse to use it. Most folks, it seems, learn just enough to get by and entrust others with the rest of it. This is a scary thing, especially, during an election cycle. Too many folks trust others to make their decisions, or vote for a politician based on some idiotic criterion like whether they'd make a good drinking buddy.
But it's endemic to our society. A lack of initiative and curiosity has saturated every layer of our culture. Oh, it's not complete, but it's pervasive as hell. If ever I question that, all I have to do is listen in before my Ethics class. My teacher is the best in the school, apparently. He's also the hardest. Amazing how many of my classmates equate "best" with "easiest." I actually had to spell that out one day. "Good does not connote easy."
Thank God they all seem to understand why Ethics is a prerequisite for nursing school, at least. Even if several are planning to drop the course and retake it from someone easier.
>>>Lest I forget, I must thank JayG for the link from his blog. Speaking of intellectual curiosity! It's something I think those on my blogroll have in spades.<<<
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tilting at Windmills.
I agree with my Psych professor that Barack Obama would have to murder someone on national TV to not win the election.
Nevertheless, I voted for John McCain today.
I took Bobbie with me, pissing off my four-year-old because I didn't take her too. I picked Bobbie up and held her finger to check the John McCain/Sarah Palin button, and to push the button to send the ballot at the end of it.
Other than McCain/Palin, I voted Libertarian whenever I could, and I did not vote for even unopposed Democrats, with one exception.
I voted to reelect Judge Larry Noll, for no reason other than he's the one who told my ex-husband he'd be better off spending the divorce lawyer money on marriage counseling and trying to save the relationship. It didn't work, but I respect him for trying. (Beyond that, he's got a great reputation locally.) He was running unopposed, anyway.
I wasn't able to vote for Ciro Rodriguez like I wanted. From all the news coverage and the mentions of his district stretching from San Antonio (west, I think), I thought I was in his district. Alas, I am not. Our representative, Leticia Van De Putte, seems to be running unopposed. I left that one blank.
Ah well. I am happy with what I was able to do, and that I was able to share the experience with my daughter.
Nevertheless, I voted for John McCain today.
I took Bobbie with me, pissing off my four-year-old because I didn't take her too. I picked Bobbie up and held her finger to check the John McCain/Sarah Palin button, and to push the button to send the ballot at the end of it.
Other than McCain/Palin, I voted Libertarian whenever I could, and I did not vote for even unopposed Democrats, with one exception.
I voted to reelect Judge Larry Noll, for no reason other than he's the one who told my ex-husband he'd be better off spending the divorce lawyer money on marriage counseling and trying to save the relationship. It didn't work, but I respect him for trying. (Beyond that, he's got a great reputation locally.) He was running unopposed, anyway.
I wasn't able to vote for Ciro Rodriguez like I wanted. From all the news coverage and the mentions of his district stretching from San Antonio (west, I think), I thought I was in his district. Alas, I am not. Our representative, Leticia Van De Putte, seems to be running unopposed. I left that one blank.
Ah well. I am happy with what I was able to do, and that I was able to share the experience with my daughter.
Monday, October 20, 2008
don't VOTE
VOTE is what the giant flag atop Dixie Flag Company says. I see it on my way home from Bobbie's school every day, and any other time I'm on that part of I-35.
VOTE.
Simple, right? We're Americans. It is our right. Or our duty. Or sommat like that that, anyhoo.
I'm going to go a bit against the grain. The loud, popular grain, that is. Every celebrity and his brother tells us to vote. Heck, there was a Rock the Vote tent set up on campus for more than a month. Register to vote, get a free Scantron. Geez, thanks. Appreciate that gum too, dude.
Just do it! I keep seeing that. Just get out and vote! It doesn't matter who you vote for. Except that it does.
Me, I don't want chicks like this having a say in the next leader of the free world. Do you?
It's my experience that the "just vote" mantra comes mainly from the left. They're the progenitors of the "anybody but Bush" slogan back in 2004. Conservatives tend to be mostly like me, looking askance at anybody who plans to just vote without bothering to educate themselves.
Is it a huge secret who these newly-minted, poorly-informed voters tend to pull the lever for? I don't think so. Though I savored the delicious irony back in '04 of a self-proclaimed bleeding heart liberal on a board I used to belong to metaphorically crapping herself because she encountered a woman whose stated reason she'd vote for Bush was "he can't be as bad as everyone says he is", I agree that it was poor reasoning. No moreso than those who were voting for John Kerry because he wasn't George HW Bush's son, but poor nonetheless.
One of the gals in my Psych class (yeah, this is the only one wherein we discuss politics) asked, the Wednesday after the registration deadline had passed, when it was. She was crushed when I told her. "I forgot to register! This was going to be the first election when I could vote, and I wanted to vote so bad, but then I forgot!" Um. Yeah. About that...thanks. Thanks for forgetting. But if you could walk past the Rock the Vote tent three days a week (at least) for two months and never bother stopping by (again, Dude, Scantrons!) and picking up one of their pencils and one of their registration forms, somehow I'm not betting you've bothered to gather information from any source other than the Daily Show. And while I love ol' Mr Stewart like anyone else, he's not a news source. So I'm glad you'll stay home. That allows me to cancel out the vote of the loudmouthed gal on the other side of the room who doesn't grasp the fact that America is the last true superpower, and it's not just because we say we are.
VOTE.
Simple, right? We're Americans. It is our right. Or our duty. Or sommat like that that, anyhoo.
I'm going to go a bit against the grain. The loud, popular grain, that is. Every celebrity and his brother tells us to vote. Heck, there was a Rock the Vote tent set up on campus for more than a month. Register to vote, get a free Scantron. Geez, thanks. Appreciate that gum too, dude.
Just do it! I keep seeing that. Just get out and vote! It doesn't matter who you vote for. Except that it does.
Me, I don't want chicks like this having a say in the next leader of the free world. Do you?
It's my experience that the "just vote" mantra comes mainly from the left. They're the progenitors of the "anybody but Bush" slogan back in 2004. Conservatives tend to be mostly like me, looking askance at anybody who plans to just vote without bothering to educate themselves.
Is it a huge secret who these newly-minted, poorly-informed voters tend to pull the lever for? I don't think so. Though I savored the delicious irony back in '04 of a self-proclaimed bleeding heart liberal on a board I used to belong to metaphorically crapping herself because she encountered a woman whose stated reason she'd vote for Bush was "he can't be as bad as everyone says he is", I agree that it was poor reasoning. No moreso than those who were voting for John Kerry because he wasn't George HW Bush's son, but poor nonetheless.
One of the gals in my Psych class (yeah, this is the only one wherein we discuss politics) asked, the Wednesday after the registration deadline had passed, when it was. She was crushed when I told her. "I forgot to register! This was going to be the first election when I could vote, and I wanted to vote so bad, but then I forgot!" Um. Yeah. About that...thanks. Thanks for forgetting. But if you could walk past the Rock the Vote tent three days a week (at least) for two months and never bother stopping by (again, Dude, Scantrons!) and picking up one of their pencils and one of their registration forms, somehow I'm not betting you've bothered to gather information from any source other than the Daily Show. And while I love ol' Mr Stewart like anyone else, he's not a news source. So I'm glad you'll stay home. That allows me to cancel out the vote of the loudmouthed gal on the other side of the room who doesn't grasp the fact that America is the last true superpower, and it's not just because we say we are.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Politics & Looks
I wore my Sarah Palin t-shirt to school on Friday, paired with a "John McCain for President 2008" button on my backpack.
In Psych class, before class had started, one of the other students said to me "Hey Sabra, someone put a McCain button on your backpack," apparently thinking it was a sabotage job or something.
What followed was a rather lively--but polite, because this is San Antonio--argument about politics, during which it was determined that my prof doesn't think Joe Biden's comment about Barack Obama being the first "articulate and bright and clean" black man to run for President was racist, that Ronald Reagan was the last true conservative Republican President, and that MTV doesn't belong on campus because they are corrupting the minds of our youth (that was actually another student saying this, by the way, not the prof), Mike--the fellow who made the original comment to me--said "I thought you were a liberal! You don't look like a conservative. I'm a Democrat and I look like a Democrat. You don't look like a Republican."
When I asked him what the hell a conservative looks like, then, the prof said "Oh Mike, you're in trouble now" and left the room.
I never did get an answer out of him, but I've pondered the question. What the hell does a conservative look like? A liberal? Maybe it was the scent of patchouli I emitted earlier in the semester (I even found patchouli deoderant, and no I don't use it to cover up herb), 'cause I'm pretty sure I've left my tie-dye at home. I'm the second-oldest student in the room--behind only Mike himself--and I've referenced both my ex-husband's Navy days & my daughters in the recent past. I do have a peasant skirt or two, but I usually wear jeans.
I must admit I made the same mistake about Mike. Since he's older, clean-cut, and both ex-Army & an ex-cop, I figured he was somewhat conservative. Funny how we would each make the same mistake about the other.
He also asked me how the hell I can vote for McCain when I ride the bus. Coupla things in play here. One, the government has no bearing on my personal economics. Two, and much more salient a point, I don't ride the bus to school because I have to. I ride the bus to school because a semester pass costs the same as a parking permit, and with the pass I don't have to deal with the asinine parking situation on campus.
Which I guess is the answer to the question. I vote for McCain when I ride the bus 'cause I'm smart like that.
(Of course, I still have to wonder how this dude knows I ride the bus, 'cause that's the only class I have him in & I haven't noticed him anywhere else on campus. Which hints that he's paying a lot more attention to me than I am to him. Not an uncommon occurence.)
In Psych class, before class had started, one of the other students said to me "Hey Sabra, someone put a McCain button on your backpack," apparently thinking it was a sabotage job or something.
What followed was a rather lively--but polite, because this is San Antonio--argument about politics, during which it was determined that my prof doesn't think Joe Biden's comment about Barack Obama being the first "articulate and bright and clean" black man to run for President was racist, that Ronald Reagan was the last true conservative Republican President, and that MTV doesn't belong on campus because they are corrupting the minds of our youth (that was actually another student saying this, by the way, not the prof), Mike--the fellow who made the original comment to me--said "I thought you were a liberal! You don't look like a conservative. I'm a Democrat and I look like a Democrat. You don't look like a Republican."
When I asked him what the hell a conservative looks like, then, the prof said "Oh Mike, you're in trouble now" and left the room.
I never did get an answer out of him, but I've pondered the question. What the hell does a conservative look like? A liberal? Maybe it was the scent of patchouli I emitted earlier in the semester (I even found patchouli deoderant, and no I don't use it to cover up herb), 'cause I'm pretty sure I've left my tie-dye at home. I'm the second-oldest student in the room--behind only Mike himself--and I've referenced both my ex-husband's Navy days & my daughters in the recent past. I do have a peasant skirt or two, but I usually wear jeans.
I must admit I made the same mistake about Mike. Since he's older, clean-cut, and both ex-Army & an ex-cop, I figured he was somewhat conservative. Funny how we would each make the same mistake about the other.
He also asked me how the hell I can vote for McCain when I ride the bus. Coupla things in play here. One, the government has no bearing on my personal economics. Two, and much more salient a point, I don't ride the bus to school because I have to. I ride the bus to school because a semester pass costs the same as a parking permit, and with the pass I don't have to deal with the asinine parking situation on campus.
Which I guess is the answer to the question. I vote for McCain when I ride the bus 'cause I'm smart like that.
(Of course, I still have to wonder how this dude knows I ride the bus, 'cause that's the only class I have him in & I haven't noticed him anywhere else on campus. Which hints that he's paying a lot more attention to me than I am to him. Not an uncommon occurence.)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
An American Carol
Found out about this movie when it sent me a friend request on MySpace. Seriously. Read the synopsis and decided I had to see it.
It's political. Right-wing political. I've seen a few people here & there say it's our duty as conservatives to support this movie. I think that's taking it a bit far. It's a commercial product; I have no obligation to it.
That said, I saw it last night. And now I will say that you MUST go see it. Why? 'Cause it's f'ing hilarious. And the message is spot-on and the send-up of Michael Moore is hilarious.
There are a few places where it's a bit ham-handed. Which is totally typical of spoof films, which is what this is at heart. This is from the dude who did the Naked Gun movies, and you can tell. It's even got Leslie Nielsen in it. I adore Leslie Nielsen. (I also loved Con Air, so y'all are probably getting a really good picture of my taste in movies 'round about now.)
It's okay to take kids to, even though it's rated PG-13. I didn't notice any cussing (can't swear it wasn't there, because I wasn't listening for it), and there was only a bit of sexual innuendo.
The audience was more diverse than I honestly expected. Theater was maybe 1/3 - 1/2 full (I sat in the very first row, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention) & included a couple of fair-sized groups of teenagers.
There is also a somewhat raunchy Sailor/Marine joke towards the end of the movie that had me laughing so much I almost literally fell out of my seat. Which says a lot about the kind of sailor I hang with...
It's political. Right-wing political. I've seen a few people here & there say it's our duty as conservatives to support this movie. I think that's taking it a bit far. It's a commercial product; I have no obligation to it.
That said, I saw it last night. And now I will say that you MUST go see it. Why? 'Cause it's f'ing hilarious. And the message is spot-on and the send-up of Michael Moore is hilarious.
There are a few places where it's a bit ham-handed. Which is totally typical of spoof films, which is what this is at heart. This is from the dude who did the Naked Gun movies, and you can tell. It's even got Leslie Nielsen in it. I adore Leslie Nielsen. (I also loved Con Air, so y'all are probably getting a really good picture of my taste in movies 'round about now.)
It's okay to take kids to, even though it's rated PG-13. I didn't notice any cussing (can't swear it wasn't there, because I wasn't listening for it), and there was only a bit of sexual innuendo.
The audience was more diverse than I honestly expected. Theater was maybe 1/3 - 1/2 full (I sat in the very first row, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention) & included a couple of fair-sized groups of teenagers.
There is also a somewhat raunchy Sailor/Marine joke towards the end of the movie that had me laughing so much I almost literally fell out of my seat. Which says a lot about the kind of sailor I hang with...
Saturday, October 04, 2008
So a Marine and a Sailor walk into a gay bar...
There's really no punchline there, I've just been waiting for the opportunity to use that line.
I was hanging out with my best friend last night at his usual place, and Robert (no, not my ex) and Brandon were tending bar. Robert is a reserve Marine; Brandon an ex-sailor. Both, strangely enough, are straight. In fact, almost all of the bartenders there are; maybe it's just not a gay thing to do.
So I was sitting there nursing a vodka tonic and wondering why it was even darker than normal, and listened to the bartenders swapping war/boat stories, which all seemed to involve alcohol. The jukebox was dead, the "gun" was out (so there was no Coke & no Sprite, and my tonic water tasted funny), and both bathrooms were flooded.
My ex has this theory that I go out on Friday nights and have a rip-roaring fun time.
I'm not going to disabuse him of the notion...
I was hanging out with my best friend last night at his usual place, and Robert (no, not my ex) and Brandon were tending bar. Robert is a reserve Marine; Brandon an ex-sailor. Both, strangely enough, are straight. In fact, almost all of the bartenders there are; maybe it's just not a gay thing to do.
So I was sitting there nursing a vodka tonic and wondering why it was even darker than normal, and listened to the bartenders swapping war/boat stories, which all seemed to involve alcohol. The jukebox was dead, the "gun" was out (so there was no Coke & no Sprite, and my tonic water tasted funny), and both bathrooms were flooded.
My ex has this theory that I go out on Friday nights and have a rip-roaring fun time.
I'm not going to disabuse him of the notion...
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