The Dog Days Are Over!

So I just finished my fall semester at FGCU! Thank God, the semester was horrible. Seriously, the schedule was terrible having so many huge things due within days of each other! And then the teachers, holy shit, I've never had so many bad ones. Assholes. Plus the classes were pretty dull.

The students were all good people though, and I made some more friends than I assumed I would at the start. It's amazing how well people bond when dealing with incompetence.

Speaking of incompetence, group projects in college are evil. In high school you see your partners everyday. In college, you can lose contact with a partner and then everybody is screwed. I'm just glad those projects are done. The air seems fresher, the food tastes better. I've had this monkey of projects on my back since mid-October. Finally, I can breath again.

As I was driving into my neighborhood after finishing my Experimental Psych nonsense, the last end-of-semester stuff I'd have to go to campus for, "Dog Days are Over" started playing on my Sirius. Sometimes, life's little things like that can make everything better.

Remember This

So I saw someone be cynical about Christmas recently and figured, as we move into the stress-induced mania that is finals week, I should go ahead and post this, as I did when I first began this blog.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Not because it gets colder and we get presents, but because people let themselves relax and enjoy life and the people dear to them. It's the one time when we can forget our worries and take a moment to reflect on what we have, what we're thankful for, and what really matters. So here, I post an excerpt from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" that I feel perfectly sums up how I feel about this special holiday.
"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it comes round-apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that-as a good time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say God bless it!"
-"A Christmas Carol"

Survey Questions

Here's a very, very quick and easy survey that I need for one of my classes. It's extremely important, so I would very much appreciate it if you could take it.


What is your gender?
1 = Male
2 = Female
3 = Other/Prefer not to say

What is your age?
1 = 18-24
2 = 25-34
3 = 35+

A number of statements that people have used to describe themselves are given below. Read the statements below and indicate how you generally feel by placing the appropriate number next to each item.

1 = Almost Never
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often
4 = Almost Always

1. I have a fiery temper.
2. I fly off the handle.
3. I am a hotheaded person.
4. I feel irritated.
5. I feel angry.

Using the 5 point scale shown below, indicate how uncharacteristic or characteristic each of the following statements is in describing you after playing a violent video game, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, or Grand Theft Auto IV. Place your rating in the box to the right of the statement.

1 = extremely uncharacteristic of me
2 = somewhat uncharacteristic of me
3 = neither uncharacteristic nor characteristic of me
4 = somewhat characteristic of me
5 = extremely characteristic of me

1. I flare up quickly but I get over it quickly.
2. I find myself disagreeing with people.
3. When frustrated, I let my irritation show.
4. I find myself more prone to using swear words.
5. I have trouble controlling my temper.

Using the 5 point scale shown below, indicate how uncharacteristic or characteristic each of the following statements is in describing you after playing a nonviolent video game, such as Wii Sports, The Sims, or Rock Band. Place your rating in the box to the right of the statement.

1 = extremely uncharacteristic of me
2 = somewhat uncharacteristic of me
3 = neither uncharacteristic nor characteristic of me
4 = somewhat characteristic of me
5 = extremely characteristic of me

1. I flare up quickly but I get over it quickly.
2. I find myself disagreeing with people.
3. When frustrated, I let my irritation show.
4. I find myself more prone to using swear words.
5. I have trouble controlling my temper.

I Think I'm Losing My Mind

So I am stressed. I haven't felt this level of stress since I took yearbook back at Verot. I have four projects due out of five of my classes. In two projects I'm the group leader, while the other two are solo. The first, an adaptation of a play we read in Intro to Theatre, is due Friday. I'm adapting "Antigone" to take place in Medieval France. I'm not very worried about this, mostly because it's a creative project and I love those, but it's not helping that it takes place when I need to find sources for my stats project. Plus, I have to assign roles in my Human Systems project, which is due on the last Monday before Thanksgiving break. One of my partners here hasn't shown up in two weeks. Right around that time my Experimental Psych project is due, which is the biggest issue. We have to arrange to borrow a room at FGCU, then we have to get, like, fourteen people to come in on a Friday to take part. Then we have to write a paper on it, plus create a poster board. Oh, and because one of my partners here has to go to New York for a family reunion, we have to present a week early.

Additionally, I'm paranoid about something FGCU-related that could totally screw me over. It's not something I wish to talk about, but I had to say it. The paranoia is eating me up inside. It's like at any moment everything could be ruined, and I would have no control over it. I feel helpless, terrified of the potential outcome. I've actually paced the room a few times. I can't stand it. I want the issue resolved, I want to stop worrying about it.

It had to be said.

Recursive

So I'm starting to worry I have ADD. Or ADHD. Whatever. Every time I mean to start studying, I can barely focus for 10 seconds before I switch to Twitter/Facebook/IGN/whatever. I didn't use to be like this. I used to be able to study for at least an hour without switching to some other activity. I'm tense and more prone to procrastination than ever before. I think it's starting to affect my grades.
Just this morning, I decided to get in two hours of solid studying before my Medieval Euro test. I had been set to study last night, just after Dexter, but decided to procrastinate because I was tired. Before that, I had been meaning to study in the afternoon, but held off because something interesting was on television, or I just didn't feel like doing it.
So I have my notes all out in front of me and I'm beginning to study, when I have this urge to go on Twitter. I do, just to appease myself briefly, then plan on studying the rest of the time. I read a page of notes, then go to Facebook. A bullet, IGN. It goes on and on, with time growing on the Internet, and shorter time focusing on my studies. I take my test without having read all of my notes/scanning the readings, and get an 82. At first, I'm thrilled! I got a B! But then I realize that I got a B in a history class. This should've been easy, a guaranteed A.
I check my grade on the essay we had to write. I got a 79. On an essay. I'm usually great at essays! What is wrong with me?
I think it has to do with stress. I have to push myself to get amazing grades so that I can get into grad school, and the stress from that makes me want to avoid it and focus on leisurely things. But if I do that, I won't get good grades, and the only way to get good grades is too study, but I don't want to study, because it's too stressful, and so on and so on.
I'm trapped in this recursive predicament, and I don't know what to do.

All the leaves are brown....

Well, almost.

So I decided to give the blog a fresh coat of paint for the fall. I know I'm jumping the gun, but I have a lot of things to look forward to coming up in the fall, so I just want to let some excitement out.

Also, I realize how sad it is that I'm excited about a small blog redesign. Don't present it to me.

So Begins the Second Decade....

So I am now twenty years old. I have to say, it feels great to be finally out of my teens. It feels like I've met a goal, even though I've just remembered to breathe and eat since 1990. I feel much more adult and mature now, like I could take on the world. I didn't really expect to feel this way. I expected to feel more nostalgic and old, like I did when I turned 18, but, instead I feel very alive. If you will forgive the cliche, look out world, because I'm coming!