Point of Reference

I went for dim sum this morning with MasseyPrincess, thoughtfreely, and another friend. Dim sum tends to be a bit of a challenge for me since I don't particularly care for seafood, but there were a surprising number of non-seafood dishes available today, which made me happy. Afterwards, we wandered through Chinatown for a bit and I managed to find some jellies to buy. The jellies are exciting both because they're difficult to find and because, unlike the kind I usually buy that have bits of coconut in the middle, these ones have bits of fruit matching their flavour. It was a lovely break from the week of stress, but now I'm back working on the scholarship application that was due three days ago. (I do have a bit of an excuse in that I lost the password to my account and couldn't get hold of the help desk until Saturday, so I wasn't able to print it off.) Forunately, no one was going to look at them over the weekend, so I think I'll be fine as long as I have it in tomorrow morning. But of course, that means another late night. I think the problem is that I have no enthusiasm for the subject I'm trying to write about. But then, these days, I can't seem to summon enthusiasm for much. Certainly not for any potential research project. I'm not sure if it's depression, exhaustion, burnout, a sign that I'm looking at the wrong fields, or an indication that I don't belong in graduate school. Whatever it is, it worries me a little. I want that enthusiasm back! No worries, though--I'm not doing to drop out. At least not yet. I need to get through my current crisis before I can make any decisions about my future; I don't think I'm in any frame of mind to do it now.


(Oh, hey, slice_yoink's show last Wednesday was excellent! I highly recommend it to anyone in the area.)

I arrived home a few minutes ago to discover that my water has been cut off with no warning or reason. I've left a message with the super, but neither he nor the office are picking up. I'm very disturbed because I was really looking forward to cooking some pasta. If it's not on by the time I go to bed, I'm going to be very, very unhappy.

sunir, I've tried emailing you a couple of times and it bounced. Sorry about the last quesadilla night; we were too busy to show. This week we're thinking of doing improv, and next week back to the usual location. Email me again and I'll send you details.

I finally installed the new router recommended to me by reiber and thoughtfreely (I figured with both of them recommending it, it had to be decent). I'm no longer popping in and out of IM, which makes me (and I suspect everyone on my buddy list) very happy. The new router lets me actually use my wireless g card, which also makes me very happy.

I got a new and functional USB drive last week. There are a few design flaws (e.g. the cap doesn't clip on the other end when it's in use), but it's very tiny and very cute and unlike my old one, actually works, so it also makes me very happy.

If I weren't so stressed about school, I'd be positively ecstatic.

I'm constantly cold. The temperature in both my office and my apartment is way too low, and I have no control over either place. The only time I'm warm is in the shower, and that never lasts longer than two minutes before the water temperature shifts dramatically in one direction or the other. Right now I'm working at home swaddled in blankets; eventually I'll have to go in and work wearing my coat. That's something wrong with this situation.

Several of my friends have been experiencing very high levels of stress and rage whenever election news slips into our local papers or gets mentioned online. To combat this unfortunate situation, they've decided to construct a whole new worldview. In this worldview, Canada is an island. To the south of us is a large ocean, and then Mexico. The ocean is lovely and peaceful and nothing bad ever happens there. Relations with Mexico are friendly--witness our equitable application of the Canada-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CMFTA). Snowbirds love it there in winter; many of them spend the summers taking Spanish lessons at their local senior centres.

From time to time, we hear stories about somewhere else, but a few deep breaths and a reminder that to the south, there's only water, quickly relieve the tension. Occasionally I contemplate how difficult life must be for any highly-stressed merpeople, because I suspect that it's harder to escape the news when you're surrounded on all sides by ocean. Many of my friends, however, claim that merpeople are myth and fantasy, and there's nothing there but plants and waves and a few fish. It's an ongoing debate, but a very mild one. I think we might bring it up at the next social function to see what other people think. We might even be able to get a journal article out of it: "The lyre of Orpheus: An investigation into the belief in merpeople."

Have I mentioned that I'm a political news junkie? And that I can no longer discuss politics with anyone I see daily because they have all embraced the Ocean? It's painful.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the professors in my department left his office for five minutes and didn't bother closing his door. While he was gone, someone ran in and snatched his laptop. The warning went around, and now everytime I walk ten metres to get a drink of water, I feel the need to close and lock my door. Damn thieves.

(Via Pharyngula.)

There's a discussion of an interesting little exercise on Anomalous Data today. A teacher in Bush Country read out Kerry's and Bush's positions on a variety of issues without telling his eleven-year-old students which candidate held which position. As they went along, the kids kept track of which position they favoured. At the end, they voted for their preferred candidate. Twenty-six of the thirty kids votes for Kerry, and then booed their results once they realized that they had voted for the "wrong" candidate.

I think I need to go find out if this type of experiment has been replicated more formally among adults (as it probably has been). I'm kind of curious now whether adults would also favour the Democrats if they paid attention to the issues instead of who they feel most comfortable listening to, or whether the kids' vote is a product of a social conscience instilled by early teachers and not yet rationalized away. (Please note, I am not suggesting that it is impossible to be a conservative or even a Republican and have a social conscience. I've known principled, compassionate conservatives--but they're not the ones running the show right now.) Now admittedly, issues aren't everything. You also have to consider whether you think the candidate will actually do what he says, and whether he'll be able to effectively implement his positions. But voting for someone you completely disagree with is rarely the way to get what you want...

For my own reference, and perhaps of interest to one or two people here.

The conservative movement as Pseudo Fascism.

No comments on it from me yet because I haven't had time to think it through. Could be right, could be wrong, but it seems to be worth evaluating.

I bought a Uniball Signo and I absolutely love it. I love it so much, in fact, that I went back and bought three more so that I will never be without one. It's almost enough to make me want to write notes by hand instead of typing them. ;)

From CNN:

A little-noticed provision cleared the House of Representatives last week that would prohibit local, state or federal authorities from requiring any institution or health care professional to provide abortions, pay for them, or make abortion-related referrals, even in cases of rape or medical emergency.

I'm not sure what the actual effects of this will be, but on the surface it's pretty scary. I truly hope that there aren't many health care professionals out there who would deny a woman a referral to an abortion provider to save her live in the case of a medical emergency, but having spoken with more than one conservative Christian who truly believes that abortions are wrong in all circumstance--after all, the woman might make a miraculous recovery if it's God's will--I'm not confident of it.