My Latest Assignment

All right as many of you may have all ready seen I created a book club, The Bookworms. I sent out emails to people I thought may be interested in partaking in the exciting activity, but if you did not receive one, but would like to join in the monthly selections please let me know and I'll hook you up. Basically I have wanted to have a book club for months and I finally organized it. You can see the current book selections, and I also have a back up choice when I feel the main choice that I will be reading may not be pleasing for most club members. I love all kinds of books so the selections will be all over the place. Book are a fantastic adventure and fun to share so I encourage all to try it out. We can even engage in discussion on the site about the book. You can create a discussion or add input to one that has all ready been started. This month I will be reading "Twilight," but that book is actually considered a young adult book and it about a vampire, so many adults may not find this at all amusing, so my alternate choice is one of the best books I have ever read so please feel free to choose that one instead if you would like! the more people that join and are actively engaging the more fun it will be! Feel free to make book suggestions as well if you saw something that looks interesting.

A Reflection

So what makes someone who they are? Before I would argue and say that it's obviously a combination of genetic inheritance from one's parents along with social and cultural experiences which shape an individual throughout life. Seems logical, we all know someones upbringing can dramatically affect a person's demeanor and perhaps alter the genetic programming in which may have otherwise been the main influence on who they were supposed to be on the outside. However, I do not feel that either of these choices apply to myself. We all know this is not the only instance in which I have pulled something like this, but this is what tipped me off into this train of though:

It was just another day at school last week. I had all ready been to my first class of the day, gone home and come back. I had seen my anthro pal (who I may have mentioned I have 3/4 classes with) in class as usual that morning. I ventured to our fav seats in the next class awaiting her arrival. I am always there first because I believe she has a class right before that one so she has to haul ass over in a matter of ten min. I would also like to mention for the purpose of the story that these seats are a duo on the far right side of the room (if looking at the front). The room is stadium seating so there is a big section in the middle and then sets of two off to either side of the center. So there is plenty of space for all to spread out seeing as the class is not very large. Anywho, I am awaiting her arrival when much to my dismay a nice young lady comes and sits in her seat! Panic stricken I can hardly respond when she cheerfully greets me, "hi!" I'm serious, I barely choked out a hello! So what can I do, I'm pissed. I can't tell her she has to move her ass so that me and my pal can sit and enjoy vomiting at the sound of anyone's voice that pipes up during class other than the professor's. So I just figure i could give my friend a look of disgust when she walked in to convey the insanity of it all! Luckily she didn't come in so it didn't matter in that repect. So the poor girl is trying to chat with me and I am barely answering her questions cause I am so annoyed at how stupid the questions she is asking me are. She didn't do the assignment that we turned in the class before and was just know figuring it out, but with much confusion since our entire lecure that day was going to be based on these discussion questions that we had submitted (may I add that I did get full credit on the assignment with a note from him saying what an "excellent, intellectual question" I had submitted. I know I'm a genius). So the whole time I'm thinking "I can't be nice to this girl or she may think it's cool to come sit with me again, and I just can't have that". I'm literally leaning in the opposite direction of her for a good portion of the class so she doesn't try to speak to me. Once class is over and I am walking to my next class I think to myself "what the hell is my problem? I'm an ass. Why do I shut people out and have zero desire to be there friend?" I mean me and Sarah (my pal) are a lot alike we don't like anyone and we can't stand the stupid crap people say in class. Some people's voices make me feel ill (i'm not exaggerating). I don't feel this is normal. I prefer to not meet or speak to anyone at school. I'm not there to make any friends. This is somewhat sad, many people make the best friends of their lives in college, but i have zero desire. The following day I told Sarah of the tortures I had ensued the previous lecture and we decided that that was why we were friends we hate everyone so it works out. I like her cause she doesn't try to be friends and I do the same so we ended up liking eachother and becoming friends....WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!! I mean I know that is how it worked and it makes sense to me, but it sounds freaking insane!

So this lead to my thoughts. Why am I like that. According to my DNA the only genes I could have inherited were polite, outgoing, and extroverted. I mean my parents LOVE people. I would even venture to say they do so more than the average person. I mean I called the house the other night and Paige said the 'rents were across the street eating dins with the neighbors! I mean who does that? It's not like these people are their best friends, they are just their neighbors. Nuts, I tell you. My siblings definitely inherited the proper genes (if we want to say genes do in fact play a role). All of them seem to be social butterflys.

Okay so then it must be my social and cultural influences. eerr...wrong! Once again, normal parents, great social influences. Went to public school, not from a weird country or city or whatever. Once again, it would be likely my siblings would have been exposed to the same types of things and would more than likely have been affected in a similar way. This may not be absolutely true, however, as people do respond to life in different ways.

So I challenge you readers to think about what I have said here and come up with a plausible reason as to why I am socially retarded and everyone else I am related to is quite the opposite! I would love to hear what you have to say! :)

Writers Block

All right just wanted to put together a quick post to let my readers know that I haven't given up on the blog! Just haven't had much time for a post so I am currently compiling creative thoughts for my next post! Stay tuned.

Shout-outs and recommendations

So I found this great website that lists all the made up national appreciation and awareness months/weeks/days...

I found out January 2009 is..

National Blood Donor Month:

Recommended reading; My Sisters Keeper by one of my personal favs Jodi Picoult
great book, easy read.

Financial Wellness Month

Recommended reading; The Everything Budgeting Book: Practical Advice for Spending Less, Increasing Savings, and Having More Money for the Things You Really Want by Tere Stouffer. Never read it but the cover looks interesting and I'm sure we could learn a thing or two about budgeting our funds, except for Wayne R. Pieroni, I think he has it handled.

buzzworthy buy; Barnyard Banks available in select farm animal varieties and available at your local Michael's craft store. Banks can be decorated with just about anything you can come up with for personalization http://www.michaels.com/online/product/DisplayEnlargedImage.jsp?imageName=cp0324.jpg

I went with the giant pig option...it's working out quiet well. I kept mine au natural. Makes for great home decor!

Poison Prevention Awareness Month

recommended reading; The Poison Quiz Book by John Harris Trestrail

Quiz your knowledge on poison facts and trivia...this could actually be interesting

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

recommended reading; 100 Questions and Answers About Cervical Cancer by Don S. Dizon
Sadly most people are clueless...I would still be if i didn't work at Planned Parenthood. Get informed! Esp. if you are under the age of 26 or have had a history of abnormal paps.

recommended actions; please visit ob/gyn for further info and to receive your annual screening today. If you are uninsured please visit PP and apply for state funded services.

Unrelated to all these exciting things we can actively engage in appreciating this month, I would like to make a few more personal recommendations...




Book Club Book of the Month
I try to promote everyone to read this book because it is AMAZING. I read it back in 2003, but I will never forget the details of it. I think it is eye-opening to how disgusting the human race can be. Please read and enjoy The Survivor of the Holocaust by Jack Eisner


buzzworthy buys



When excessively sweaty hands prevent you from lap top mouse pad navigation the mini Belkin retractable mouse is perfect for quick, no hassle, on the go mousing. Fits easily into your backpack and is smaller than the palm of my hand (so its really cute). Works like a charm and comes in a variety of exciting colors. I guaranteeeee you satisfaction!


Shhh... Do not tell my mom, but the Fry Daddy compact deep fryer is the perfect complement to your frozen selections located in your home freezer. Vons french fries taste like Denny's seasoned fries, crappy chicken strips are transformed into crispity, crunchity delicacies. The options are endless. Quick cook time and virtually no clean up provides a solid enjoyable artery clogging meal for the whole family to enjoy! And it's fun to use as well.

To all my faithful new followers

I'm glad everyone seems to enjoy my posts. I enjoy writing them. I only wish I could figure out a way to respond to the comments (which I LOVE reading). If any other fellow bloggers know a way to do this without having to post a new blog entry in way of response please let me know because I want to respond to them! Please check back often for new postings! I plan to post at least once a week, possibly more if there are things worth blogging. P.S. anyone who thinks they may want to start a blog (Jaclyn....) please do so and send me the link or sign up as a follower so I can read it. I love following peeps blogs. Its always fun to see what goes on in friends and family's lives that are daily routine things that you most likely would not dive into conversation with them about! Keep reading! Until next time!

GB

So I had to take another trip to the hippie bookstore today because the line yesterday was outrageous when I had to go back. Today I made a special trip down there since I didn't have school I was able to wait in the, yet again, outrageous line. During my 40 min wait, I got a good look around at the place since it is only about 800 sq ft. I decided it was worth sharing. Below is a diagram for you to refer back to. I hope you can read the numbers and letters

okay lets begin the shenanigans:

• A-backside of C: book shelves containing textbooks assigned by hippie instructors.
• frontside of C-D: book shelves containing books ranging from socialism to living as a mexican miner (i don't know what kind of mines) to "Life Lessons From a Whore" and my personal favorite, gay poetry
• 2: section of scumbag couches which were actually covered with couch covers hiding the evidence that they were probably picked up by the employees from goodwill or perhaps the side of the freeway after god knows what had been done on them. Nonetheless I was thinking how comfortable they looked in their protective sheath.
• 1: Hard to read but it is next to shelf C, this was an interesting collection of postcards to perhaps send home to mom and dad during the school year. Personal fav was a male underwear model checking the scene down his chones.
• 5: this is the front desk/cash register area that takes up about 42% of the entire store. Behind it is a cluttered hell-pit of shit.
• 3: Magazine rack with some kind of student produced mags. Sign read something to the effect of "badass magazine right here". the sign was tempting, i wanted to give in.
• 4: male emplyee aged c. 22 yelling "the printer is out of fucking paper". Underneath his prepped appearance i spotted the block letters of a Black Flag t-shirt, no lie in his hardcoreness that nested within.
• 9: Strange array of jewelry and things that were handmade. Sign above indicated that 30% of purchase on these items would be sent back to some tribe or something that had made them.
• 6: pierced lip, skeleton hoodie wearing, worst nightmare of her philipino parents girl at register. P.s. this is the register doning the sign for vegan condoms which I still have not seen in the store. Perhaps they keep this delicacy behind the counter.
• 7: un-washed, curly hair boy who most definitely enjoys a good reefer.
• 8: random microwave on top of filing cabinets which feature the head of Che, the Argentine Marxist revolutionist. (special thanks to Paige for telling me what his name is)
• blue line: is the actual flow of the line I stood in...from register to end.

The Wonderful World of Anthropology

I'd have to say the best decision that I have made in a long time was to switch my major. It's refreshing to actually enjoy the class that you are in and be interested in what you are learning, not because you want to pass the class so you can move onto the next class that you are dreading, but because you genuinely care about what the professor is talking about.

Yesterday was the first day of all my new classes for this quarter. It's always an interesting day no matter what the classes are because it's guaranteed your professors are going to be amazing people in one way or another whether it's because of their life achievements or their wacky sense of style and demeanor. Let me walk you through my professors....

Class 1 9:00 am
teacher strolls in a few minutes late, looks like he just came from an archaeological dig somewhere judging by the flopping full brimmed hat, cargo pants, and long sleeved casual button up with sleeves rolled to the elbows allowing for more fluid strikes with the shovel. I realize that something is missing from his ensemble when he walks to the side of the classroom. Rather than some good hiking boots to go with the motif he is BAREFOOT! No lie! I find this strange until he addresses the fact that he does not prefer to wear shoes, then I somehow accept it and move on. Nice guy nonetheless. The class has 16 people in it!!! Mind you I am used to about 400.

Class 2 1:00 pm
Same teacher... I have never had the same teacher twice in a semester, apparently there is a shortage of anthro professors. Surprisingly he was wearing some flip-flops during this class for some reason. This class was actually my largest, I estimated about 70 students, could be less, and most likely will become less. For both classes he has the books available at the hippy, student run bookstore rather than the normal one. They are supposed to be cheaper, but I didn't really notice a difference. I did notice however, that they do sell vegan condoms at this store. enough said.

Class 3 2:00 pm
ran to the next class in 10 min. made it. This here was my absolute favorite class. Anthro of Aging. Really nice lady teaching the course. She got her Ph.D at Harvard in bio anthro and taught at UCSD starting in '88 for a couple years then taught for several years at the Medical School. I really enjoy her. She is enthusiastic about the subject and has a passion for learning even still. Taking a look at the syllabus, to my disgust, I saw there was a term project. Immediate panic set in, would we have to present it?!! I couldn't handle waiting for her to mention it. I mean a paper i could handle, but what did project mean? The funny thing is I can't wait to do it now! We have to interview someone who is 65 or older. It's going to be easy and fun and G. Miller is definitely going to be my choice of interviewie.

Class 4 5:00 pm
Paige can appreciate that he wrote the "Very Short Introduction" book that they have that awesoeme rack of little books of at Borders. If anyone hasn't checked them out, you should. You can learn about any subject from dinosaurs to certain religions to philosophy and psychology. They have soooo many subjects and I guess professors and things wrote them, which I never really thought about. Obviously my teachers is the Anthropology one. So anyway he is an englishman in his probably 60's with a thick accent and he is a visiting professor from George Washington University in DC. He also works at the Smithsonian. He said that since it was CA he expected infomality and dogs. so "if we had a dog, feel free to bring him along." Haha..I thought that was funny. I'm glad to see the reputation that CA has on the east coast.

Other than an ASSload of reading that I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up with, I think it is going to be a really amazing quarter and i am looking forward to learning!

The End is Near

That's right my friends...tomorrow is my last day of winter break...so sad, i don't know why but I feel like I all ready graduated or something and that i don't have to go back. It has only been 3 weeks off, but it feels like forever. Monday is officially the beginning of my new major. I will be taking 4 anthropology classes rather than o.chem II, biochem, and physics II plus the lab...aaaahhh...refreshing cause that was what i would have been taking this quarter and by the time it was over i would probably be fully gray and partially balding and probably would have sustained minor tooth injury from grinding and clenching at night...horrible...I'm sure these anthro classes won't be a walk in the park, but anything is better then o.chem! I will be enjoying Anthropology of Aging, Advanced Principles in Human Evolution, Biological and Cultural Perspectives on Intelligence, and Humans as Cultural Animals....great times...I'm sure I will be singing a different tune in less than a week. Four more quarters to go!!