This Brain's For You

So I'm going to be a part of a psychological study --- no, it's not from the trauma of teaching in Oneida under the micro-management of L. Mayfield Brown. I volunteered for this. It's part of a research study at UT.

It has pros:
* 10% of my final score in my Biological Psychology class will be added to my grade (really, this class is so easy... not much of a pro).
* I have the potential to add 15 or more points to my intelligent quotient (IQ).
* I am able to do it on the three days that I will be on campus.

It has cons:
* I have to spend 3 hours each week with probes all over my head establishing base line patterns of brainwaves and trying to improve a very tiny area of the brain associated with cognition.
* I have to do this for 10 weeks.
* I have to do all of this for a guy named REX.

Now I really do not know much about this yet. Tomorrow I will take an IQ test of some sort to establish my starting point. I will take the test again at the end of the study. I will keep you updated on what goes on... Sounds fun, eh? Hopefully it won't be like the psychological study on Ghostbusters!!!

Two Links Which Caught My Eye

GIANT SQUID photographed in Japan
How long until it is on the menu at Red Lobster???

and

GPS - Global Panda Sex????
Just what the porn industry has been looking for...

Where...

...did this Tennessee team come from all of a sudden? Danny and I gave up early in the 2nd quarter and quit watching... turned it back on (by accident really) when it was 24-14 and TN on the 1 yard line. Now it is tied, 24 all, with 23 seconds left in the game. Looks like O.T. to me... oops... Interception-LSU... Now that's the Tennessee team we all know and love(?)... what... Sack of LSU QB? 7 seconds left... Hail Mary into endzone by LSU --> interception in endzone by TN. Now on to O.T.

Looks like I'm into football by reading the above. But now to the commercials:
Metamucil capsules plus calcium - stay regular, stay strong.
Geena Davis is President of the United States. Commander in Chief, Tuesdays on ABC.

Return to the Game:
Coin Toss --- Tennessee won toss, elected for defense.
Rules of OT:
Each team 1 possession from opponents 25 YL
No game clock --- play clock only
Must go for 2 pt converstion
(I missed one somewhere in there)

Note: this is solely for my own amusement at this point as I'm growing very tired and surely no one will read this (please post if you do, just to see who read this far) up to this point.

I quit. If you want to know how it turns (turned) out... click here

oh, and FYI:
Game attendance: 91,986 -- 8th largest crowd in Tiger Stadium history.

Ciao!

After all, gioia = joy.

You Belong in Rome You're a big city girl with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better? What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz

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DON'T FORGET TO PLAY THE GAME (previous post)!!!!!!!!!!!
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New Game

Saw this on another blog. Thought it might be interesting to isolate an individual thought from each person's individual blog.


THE RULES
1. Go through your old posts.
2. Find the 23rd post.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post it.
5. Share this idea with others.


My 23rd post only had three sentences, so here is my fifth (3rd) sentence:

"You just have to see it to understand."

I kind of like that sentence. It makes my blog appear as if it might have SOMETHING interesting within it.

Why Can't I Win the Lottery?

Tonight I watched a show on tv called "Jackpot! Overnight Millionaires" (I think it was on TLC) about lottery winners --- who they are, what they did with the winnings, etc. I am amazed at the lunacy! Now, I guess it is easy to say "I would never buy crap like that if I won the lottery!" if you haven't won the lottery. But, really... what the crap!!! So what would I do if I won? Here is a start, in no particular order:

1. Pay off ALL of my student loans (caaaaa--ching)
2. GIVE MY MOM SOME MONEY!!! --- Pay off her debts, move her out of Camel town (Oneida --- yes, it has a real living camel), and get her anything she wants (She deserves it)
3. Pay off Danny's truck
4. Up my life insurance policy (I guess that would be a smart move)
5. TBD

I know... it's a short list. I really would like to think that I wouldn't go "hog wild" with that amount of money, but who can tell until it happens... and I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

New ETSBOA Requirements

What exactly determines pass/fail on scales? And are the students given immediate feedback on whether they have passed or failed (since they must "pass the scale portion of the audition to proceed to the Prepared and Sight-Reading parts of the audition.") I have also been told that the required range for oboe includes a note that many/most high school oboes do not have the key to play. It really seems like it should have had some amendments added to clear up questions such as these.

http://www.gcschools.net/etsboa/SeniorClinicMusic/SrClinicRequiredScales/RequiredScaleCoverLetter.htm

Armed Student Arrested

Danny's school had an interesting Tuesday afternoon. The most interesting part to me is that the school was put on lockdown while the band was having rehearsal outdoors (with no idea of what was going on). Prior to the two students turning the kid in, Danny's flag instructor (also a teacher) had written him up for some offense that occured in her class. When she visited the office later he jumped from his chair and began yelling at her...and this was before the gun was discovered.

http://wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=28616

How to Know It's Time to Quit!

A Few Educational Experiences of Note

I have set up some observations with a couple of local optometrists in my quest to get another "non-relative optometrist" recommendation letter. Once that is in, and after I send in my $50 application fee, my application to SCO will be complete. I will be re-taking the OAT (now thinking I'll take it over Fall break instead of rushing) even though I already have a set of scores for the admissions panel to review. Perhaps new and improved scores will improve my odds for admission.

Looked up some posts/comments left by a few of Danny's students on drummajors.com that have caused some interesting things to occur (which I won't mention, but believe me they are ridiculous). From those posts, I was able to find several blogs written by his band students. How funny these are to read - not just because of the immature content, but also because of the differences of the "teacher's pet" type kid in how he/she acts in person versus written communication(if you can call it that) posted online. If you haven't already, I reccommend searching for the juvenille-of-choice's personal thoughts/comments. It is a great deal of fun!

New Student

Danny got a new student in band yesterday - one from Louisiana. Anybody else have evacuees? Brooke, has your family moved in?

Study and Amazement at TV Schedule

Tonight I skipped the game for some study --- and I finished my study of the general chemistry portion of my GIGANTIC MCAT review book. Now I have only 300 pages or so left, but the worst of all parts: Physics and Organic Chemistry

By the way, Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast airs tonight at 8 p.m. on the following channels:

PBS
WB
CBS
NBC
FOX
ABC
Court TV
Lifetime
FX
MSNBC
TV Guide Channel
CNBC
USA
TBS
Oxygen
SOAP
Bravo
Speed
style
GSN (that's the Game Show Network)
WGN - Chicago


...
And those are only the channels we get on our tv.
Digital Cable/Satellite offers more.

Survivor

My quest this semester is to outwit, outplay, and outlast.

Today in my anatomy lab, we individually studied the bones of the axial skeleton (head, vertebral column, etc). Two sorority girls sitting across from me decided to study together. Instead of learning the basic terminology and identifying the individual bones/features based on their respective names, these geniuses decided to write down animal names which they felt resembled the shapes of the bones (ie: this one looks like a giraffe --- how do you spell giraffe? --- oh no... this one looks like a giraffe, too --- *all of this in reference to individual verterbrae*) One of these girls actually introduced herself as "trying to be a nursing major" and told of how bones really freak her out.

In the lecture portion of the class, most people sleep or check their eBay accounts/email/etc. on their laptops. I understand that this is pretty typical of many college students --- but these are our future doctors/nurses/specialty healthcare providers (or so they think). I also enjoy listening to conversations about how Anatomy is their "blow-off" class (with Intermediate Spanish taking priority in their schedules).

My other class is a psychology course (Biological Basis of Human Behavior) but really is more of a biology course. I have had less contact with the students in this class, so no report just yet. I'll keep you updated on your future healthcare providers... but until then, I don't think I should worry about outplaying, outwitting, or outlasting the others. Good thing this isn't like the show Survivor, or I would undoubtedly be voted off first as the strongest competitor!

*sniff*

Allergies... they suck. Pollen.com attributes the cause of my suffering to Ragweed, Chenopods, and Plantain. Looks like I will have no relief in sight from their forecast, too. Boo!

A Three Hour Tour...

Gilligan is no more. Just out of curiosity, I did a bit of research on the other cast members from the Isle. Here's what I found:



With Gilligan...
Bob Denver, a.k.a. Willie Gilligan, died Friday (2 Sep 05) at age 70.


The Skipper, too...
Alan Hale, Jr., a.k.a. Jonas Grumby (the Skipper), died 2 Jan 90, at age 71.


The Millionaire...Jim Backus, a.k.a. Thurston Howell III, died 3 Jul 89, at age 76.


...and His Wife...
Natalie Schafer, a.k.a. Mrs. Lovey Howell, died 10 Apr 91, at age 90.


The Moooovie Staaaa...
Tina Louise, a.k.a. Ginger Grant, still alive at age 71.


...and the Rest (or is it the Professor and Mary Ann?)
Russell Johnson, a.k.a. Professor Roy Hinkley, still alive at age 80.
Dawn Wells, a.k.a. Mary Ann Summers, still alive at age 66.





I'll pretend someone had a need or interest in the above information. But until then, I know it gave me something to do.

Katrina

90,000 square miles of disaster area. Thousands dead... more to come. Remember this the next time you fill up your gas tank. A minor financial inconvenience to you... life and death to another...