Oh, hey! So my own classes are going alright so far. The classes I'm TAing for and keeping up with are going quite well so far. My research is still progressing (almost done with my first year project, hence finishing up my 3rd experiment). Personal life--If you include sleep as my personal life, I've been spot on grand.

There was a psych reception this past thursday, for new people. I had two plastic wine glasses of cabarnet. I became socially snokered and got to know several new 1st years. Being a 2nd year now, I get to be all sorts of informative. There are a few cute women. Not that I'd ever have the time to think of dating a local, let alone dating a local, but hey: we like cute people of the sex(es) we are attracted to.

Oddly, I find a gentleman barista over at E. Royale near the capital to be a delightful and delicious looking person. He apparently thinks likewise. I never will understand the whole not being sexually attracted but still wanting to flirt with certain types of men thing. Soft-spoken and artistic intellectual types must scratch some itch regardless of gender. Oh well.

There was also a barbeque for biopsych people in the program on friday. I spent three hours there. The first 30 minutes sucked, since no grad students or other such people had arrived. I like our faculty, but you can't exactly be casual with most of them. Most of them brought their children. Lord Buddha Jesus that was fucking odd. Cute kids, one and all. I talked with people mostly about work. It's a faux social occasion. Got to know more about Chuck and his perspective on being a department chair, though. Next to Dr. C, he's my favorite faculty person; very amiable and inquisitive, and I get the feeling he doesn't hold himself higher than us slavish lot (read: grad students).

For some obscure reason I became extremely angry after leaving that occasion. I think it was a combo of me being there for much longer than I anticipated, and a few academic things that sounded kinda sour. Writing 100 pages of publish worthy science articles in 4 weeks does not sound like fun. This would be my meal ticket to becoming a dissertator (read: a poor shmuck who just needs to produce enough work to convince other people that he/she deserves a Ph.D.). I'd much prefer writing something that I could use instead of an excuse to 'broaden' my horizons. I've worked with mice, rats, humans, and monkeys. My work involves behavior, the immune system, and the hormone system. I've done work in cognition, learning and memory, emotion, straight neuroscience, blah blah blah. How much more broad need I be?

Other than that...

Work work work work check e-mail work work work work work work work

Sleep.

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