Sunday, February 5th, 2006

I'b still gedding ober my code

I ran into Drwecki the other day. Of course, the only person who will care about this is Funk, and I've already told him. Nevertheless, I will write it down anyway.  I was up on the second floor about to check my mailbox, which is a really sad excuse for  a mailbox, if I do say so myself. All the other Psych TA's get fancy steel boxes with a neat open/close panel and they are connected to the wall I get a generic thing in the middle of the hall. So I was up there to see if I had anything new, which was stupid to begin with since I never do. After taking a quick peek into the empty receptacle, I walked on over to get a drink of water. While I was sipping, someone passed by and went to check his mailbox. I didn't know who it was nor did I particularly care at the time, but my thirst was quenched, so I just headed back from the way I came, following the dude for a few seconds. Then I caught his profile and he began to look familiar. At that moment, I realized that it was Doc himself.  I just squinted and smirked as I passed him by. But to my absolute surprise, he looked at me and paused and before I turned the corner, he asked, "Did- did you go to Wabash?"

 was horribly dissapointed. My mystique. Nonexistent. All those years I spent at Wabash trying to keep to myself and interacting with the smallest number of people possible, all for not. Even someone I never talked to could recognize me - and he recognized me from the correct context as well. That is rather impressive. The only reason I didn't have much difficulty identifying him from his profile was because last year I did some research to see if any people from the 'Bash had come up here with me or within the previous year.

It's so awkward. Knowing each others from somewhere, and yet never having had any type of a conversation together. There we were trying to hold a conversation just because it felt like we had to but ultimately realizing that the Wabash thing wasn't enough. Actually, this is the second time in as many TA positions that brings forth a Wabash connection. Last semester, one of the other TA's was best friends with Jesse Becera.

Other than that, I've been trying to get over this flu-cold thing. Getting better. But still not more better enough.

I got two more interview invitations. At this point, they mean absolutely nothing to me.  Look, just send me an acceptance or rejection letter. I don't want to have a billion phone interviews. I don't even have a voice as it is. I was telling Melanie that I've only had two phone interviews up to this point and I'm already tired of it. Melanie, in all her sagacity had a brilliant idea: have my friends take the interviews for me. All, right, guys, this is where your doubleX chromosomes come in handy. I'm too tired to do P-ranks this week. Suffice it to say, they remain relatively unchanged.

Later

nandose

Tuesday, February 7th, 2006

Several unconnected thoughts on this tuesday night.

Ever since I was a kid and learned about genetics, I have always had a hard time keeping XX and XY straight. As is obvious from the previous entry on here, I still don't have them quite down. It's just been really hard for me to not see XX as male and can't figure out why. Well, in any case, what I meant to say was, "here is where your Y chromosome comes in handy".

My blasted tooth is hurting! Damned wisdom teeth. If I wasn't so afraid of someone cutting open my jaw and ripping into my gums to tear a piece of bone out I would go get it removed. But since I am, the only alternative is to suffer through this pain.

After class today, I ran into yet ANOTHER one of my former students from Spanish, bringing the average to four in as many weeks. My goal is to run into at least half of them by the end of the semester.

As far as PhD stuff goes, I'm still waiting to hear back from Texas and Florida - the freak states. Everyone else has said, "Fernando Sanchez, come on down, youre the next candidate in our Counseling Psych Doctoral Program!" Let's just hope I can guess correctly without going over.

U2 is freaking awesome. Particularly when Oakenfold mixes them. And I really do mean that.

Wednesday, February 8th, 2006

Remnants of the Past...

Well, not 24 hours after bumping into No4, I saw a fifth former spanish student of mine. I tell you this goal is going to be accomplished by the end of March. We actually had a nice conversation, facilitated by the fact that he's a psych major. Among other things, I learned that I'm the best Spanish intructor ever. Well, maybe not ever, but still as far as that student will know, I am.  I also ran into No. 1 again, but she doesnt count since I've already counted her.

I've also caught the latest parody trailers for Brokeback Mountain (Top Gun 2: Brokeback Squadron and my favorite of the two: Brokeback to the Future) thanks largely in part to the fact that yahoo had a section on their main site about it. It also linked to a trailer remake for The Shining, this time presented as a Family Feel Good movie/Comedy. I liked it too, but coming from somone who has never seen enough of the original, I'm not sure if that's very meaningful.

K. that's it for today.

Thursday, February 9th, 2006

3-peat

For the first time this semester, I have bumped into a former student of mine every day of the week that I am on campus - that's right, i got a three-in-a-row. Today, I was on the bus heading for home, when all of a sudden I see someone getting on.

"No... it couldn't be," I thought to myself. I stared at her with a smile, hoping that she would take notice of me, and after a few short seconds she did. I got up and went to talk to her.  I was really surprised that of all places, THIS would be where I would bump into a student. After all, no undergrad would live in middleton! But she was just running an errand. ANd yeah, I'm still better than most of the 102 TA's based on what I've heard. Man, this is truly awesome! At this rate, I will have to change my goal to bumping into ALL of my students again... even the one from Connecticut who graduated and now lives in New York.

Bring on Lucky 7!

Sunday February 12th, 2006

Where the heck is Nando anyway?

Well, in case you've been uttering those words this current semester,  have a handy dandy schedule to show you. Now you won't have to become frustrated with me when I don't respond to IMs on Mondays.

Also, Melanie saw her second ever Bond movie yesterday - Tomorrow Never Dies- and liked it more than Goldeneye, which is a rarity since it's the reverse for most people. However, I think that she just liked it cuz of the ass-kicking chick in it. This makes me a bit nervous about showing her TWINE because instead of Michelle Yeoh doing Martial Arts, you have Denise Richards trying to emote. Remember that scene in Starship Troopers where she stares off into space and says "I'm going to be a pilot" with a soulless smile? Well, don't feel bad cuz neither do I, but the only reason I bring it up is because they just released a new "Starship Troopers" game, which I would call being 8 years too late, but then, I don't think that film or any creation stemming from it has a right time or place. Anyway, they reviewed the game on X-play and tore it a new one and they kept showing that brief scene. "i'm going to be a pilot."

In PhD news, I found out I was not worthy to be a member of the Missouri Elite. More than anything, I guess I'm just annoyed that I had to waste all that time worrying about the interview, when it either 1) hurt my chances of getting in or 2) didn't really matter anyway. UW-Madison should have decided on my fate on Friday, so I'll be calling the secretary and bugging her to let me know about it.  

At least now there's an even ten to focus on.

The Power Rankings slow things down a bit, as we focus on the experience and procedure of the application process during the official halfway point of the season (though depending on how many Programs accept me, the finals could move up a bit). Here we go-

Week Nine
No 1.	You know, there's a chance that absolutely no other program will accept me, in which case I would be forced to go up to Minneapolis for the next Five years. I'm not sure how strong that chance is, but you never know. Status: Accepted.
No 2.	Really, this week, I'm not feeling too thrilled about the possibility of staying in Madison much longer, but the reason it's at No 2 is because I feel the possibility of being accepted is overriding any personal feelings on my part, which would make it more likely that I might end up here when you do the math (at least for this week). Status: I'll find out definitively tomorrow. Wish me Luck.
No 3.	AridZone is still in third, mostly on account of the nicer weather. Because this has been a not-ass-freezing winter, this hasn't sky-rocketted up to No 1, as I had expected. However, as it snows here even in May, the season is still young. Status: Gave them my number. I should be hearing from them soon, hopefully.
No 4.	Holy crud! Oregon? Up here? The hell you say! I can at least respect Oregon for not forcing everyone to migrate up there for a meaningless interview. Plus, earlier in the week I got a phone call from them asking me if I would reconsider going up there if they funded my entire trip. Of course, I said yes, and then, being the Indian givers that they are, they renegged. Status: An Interview is set for the 22nd of this month over the phone.
No 5.	I just sent them an email letting them know that it's gonna be impossible for me to go. Every University reacts differently to the news, so I'm not sure how they'll take it. But based on the little information I have on how "important" these things are for them, I'm gonna guess, 'not well.' Status: Interview Pending
No 6.	You know, positions 6 and 7 are pretty much tied. The only difference is that Boston let me know that they wanted an interview and when I told them that it would not be feasible, their response was dissapointment but understanding. At least they could appreciate the "reality of constraints." And promised me that we would be in touch. That was on Tuesday, so I'm not gonna worry about this for a while. Status: Interview Pending
No 7.	I think I would much rather go to Austin than Boston. Hmm they even sound kinda alike. Plus I bet their inhabitants are equally annoying. Someone provide data on this for me if you can. Anyway, tHere's supposed to be this really cool researcher there that everyone wants to work with. And I'm really no different. However,  I can't put Austin above Boston because the only thing I have heard out of Texas was that my application was "complete and currently under review by the Admission Committee for Counseling Psychology."And that was back on January 31st. Status: Application still under review?
No 8.	Given the choice, I think I would much rather go to Florida than a few other places on the list. Problem being, that they are the only school I have yet to hear anything from. I have heard through the grapevine that their department is one of the best, but also unapologetic about their snail-paced response. So, there you have it. Status: Unknown
No 9.	I debated where to place Georgia. By itself, it really isn't a place where I would want to live for more than two years. However, as you'll find out, at least the program isn't composed of a bunch of retards. I had not heard anything from them in a long while, which made me think that the interviews had already come and gone, and they had failed to notify me on when I could do the phone interview. However, as I looked over that email from January 20th, their interviews go on thru the first week of March. So, it will still be a while before anything is scheduled. Status: Waiting. I guess.
No 10.	Up to this point, Penn State has been horrible. I mean, just a really bad program to have to deal with - at least from a candidate's point of view. It's going to be a month since I last heard from them. The scheduled interview at PennState was on the 27th of January. And they haven't bothered to get back to me about a Phone Interview. I guess they really don't care about you unless you have a bunch of time and money to spend on going over there. I thought about sending them an email saying something like "Yo, Goobers! Where's my interview?" But I just don't care anymore. I would almost take them off the list, but you never know if something's gonna happen out of nowhere. Status: Apathetic. On both sides.

Strange. Having one fewer choice on here made this list a whole lot easier to put in order. I hope I get rejected some more!

Before I go, I just want to reiterate how ridiculous the  "Gilmore Girls" show is. MOst other programs keep you in suspense by killing off a character. Or maybe with steamy sex scenes. Or even with an overdrawn pregnancy. Gilmore Girls, on the other hand, keep audience around by having the two main characters... stop talking to each other. 

All right. that's it for me. Take it easy.

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

Diceman Lucky 7's

And it happened today YET AGAIN! I was walking from my Educational Psychology in the Ed sciences building to my Counseling Psychology course in the Education building a good three blocks away or so, if you count the hill. Anyway, I kept thinking, "there's no way this whole thing can keep going. I mean, it's nearly the end of the day and still nothing. Maybe it's just the initial rush. In three months, I'll still be saying, 'well I ran into six former students altogether.' " And no sooner had i thought this when I spotted good ol' JS, who I can finally feel comfortable admitting is incredibly attractive, coming my way. And I just had to say hello. We stopped and chatted, asked him how spanish was going and the such. Unlike the rest of my students he actually seems to prefer his 102 instructor to me... probably because she doesnt assign homework. I'm officially at the 1/3 mark of all the students I could possibly run into this semester (two of them have left the state).

Anyway, so it was cool to have that today.

I'm declaring Wednesday as Regional 'Cheer Nando Up' Day. This will be a Midwestern Holiday in which all pains are taken to ensure Nando cheers up. No gifts will be accepted unless they hold sentimental value. Becker, got any more old Transformers in the basement?

Sunday, February 19th, 2006

I'll just get it over with and mention that my application for admission into the doctoral program at UW was rejected, which normally wouldn't bother me, but I guess it makes me feel that I was kicked out of the program. So these last few days I've been kinda quiet and reserved and pensive and just reflective. It looks like I will yet again have to move away now. More importantly, I've lost any security I could have had here - no fellowship, no in-state tuition (which I wonder if it was still true), and no 4-year degree. I guess, I didn't really like it here. But, dammit, it would have been advantageous for me to pretend to. So, currently, I'm just really scared of what's gonna happen since I'm operating without a net.

I guess I just felt like nobody wants me around for too long, and it started bringing out all of these things inside me, which I really have to wade through and make peace with. As a result, the Power Rankings have been put on hiatus until further notice.

I'd appreciate a kind word here or there.

Also, I'd like to thank Melanie for not only watching the dunk contest with me but actually getting into it. 

Sunday, February 26th, 2006

A weekly phenomenon

Man, I've been trying my best to snap out of this Funk I've been in since last week, but it's only met with limited success. It just seems like I'm going through the motions. Call it disappointment, call it burnout, whatever. I can hardly wait for Spring break to get here in less than two weeks. It's going to at least provide me the opportunity to visit Minnesota again. The Department up there is gonna pay for some of the gas and put me in a swanky hotel for the visit day they have on the 10th of March (that's when my break starts). Since I was supposed to be at prac that day and take the next two off, I decided it would be best to show up to prac the following Monday since I have Group anyway.

I've been having some problems with my tire pressure recently. The blinky light started coming on before I went back home in December, and so they just filled a tire with some air. Unfortunately, two weeks after I got back, the light started blinking again, and I just kinda put it out of my mind since I had too much on my plate. Well, as annoying as that ding ding ding was, I kept on keeping on until this Friday, when I was rinsing all the snow crud off my car and noticed that the driver rear tire looked incredibly flat. THe next day, I woke up early and took the car to get in checked. At first they thought I must have a leak, so it would take about an hour to fix. After they hoisted Besty up there, I got to see all the cracks running straight down by the treads. They could try to fix it, but since I had a huge trip to undertake in a couple of weeks, I thought it would be best to just replace them. After all, these are the same friggin tires the car came with when my mom bought it 7 years ago.

Well, technically, it will be 7 years on March 28th, and I'm not quite sure how to celebrate it, but it will probably involve studying or something. So, essentially, I just spent about 700 bucks, and have no idea how I'm going to pay for it.

Something that did make me smile though, occured on Friday. I was in the records office at my Prac site and I looked down at the Trash and found a box there. but not just any box, no sir. It was THIS majestic cube. Now, who the hell is amy and what has she done with the "Classic" recipe? Naturally i took it out of the Trash, cut up the front and posted it on my site. It's the only obvious thing to do.

Finally, I had a rather good interview with Oregon this week. It was tough to do 3 separate interviews with members of the Department for 45 minutes each, but I bore it well. I really like their program and think I would seriously consider going there if called upon to do so. I'll find out this coming Friday. Other than that, I have an hour long interview coming up on Monday with Boston College. We will see how that goes.

You know what sucks, I can't watch the animated Transformers movie anymore without getting down. I mean, it was set 20 years in the future after the tv show (1985) and 2005 came and went with absolutely no innovations that resembled any of the cool gadgets in the movie we were "supposed" to have.  where are the rocket skateboards? Where are the flying space shuttles? the cool cities that could morph into defensive systems with artillery crap? All that time has gone by and what do we have to show for it? Those retarded looking Segways.