Welcome to the Monkey House

75 Random Questions:

Random
Do you have any pets?	Yeah, 4. My brother has Gorgo. My parents have Monty, Turnfat, and Elchunks.
What color shirt are you wearing?	grey, with yellowish lettering.
Name three things that are physically close to you:	my lamp, my jack skellington pillow, my poster of the sexiness that is clint eastwood.
What is the last book you read?	Well, as in currently reading it's Blood Meridian. The last book I completed was......... well, probably the Tractatus, since I read it and reread it so much...
Are you or were you a good student?	Not this term
What's your favorite sport?	To watch: Baseball and Football (as in soccer).
Do you enjoy sleeping late?	I enjoy getting at least 8 hours of sleep. Actually when my sleep schedule was that I would wake up naturally around 9... that was the best.
What's the weather like right now?	pretty much gorgeous.
Who tells the best jokes?	professors, largely. No one at this school can compare to their dry humor. Stacie and Victoria are pretty deliciously dry too. The crazy band of philosophy kids on the third floor of the library tells the best jokes too. We rock.
What was the last thing you dreamed about?	The last one i remember was my nightmare about my thesis defense (about being totally unprepared for it and my one advisor was pissed :P)
Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?	I drive, I've crashed. I accidentally backed into my sister's car once.
Do you believe in karma?	nope
Do you believe in luck?	no, not in the sense of good luck v. bad luck. Luck is synonymous with chance.
Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up?	scrambled, omlette-ified, or over medium.
Do you collect anything? If so, what?	I collect just about anything. Clint Eastwood shit and movies, books, books, philosophy books, Tom Waits music, Nick Cave music, other types of music. I used to collect shot glasses and different money types and playing cards. I still collect state quarters.
Are you proud of yourself?	Not really. I'm a slacker, and I know it. I don't work to my full potential, so why should I be proud of myself?
Are you reliable?	yes
Have you ever given money to a bum?	I have given money to a homeless person. I object to the term 'bum'. Homeless people are not bums.
What's your favorite food?	It varies. I love curry. I love barbecue. I love seafood. I love food. Beef Wellington is probably the best thing ever, or Scottish steak pies, though. Pastry and steak, how can you go wrong? ;) But almost all food I like is my favorite food.
Have you ever had a secret admirer?	If he/she were secret, I wouldn't know, would I? And I don't think so.
Do you like the smell of gasoline?	yes
Do like to draw?	I did.
What's your favorite invention?	Modern medicine. yes, that's a bunch of inventions, deal with it.
Is your room messy?	... a tad....
What do you like better: oranges or apples?	Apples. CRISP red deliciouses, fujis, and yes pacific roses are amazing, Rebecca, I concur.
Do you give in easily?	no. I'm incredibly stubborn. And determined.
Are you a good guesser?	sometimes, not really.
Can you read other people's expressions?	I'm pretty much the most unperceptive person ever. I'm the falsification of all gender stereotypes. Men aren't good at reading emotions but women are? NOPE! I don't realize people are sad until they're bawling their brains out, for the most part...
Are you a bully?	I talk tough sometimes (e.g. 'Rebecca, be my slave! >< OR DIE!')
Do you have a job?	sure thing--  student and moocher.
What time did you wake up this morning?	I woke up multiple times this morning. Alas, that's what happens when I'm sick :( STILL. ARGH.
What did you eat for breakfast this morning?	Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi?
When was the last time you showered?	yesterday afternoon
What do you plan on doing tomorrow?	volunteering, doing a buttload of work that I've been neglecting.
What's your favorite day of the week and why?	Saturday.
Do you have any nicknames?	Jessie, Jess, Fritz, Fritzle, Fritzle-Itzle, Caw, Tassle, Tassle-Wassle, Tassie, my last name, Jchan, Jessifritz, Jessipooh, and on wow, Zesty.
Have you ever been scuba diving?	yeah when I was little... haha, in a pool....
What's your least favorite color?	i hate yellow-brown. and that really saturated salmon color.
Is there someone you have been constantly thinking about? If yes, who?	No answer.
Would you ever go skydiving?	No, because I'm actually risk-averse. I like living. A 'rush' is totally not worth the possibility of death.
What toothpaste do you use?	colgate cinnamon stuff.
Do you enjoy challenges?	Yeah because I rise to the occasion
What's the worst injury you have had?	well my least favorite was my finger getting chopped off in a door.
What's the last movie you saw?	Happy Gilmore, with rebeccadomo
What do you want to know about the future?	The only thing anyone can know about the future is that we are all fated to die (to steal Peirce's phrase).
What does your last text message say?	Haha, "?" from Algabin.
Who was the last person you spoke over the phone to?	A friend from Ohio
What's your favorite school subject?	Gee, I wonder. Philosophy? I'm sure that comes as a shock.
What's your least favorite school subject?	Sociology, computer science. And the fields which I've avoided on purpose, obviously.
Would you rather have money or love?	I'm tempted to say money just because this question is cheesy if I say love.
What is your dream vacation?	Going everywhere Witt went. Just taking a tour of his life, practically. How cool would that be?!
What is your favorite animal?	Orangutan.
Do you miss anyone right now?	yes
What's the last sporting event you watched?	The NY v. Indians game that we lost 1-0. Rebecca, I forced you to watch it too, remember?
Do you need to do laundry?	not yet. I did it last weekend.
Do you listen to the radio?	sometimes I listen to NPR
Where were you when 9/11 happened?	I think French III.
What do you do when vending machines steal your money?	usually a string of curses (not too long tho).
Have you ever caught a butterfly?	yeah, if cupping my hands around one that landed on me counts
What color are your bed sheets?	pink and brown
What's your ringtone?	it varies for each person. Les Poissons, Ironman, GBU theme, Ennio Moricone's song from GBU, Nessun Dorma, and some that came with my phone.
Who was the last person to make you laugh?	My friend from ohio whom I talked to last night
Do you have any obsessions right now?	At the moment, no. i haven't even listened to Tom Waits in the past couple days.
Do you like things that glow in the dark?	yeah i do
What's your favorite fruity scent?	hmm. plum i guess. i actually like the smell of oranges even though i don't like oranges, too.
Do you watch cartoons?	not regularly, but I love them. I used to watch them a lot. Johnny Bravo ftw.
Have you ever sat on a roof?	yup! I love it. I need to venture onto Newc's roof...
Have you ever been to a different country?	Yes.
Name three things in the world you dislike:	violence, corporations, injustice
Name three people in the world you dislike:	I can't limit it to just three. Anyone except peons/grunts in the above three things for the most part, and pretty much anyone under 40 in hollywood, on principle.
Has a rumor even been spread about you?	yes, many. People are so retarded.
Do you like sushi?	I love sushi!
Do you believe in magic?	no.
Do you hold grudges?	Sometimes, but only for very short periods of time.

So, registering for spring term has been very difficult (and is still ongoing). I have to take a lab science and a PE in order to graduate, so obviously those are top priority. But then, of course, there just have to be 3 awesome philosophy classes being offered. 1 of them I'm basically obligated to take, as I gave the professor a hard time for not teaching it THIS term as the course catalog said he was going to. Had he done so, my life would've been easier (well, next term it would be easier, and registering for classes, but actually taking his class would obviously have been more work this term). Anyway, so he was set to teach Phil of Law in the spring, in which I have not much interest (I've heard it's a good class, but they just talk about court cases which I've done in history and it sounds a bit philosophy light, and I didn't want that for my last phil class here). But so he handed it off to another professor so he could teach Contemp. Ethics, and my bitching at him was a primary motivator, because I've never taken a class from him. He really is so cool, so I'm looking forward to taking him, but I'm also incredibly depressed that I can't take both of the 2 other phil classes.
So then I was torn: I could take Geo 100 and take PG's Cyborgs class (which sounds so awesome, and I love PG) or Astronomy and Coach's Philosophy of Sex (how AWESOME is that?! And Coach is awesome, and I've only had 2 classes with her, whereas I've had almost 10 with PG).
I hate geology. I love astronomy. The only other science that I found almost as cool was the Chem 100 level Disorder and Chaos, but that clashes with Contemp. Ethics. Astronomy clashes with PG's class, but not Coach's. Geology is the other way around. I chose astronomy. I'm not taking PG. That's actually quite a difficult thing for me. I really don't want to graduate.
It gets shittier! I have to take a fucking PE (what a waste of time, honestly). Of COURSE all the PEs clash with Contemp Ethics, Astronomy, or Sex except ONE, which is scuba diving, which is arranged. I emailed the prof, but I'm worried, because his classes often are HUGE time-suckers. If it's not too huge though, and I can get in, I will totally take it so that I can audit Sex (Coach already said I could, just because it's me-- there's a lot of interest and she has to limit it already! My reaction: Awww! She told Adam she wants mature students in there just to make sure the class doesn't become frat-tastically retarded).

But so it could be that I will just have Contemp, Astronomy, and the PE, and no coach and no PG. Stacie was telling me over lunch that I can still go in and talk to them of course. And I will see them at the defenses. But it's not so much that my final philosophy classes can't be with them, so much as the realization that this is it. This is the last fucking term (well technically I'm still in winter term, but whatev). I have 11 weeks left in my favorite place in the world, 11 weeks left with some of my favorite people in the world. This sucks royally. This is so much worse than highschool graduation. When I graduated HS, I still saw friends afterward and visited my HS fairly often, actually. It was different, but not fallen apart-- my friendships are still pretty strong even though I haven't seen most of them in a while, and my friendship with Steph, for example, got a whole lot stronger after graduation, and she's my best friend now, which wasn't the case back then.
But this is like graduating HS and college. It will all be gone. Unless in the slim change I go to grad school at OSU or UVA, will I ever really go back to my highschool or my college? It's weird and difficult. I'm so happy here. Whenever you leave, things change. I guess just because of how I am, I feel like that change is going to be negative. I won't get to see my favorite people here daily, I won't get to see my favorite people from home as often depending on how far away I am. It makes me mad at myself for not hanging out with people more often on breaks. Stacie is eager to graduate and overjoyed that she has only 11 weeks left. I almost envy her. But I wonder if she envies me, given that in our daily bitching sessions, she vents her frustrations over her thesis and her advisors, and I vent my frustrations over my thesis but gush about my advisors, and even more often I just tell stories of the hilarious things PG said in class, or the totally sweet and encouraging thing my other advisor said. At the end of each day, I can say despite all the hellish work and how Wittgenstein makes me beat my head against the wall that today was great. Why? Because Phil Sci was great today, PG was hilarious as usual. Or because I had a meeting with WS/PG and they are so much fun to talk to. Or because I was having fun chatting to Coach in her office after she made me tea even though I'm not in any of her classes right now and she was still helping me polish papers to send off to journals. So many good memories.

Oh well. At least astronomy is awesome, and I've heard great things about the professor teaching it and the professor doing the lab. And I'll finally get to take the one phil prof I haven't had yet, and it's a class that will fill a big gap in my philosophy education. I'm excited about BOTH of these classes.

So, my break was pretty good. I'd wanted to visit one of my friends whom I haven't seen in about two years or something, but she was out of town until I was leaving my brother's for home. Oh well, maybe next break?
So I bummed around with my brother and his girlfriend/ my "sister" for the weekend, and did barely anything productive, and it was nice. I went home and did work there-- I now have a shitty rough draft of my thesis (minus the conclusion)! Yeay! And I'm desperately setting up meetings with my very tolerant professors to go over it before I have to present it in my WIPS on Monday. Of course, my one advisor has a conference and is leaving on Wed, so my other is bearing the burden on this one... poor him. We'll see how much we can get done. We get off topic a lot...
I am POOR. It costs so much to travel, even to home. We ate out the majority of the time, which really adds up, but my brother has no food in his apt, and he was working, so he couldn't cook, and I certainly can't either.
My sister has a puppy now that's so cute!! It's a beagle named Susie (Suzy?). She's SO hyper. It was funny when she was at my brother's because his cat, Gorgo, was terrified, even tho Susie was just trying to smell him.

The weekend before was Ethics Bowl weekend, and the competition was bogus as ever. They find the DUMBEST judges! To be fair, the first two sets were actually really good-- one was actually a former philosophy professor. Who better? But then the rest were dunce bankers, except for the one news woman we had in the third round. But oh well, Sunday night was very interesting... haha, I will have fond memories.

Ok I'm about to fall over I'm so tired. I think I'm going to read some Cormac (what a good student I am-- reading Cormac when I have a huge presentation and a paper due at the beginning of next week... (but I really couldn't read Kuhn or Schlick or work on Witt right now (so sleepy...)). If I'm lucky, I'll finish a chapter... I miss having the Colbert book around...

Speaking of Cormac, YAY to No Country winning like 4 or 5 Oscars, including the 3 biggies (screenplay, directing, and picture) and Javier Bardem's win. Those categories really just had to be given to No Country. Just like actor had to be given to Daniel Day-Lewis, who was amazing. Good year for movies...

Poor Witt. I'll get back to him in a sec, I spose... he's killing me anyway. Not as much as Rudolf.

Moral of the story: Don't offer to help your professor with a PowerPoint presentation.
It took forever. But I heart him, and I owed him sorta for being such a slacker this summer, right? Right.

So I have a list of 12 things to do this week (as in, this week ending tomorrow) and have ONE checked off. Granted, it was really 13 things, and so I should have 2/13 checked off... but whatever. I could safely check off African-American Phil., but... I feel like I should read something for that class. Jackson really leaves it up to me to motivate myself...
The list:
1. Anscombe (the only checked one)
2. Carnap (halfway done)
3. Max Black
4. Pears
5. Engelmann
6. Peirce
7. Spanish
8. GRE
9. Phil Sci
10. Phil Sci GGS
11. Journal Submissions (about half done)
12. African-American Phil.

AND I really want to start WRITING this weekend. My thesis. Like, write the additional 21-30 pgs, and polish the first 9 (a lot), because I want to have a solid rough draft before break. That gives me a little less than 2 weeks. Z. O. M. G. Kinda wish I didn't have to watch a Spanish movie tonight.
AND I'm tired.

I hate Hillary. Hate her. I am disgusted that Democrats would like her AT ALL. You might as well put any CEO of any monopolistic corporation up for candidacy, because it wouldn't be any different than having her as a president, except maybe that they might be less overtly racist. Honestly I can't see how people think she's so wonderful, especially after her campaigning antics. 

1. Name someone who made you smile/laugh today.
Stacie, as always. I saw Becky (lemoine) as well this morning, and she always makes me laugh too. :)

2. What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?
Talking to Becky in the dhall

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
reading the New York Times

4. What was something that happened to you in 1993?
I got my cat Missy, and I also got hit by a car. I think the car came first actually.

5.What is your Mum's name?
April.

6. Three words to explain why you last threw up...
Sick-- flu/plague

7. What color is your hairbrush?
It has a cork handle and otherwise is black.

8. What was the last thing you bought?
I think Stacie and I made an impromptu trip to Kroger on Fri, and I bought a whole bunch of stuff. Chamomile tea, splenda, granola bars, tweezers, face moisturizer, and ear plugs.

9. Where do you keep your money?
In my bank account, wallet, and my daddy's bank account and wallet ;) (well, mom's too)

10. What was the weather like today?
FREEZING, as always/!! :( :( :(

11. Where did your last hug take place?
Uh, err, ehm.... I'm sure I hung on Stacie at some point... I might've hugged Victorshizz in my apt when I first saw her this term...I can't remember my last hug

12. What are you excited about?
Finishing my thesis (eventually), my classes, Guatemala

13. Are you very random?
Yeah, my thoughts kind of jump around, and I just follow them. My activities are pretty regular and predictable tho.

14. Do you want to cut your hair?
I just did-- I donated it. It was awesome. Stacie and I want to shave our heads with the Buddhist nuns :D

15. Are you over the age of 25?
Nope, but getting there all too quickly.

16. Do you talk a lot?
Yeah, for the most part, tho it depends on my company as well. With some people, even I can barely get a word in edgewise, and in some classes I don't speak much either

17. Do you watch The O.C.?
No... isn't that a retarded soap? I saw part of one episode because my suitemate sophomore year watched it and it seemed retarded and was eminently forgettable.

18. Does your screen name have an "x" in it?
No, and people who randomly stick them in at the beginning and end-- eg xXpurpleidiotXx-- should be put to death (but they'll probably Darwin Awards themselves anyway) (haha, I just made a verb of Darwin Awards...).

19. Do you know anyone named Kelsey?
That's a name? Gross. On Scrubs, there's Kelso....

21. Are you ticklish?
sadly.

22. Are you typically a jealous person?
no, except of a certain friend who happens to have probably the highest GPA known to humankind...

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "V"?
Victoria.

24. Who's the last person to call you?
Stacie... who else calls me?

25. Do you chew on your straws?
When I'm sharing a coke with someone in the movie theater.

26. Do you have curly hair?
No, though sometimes I consider getting a perm.

27. What is the next show you're going to attend?
Jesse Jackson/!!! (In mock con... the only part i'm going to)

28. Where did you go today?
The dhall, my cave in the library, and then I will be going to (barf) Reid, because they always seem to stick PG's classes in that abomination of a building... which is stupid. Philosophy = Newc.

29. What is something you say a lot?
'Fuck' comes to mind. On a more intellectual side, I say 'philosophy' and 'Wittgenstein' a whole bunch every single day. I'm so focused.

30. Have you seen the movie 'Donnie Darko'?
Yeah, a couple times. It's a great movie.

31. Do you have to work tomorrow?
Yes, I never have days off as a student.

32. Who was the last person to whom you said "I love you"?
Well, I said it in Spanish to Stacie, since it's about the only thing I can say...

33. What should you be doing right now?
Working on homework or my thesis, complaining to the library people (which I'm going to do in about 7 minutes), rereading that Salmon article on Popper for class....

34. Do you have a nickname?
My favorites are Fritz and Caw, which I haven't been called in a long time :( but there are many more. My family loves to make nicknames.

35. Are you a heavy sleeper?
Sometimes, sometimes not. Depends on my level of exhaustion.

36. To what are you listening?
Tom Waits, of course. (His Closing Time album, with which I am OBSESSED lately)

37. What is the best movie you've seen in the past two weeks?
Well, the only ones I've watched in the past two weeks have been Spanish movies, and of those two, I liked Motorcycle Diaries the best.

38. Is there anyone you like right now?
In the sense of "like like"? I hate that use of 'like'-- I always feel like I'm in middle school or something when people say it. I LIKE lots of people, and dislike several as well, but I "like like" only unavailable men, like Clint Eastwood ;)

39.When was the last time you did the dishes?
I have to do that... I have some mugs to clean....

40. Did you cry today?
No, though I was so pissed off in the library last night that I almost did. 

Road to Peace
Tom Waits

Young Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay) was only 18 years old,
He was the youngest of nine children, never spent a night away from home.
And his mother held his photograph, opening the New York Times
To see the killing has intensified along the road to peace

There was a tall, thin boy with a whispy moustache disguised as an orthodox Jew
On a crowded bus in Jerusalem, some had survived World War Two
And the thunderous explosion blew out windows 200 yards away
With more retribution and seventeen dead along the road to peace

Now at King George Ave and Jaffa Road passengers boarded bus 14a
In the aisle next to the driver Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
And the last thing that he said on earth is "God is great and God is good"
And he blew them all to kingdom come upon the road to peace

Now in response to this another kiss of death was visited upon
Yasser Taha, Israel says is an Hamas senior militant
And Israel sent four choppers in, flames engulfed, tears wide open
And it killed his wife and his three year old child leaving only blackened skeletons

It's found his toddlers bottle and a pair of small shoes and they waved them in front of the cameras
But Israel says they did not know that his wife and child were in the car
There are roadblocks everywhere and only suffering on TV
Neither side will ever give up their smallest right along the road to peace

Israel launched it's latest campaign against Hamas on Tuesday
Two days later Hamas shot back and killed five Israeli soldiers
So thousands dead and wounded on both sides most of them middle eastern civilians
They fill the children full of hate to fight an old man's war and die upon the road to peace

"And this is our land we will fight with all our force" say the Palastinians and the Jews
Each side will cut off the hand of anyone who tries to stop the resistance
If the right eye offends thee then you must pluck it out
And Mahmoud Abbas said Sharon had been lost out along the road to peace

Once Kissinger said "we have no friends, America only has interests"
Now our president wants to be seen as a hero and he's hungry for re-election
But Bush is reluctant to risk his future in the fear of his political failures
So he plays chess at his desk and poses for the press 10,000 miles from the road to peace

In the video that they found at the home of Abdel Mahdi (Shahmay)
He held a Kalashnikov rifle and he spoke with a voice like a boy
He was an excellent student, he studied so hard, it was as if he had a future
He told his mother that he had a test that day out along the road to peace

The fundamentalist killing on both sides is standing in the path of peace
But tell me why are we arming the Israeli army with guns and tanks and bullets?
And if God is great and God is good why can't he change the hearts of men?
Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
Maybe God himself is lost and needs help
He's out upon the road to peace

Well maybe God himself is lost and needs help
Maybe God himself he needs all of our help
And he's lost upon the road to peace
And he's lost upon the road to peace
Out upon the road to peace.



Those last 15 or so lines really get me. Tom is awesome. I'm actually not gloomy... I just feel very political lately. Well, I usually do to some degree, but I've been keeping up with the news a LOT. I'm a much better student this term so far... I'm so excited for life. Going to Guatemala especially, and now Stacie and I are thinking of shaving our heads with some Buddhist nuns in India or Tibet, if we teach English there too. I know I want to go into philosophy, but there's just so much I want to do before then, it seems! I keep thinking of all the countries I want to go to. Ok, back to reading philosophy. Barf, Naomi Zack. I look forward to reading Peirce-y-pooh tho...

This one should be sort of... I dunno. I'm so privileged... I don't need a quiz to tell me so, but whatev. I'm sure all these will be bolded.

Based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.



BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:

* Father went to college - Yep, and transferred too.

* Father finished college - BS in Chemistry.

* Mother went to college - A psych major-- can you believe it?

* Mother finished college.- married my dad

* Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor – my dad's side is FILLED with lawyers and doctors.

* Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers - sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Depended on the teacher.

* Had more than 50 books in your childhood home -  my family, minus my stoopid sisters and even stoopider brother in law, loves to read.
* Had more than 500 books in your childhood home – we still do, even after selling > half of them off when we moved...

* Were read children's books by a parent – haha, I got my dad to read me this astronomy book when I was like 6, and it was actually super-sciencey and unintelligible (to me) so we ended up mostly looking at pictures and he would dumb the stuff down... as much as that is possible for my dad

* Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 - i can't even count how many I had, even tho I liked probably less than half... never liked dancing

* The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively - huh? well most college students (even at my school) have an uncanny ability to make themselves sound like tards, so... no.

* Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 – No, but I got a bank card around 18.

* Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs -  Uh, all of it. Except for  fun-spending  for the first  two years, which I covered until I was too poor to, and my housing this summer...

* Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs – See above.

* Went to a private high school – oh yeah, and I'm not ashamed, because it was awesome.

* Went to summer camp - for half my life

* Family vacations involved staying at hotels – yeah,  generally pretty nice ones, or with family. My uncle put us in this freaking resort place in San Diego one year... it was crazy ritzy. 

* Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 - yeah right, I had two older sisters.

* There was original art in your house when you were a child -- to be fair, it was by my aunt (who is AMAZING) and we had one or two that were done by artists who weren't really well known. Altho I think the dude who's at home and in my dad's office is better known now.

* You and your family lived in a single family house
* Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home - yeah, although they're still paying for it maybe, or they just finished.

* You had your own room as a child.  thank god. Well, rooming with my brother would've been ok, except that he's a boy.

* You had a phone in your room before you turned 18 - yeah but I bought it at a garage sale :)
* Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course – Yeah, and it was totally worthless, because I already knew everything that was said, and the teacher actually had me help teach at least half the time. Sigh.


*Had my own TV in my room before I was 18– I still don't. Not that it matters, the family room is right outside my bedroom.

* Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College – I'm guessing yes. I really have no clue-- my parents managed all that crap. But they had a whole bunch of weird finance stuff for me.

* Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 - yep yep.

* Went on a cruise with your family - It was awesome. And I was the only one who didn't gain weight. Of course, I was like 10.

* Went on more than one cruise with your family

* Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up – of course!! Art is freaking awesome.

* You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family – why would I? I didn't pay em. I barely know my heating bills now, except when Nadja is nagging me to give her money for them.

I'm super privileged. Oh well. It's different to be a spoiled rotten brat who thinks he/she isn't privileged. I'm still a Rawlsian :)


<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>You Are a Seeker Soul</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatkindofsoulareyouquiz/seeker-soul.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges.
You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions.
Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist.
Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!).

Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others.
And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you.
You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically.
Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas.

Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsoulareyouquiz/">What Kind of Soul Are You?</a></div>

What a shock. ;)

Ok, I have to pee.

Wittgenstein = death for poor Jessjess.

the weird thing? Despite that I have practically eaten my lip (bad habit of chewing it when i'm doing tough philosophy...) and that i have many moments of wanting to stab myself with something on my desk (the scissors would probably be best)... I'm enjoying it. Well, as much as I can when I'm typing at a pace of write 3-4 sentences per hour, and delete 2-5 because I feel they're wrong. what the hell is wrong with me. I wonder if the row of scholars on my shelf felt as masochistic as I do.

And I hate my sociology class.

I don't wanna grow up
(Tom Waits/K. Brennan)

When I'm lyin' in my bed at night
I don't wanna grow up
Nothin' ever seems to turn out right
I don't wanna grow up
How do you move in a world of fog
That's always changing things
Makes me wish that I could be a dog
When I see the price that you pay
I don't wanna grow up
I don't ever wanna be that way
I don't wanna grow up

Seems like folks turn into things
That they'd never want
The only thing to live for
Is today...
I'm gonna put a hole in my TV set
I don't wanna grow up
Open up the medicine chest
And I don't wanna grow up
I don't wanna have to shout it out
I don't want my hair to fall out
I don't wanna be filled with doubt
I don't wanna be a good boy scout
I don't wanna have to learn to count
I don't wanna have the biggest amount
I don't wanna grow up

Well when I see my parents fight
I don't wanna grow up
They all go out and drinking all night
And I don't wanna grow up
I'd rather stay here in my room
Nothin' out there but sad and gloom
I don't wanna live in a big old Tomb
On Grand Street

When I see the 5 o'clock news
I don't wanna grow up
Comb their hair and shine their shoes
I don't wanna grow up
Stay around in my old hometown
I don't wanna put no money down
I don't wanna get me a big old loan
Work them fingers to the bone
I don't wanna float a broom
Fall in love and get married then boom
How the hell did I get here so soon
I don't wanna grow up

Why do reading days and mid-terms have to fall right during the ALCS?????? Honestly, how am I supposed to studying for my soc. exam and write my essay when I have to watch the Indians crush the Sox? I already have to miss at least half a game because of my chorus concert on Tues :(

Ray Monk's biography of Wittgenstein is freaking AWESOME. I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!! My other classes are already suffering because of this book, and I've had it a day. And I've already read almost 200 pages.

I love the Witt :) Although I do feel so bad for Russell and Moore when he blows up at them. Russell is such a sweetie!

Ok, I'm going to go try to force myself to work on Kierkegaard. Let's hope I succeed. I definitely didn't in trying to do it last night...

So Nadja brewed up some of the tea I bought for her in Germany-- best tea ever, seriously. And so energizing! It's amazing how easy it is to wean myself off of diet coke (I actually prefer diet pepsi, but apparently my school doesn't...) when I have a cup or two of tea each day. I'm convinced it's better for me, and am pretty sure it ACTUALLY is.
But my Ipod DID freeze this morning right before I started working out, which made me VERY irate.

I finally finished my paper for the school yesterday based off of my summer research or whatev. It was such a horrible paper. I hope my prof. doesn't hate me forever for it. And my bibliography was very meager... Steph told me she had like 7 pages!! I had barely 3! Sigh. I'm a horrible slacker. Well I was. And I am. I'm not AS horrible at the moment. Sometimes I feel like I live in the library, but let's face it-- at least 30 mins a day  I spend in my office I'm sleeping and an hour or more is spent playing hearts or sudoku. (Or facebooking or livejournaling...)

So yesterday was the first thesis meeting. We had 24 people crammed into Newc 8, which is a small seminar room for those of you who don't know. So it was HOT and uncomfortable. I was actually nervous and I have no idea why, because all we were doing was going around saying our topics, and mine was (I'm so humble, right?) much better than most (not topic-wise, just that it seemed like people just thought stuff up about 5 minutes before the meeting). Although I was surprised at the similarity of the vast majority of topics, as though everyone just said what the person next to them did-- was there anyone who WASN'T doing some kind of applied ethics or justice?! My goodness! There's one girl, whose study in the library is actually right next to me, who is doing a thesis on medieval philosophy and its influence on some more modern dudes-- including Peirce!! I was so excited. I ran into her in the library afterward and we gushed about how awesome he is (She really likes my topic, and I like hers) much to the frustration of Beef, who was waiting on me while i was philosophy-obsessing. The other non-ethics/justice ones are a Nietzsche aesthetics thing (which a girl did 2 years ago), a phil of mind thing, and a religion thing. And the total meathead about whom I always complain is apparently trying for honors? How the heck is he eligible? I wanted to stab myself in the eye when he was bullshitting and making up topics on the spot. He's the one who wants to do something in philosophy of religion. THAT'S not broad... If there was a person at W&L I actually hated, it'd probably be him. And the kid doing the phil of mind, who was saying how we wasn't an expert and couldn't go into too much detail about eliminative materialism and homuncular functionalism, which is BULLSHIT, because he's read all of Churchland and Lycan, and took phil of mind and the churchlands class just like I freaking did. I was extremely annoyed. This is one thing I don't get about the theses thing. I mean, this kid was the worst, but a LOT of students were doing similar stuff. The Nietzsche kid is doing an independent study on aesthetics, with a focus in Nietzschean aesthetics toward the end of the term-- isn't that basically getting 6 credits (for the first term of honors thesis and the indep. study) for what should be only ONE CLASS? And other students are doing topics for which they've already  read a wealth of material-- even the phil genius kid is doing justice, and his three main authors are those whom he's already read and done extensive work on. There are a couple like me who seem to be branching out, but I guess I just don't get why you wouldn't do something about which you haven't learned much and want to. I've never read any early Wittgenstein, and for me that was a hole that i just had to fill with my thesis. The other possibility I considered was vegetarianism, which is part of another hole (contemp. ethics). Am I insane/masochistic? I guess so. I wonder if that came out sounding mega-elitist... I just figure if you're getting 6 credits for Honors Thesis, you shouldn't have half the work already done... And maybe I"m just a cynic, but I don't think they'll spend that time afforded by having half the work done researching additional stuff (like Beef thinks they'll do) because all phil. majors are slackers to some degree. And, while I'm being elitist, some of the people going for honors are some of the stupidest people I've observed in class. I have no idea how they're eligible, but I seriously think it would be ridiculous if they got honors. It would suck out any sense of achievement in getting honors for me. Because what's the big deal, if meathead boy also got it? I sound like such an overachiever. Not as bad as crazy philosophy kid who wanted to do a Senior thesis AND an honors thesis! That created an amusing stir...

oh, and I really like my soc/politics prof. I'm glad the class is much, much more politics (as in, barely any (if any!) soc-- we've had none so far). My topic for the research paper is AWESOME: transitional justice in South Africa and GDR. I'm excited. This of course means more reading. Lots more. It's not an easy topic. So I have that, and I have to teach myself the Tractatus, and logical positivism, and do the work for my other classes, and basically go insane. I really wish i had no extracurrics but Muse. As in, I wish I kinda hadn't agreed to do this acapella group which might take more work than i have time for and the SEAL thing. Especially since I"m sure I'll be roped into doing the german play next term. I might drop the acappella, even though my friend who started it would probably kill me... but seriously, just being in chorus already takes a lot of time from me.
And it's SO cold already, and I have 5 more weeks of kayaking!! I'm probably going to die of hypothermia.

How's that for a long, ranting, rambling post? I should start/continue reading one of the books in this pile on my desk... All for my thesis, and I've barely even scratched the surface of what i'm gonna have to read...
But my advisors rock! Oh AND Prof. J (who is wicked crazy and awesome) is going to try to do a pragmatism class next term, now that I've nagged him a bit about it... And he's going to join me and the German TA in reading Philosophie auf Deutsch this term. I love the phil dept. I don't want to graduate. I'm psyched to be able to take his class (finally!) next term.

Haha, and I'm listening to Coldplay all because of eschaton_redux :)

Update on my life:
I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm busy!

Time not spent sleeping or eating or exercising is in classes or doing work in Newc or my cave in the library.
WITH THE EXCEPTION! of hiking. Truly the highlight of each week. It is the last thing I will sacrifice to homework and my dreadful thesis.

Why do I have to be a senior?!?!
And I'm sad and annoyed, because I don't love my classes, but I probably could/would, but my classmates annoy me. So do some other people. Which is ok, because most of my time is spent with one person, and the rest is spent with people who annoy me only a little. ;)
I'm so MUCH happier this year, at least so far. It's probably my happiest year. And my saddest, because I'm graduating. I really really really really really don't want to. While I kinda dislike all the drunks/sratties/fratties (95% of student body), I megalove this school.

Nick Cave rocks.

Pavarotti died :'( :'( :'(

Post a list of up to 10 books/movies/anime/TV shows/video games/etc. that you've had an obsessive fannish love of at some time in your life. Have your friends list guess your favourite character from each item. (stolen from </a></b></a></div>This will probably be way too easy.

1. Million Dollar Baby
2. Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Xmas
3. Scrubs
4. Law and Order
4.5. Law and Order: SVU
5. Final Fantasy 3
6. Final Fantasy 7
7. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
8. Dark Tower series by Stephen King
9. All the Drizzt books by RA Salvatore
10. Song of Ice and Fire series by GRR Martin.

And this isn't even close to listing all my obsessions. *Dreamy sigh* Clint Eastwood. And it's not like philosophy books have *characters*....</a></span>

Okay, so 'D' is the letter I'm given, so I have to list 10 favorite songs beginning with it. Haha, some are from just one artist... These are not in any particular order. Oh, and if you reply, I'm sposed to give you a letter and then you do it.


1. Dog Door by Tom Waits
...She got me through her middle name
But she can make it rain
She got a small-town chill
and she's starving in the belly wheel

She got me coming through the dog door
She got me coming through the dog door ...

2. Il Dolce Suono (it counts, "Il" is "the") by Donizetti
Il dolce suono
Mi colpi di sua voce!...Ah, quella voce
M'e qui nel cor discesa!...

3. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right by Bob Dylan
It ain't no use in callin out my name, gal
Like you never done before
It aint' no use in callin out my name, gal
I can't hear you any more
I'm a-thinkin and a-wondrin all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I'm told
I'd give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, its all right

4. Dead and Lovely by Tom Waits

Everything has its price
Everything has its place
What's more romantic
then dying in the moonlight?

Now they're all watching the sea
What's lost can never be broken
Her roots were sweet
but they were so shallow

And now she's dead
Forever dead
Forever dead and lovely now

5. Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

When I saw the break of day
I wished that I could fly away
Instead of kneeling in the sand
Catching teardrops in my hand

6. Downtown by Petula Clark

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

7. Doin' the Cockroach by Modest Mouse

Down the road in your life
You'll look in the mirror and say
"My parents are still alive!"
You move your mouth
You shake your tongue
You vibrate my eardrums
You're saying words
But you know I ain't listening

8. Don't Go into That Barn by Tom Waits

Black cellophane sky at midnite
A big blue moon with three gold rings
I called Champion to the window
I pointed up above the trees

That's when I heard my name in a scream
coming from the woods, out there
I let my dog run off the chain
I locked my door real good with a chair

9. Desperado by The Eagles

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no youger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

10. Drunk on the Moon by Tom Waits

And I've hawked all my yesterdays
Don't try and change my tune
Cause I thought I heard a saxophone
I'm drunk on the moon

 

It's too bad that most of my favorite bands have like no songs starting with 'D'... at least the ones I've heard, that is.