Reprieve

I am writing a 6 page paper on the cultural competancy (or lack thereof) in the DSM-IV-TR. I know, thrilling, right? You are all beggin' for a copy of it? No? OK. I won't post my drafts here. Especially since before I started writing my paper(s) over the past week, I decided to brush up on my APA format. Seeing as I have actually never been required to use APA (BYU Music department used Turabian) that was an excellent plan. My eyes were opened to a while new world of academic writing, the first of which was to refer you myself in the first person, that's right folks, I am to use "I" and "We" when writing academic papers. WHAT!!!!!!???? My 12th grade English teacher NEVER would allow this! Now, lest you think I'm completely insane, you should know that I always have used "I" and "we" when writing my papers. I've just always felt a deep sense of guilt... no, betrayal, or maybe just some sense of rebellion against the Ms. Hallan, Comstock, and Nordine that were my paper-writing educators in the formative years.

And that wasn't the most revealing or difficult habit to overcome! The APA guidelines also told me to avoid alliteration! Or rather, to avoid the use of poetic devices such as alliteration, rhyme schemes, and other flowery constructs. Seriously, these APA people couldn't even just have enough fun to say "Avoid alliteration". They had to actually do it.

SO along with adventures in APA (hey, this isn't an academic endeavor), there are discoveries and escapades waiting around every grad school corner. Here are some highlights. (Alliteration is Awesome!)

I am taking the bus to and from class, because its pretty direct, it forces me to stick to a schedule, and its free as a student. The other day, a 14 yr old spent his entire bus ride untangling a slinky. It was fascinating to watch for some reason. Maybe because my brain was so fried. It was a good slinky, the original metal kind, and it was a mess. I saw him working on it when I boarded the bus, and found myself glancing over to check on him occasionally. He was so careful about it, examining and pushing things through and around, working very hard to not bend it. By a few minutes in, I was hooked, watching without trying to hide it and rooting for him. I was pretty emotionally invested in the health of that slinky. What a relief that it was in normal functioning condition again by the time we disembarked. I would have probably stayed on the bus well past my stop in order to assure myself that the slinky would come out ok. And honestly, it was better than prime time television.

While waiting for said bus, I was innocently standing at the blue bus stop sign on highland in sugarhouse, when I noticed that traffic was backed up because a large SUV had just stopped right there by the bus stop sign. The lady in the car was frantically motioning, and it took me a moment to realize she was motioning to me. I waved, thinking maybe she thought I knew her, or maybe I did know her, but she still just continued to frantically wave her arms at me. I was concerned. I walked over to her car and asked if there was a problem. She practically yelled at me. "Would you just cross the street? I'm holding up traffic so you can go!"

"But I don't want to cross the street."

"Well then why are you just standing there at the curb?"

"I'm waiting for the bus."

At this point she made some sort of an explosive huffy disgusted sound that would be impossible to try and spell and laid into the gas pedal as if I weren't standing 8 inches from her car. I double checked. Yes, the signpost I had been leaning on had a large blue "Bus Stop" sign at the top of it. I'm sure it was kind of her to stop to let a pedestrian cross the street where there is no semblance of a crosswalk or intersection,I bet she was even trying to count it as her good deed for the day. But I still say she was the crazy one, not me.

Incidentally, the bus was stuck in the line-up of cars behind her.

Per my penultimate post about eating, I have rediscovered the joy of the peanut butter sandwich. And I offer many thanks for the feedback. (HaHA! did you catch that one? Feedback. :P) I am enjoying ham and cheese crepes and have a plan to begin experimenting with refried beans. I put veggies in my ramen and occasionally make potato dishes involving a jumbo sized container of rotisserie chicken spices. I have cut back significantly on my eating out. There is still some ground to cover there. But, you'll be happy to know that while I still haven't found a supplier willing to fund my ice cream habit (I'm looking at YOU, ColdStone), I have improved my own ice cream-making abilities and discovered that target's store brand, market pantry, has some wonderful chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches.

Ahhh, the highlights. It feels good to write the real way for a few minutes before I return to this academic stuff. Thanks for indulging me, oh world of blogginess