Life is Good!

I chose this image because the other graduate assisstant at the Adult Focus center has a website with some of her artwork and I think she is really talented. Her name is Katie Timperio and her website is www.moonflowergallery.com .

Anyway, I am posting because it has a really long time since I posted last. Just about five months. And even though it just took 11 days for me to get over the worst sinus infection ever, I am still in the state of mind that life is good. This is probably mostly due to the fact that several pieces have fallen into place lately that have been a source of stress for the past two months. My entire graduate future was uncertain because I did not have tuition remission or a stipend job for the fall and spring semesters of my last year which would have made life more stressful. However, as of last Tuesday, I signed a contract to teach Intro to Psychology and this covered my tuition until I graduate. Also, the stipend is better, I get holidays and vacation days off. I no longer have to be tormented by a bunch of overpaid, ignorant, uneducated bitches (I may be a little bitter). I get to teach which is awesome, I will sort of be my own boss in the classroom. I need that because I am way to much of an independent manager-type personality.

Speaking of which, I had a class this summer called Individual Assessment in which we took actual tests and were scored and assessed on our credentials to be an HR Consultant. I scored at the Genius level for IQ, I am an ESTJ on the Myers-Briggs (100% of all executives, 95% of all managers score this way: it means I am Extroverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging), Excellent memory, and pretty much nailed ever other test. All of my hard work and dedication is really starting to pay off.

I am now graduating in 11 months an I am so excited!!

There is probably more, but I am going to get some coffee and goof around for a while. See ya in 5 months!

Update

Since Jen posted her avatar on her blog, and because posting an actual picture (in our blog account, not in a post) is just shy of impossible, I thought I would see how close I could get to myself in avatar format. The selection is pretty limited, so there are discrepancies. First of all I am taller and fatter, my dog is a beagle/basset with some white spots and my hair is not really that color. i thought Jen's was pretty good. If you do not know who or what i am talking about just click on the Auf Asche link to the right.

I just turned 31 on Monday and I wanted to thank everyone who texted, called, emailed, etc. Turning 30 was rough, but now that I am 31 it sort of feels like turning 22, no real "age" milestones for another 9 years.

School is going really well right now, I have busting my ass to stay motivated and waaay ahead of the scheduled due dates. I hope this will add to the quality of my work and give me more free time outside of school. The amount of reading and research is sort of insane, but I guess that is what Graduate school is for. I have an 8am-4pm shift in the lab I work at which is sort of a forced study hall. 8 hours of rather uninterrupted work is the best thing that could have possibly happened to me.

Well, back to the effects of meta-cognition on learner control as mediated by goal-setting theory.

Bible

Vacation

I just wanted to express my joy at having a relaxing and fun vacation with my friends in Memphis. I appreciate your hospitality Jenn & Bob and I hope to see you guys again soon. The best thing about the South is the BBQ and I sure had a lot of it this past week. Hope everyone's holidays have been as good as mine!!

December 2006

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I have neglected my Blog for too long. I have some free time at my assistantship so I just thought I would randomly express my state of mind.

First of all, I have finished my first semester at Grad school and I have received an 3.845 GPA which normally I would be happy with, but the class called Individual Differences (which was a JOKE!!), I received a B+ instead of an A, so it cost me my 4.0.

Also, I was trying to participate more in my program so one of the manifestations of this was joining a club called the IO Club and more specifically, the party-planning committee for SIOP (Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists Annual Conference in New York-which is really a 4-day hotel party). The top ten schools all throw parties for the alumni and the alcohol for the party is all paid for by fund-raising and donations. As a suggestion, I mentioned a Bake sale could be beneficial at one of the meetings. A few weeks later I get an e-mail saying "how's that bake sale coming along, the committee would like to have it before the semester is over." I had to race around planning something I had no idea what I was doing. I can't bake let alone raise money at a bake sale! Anywho, everyone generously donated baked goods and time selling and we ended up making $383. So, apparently I am good at organizing bake sales. who knew.

I am super excited about my upcoming trip to Memphis. I get to see some old friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Plus, I will finally have proof that Bob is alive and that there is not an elaborate conspiracy that is only making me believe he is alive. (Ah how are lives parallel the X-files).

It turns out that I do not hate all children and even would be interested in having my own 4-5 years from now. My other good friends Todd & Julie have a baby named Jacob that is 6 months old and I think he's pretty swell. I don't think the word swell gets used enough anymore. I want to bring it back. I think I will secretly try to get someone to start saying swell by using it around them a lot. I will keep you updated once I find an unsuspecting victim.

caveat- I mentioned this would be random.

SciFi (the television channel) had a mini-series on last week that was one of the most creative and edge-of-your-seat shows I have seen in a long time. It was called The Lost Room and I thought it was quite swell as well. Is something sweller or more swell?

I have been blowing off my second job and now it will end up causing me stress. Stress is not swell. It is unswell or non-swell.

My new favorite album has been John Mayer- Continuum. This is odd because prior to this, I would twitch as though I was allergic everytime I heard one of his songs. Hunh. Sometimes, music speaks to me, I had a similar experience with the new Hoobastank CD a few months ago. It's like a slice of my life pertains to the lyrics and makes the songs more meaningful. Music is swellerific.

Caio for Now

Update

The main reason I am typing a post today is because I did not want to have a big "Fuck You" at the top of my blog anymore. Things are going well right now.

1) I completed my first Grad Class. (Individual Differences)
2) I had my teeth cleaned and was told I have no issues. (In my mouth only; clearly I have other issues...)
3) Of my closest 20 friends that I have, I was able to spend time with the 5 that have not moved hundreds of miles away from me this weekend. I had a lot of fun. While I am on this topic, I would like to digress for a moment. I would like to state for the record that I do not want new friends because I love my old friends and it sucks that they all move away! :(
Side Note: One thing that helps is when they make me scarves...
4) I enjoy TV. The following shows make me happy: How I Met Your Mother(Hilarious), Heroes(Clearly, well thought out), House(Funny), Boston Legal(Ridiculous and never takes itself seriously), Bones(Funny), Lost(Intriguing), Smallville(For the nerd in me), Supernatural(Healthy dose of scary plus X-files people write and direct episodes), The Office(Humorous), & Shark(Good character).

Currently I am working my assistantship, attending class, working as an independent contractor at my old job, a Senator in the University of Akron Graduate Student Government, going to the gym, and have been approached to work at a Veterinary clinic as an administrator(long story). I always seem to do this to myself and I have no idea why.

That's all (Not all people suck that much, just GP's)

People Suck

I just wanted to say that people suck.

That's all.

I'm done.

Legal Extortion: How Corporate America is allowed to rob us blind

The reason I am writing this is because over the past couple of years, I have been made to feel trapped into paying money to companies that I felt I did not owe because of some crap that the company pulled. Or even stealing money out of my bank accounts!

For example, I moved in June to save money while I was in Graduate school. Proactively, 2 months before I move, I called to have my SBC Yahoo! service transferred to the new house because I was under contract still for the service and I love the wireless service provided by them and was happy to do it. I was told by the woman on the phone that I would be unable to have service there for whatever reason (something to do with distance of lines that I have no idea, nor should I have to understand the technical ramifications of a customer service rep when clearly, I, as a consumer don't give a rats ass why if its a bunch of technical jargon--I just want to know my options). She tells me not to worry, because of the fact that its not my fault that I can't transfer service, I will not be charged a fee for breaking my contract. At this point I am actually impressed by their level of customer service--but don't worry, they destroy this opinion later. After painstakingly considering all of my options and pricing various companies, I decide it makes sense to use the Internet service provided by my new cable company because the package deal was reasonable. Due to this switch in Internet service, I canceled my DISH Network and subscribed back to digital cable. This whole process involved exiting contracts and signing new ones. So I make the final call to have my SBC canceled and I am told by this woman that it is possible to transfer and that I will be charged $100 for breaking my contract!! I had to spend hours on the phone literally screaming and fighting at supervisors to get this fee waived. For cancelling a service that I wanted to keep in the first place. Then in August I receive a bill for $52 from them as if my service isn't canceled. Before I can even call and complain they take the money out of my checking account!! I cancel my account again and am told basically tough shit I will not be getting the $52 dollars back. At the top of my lungs I "told" them that under no circumstances are they EVER to touch my bank account again--I never even used auto-bill pay when I was using their service! In September $26 more dollars was STOLEN from my account.

AOL was had a class action lawsuit filed against for their unethical behavior. I experienced this first-hand as well. Every time you cancel their service, they would give you 6 more months free and not tell you. It wasn't until you were charged again 6 months later that you even realized you still had an account. Unfortunately, some good friends of mine got caught in the cross-fire on this one. It's not right!

My apartment complex that I had given 5 months notice that I was breaking the lease early and reached an agreement about what that would cost totally raked me over the coals. I was to pay my final amount on July 1. I was on vacation until the 6th. I gave them everything they asked for, spent 4 hours cleaning the apartment, and noticed that they were already performing maintenance before the end of June. It didn't matter to them--they said because it was late, it invalidated the breaking agreement and that I owed them like $1200 more dollars. I had to fight with them and still ended up paying $700 extra dollars and never saw a dime of my deposit which should have been fully refunded. Otherwise it goes on your credit and hurts you, the consumer. Companies have this attitude where they basically can say pay us or else.

More recently, I had a doctor appointment on a Thursday, received a phone call on Tuesday to confirm appointment. Show up Thursday for appointment, told I do not have one. Told to reschedule---then receive a bill in the mail for $30 stating that I need to pay for not showing up to my appointment. Are you f**king kidding me!! Luckily they dropped the charge with only a minor amount of my irritation.

I don't know, I could probably go on and on for pages expressing different ways I have felt like I was being robbed by some corporation. I seems like the consumer has no power, if you don't pay what they say you owe, you are the one that suffers. I am sick of it!! No matter how proactive I am or how gaurded I go into these situations, something always seems to bite me in the ass and I end up paying for.

I CAN FINALLY QUIT MY AWFUL JOB!!!!!

I just wanted to take a moment to express my pure, unadulterated joy due to the fact that I was hired for a Graduate Assistant position and no longer have to be subjected to the perpetual torment that is my job.

P.S. That picture is just bizarre, I can't even explain why I chose it.

Industrial/ Organizational (I/O) Psychology

*All this pictograph represents is that this area is a combination of do areas of study: Industrial Psychology and Organizational Psychology. Part of this field is Science (Research) and part Applied (Practice). The framework around these fields are Human Resources Management, Measurement (Testing, Statistics), Organizational Behavior, & Psychological Development. These are what my classes in Grad school are about.

What Is I/O Psychology?

I/O psychology, in brief, is concerned with the scientific structuring of organizations and of work to improve the productivity and quality of life of people at work. For most of us, time at work accounts for a very large chunk of our lives. It makes a lot of sense to me that somebody in psychology ought to be looking closely at this facet of life and its impact upon other life domains.

The field of I/O psychology is certainly a very applied field, but many I/O psychologists also address relatively basic research questions. In other words, I/O psychologists very much want to produce solutions to problems in the workplace, but they also usually want to develop a fuller understanding of life at work to produce a solid scientific knowledge base. I/O scientist/ practitioners like being in an environment that has problems that need to be solved, but they also like to discover and collect scientific facts about work and organizational settings that they can apply to problems yet to be faced. There is a lot of justification for this kind of activity because, quite frankly, the world of work is such a fast-moving target of study that many issues are hard to anticipate.

Traditionally, I/O psychologists have focused on understanding individual behavior and experience in organizational settings. That is, the worker has received the most attention. This, of course, continues today. Today more than ever, however, I/O psychologists explicitly acknowledge the importance of considering the whole work system. For example, they conduct research at the group and organizational levels of analysis as well as at the individual level. Also, they formally address the impact on work of environmental factors such as labor markets, economic conditions, and governmental regulations. In fact, operating within a systems approach to understanding people at work has allowed I/O psychologists to contribute to cutting-edge issues in the design of work. For example, I/O psychologists have contributed to the design and development of team-based organizations and have developed strategies for designing organizational structures for work that are flexible enough to ride through turbulent environmental times.

What Do I/O Psychologists Do?

I-O psychology is a diverse field with opportunities in several different areas. Many I-O psychologists work in business in positions dealing with worker productivity, employee training and assessment, and human resources. Other I-O psychologists work in research or academic positions. Specific specialty areas in I-O psychology include human-computer interaction and human factors. Consulting opportunities are also available for experienced I-O psychologists.

How much do industrial-organizational psychologists typically earn?

Median salary - $80,000

University professors - $70,000

Private sector - $100,000

Highest earners – Top 5% earn from $250,000 to several million each year.

What is the job outlook for industrial-organizational psychologists?

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook states that:

Industrial-organizational psychologists will be in demand to help to boost worker productivity and retention rates in a wide range of businesses. I-O psychologists will help companies deal with issues such as workplace diversity and anti-discrimination policies. Companies also will use psychologists’ expertise in survey design, analysis, and research to develop tools for marketing evaluation and statistical analysis.

I am posting this in response to all of my friends that do not understand what the hell I am doing. This still does not cover everything that the field I am studying entails, but I think it gives a good summation of what an I/O Psychologist may be involved in.

Top 5 shows currently on TV....

In response to Scully's top five tv shows that are currently on, I wanted to take this opportunity to list mine as well and to reiterate how much I love Dilana (above) from Rockstar: Supernova. Anyway, my top five shows, sort of in a particular order:

1. Hell's Kitchen- (I could watch Ramsey call Sara a "stupid cow" all day)
2. Kyle XY- ABC Family Mondays, check it out.
3. Nightmares & Dreamscapes: Stories from Stephen King
4. Rockstar: Supernova- (Honestly, just DVR it and watch Dilana & Storm Large--the rest is pretty worthless. Although watching Saydra (sp?) convulse on stage is highly entertaining.
5. Stargate: Atlantis -I cannot stand the regular Stargate after season 8, but this spinoff has a Sar Trek:TNG-esque quality that I really like.

P.S.- Scully, I do agree that M.A.S.H. is a great show, you should make a list of your top five shows in syndication. I know Golden Girls will be on that list....

Links & Comic Books

One other thing about me is that i enjoy comics, so i added a link (if I can get it to publish) to a comics news website called Newsarama and I also added a link to my friend Jen's (Scully's) Blog because I think it is always interesting and fun. Also, she has really cool images usually. She is the one that got me into blogging even though she has yet to check out mine......

Anyway, I began reading comics at the age of thirteen during a long stay in the hospital and I have been hooked ever since. Quite frankly, this does not make me some kind of geek--I just enjoy this type of entertainment, and most people would be surprised how adult most comics really are. Anyway, I really think the art in this particular book (pictured above) is cool so I posted it!

New Stuff

Above is a photo of my new car-- I freaking love it, it's a 2002 Toyota Rav4.

The reason I am writing this blog is to kind of touch base on some lighter topics. I am not always as serious as the previous posts seem. I just bought two new C.D.'s and they both rock. The first is the self-titled The Vanity Project & the second is Hoobastank: Every Man for Himself.

I also wanted to recommend the show Rockstar: Supernova to everyone because Dilana is phenomenal.

Lastly I want to give a shout out to Scully becasue I hope she reads and responds to my Blog for no one else has.

The Renaissance of Me

In February of this year, I turned 30. I was not technically depressed, but not overly happy about it either. Luckily, I was accepted into the graduate program that I wanted a few days later and the happiness brought on by this news totally trumped any negative feelings that I may have still had.

Or did it?
I am at a major cross-road in my life right now. A VERY important one at that. My higher education will propel my career and my social life in ways that I thought improbable at this time in my life. So I had some decisions to make and I decided to reinvent myself.
I know this sounds corny or maybe a little trite, but I'm telling you that I am not even done yet and this is the happiest I have been in years. (For an extended period of time/base level of moodness).

I asked myself:

1. How do others perceive me now?
2. How do I want to be perceived? (Not for validation or because my self-image depends on it, but because I want some things out of life and, intellectually, I understand that there are things that I can do to make it happen)
3. What are my flaws? Both physically and mentally.
4. How can I improve them?
5. What are my short-term goals (3-6 months)?
6. What are my long-term goals (5 years)?

After these and many other questions were thought through, I started to plot out exactly what I wanted to do. A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION OF ME. Not some fake person or a different person, and not just aesthetic changes either. We're talking major overhaul here.

How does one reinvent themselves?
The way I decided to do it was to take everything I did not like about myself and make it something I did like about myself and take everything I love about myself and emphasize it and perfect it. This still wasn't quite enough to make me really feel new, so I then added a mix of different and more sophisticated aspects to my life. To my astonishment, it is working so well that I feel like something awful is going to happen to me just to balance the cosmic scales. The things I did not like about myself were:

1. My tendency to procrastinate.
2. My weight.
3. My hair.
4. My lack of exercising.
5. My attitude*
6. Quit smoking for good, not 4 months or 3 weeks or however long I made it last time, but FOR GOOD!!

*Just the part where I am mean to people and really cynical--only in instances where it could be detrimental to my career or important relationships.

The things that I love about myself:

1. My daring good looks.
2. My personality- sense of humor, honesty, intergrity, etc.
3. My charm and charisma.
4. My never quit, never settle attitude.
5. Organizational skills.
6. Intellect. It is scary how my brain processes outside stimuli.
7. Ability to challenge myself and laugh in the face of danger.

At this point I could go on and on about how much I love myself, but I will spare you.

After identifying these things I immediately set out to change them all. I bought a new car, moved to a new house, started and new grad school program, a new job, a new hair style, new eyeglasses, new wardrobe, made a schedule of everything i was procrastinating and started checking them all off a list--I won't stop till all of them are done (I have six doctor's appointments in August including the dentist and oral surgery that I have been putting off for 2 1/2 years.), I have a new attitude, new way of eating ( I have lost 20 pounds and want to lose 30 more), bought a gym membership, quit smoking, quit drinking and this has all happened in about two months. I am so excited to see what I can accomplish for myself in the next year that the positive force that is my life is practically unstoppable.

I recommend to anyone that is unhappy about their life to stop whining and do something about it. NO EXCUSES!!! A lot of these things seem superficial, and they probably are, but it made me feel good and feeling good is like drug. The better you feel about yourself the more productive and confident you become.

Crossroads

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I had made different decisions along the way and I wonder if I would still like myself as much as I do now. For all of the wrong turns and misfortunes that have stemmed from my decisions, I feel that I have a certain amount of character and I never want to lose that. There are so many times in my life when I am faced with big decisions that will ultimately alter the course that I am currently on. I never realized in my youth how evident this would be for me. I always thought that random occurances would steer my life, and they do to some extent, but a large part of being an adult is making these big decisions. For instance:

What career do I chose?
What job do I chose?
What school do I chose?
What am I going to decide are priorities in my life and what order will I ultimately put these priorities in?
How do I want to interact with others?
Where do I want to live?
How will I treat my responsibilities?
What kind of person do I want to be?

I feel that many people may think that they can ignore these kinds of decisions or don't even look at things this clearly. I believe that these are people that do not get very far in life and are lucky if they get anything that they want, if they even truly know what they want in the first place.

Or am I wrong?

Maybe I am faced with so many big decisions because I am an over-acheiver/over-analyzer or maybe I think too much. Maybe these decisions are difficult for me because I am so afraid I will make the wrong one even though I refuse to let any kind of fear steer my decision-making process.

I believe life truly is a journey and that all of the experiences and acquaintances that occur are part of who we are and the character we posess.

Appetizer or Afterbirth?

Quote of the day: Are you looking up Placenta recipes again?

Something absolutely digusting transpired yesterday and bled over (no pun intended) into this morning. I was reading my Yahoo! news articles that are e-mailed to me everyday, when I came across an article that stated Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their baby. Whatever, I thought. When my officemate came over and said that she saw an article where Tom Cruise said he was gonna eat the afterbirth, I absolutely did not believe this and was completely chilled to the bone at the notion of someone doing this.

Later in the afternoon, I mentioned this to another co-worker and she said that she has heard of people burying it, but not eating it. With peaked curiousity about Scientology practices and the thought of how odd Tom Cruise has acted for the media lately, we decided to go to a scientology website and find out if they really do this. They don't, but we made an error in judgment and typed 'placenta eat' into Google. All of our remaining innocence was lost. Not only do people in this modern society bury their placentas (which has some symbolic meaning at least-- and is only kind of gross), there are instructions on placenta art (framing the placenta itself or using it as a paintbrush--the instructions included steps for wiping off the blood and adding paint or just painting with the blood RETCH!!!), and finally there were MANY dining options. Oh yes, not only do people eat this; there are recipes for Placenta Lasagna, Placenta Stew, Placenta cocktail (I swear to God that step 1 was "Grind up Placenta"). There were pictures and an anecdote of a British television cooking program that televised a woman cooking her newly born child's placenta into 'Placenta Patee'--followed by her husband having seventeen helpings! I do NOT recommend anyone performing a search like this EVER... so many, many reasons why.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Scientologists as a group do not do this and I found no accurate source that Tom Cruise is planning on doing this, but there are plenty of people that ARE doing this. Apparently, it is okay to ask for a doggie bag in the maternity ward!

Who knew.

Is Hard Work Really Worth it?

Before I comment on my initial thought that prompted this meandering of my mind, I must comment on another instance of the ridiculousness of the general public. I decided, since this is my first post on my blog, that I would insert an image to familiarize myself with the different inner-workings of posting. With little thought of what I wanted or how I wanted it to look, I set out to find an image that would in some way relate to hard work. I opened a web browser (Yahoo! is my Homepage), saw that I could search only images, typed 'hard work' and then I hit enter. Horrified barely describes my state of mind- Thousands of GP's (see below) have taken random pictures of themselves and people they know doing nothing (sleeping, resting, NOT working) and labeled the images things like "Grandpa Hard at Work" or "Working Hard". Are we, as a civilization, really so simple-minded that this is the best attempt at humor that we can come up with? My God, I had to go to the fiftieth or sixtieth image to even find one that related to work at all! Seriously, anyone that finds that funny and is over the age of eight should definitely NOT be posting on this blog...EVER. I will recognize that it is ironic (by definition), but not funny, and certainly not funny enough to post on-line.

NOTE: I am now coining the expression GP to mean people that I associate with the General Public. These are the people that I euphamistically despise because their overwhelming numbers are the root cause of all problems ever. This may not be rational or even make sense, but I must direct my disdain towards someone, so this segment of the population that exists in my brain will feel the wrath of my angst. I mostly believe that GP's were sent to Earth to annoy me and anyone who understands what I am saying knows what a GP is. These are people that, because of their actions, cause me to have stress or make me witness or think about something that is a waste of my time and/or brain cells. (This pisses me off mostly because I highly value my brain cells)

Anyway, the picture I chose is an artists' expression of hard work. I enjoy the emotional response viewing the piece gives me. The title of the painting is 'Hard Work', by Florian Ludovick. Ergo, it fits my topic. I began typing this post to express my hatred towards my job right now, but I feel this is a better first post because it expresses my viewpoint better and also it relates to the theme of my blog . Don't despair though, I really hate my job and you will definitely find out why if you keep reading.

P.S.- I feel this deserves a quick explantion, only to save me the trouble of having to explain it later. If anyone stumbled into my blog because they were searching on the word bible for religious reasons- I don't apologize. Bible is my last name. I did not ask for it, I did not change it, and my beliefs are my business. In time maybe I will express them here, maybe I won't. All I know is that I have the right to use my name in my blog address so if anybody is offended by what I write, it probably means you are a GP and are not welcome here anyway. I am cynical as hell and too smart for my own good so please take what I say with a grain of salt and have fun, life's too short. Til next time!