so you may have noticed...

...that my blog has been a bit inactive lately. So I'm putting up a temporary

sign on my proverbial blog lawn.



Fear not, I will be back soon. Until then, enjoy some pretty pictures of José Nicholas Théodore.

sarah, sartre, what's the difference?

Excerpt from my travel journal (actual trip recap to come later):

Paris, 6 March 2009

Friday night in Paris - sitting in Les Deux Magots with a glass of red Bordeaux and a notebook. I'm feeling inspired and philosophical...and like maybe I should go buy a beret.

Yesterday I had a meeting with my Biological Psychology professor to discuss my essay on the mind-body relationship that's due next Thursday. Ever since I learned there was a debate about the relationship, I've known my stance--I firmly believe that what we define as the mind, consciousness, or even the "soul" is a mere product or extension of the physical brain. I don't believe in some higher intangible element of our being that lives on after the body's death.

And not to offend anyone, but I think the main reason people do believe in an eternal soul is that they're scared of dying, of ceasing to exist. Religion began because a) people needed explanations as to how the world worked, and b) people wanted to believe that they would live forever, in some way or another. Now religion has become a tradition--in certain cases (but not all of course), a narrow-minded, bigoted, and prejudiced tradition--and even though science is answering all of these previous unknowns, people don't want to give up their God and their idea of Heaven because they're scared to death of, well, death. Truth be told, I'm scared of death too. Which is why I'm living it up in Paris while I can, I guess!

But back to the mind-body thing for a bit. There are some recent research developments that give evidence to support my claim. They are also totally mind-blowing and slightly disturbing. And super cool, if you're a nerd like me. So basically, fMRI scan technology has advanced to the point where it can quite accurately read people's intentions; effectively, a simple form of "mind reading". One form of experiment is as follows: they stick people in the machine then have them do simple mathematical equations without telling the researcher whether they are adding or subtracting--and based on the machine's readings, the experimenter can then predict what the final number will be. Of course, they can't read thoughts, and the data isn't instantaneous because it still has to be analyzed after it's collected, but the main point is that the most recent tests have shown that the neurons in the brain can start firing almost full seconds before a person is consciously aware of a decision they are going to make.

If this is an accurate depiction of how the mind works, it brings up a pretty scary prospect: free will, as we understand it, doesn't actually exist. We think our conscious mind is deciding something, but if our neurons have made the decision long before we are aware of it, then is it really us doing the deciding? Can we even be held responsible for our decisions? I don't think the excuse "my brain made me do it" would fly in most cases, but it's an interesting thing to think about. Some people say the human brain is incapable of understanding itself. Maybe that's true, because this stuff is blowing my mind...or my brain...or whatever. This type of technology also brings up a whole host of ethical issues, but that's for my Conceptual Issues paper, not my Biopsych paper, so I don't have to think about that until next week.

Well, that was a long and pointless ramble. Maybe there's something in the French air that makes people want to harp on about God and philosophy. Me and Descartes, just like two peas in a pod...

France has made me weird.

Weird, indeed. I just thought I should share.

quick notes

Lots of things have happened over the past few days that I haven't had the time or energy to blog about, so I'm just going to do a quick rundown and stick them all in one post.

1) Arsenal beat Roma 1-0 earlier this evening on a Van Persie penalty. Again, Bendtner was kind of shite. Eboue got a standing ovation when he was subbed off, which is good I guess (that the fans aren't booing him anymore at least), but he's still pretty crap too. Positives about the game? Um, we won.

2) This article says Fàbregas is scheduled to come back for the Man City game in April. My Citeh-loving buddy better come through with those tickets. I don't even care if I have to sit in the away section.

3) My sister got engaged. I haven't actually been able to speak to her about it yet (she told me on Facebook while I was in Brighton, haha) because she's always out when I call. So I don't know all the details yet, but it's pretty exciting! For those who don't know, the sis is 22 and is due to graduate this spring; her fiance is 24 next month, graduated a year ago, and works for a bank in Pittsburgh.

4) I have three essays due soon. One every week until the end of term, specifically. I should probably start writing those.

5) I'm starting to think about where to go in April, when I have a month off of school. If any of you have input, feel free to leave it in the comments!

6) Don't forget to vote in the Hottie World Cup! Specifically, don't forget to vote for the USA in the Hottie World Cup! We're beating the Italy B team, but not by much.


You should also vote for the Dutch, because they're behind. Ditto Croatia. They also have awesome promo videos:



First round voting ends at 12:01 am GMT on Thursday. And thanks to Kickette, Unprofessional Foul, The Offside, and everyone else who has helped to spread the word!

new place, same old habits

So my New Years resolution to stop procrastinating totally isn't panning out well. I have a 1500 word essay due tomorrow and so far I've written...250. AND I had all day yesterday to write it because I had no classes. I even put myself in voluntary isolation by refusing to sign on to AIM or MSN, and I still couldn't convince myself to work.

I just have a problem working without pressure. I can't force myself to write essays unless the deadline is mere hours away. As strange as it sounds, I write better like that. Even the knowledge that I would want to watch international football matches this evening/tonight didn't force my brain to concentrate and get my shit done early. So now I'm going to stay up all night to write about the limitations of the DSM classification system.

Sarah's timetable:

3:00-6:45 = Attempt to work. Try to get at least 1/2 of essay written.
6:45-8:45 = Croatia vs. Romania. Check up on a certain Arsenal player's progress.
[8:00-10:00 = France vs. Argentina. Mild interest, but probably won't catch much of it due to previous and next matches listed.]
9:00-11:00 = Spain vs. England. Theo being injured means I have (less than) zero interest in team Engerland, so viva Espana!
11:00-12:00 = Work? Doubtful. Will probably screw around on facebook until...
12:00-2:00 = USA vs. Mexico! Not merely a friendly like the others (pssh, like anytime we play Mehico could be considered "friendly"), but the first match of the final World Cup Qualifying round. I will no doubt be exhausted by this time, but there is no way I'm missing the game.
2:00 - ? = Nap. Will wake up in a few hours to finish essay.
12:00 Thursday = Deadline.

free at last

Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel? I do!

I'm done with all of my work and my exams and my studying and my papers! I am now looking at seventeen days of blissful freedom, with nothing to do except give Christmas presents, get Christmas presents, bake cookies, and pack my life up into two small(ish) suitcases to take overseas.

Which will be a chore in itself, but it's not a stressful one. Well, not that stressful. Although I still have to figure out how they expect me to live on three (seriously?) pairs of shoes for six months...

to do this week:

• Start Romantic Lit paper
• Finish Romantic Lit paper (Due: Tuesday 9^th)
• Psychology Extra Credit (Due: Wednesday 10^th)
• Study for Philosophy final (Friday 12^th)
• Write Romantic Lit final (Due: Monday 15^th)
• Study for American Lit final (Monday 15^th)
• Study for World Politics final (Tuesday 16^th)
• Revise/finish American Lit Interaction Journal (Due: Wednesday 17^th)
• Complete American Lit free writing folder (Due: Wednesday 17^th)
• Clean room
• Stuff everything I own into my car
• Drive home

(To do after the semester is over: Eat, sleep)

maybe i just shouldn't eavesdrop

It's strange how different opinions can sometimes be. Today I overheard two girls in my American Literature class bitching about my Romantic Literature professor, who they have for Creative Writing. They were going on and on about how horrible a teacher he was, and how unnecessarily harsh he was on their papers, and how what he wrote was all subjective anyways.

Funny thing is, he's my favorite professor this semester. I think he's a fantastic teacher, and yeah he's a tough grader, but he certainly knows what he's talking about. Maybe I'm biased because I've gotten several very good grades in his class so he likes me, or they're biased because they've gotten bad grades, but it's still strange to me. I also love the subject matter which could make a difference; maybe I wouldn't like him as much if I took his Creative Writing class.

I have my second paper for that class due Tuesday: a comparison/contrast between William Blake's A Little Boy Lost and Percy Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy. I haven't gotten very far on it. I haven't even fleshed out my thesis yet. But even if I get a horrible grade on my paper, I honestly don't think that would make me like Dr. Welch less because of it.

[Random side note: People always ask why I'm not an English major, and sometimes I have a hard time coming up with an answer. Is it weird that I'm actually looking forward to writing this paper? Blake is one of my favorite poets in general, and The Mask of Anarchy is probably my favorite poem at the moment. Maybe I'm just odd, and that's the reason I'm the only one that likes my teacher.]

worst halloween costumes ever: blog challenge two

So yesterday, as I'm sure you are all aware, was Halloween. My costume was pretty sweet, if I do say so myself...

...but there were others that I saw that really were not up to par. So I have compiled a list of what-not-to-wears, Halloween style.

1) Most of us have seen Mean Girls, but really, the "slut rule" should not be taken that seriously. Don't be slutty unless your costume is also actually good. The generic ones that you buy online (eg. French maids, Catholic schoolgirls, Playboy bunnies) are boring, overdone, and show far too much of what lots of girls probably shouldn't be showing. There was one girl I saw at the party last night just wearing a black bra and underwear and boots. WTF she was supposed to be, I have no idea.

I did see a few somewhat clever ideas though. One girl that we met on the bus was wearing birthday wrapping paper with a tag that said "From God, to men": God's gift to mankind. There was also a girl who was wearing a rather revealing outfit, but she had two plastic fried eggs on her head: eggs over easy. I can forgive whoreishness on Halloween as long as you've got a unique idea to go with it.

2) Do not dress as Sarah Palin. It's just a big no. That includes both girls and boys.

3) Guys, do not go out with just a wig on. That's ridic lazy.

4) Girls, a black dress with two lipstick spots on your neck does not a costume make. I don't care how much you pout when you take pictures of yourself on the bus, you do not look like a vampire.


Some of the good costumes I saw out:

1) A grocery bag

2) Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

3) Indiana Jones (okay this was nothing that special, but I love Indiana Jones so this costume is always good)

4) A Piñata (already broken, with candy stuck all over)

5) Party on Garth, party on Wayne!
Schwing!

i love lists

Things that I miss while I'm at school:

1) Tysons Corner Center, AKA a mall that is more than one level and five stores.

2) Whole Foods Market.

3) Starbucks breakfast sandwiches.

4) My gym.

5) Geisha, my pretty papillon.

6) Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV (as well as a big screen TV with HD).

7) My best friend Emaline and her strange sense of humor.

8) Civilization. People, as opposed to farm animals.