AM one

Tracy: "He's afraid of you. Why make that your problem? He's afraid."
Ally: "Why?"
Tracy: "He's interested."
Ally: "Men are supposed to pounce when they're interested. That's-"
Tracy: "Hello? They pounce on the wrong girls. When it's the right girl, they turn into bumbling little chickens."

reading list

Books I'm currently reading:

"Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory" by Roy Blount Jr

"The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World" by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

"Booky Wook 2" by Russell Brand

sentience

Sentience is another word for consciousness, or the ability to be aware of oneself. For example, you know that you are a human. You know that you are separate from the world around you. When you think a thought or feel an emotion, you know that it only applies to you. You understand that the rest of the world does not change as your mind changes. You are aware that no one else feels or thinks the things you do. You are also aware that your thoughts and feelings come from inside you; they're not placed in your mind from an external source. You have a memory of your thought processes - you know that you didn't always think or feel the way you think or feel right now. And you know that you probably won't think or feel tomorrow the way you do right now. This self-awareness is one of the foundations of human intelligence. Without it, humans would be nonthinking brutes, unable to plan, or remember, or relate to other people.

- The Science of Battlestar Galactica by Di Justo and Grazier, page 32

starting point

For my birthday I asked my parents for a graduate school book that broke down programs by field and programs by state. I have key places I'm interested in moving to in order to attend grad school (Chicago, Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York) but I'm trying not to limit myself. I took a moment today and maneuvered my way through this book. I decided to approach this process by first circling the grad school fields of study I was interested in pursuing and learning more about. This is that list, narrowed down:

African Studies, Anthropology, Arts Administration, Art Therapy, Child Development, Corporate and Organizational Communication, Counselor Education, Cultural Studies, Demography and Population Studies, Educational Leadership and Administration, Ethnic Studies, Higher Education, Human Development, Humanities, Human Services, International Affairs, International Development, Liberal Studies, Nonprofit Management, Public Administration, Public Affairs, Public Policy, Religion, Social Psychology, Social Sciences, Social Sciences Education, Social Work, Sociology, Student Affairs, Therapies-Dance, Drama, and Music, Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Education, and Women's Studies

Granted I need to do further research on several of these fields but these are the grad school programs I'm interested in committing to in order to learn more about myself and the world. THIS is a starting point.

the science of kissing

"When it comes to humanity's first kiss, or its predecessor in another species, we have no way of knowing exactly how and why, once upon a time, it happened. After all, there are kisses of joy, of passion and lust, of love and endearment, of commitment and comfort, of social grace and necessity, of sorrow and supplication. It would be silly to assume all these different types of kisses developed from a single behavior or cause; in all likelihood, we kiss as we do today for multiple reasons, not just one."

rant on LD

I don't mean to sound repetitive but why does it seem like guys are afraid of long distance relationships? Are they ideal? Of course not. Are they difficult? Usually. But if you've struggled to find someone you connect with on a) emotional b) intellectual c) spiritual and d) physical levels and happen to meet someone who rocks your world, even if they live elsewhere, why pass up the opportunity to see what could happen? You could be missing out on something amazing but you'd never know it because you're not taking a chance to witness the possibility. It automatically fails because you didn't try. And all I know is that I'm quite a good catch, and if the next guy I meet lives out of town or out of state (like the last three potential guys) and he's so quick to say "no" then I'll probably join a convent. Or I'll move. I'm seriously fed up with this bullsheet. I don't like being teased with hopeful possibilities.

kind quote 1/31

For Christmas my mom gave me a desk calendar called "Kind Anecdotes" which provides sayings and stories related to kindness. Today's kind quote has been my favorite thus far for this year:

"Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it."
- Pablo Casals