I like reading, and learning about lots of things. I play games, like Scrabble, that require a working brain to be good at. Are these such awful things? Recently a coworker criticized me for playing Scrabble via the internet in lab - not because I was wasting valuable research resources for (God forbid) pleasure purposes, but because one shouldn't enjoy activities that tax one's brain. I say bah - if I'd rather read "Ivanhoe" than "Us Weekly," and would rather play Scrabble than stare blankly at a computer screen while the machines are taking and recording data for me, does that make me a bad person? Maybe a weird person or an elitist or some other such nonsense, but not bad or wrong.

Valentine's Day

Another day celebrating (sort of) St. Valentine is approaching. This day, for many, serves as an excuse to pay extra money for their significant other. For me, it is a reminder of my past attempts and failures, as well as my current situation. As if life as a graduate student isn't already stressful and ego-deflating enough.

Fermentation is one of the the greatest inventions/discoveries in human history. This afternoon I felt like crap because of labmates/adviser/research/girl problems/other, and I consumed a large quantity of alcohol, and felt okay. I went back to lab, took some data with no labmates around (which means I can yell at equipment and listen to loud music) and I felt pretty good. Now if only I could solve the "woman problem".

B12

Various steroid users (Clemens, Palmeiro, Tejada, among others) have taken the stance that they were just shooting up Vitamin B12. This, of course, begs the question of why one would inject a substance when it is readily available in pill form and every food on earth these days is fortified with it. Basically, these athletes are calling us all gullible fools.
Of course, there is another option. These athletes actually were unaware of what they were doing. In this situation they were given steroids by a third party and told it was B12, they took it, felt that extra burst of energy and all the other benefits of steroids, and thought, "Hey, this B12 stuff is awesome! I should keep using it." This would make the users essentially innocent (sort of like the insanity plea), but it also would show how little they know about health and medicine.
Personally, I think there's no way anyone, mush less a world-class athlete, should put substances into their bodies without understanding ahead of time what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Women

I don't understand women. Well, at least one particular woman. Is it so hard to give a definite answer to a question? I'd prefer an honest, straight up rejection to the vagueness that I get now. (E.g. "I'd love to [whatever I asked - movie, dinner, whatnot], but I really have homework to do all night.) Is it so hard to say, "no, and never in the future" so that I don't sit and wonder whether homework actually is a priority and debate in my head whether or not asking again is worth it?

My labmates suck. That is all.

Purchasing

I went to Barnes and Noble today to buy more reading material for the upcoming time period, especially for my upcoming plane trip to/from Florida. So I get Ivanhoe and The Aeneid from the bargain books area, and the cashier makes some smarmy comment about a "little light reading" for tonight (referring to my selection). Now, if the cashier had some constructive thing to say, she should by all means say it, or if she is curious about some aspect of my purchases, she should ask. Otherwise, I don't really need more confirmation from society that I'm a complete nut.