last book i've read: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
music currently caressing my ears: still Modest Mouse, the earlier stuff.
general mood: calm, pensive
quote i just thought of: "The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars."--Johnny Cash
It's the first monday of winter break. I already miss Wayland, but look forward to spending time with Tariq in Wausau (he got a job as a sports writer for the Wausau Daily Herald) and Sam. I don't know when her break starts. But man, it's been an exciting month since I last updated. Exciting, stressful, all that.
I worked very hard the last month of classes to do well in my psychology of gender and ethnographic writing classes. My medical anthropology class is another beast all its own, what with a semi-incompetent professor who can't give clear, direct instructions, but besides that, I ended the term with a bang. In my GPA, hopefully. Also, to my utter delight, our research methods study was published in Psychology of Women quarterly, you can see the abstract
here if you're curious. It seems that Good Morning America will be doing a piece on it, according to Prof. Glick, and he's had PR heaven/hell since the study has been published and publicized. Apparently dressing sexy in the workplace is a big deal, and I can't decide if our study reaffirms or challenges traditional gender roles. People are saying that the study confirms their belief that women are being treated unfairly, which make people aware of their biases when hiring. This could lead to better application and interviewing strategies, and ultimately help women further themselves in the workplace. However, it may also lead people to claim that women shouldn't be dressing the way they want to, that they must dress and act conservatively if they expect to do well in the workplace. Or that they shouldn't be in the workplace at all, which could be a step back for women. I hope the former occurs rather than the latter.
Catie and I are close friends now, and I won't hide my joy - I'm happy to have her in my life more than ever before. I like her style, her sensitivity, her straightforward manner of confrontation, and her ability to feel comfortable in almost any situation, which in turn empowers me. Guess I like having friends, what can I say?
I miss Wayland and Tariq. Tariq will be a piece of cake to visit, I have no problems visiting him in Wausau. But Wayland is half a country away; it's more difficult to hold his attention when everyone is vying for it. And soon he'll be in Hawaii.... again. So I can only sit back and reminisce with pictures at this point. Meh, it was gonna happen. If only I knew how to deal with distance, you'd think I would know after 3 years.
Hopefully Tariq and I will hit the martini lounge as soon as he has a day off. It'll be good to hang out with him again. In Wausau! Does it get any better than that? I'm such a sap, I just realized. As if I didn't know.... I forsee good things in my future, even boredom can be a good thing. Makes you think long and hard about the things of life. Like I don't do that enough already. Anyway, here's to a welcome break and relaxing one. With friends!
