shadowclaw

Thanks for the comments! I definitely don't have a preference for how the paper feels for my own copy, so paying extra for that would be senseless. My thesis will almost certainly sit on shelves gathering dust and never be opened, save for someone perhaps looking at it to find out if it's printed single-sided or double-sided (which is what I did). One copy will sit in the library and one in the department's conference room. I'm getting one for myself and one for each of my committee members (though I will probably skip the fancy book binding for them and go with spiral). I doubt they will ever actually look at them either, especially considering I'm going to publish it and they will ultimately have PDF files of the papers to reference. I did inherit a single piece of thesis paper from my advisor. When searching his office for some, it was all he found, and he was quite amused when he gave it to me.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for what paper I should get for printing my thesis. The graduate school's requirements are 100% cotton and 20 lb. It seems like most people go with Southworth exceptional thesis paper, here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Southworth-Exceptional-Thesis-Cotton-35-120-10/dp/B001I8ZY22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430455298&sr=8-1 However, I also found 100% cotton business paper made by Southworth and I can't figure out what makes it different from the thesis paper. Linked here: http://www.amazon.com/Southworth-Cotton-Business-Paper-White/dp/B00006IE2C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1430455298&sr=8-4 The business paper is about half the price, and I'd rather spend $27 than $50 for 500 sheets. Any thoughts or experiences with either of these papers?

There are 2 schools that haven't given me a decision yet. For one I assumed that I would be rejected soon after April 15, however, my application is still marked as in review. I suppose it's possible that they are still making their way down the waitlist, but I really want to bring closure to that application, as it was my first choice. The other I honestly have no clue about. In the past, the admissions committee has met after April 15 and sent acceptances as late as June. It's actually my last choice, but since my funding is in limbo at my only acceptance, it sure would be nice to have a funded offer. Then again, my acceptance doesn't have a due date for me to commit, so I can wait until I do know about funding to confirm my intent to enroll. An acceptance by this school would force me to make a decision before I have all my cards on the table.

I discovered today that my department at my undergrad school made a facebook page about a year ago (which I was invited to like at some point but never saw it). While browsing through some of the photos, I discovered that a picture of me doing a titration was the cover photo for the entire past year up until a week ago. And I didn't get to see it, darn it! Well, at least they love me, anyway (or something like that).

I am in the same boat as Ellies. I was accepted to OSU and am on the TA waitlist. The way it was phrased by the program coordinator, it seems like there are likely enough TA positions to go around, but they can't guarantee a spot until fall enrollment is finalized. I did get a partial tuition scholarship that covers a third of the tuition... would be 2/3 if I was an Oregon resident. I am also still on the waitlist at UTK.

Haha just a school in the middle of Pennsylvania. No big cities nearby, so undergrads must have to resort to pizza thievery to entertain themselves. I may have stabbed him if he actually ate it. Today's vent: people who constantly ask you to do things for them, but as soon as you need a favor, they are too busy. There's a girl in my program who probably asks me to do something every other week. This semester it's mostly been help with her statistics assignments. I help her debug her SAS code and explain when to use this test or that. Sometimes I really spend a lot of time helping her. This morning I asked her to do something that required 5 minutes of her time and she just had to walk across the hall from where she was working. Instead, I got a "I'm busy with my lab prep right now." Maybe I should have told her that last semester when she asked me to do things while I was prepping my lab materials. And of course when I asked the lab supervisor if she could pop in and do it, she gave me a snarky reply, but at least she said she'd do it. I do lots of extra things that aren't actually part of my job (which someone else slacked off on or she didn't feel like doing because she was sick or behind on work) because she asks me to and it's not a big deal. You'd think that me asking for a small favor wouldn't be such a problem!

I share my last name with a famous actor, and I've had lots of people ask if we're related. I don't know why, since it's a fairly common last name.

I hate when Windows decides to do a bunch of updates at once. Two or three is fine, but sometimes it updates 10+ (for example, right now it if doing 15 updates). I really have to pee, but I can't leave it unattended, because there are too many jerks at this school who will steal your stuff if you walk away for a minute. I once caught someone stealing my slice of pizza from a table when I walked ten feet away to get some napkins. He told me I shouldn't leave my food unattended and gave it back. Meanwhile, his girlfriend just kept a ditzy smile on her face.

I get you. I know someone else mentioned that having kids could be somewhat immoral, considering the earth's rapidly increasing population. I agree to an extent... I don't think it's a good choice to have a ton of kids. I'm not quite ready to call it immoral, but I don't think it's very... responsible. At the same time, I think it's important for the educated and financially well-off to have children. I've never seen Idiocracy, but I think I know what it's about. I recall reading that educated people tend to put off children until their 30's, resulting in fewer children, while the uneducated have them earlier and have more. This only applies to the U.S., although it could apply to other countries as well. Being uneducated doesn't mean you're going to be a bad parent or that your children will grow up uneducated, but I'm pretty sure there is a correlation between the education levels of parents and their children. We want more educated people in the world who are going to make intelligent and informed decisions. So I feel like not having children might be bad for society.

Someone once told me that the weather could be the deciding factor between a low-stress defense that's like talking with colleagues and the worst day of your life.

I had a lot of issues with romantic relationships, too. My first at 17 was short-lived and a terrible idea. The guy was way too old for me and had a lot of issues. Luckily I wised up quickly. My second started a few months later after I was 18 with a friend from school. It lasted two years, but it really wasn't a very good one. While I was in college and starting to grow up, he was still in high school and was pretty immature. The worst part was that there was a great guy who was interested, but I had to turn him down, of course. The relationship ended when he realized he was gay, and it took several years to meet someone else. I tried online dating sites, which for me only resulted in going out on one date with a guy who was just interested in getting laid, and unfortunately for him, I didn't put out. I also had people try to fix me up with guys, but that never worked out. The only one that could have was quite a bit older than me and I didn't want to go down that path again. I eventually just gave up and then someone just sort of walked into my life and I married him. So don't lose hope. Sometimes I think we just need to focus on other things and let relationships fall into place.

One of my friends has perfected the art of having and raising children inexpensively. She and her husband are really good at finding quality used items, repurposing materials, and making a little bit go a long way. She also has a lot of generous ladies in her life who got her a lot of good stuff at her shower. So I know that it's possible to inexpensively raise a child. However, I am also in a pretty selfish stage of my life, so I don't think having a kid in the next few years is a smart plan. I completely echo the sentiment that having kids later in life deprives them of time with their parents and even grandparents. My parents had me in their mid-30's, and it really saddens me that I will probably lose them when I'm in my 50's (or maybe even 40's), and if I wait until my mid-30's, my children will lose them as teenagers. Meanwhile, my older sister will have spent over 60 years with them, and her daughter will be in her 40's by then. I was thinking that maybe I could have kids later in my PhD program, but I just don't know how that would work with a TA position. I'm hoping that I can do some successful grant writing with my PI to help fund me with an RA which might make childbirth more convenient. Either way, I do feel like I am at a disadvantage that I really can't stay at home with kids even if I wanted to. I used to joke that my husband could be a stay at home dad since I am the one who went to college and will hopefully get a decent job. However, I doubt I could ever find a job that paid enough to make that work. But I guess there really isn't any perfect time for kids. I guess my friends got really lucky. One left the Air Force because her husband (also in the Air Force) was stationed at a different base. So she was kind of in a good position to start having kids, since they were financially stable (no student loans and good income and savings). My other frugal friend happened to have free housing from her husband's job when she got pregnant, plus they had been putting most of their income towards student loans and had barely any left, so even though he didn't make a lot (and she gave vocal lessons part time), they could manage everything. Sigh.

I don't really care for children, especially babies. I like the idea of having kids and the whole family thing, but the actual process of carrying a child and giving birth freaks me out. Plus being responsible for a tiny helpless creature is a tall order. But when I get together with my best friends from high school, the ones that have children make me feel like I'm missing out and that I've pretty much blown my chances at having a family by pursuing an academic career. Not intentionally, but it still makes me feel a little conflicted about my life choices. Of course, one friend did tell me that she thought it would be really hard on me to have kids after having a career. I'm not sure if that means it will just be hard to balance things or if she expects me to drop everything like a few of my friends did and become a stay at home mom, which would no doubt be crappy. I certainly don't regret my pursuit of science and academia, but I'm really starting to wish it didn't take me 10 years to get a B.S. I would have far fewer student loans and I'd be finishing up my PhD by now instead of just starting, which would make starting a family so much simpler. Then again, maybe tomorrow I will hear a screaming child and all of these feelings will go away. Blech.

My undergrad robe was black, so are the ones here. Turns out I didn't pay $23 for a tassel after all. The wrong robe was just packed into my bag. Since the robe was supposed to have slits at the wrists, I asked the bookstore about it and they had me bring it back. Now I feel a little better. I'm also glad I didn't have to pay $50 to rent them.

I basically just paid $23 for a tassel. I had assumed robes for masters graduation would be different from undergrad robes. However, the one that came in my "masters package" doesn't look any different. In fact, the only difference between the packages for undergrads and masters students is the darn tassel. So I bought a $23 tassel, since I still have my undergrad stuff and would have gladly worn it again. I also find it annoying that I had to pay at all. My undergrad school gave us our graduation stuff for free, plus a travel mug with the school logo on it. I'm also curious... do undergrads typically not get hoods at graduation? The school where I'm getting my masters doesn't give them, and several of my fellow grad students didn't have them at theirs, either. I got a good at mine, though, and I much prefer the colors!

Finally, the rejection from UNC came. When I applied, I really thought I had a good shot there. I had a Skype interview with my POI that went really well (other than drawing a total blank on my GIS skills). At least it was lower on my list and the potential research topics weren't as exciting as at other places (purely quantitative biology using citizen science data). I'm going to be so sad when the rejection from UTK finally comes! The research opportunities there were amazing.

No, they didn't ask me to do anything beyond sending my final transcripts. Not every school requires advanced deposits (my masters program didn't), so perhaps OSU falls into this category. The "newly admitted" page doesn't mention anything, either.

I don't know a ton about cars, but I do know that exceeding your vehicle's two capacity is a bad idea. It causes your engine to overheat (which will eventually cause damage), it can cause excessive wear or flat out ruin your tires, and your brakes could easily fail on you. So when picking out a trailer, you need to make sure you don't exceed the towing capacity. Also keep in mind that towing capacity includes the weight of the trailer, the stuff in the trailer, plus everything inside the actual car (including passengers). I think for many cars (especially the small fuel efficient ones), a trailer wouldn't be worth it because you can't get a very big trailer. For example, my car's towing capacity is 1000 pounds, and the small 4x8 uHaul cargo trailers weigh 850 pounds empty. Add two passengers to the car and we're already over towing capacity. In contrast, a Subaru Outback has a towing capacity of 3000 pounds, which would allow you to stuff the car with cargo and tow a reasonable amount behind it. Edit - I see now that you have a minivan and not a car. Minivans seem to be around the 3000 range. You might still be limited in how much big stuff you can bring (because you'll need a bigger, heavier trailer to accommodate large dimensions), but you can transport a lot of smaller stuff.

I frequently see/hear people say that they don't like dreadlocks on white people or find it offensive. However, I rarely see people complaining about black people having straight hair. What is the reasoning behind it? I understand the idea that it is considered "stealing culture" when a white person adopts something like dreadlocks that is associated with black culture. But why isn't there the same reaction when a black girl wears a weave that is pin straight and long or gets her hair relaxed? Is it because those women are trying to conform to western ideals of beauty, while white people with dreadlocks are being nonconformist and thus elicit negative feelings from the conforming portion of society? Is it a racist thing? Do white people disapprove because they have negative feelings about black culture, while black people disapprove because they don't want white people taking anything else away from them? Is it just that dreadlocks tend to be associated with spirituality or life philosophy while straight hair just happens to be what grows out of the heads of a lot of Europeans and Asians, so there's no need to be judgmental about someone with unnaturally straight hair? Popular thing I hate: race. Race is one of the dumbest concepts ever invented, and yet I can't erase it from my vocabulary or thought processes. It's impossible to actually separate everyone into distinct groups because skin color is continuous, and even trying to do it by geography doesn't work out. Plus, at the end of the day, how we classify ourselves shouldn't have any impact on any aspect of our lives. Yet I still mentally identify people as black, white, asian, middle eastern, etc. It's ridiculous. Why don't I start identifying people as being Polish, English, French, German, etc... oh wait, I can't. Yet all of these heritages are unique and probably make a more logical classification scheme than trying to base it on skin color or continent of origin.

This is a very foreign concept to me. I helped a friend look for an apartment and no one even asked about income. Owners just said to have first month's rent and security deposit by the end of the week. I also looked at an apartment with an ex, and the owner did ask about income, but never asked for verification. I think I understand why my best friend had some issues with finding a good apartment in NC from afar with no credit history. She did score a beautiful house though.

The beard movement will pass, as most fashions do, and will one day reappear again. I remember reading an article that suggested we have reached the peak of the beard fad. The reasoning was that beards became popular because they were initially rare (and the novelty made them cool). Now that we are pretty saturated with beards, the novelty will wear off and some other rare fashion choice will catch on. I also don't like the term bae, although honestly, I've only ever seen random Facebook posts making fun of it. I also don't like a lot of overused phrases that aren't really used correctly. Like when people were saying everything was epic. No, your sandwich is not epic. Yolo was kind of annoying, too, not because it was overused, but because I heard a lot of teens saying "you only yolo once."

I worry about this exact thing. My husband and I basically have zero rental history because we both lived with our parents until we got married last year. Now we live in an apartment in my parents' basement. We do pay rent, but I'm not sure how a rental company would view that. I suppose if I didn't tell them we were renting from my parents, they wouldn't know. Some of the companies also want verified income 3 times the amount of rent (or a statement of student loans). I get why, but I can't see my husband getting a job before we actually move, so that could pose a problem since my TA position isn't going to be 3 times the rent. I'm also a bit annoyed because several apartments that have everything we're looking for require you to meet with the people and see the apartment in person. I also saw one place that required interviews for your dog if you have one. I'm also getting really annoyed with apartments on Zillow that are marked as pet-friendly, but say no pets in the description.

- Getting ready to defend my thesis and get the written part approved by the graduate school so I can be completely done with my masters program in May - Presenting some research at a conference next weekend - Browsing Craigslist, Zillow, etc. for apartments at my new school almost daily - 10 days after graduation, I start a 2 month job in New York, where I will spend my days chasing birds and mapping habitat - After my job is done, I'll spend some time going through my things and seeing what I can get rid of - Pick out an apartment and a company to ship our things 3000 miles across the country - See if we can sell our two older cars and buy one brand new one before the trip - Head down to North Carolina to celebrate turning 30 with my best friends - Make the move to the west coast in September

Bea Arthur was in the History of the World: Part I with Mel Brooks Mel Brooks was in the Producers with Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick was in Deck the Halls with Danny DeVito Linda Hamilton, Nick Frost