Danger_Zone
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Posts posted by Danger_Zone
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1 minute ago, hippyscientist said:
I actually have a ring that I switch to my wedding finger if guys harass me. Somehow it's okay to ignore my no's but as soon as I show I "belong to someone else" at it's been so eloquently put, they back off. I hate doing it, but I'm not going to let myself get harassed all the time.
All this clothes talk! I suppose my tastes haven't really matured - I LOVE american eagle and standard mall stores (because I can't get them in the UK). I've always just kept an eye out on sales, pick up stuff in random places while travelling too. I have such an ecclectic wardrobe that tells so many stories - but it's not overly professional. Oh well, it's me through and through
What's your thoughts on school-branded hoodies? Like I'll be loading up on Penn State stash but I wonder about undergrad places. I love both hoodies from my prior universities but I can't wear them where I currently am because of school rivalry but I'd like to keep them in my closet!
I think it would be fine? Guess I never thought much about the whole rivalry thing until learning about American schools. My boyfriend actually attends a rival school of mine so I guess I could avoid flaunting school-branded attire there (though I did take a school thermos there once, shh don't tell anyone!)
American Eagle is great. They seem a bit pricier than I would expect but I just got my favourite pairs of shorts and sunglasses from there.
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1 hour ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:
I also dress nice because it makes me feel good! I love makeup but I'm not very experimental. @Cat_Robutt I love recommending stuff! Instead of a foundation, I would recommend a BB cream. They are usually lighter and have built in sun screen. For eye shadow I use the naked palette 2, I have hazel eyes. My face gets oily so I use a setting powder to prevent my face from getting shiny. For lips I use blistex chap stick. This gets my lips nice and smooth. I have three different lipsticks that I rotate. Urban decay manic, too face melted coral, and a light pink clinque lipstick. Btw I'm fair with cool undertones, and my lips are super pale. I need color ha. My hair is a reddish brown. I can recommend face washes as well!
Do you have a specific setting powder that you like? My face isn't really oily and has always been more on the dry/sensitive side, but I do notice it getting shiny by the end of the day, so I always end up applying more powder half way through the day. It's especially shiny when I use a bb cream.
Speaking of makeup, I've been thinking of upgrading what I use (I guess I used what's considered "nice" drug store brands, only occasionally shopping at Sephora or MAC) but I feel like grad school isn't the best time to start buying expensive makeup? So I'll see I guess.
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2 hours ago, Cat_Robutt said:
Have you read Jean Baudrillard's America? The depiction of Disney totally changed how I view Epcot. Really interesting stuff there on how Americans view idyllic "Americana" and the rest of the world!
I haven't, but I'll have to check it out, thanks! I really enjoyed Epcot and the history behind it is super interesting. I can't wait to go back!
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Hope everyone has been doing well this week.
I just got back from Disney World, definitely the happiest/greatest place on earth!
Now to get back to worrying about school!
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On May 24, 2016 at 0:13 PM, Bleep_Bloop said:
Congrats on the paper, that's always a nice compliment to receive from a professor. However, the quote above tells me that you should wait on publishing. There's no need to rush to publish at this stage in the game, and if you feel like you're rushing during the writing/revision process, then the article most definitely will show this. Once a paper is published and out there, it'll follow you around for the rest of your academic career. You don't want to look back a few years later as a PhD student and regret publishing something that needed more work. It's tempting to want to publish very early so that you can have publications in your PhD applications, etc. But to be honest, I think that publishing before the MA (and most often before you've passed comps/quals in a PhD program) is actually more harmful in the long run because your ideas haven't had time to mature, and there's a lot out there that you haven't had time to read and think about. A premature, half-baked article could come back to haunt you and blemish your CV. Take some time, sit on it, think through the ideas, read more, and revise as much as you can. By all means get in touch with the professor for whom you wrote the paper and get feedback. My advice would be to keep this as a side-project until you're more advanced as a student (post-MA).
Thanks for the advice! I've decided not to try to publish at this time. I talked to my professor and she said it wouldn't really be realistic to do at this point since my article has been used for a book of hers being published. I guess usually the article comes first so that would have been something to do longer ago. She said I could try to rewrite basically the whole article to be significantly different from the book's content but I really don't have the time for that. Guess I will just focus my energies on getting published during my doctorate.
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Haven't had much chance to read lately but I've about finished Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.
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4 hours ago, Cat_Robutt said:
I would love to see pictures of this! That's amazing! My brother is like a real-life Sans, down to the bad puns and everything.
It's not perfect but I was pretty happy with it.
Though everyone kept calling him Jack Skellington.. One girl knew who he was! We even got him the pink slippers.
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1 hour ago, ShogunT said:
Visit your Payroll Services ASAP. They are responsible for handling tax in your school. Why did you apply for a SSN already?
Alright, I will look into that, thanks. I haven't applied for a SSN, I thought that was something I was given once I was in the U.S. I was just told I need to fill out this form in an automated email and have not been given any information regarding taxes or how I'm supposed to fill this out.
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1 minute ago, ExponentialDecay said:
Most scholarships and fellowships are taxable, so yes, if you receive one of those, you need to file income tax. Ditto if you fund your studies by working e.g. as a TA or RA. If your country of origin has a tax treaty with the US, you will get your taxes back in some measure, but you still need to file with the IRS. Typically a non-resident alien files for an SSN after arriving in the US, with the help of their host institution.
I would get the International Office people on the phone. It should be a fairly straightforward question that won't take up more than 5 minutes of your vacation time.
Guess that's what I'm going to have to do. Hopefully it will be simple enough, thanks!
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51 minutes ago, aberrant said:
While the best thing to do is to physically visit your International Students Office, and the first option sounds a little weird, it seems to be appropriate to your situation. Solely because you do not have an SSN, and you won't have one until you get your SS card for on-campus employment.
If you have an income within the U.S. during the year before (presumably year 2015) then you're supposed to file income tax return this year. I don't require remember what is the supposed outcome should you have an income in the U.S. as an international student and failed to file a tax return. I did forget to file my tax return twice in my first two years in the U.S. while working part-time on campus.
Unfortunately I can't really visit again until I move down there, and by then it will be too late, so I guess I might have to call about it.
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I just received an e-mail from my school saying that I need to fill out an online form which affirms my financial obligations to the school. However, it requires an SSN or ITIN number. I'm a Canadian citizen, so I do not have one of these. It gives me the option to check "I am a foreign national/nonresident alien and do not have a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number. I do not plan to file an income tax return in the U.S." or "I do not wish to provide my taxpayer identification number at this time. I understand that I may be subject to an IRS fine of $50 for failure to do so. I further understand that the IRS will not be able to use the Form 1098-T filed to confirm my eligibility for certain education tax benefits without my taxpayer identification number." I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, but I need to fill out this form or I will not be eligible to sign up for classes. I have absolutely no knowledge of how taxes work, so I don't even know if I'm supposed to file them or not.
I've e-mailed the International Students Office, once over a week ago for another matter, and once again last night, and have not received any replies. I would call but they are only open during weekdays and I am going away for a week, so if they don't get back to me I will reluctantly have to call while on vacation. In the meantime, I was wondering if anybody knows anything about this.
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47 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:
Definitely regret paying ~$2k for a gaming laptop. Two years later and I'm already thinking of just getting a desktop...
Now/soon is probably a good time to build a good gaming desktop if you have the money, with the new NVIDIA GTX 1070/1080 graphics cards coming out.
My boyfriend had a gaming laptop as well and it just didn't last very long. I think he's much happier with his desktop.
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1 hour ago, Neist said:
Haha. This is so true.
@Danger_Zone, you could always pick up a cheap Xbox 360 and play it that way.
The game plays better with a controller, I think.
My boyfriend has some consoles so I plan on sharing console games that way once he moves in with me.
I believe he has the ME games on steam and we use family sharing so I could probably play them that way.
@sjoh197 I understand. That's my boyfriend's - and to an extent my - hobby as well.
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15 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:
Basically quoting my boyfriend last summer "My computer can't play new games.... waaahhhh.... waaaaahhh.... While you're gone for the summer I'm going a buy a new $4000 laptop to play games on instead of buying you an engagement ring... waaaahh."
Lol.
It sucks how often you need to upgrade your computer in order to keep up with new games. Did he really pay that much though? Seems a bit excessive but laptops tend to be more expensive. If you can get a desktop instead that's probably much cheaper and easier to replace parts for if needed.
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I need to check out Mass Effect, I've heard it's a great series. I have so many games I want to play, though. I'm planning on building a new computer this summer since mine can't handle newer games, so I've been unable to play some. Too bad I will soon have less time to enjoy them, though.
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12 hours ago, hippyscientist said:
@Danger_Zone gaming is great - I'm just getting into it by using my friend's PS4 but so far I am enjoying the Assassin's Creed games. I think when I get my own I'll enjoy things like Skyrim too. Not a huge fan of the "shooty shooty" games like COD.
Those games are great! I don't play a lot of console games (don't have access to consoles much so I play steam games) but Skyrim is really fun. I'm in the middle of Assassin's Creed Black Flag right now. Based on those games, I would recommend the Fallout games (especially New Vegas) and Far Cry 3/4 if you haven't already played them.
I only play a few first person shooters with some friends, but I absolutely love Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch.
2 hours ago, Cat_Robutt said:These recommendations are awesome! I second @sjoh197's rec of Dragon Age, and would add Mass Effect there as well. Also, if you do have Steam, Undertale is a fantastic, relatively short game that is well worth it. It's both really sweet and dark at the same time; I've played it three or four times now.
Any Nintendo nerds here? I'm replaying Zelda: Skyward Sword and had forgotten how great the music is.
It's a great soundtrack to have in the background when studying!
Undertale is great! For Halloween I made my boyfriend a Sans mask, he's a big fan of it too.
Nintendo is probably my favourite console. I'm kind of just getting into Zelda now as I hadn't really played it much as a kid, but they're great games.
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7 hours ago, hippyscientist said:
Now that my book history is aired to the world, anyone else want to contribute theirs?
At the moment I've been reading a lot of Japanese fiction (Haruki Murakami is my favourite, as well as Kobo Abe) and graphic novels (Junji Ito). I generally enjoy memoirs, books told in the first person, dystopian novels and some philosophical/existentialist-type books (Kafka, Camus). I think my favourite novels would have to be Lolita, The Stranger, The Handmaid's Tale and Kafka on the Shore.
Unfortunately I haven't really read any fantasy! Though I'd like to get into it eventually.
@Neist What kind of video games did you play, if you don't mind me asking?
@sjoh197 I'm pretty sad at this because I can't eat peaches, but I still love when they're in season because they smell really nice!
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2 hours ago, naima21 said:
I have been in contact with a few professors and they agreed I have a solid background and that will really help me. One professor even told me they really didn't focus on quant scores at his school so hoping for the best! Thank you for your help!
No problem, that's great then. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. I was told I wouldn't have to worry about quant much either (what a relief that was!) Good luck with applications!
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1 hour ago, Neist said:
So, I've been reading a lot of books. A lot of books. Can you be addicted to books? Is that possible? I burned through 400+ pages today.
In other news, my sent me a document filled with timetables and procedures up until the fall. Yay! Time to start planning.
I wish I could get through that much reading but my attention span/eyes won't let me. But I'm probably slightly addicted, though I spend a lot of time on other things too.. Like video games.
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23 hours ago, Neist said:
I might. I'm open to any possibility. I'll go where opportunity presents itself.
One of OU's history of science department's area of emphasis is "Science, the Public, and Popular Culture in the Modern Era," and they have pretty close ties to the library program. If I wanted to stick with history, I can't imagine a better place than where I'm at now. However, there's probably a lot of other programs outside of history that would align with my interests. I might want to avoid potential issues of academic incest entirely and study elsewhere.
I have a few years to think it over, at any rate. I'm only in the masters program at OU, but the transition to the PhD mostly seems like a formality, assuming one's grades are respectable. If I can get an amazing job after my two masters, I'll probably stop. The PhD isn't necessary in the library world, but it really doesn't hurt, either. It might even be required if one wants to pursue curatorial positions in special collections.
I've heard that academic incest is a real stigma, but it's difficult when the best program in North America is where you're already located.
Concerning recent books, I've finished the previously-mentioned Young Einstein: And the story of E=mc2, and I've since finished The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World, At the Mountains of Madness, and have started The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science. I've enjoyed all but the last. The Age of Wonder is my second Richard Holmes book, and while I readily admit that he's a good writer, his writing doesn't engage me. Aesthetic differences, I suppose. I still have about a quarter of the book left, but I doubt that quarter will significantly alter my opinion. I rather enjoyed it until his first chapter on Humphry Davy, and since I've lost nearly all interest.
Concerning At the Mountains of Madness, I've read a lot of Lovecraft, but never this title. I really enjoyed his long-form writing. I should read the rest of his novellas.
Well it sounds like you have lots of potential options, PhD or not, but if you do end up doing a PhD I'm sure you could find a suitable enough program for your research interests, even if it doesn't end up being in History. I think it's great though if you've found such a well-suited program! Definitely enjoy your time there.
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On May 15, 2016 at 10:56 AM, Neist said:
The Poisoner's Handbook is in my pile.
In fact, a couple of people were discussing said book at graduation yesterday.
I've experienced the apprehension from others in regards to books by journalists as well, and generally I don't understand them. For example, Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and the director of the science journalism program at MIT. Am I one to question her credentials? I don't think so. I've found that individuals like her are more the rule than the exception. I've just finished a tiny book titled Young Einstein: And the story of E=mc2, and when I had initially found it, I thought it had to be some cash grab. But the book is reworking of a dissertation, re-sculpted for a popular audience.
I'd love to study the cultural impact of popular-targeted books, but I'm not sure how well-received such a focus would be in a lot of history programs. I'll have to start researching programs so I can make a better-informed decision after I complete my masters in a few years. I wouldn't want to go into an English program, and if I can't find a history program that's an ideal fit, I might look into American studies or information studies programs.
I could actually go straight through a PhD in the program I'm attending in the fall, but I'm not sure how poorly the academic incest issue would affect my career prospects. This program is quite ideal, and I doubt there's many other programs that could match this program's fit.
Things to think about.
Do you think you might go for a PhD then? I think that would be a great topic! But it is possible that it might suit another field better? You never know. If you do end up doing something like that you could always see if you're able to take relevant American Studies or similar courses while still being in a History program, or the other way around. Hopefully you can find a program that fits your interests.
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6 hours ago, Neist said:
I might have to try The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I've never read it.
So many books, so little time!
Hm. Besides for the classics? I really loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Ghost Map, and Ghost Hunters. I also love pretty much everything by Richard Rhodes.
The great thing about history of science-esque books is that there's an entire discipline dedicated to explaining science: science writers. A lot of well-written, for-popular-audiences are actually quite historically accurate. I'm always finding interesting books, and upon finding them I tend to immediately look up the authors (to make sure it isn't some shill cash grab). The vast majority of authors I find are quite educated, vetted, and well-regarded.
I think history of science, technology, and medicine is pretty lucky in that regard.
I haven't really read much sci-fi, so I was a little unsure about it but it's a lot of fun! Very quick read too.
Thanks for the suggestions! I have the book on Henrietta Lacks but haven't gotten to it yet, I'll have to do that soon. I'll have to take a look at the others as well.
I enjoyed The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum so Ghost Hunters should be interesting as well.
I agree, it's really great that there are so many easily accessible and accurate books out there on the history of sience. I've read a couple of books that some history students seemed iffy about because they were written by journalists and not historians, but I personally haven't taken issue with anything I've read.
Also I've just started Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Should be a fun read!
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Finished Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. It pertains much more to fictional writing, but it's really a great memoir of sorts about being a writer. By the way, I highly recommend The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
@Neist Do you have any particular favourite history of science books you've read? I'd love a couple of recommendations from you if you don't mind! You post a lot of interesting reads here.
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14 hours ago, hippyscientist said:
We're in exactly the same boat. It's weird trying to get rid of perfectly good stuff, but stuff you don't need to be taking with you. Interior design wise - pinterest is heaven. I browse their home decor section frequently and have boards for different rooms in my new apartment so I can pin things I like. Then, when I look at the board as a whole I can see my tastes, common themes etc. It might work for you, it might not!
That's a great idea, thanks! I think it would definitely help to have some visuals of what my rooms could look like. I'll definitely do that once I actually have a place.
I jokingly told my mom I was going to video chat her and make her pick out all my stuff (she's a wonderful interior decorator).
We've wined, we've waited, now it's time to celebrate 2016
in Officially Grads
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Okay thanks! I'll definitely check it out.
I prefer keeping things light since my skin is so sensitive, but I don't think a bit more powder will bother me.