What are YOUR coping mechanisms?

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

I LOVE Good Omens. You just reminded me, I lent out my copy months ago and still haven't gotten it back...

My motto has become "never lend a Gaiman or Pratchett". I'm thinking of adding Stephenson to that list, since my mother still hasn't returned Quicksilver.

[digits2006]

reading all of the harry potter books.

Being busy with an internship with a judge

Checking my email all day

Grad cafe

and now- the Olympics!!

[parapluie]

Checking my email all day

Grad cafe

and now- the Olympics!!

I cannot help but check GradCafe constantly.

And, yes! The Olympics will at least let me think about/do something else for the rest of this month in which I am constantly freaking out and anxious about my interview in March. I am very thankful to have an interview lined up, but I am also going crazy just waiting, waiting, waiting... knowing I won't be getting any decisions for over a month.

[Summit_Bid]

I cannot help but check GradCafe constantly.

And, yes! The Olympics will at least let me think about/do something else for the rest of this month in which I am constantly freaking out and anxious about my interview in March. I am very thankful to have an interview lined up, but I am also going crazy just waiting, waiting, waiting... knowing I won't be getting any decisions for over a month.

1) Finding out what I need to do to train to climb mount Everest...apprently it's a lot and more $ and time than I can afford...

2) I work full time and only get 5 days off a year. It's been almost a year and so I'm carefully planning every moment of my 5 days of freedom.

3) Olympics

[jaxzwolf]

1) Classic English literature. Not sure why... it's not a genre in which I've previously had any interested. But since Christmas, for some reason, I've been all about it. Started with the Bronte sisters, then Shelly, then Dumas. Have now moved on to working my way through Dickens.

2)Drawing, sketching, and cheap at-home screen printing

3)Learning to solve a Rubik's cube

4)Obsessively browsing school's websites, while fantasizing about what my life would be like if I were accepted and went to school there. I really need to stop doing this.

5)Watching new episodes of Psych (yay!)

6)Pretending I have $3000 to dump on camera equipment, and deciding what to buy.

[Emma2003]

If i don't include either checking gradcafe results search for any news or checking my application status through the school website, I think that leaves....

1. Beatles Rockband

2. Watching Torchwood

3. Organizing my purse.

4. Learning piano.

5. Trying not to nap. (Unemployed and out of undergrad for nine months, believe me, this is an accomplishment!)

6. Pretending I'm reading "City of Thieves" when I'm really re-reading the Half Blood Prince

7. Accidentally watching Spongebob Squarepants for several hours before I realize my kids are at school, and I can watch anything I want.

8. Painting wood to look like a different kind of wood...(so the threshold matches the wood floor.)

9. Playing Words with Friends on my phone.

[Emma2003]

1) Classic English literature. Not sure why... it's not a genre in which I've previously had any interested. But since Christmas, for some reason, I've been all about it. Started with the Bronte sisters, then Shelly, then Dumas. Have now moved on to working my way through Dickens.

2)Drawing, sketching, and cheap at-home screen printing

3)Learning to solve a Rubik's cube

4)Obsessively browsing school's websites, while fantasizing about what my life would be like if I were accepted and went to school there. I really need to stop doing this.

5)Watching new episodes of Psych (yay!)

6)Pretending I have $3000 to dump on camera equipment, and deciding what to buy.

Jane Austen is highly readable.

[poco_puffs]

I was trying to play Oblivion, but found it much less addicting/distracting than Fallout 3.

I also cut my 4 movie a day habit down to two or three episodes of various shows a day streaming on Netflix or Hulu (Farscape, Skins, Lost...).

I need to spend more time outside, and exercising, and eating better.

On the plus side, my house cleaning has gone through the roof

and I've made my way through a couple of the classics (Middlemarch right now!) and some early Russian history.

Efforts to craft result in visits to the craft store, and a growing pile of supplies, but very few finished products.

I'm going absolutely batty.

[hydrangea]

maybe we're all missing our true calling as chefs?....

I decided to start a basil garden. (It's well past the last frost in the SF bay area, as I think we have less than 50% chance of frost on any given night of the year.) I went with a friend to the nursery today, and got some seeds and a planter (I have an apartment w/ balcony). I put some seeds in some dirt inside and sat and watched them for a good hour or two. It seems I'm well practiced at sitting and watching things do nothing...

Now I look at the once black seeds and see that they have formed a white coating from the moisture. Even though it's still going to be 5-10 days before they sprout, at least I can tell the seeds are making positive progress. I can't say as much for all the applications I have sown out into the world.

[jeanne]

Does anybody else spend hours sifting through Craigslist, imagining where you would live if you got into one of your top schools? Or is that just me ...

Besides that and gradcafe.com, the rest of my time is working at my full-time job.

[Kam]

I spent several hours (I won't even try to guess how many) last week searching craigslist and figuring out where I'd want to live, how much it would cost, how long it'd take to get to campus each morning, etc. for different schools.

I actually found some really great places!

Now I just have to be admitted...

[anxiousapplicant]

I decided to start a basil garden. (It's well past the last frost in the SF bay area, as I think we have less than 50% chance of frost on any given night of the year.) I went with a friend to the nursery today, and got some seeds and a planter (I have an apartment w/ balcony). I put some seeds in some dirt inside and sat and watched them for a good hour or two. It seems I'm well practiced at sitting and watching things do nothing...

Now I look at the once black seeds and see that they have formed a white coating from the moisture. Even though it's still going to be 5-10 days before they sprout, at least I can tell the seeds are making positive progress. I can't say as much for all the applications I have sown out into the world.

Do you like pesto? Growing basil is worth it and cost effective if you do!

[hydrangea]

Do you like pesto? Growing basil is worth it and cost effective if you do!

Yes, I like pesto, although I more often use basil in Thai curry and as a replacement for lettuce in sandwiches.

My boyfriend and I spent time planning out the cheapest way to move to our institutions of interest. Looks like getting a Door-to-door moving container and taking the Amtrak will be as cheap and enjoyable as any other way to get across half the country (if you sleep on the train you don't have to pay for the motel).

[varekai1018]

I spent several hours (I won't even try to guess how many) last week searching craigslist and figuring out where I'd want to live, how much it would cost, how long it'd take to get to campus each morning, etc. for different schools.

I actually found some really great places!

Now I just have to be admitted...

Add me to this list as well! Since U of Arizona is my top choice, I've also been spending countless hours in Philadelphia-area nurseries looking at decorative cacti (also my gift to my LOR writers). Not quite the same as in the Southwest, but it calms me down for some reason.

I think this is my list, in a nutshell:

1. Taking Desmond (my OES puppy) to the dog park - watching him play makes me remember how fun life can be

2. Thinking that I should exercise more often, and every once in awhile actually making it to the gym

3. Working

4. Refreshing my email and checking Grad Cafe at work

5. Re-reading the Barbara Kingsolver novels that take place in Arizona

6. Playing Scrabble and Mancala

7. Watching Coach (seasons 1-9) on Netflix (I don't quite get this one)

8. Figuring out a celebratory "gift" for myself if everything works out with UofA - I'm leaning toward a Canon digital SLR, but that's going to hurt financially (I justify this one by telling myself I'll start a blog with a photojournalistic sort of bent)

9. Taking adult/continuing education courses in Spanish

...and...

10. Bee keeping class! I just signed up for this, because I needed something random yet whimsical to divert my attention from the daily waiting game!

[riokliq]

Mostly reading and/or drinking.

[hadunc]

Does anybody else spend hours sifting through Craigslist, imagining where you would live if you got into one of your top schools? Or is that just me ...

Besides that and gradcafe.com, the rest of my time is working at my full-time job.

YES, this is a major addiction for me! So much so that my fiance worries about me sometimes lol. And now that I have an acceptance at a school in another city that's only made it worse!

Other than browsing Craigslist, I've been catching up on Lost starting with season one which has consumed a LOT of my time. I've also been reading a lot, spending lots of time with friends, and of course checking this website and the status of my apps obsessively. You'd think having an acceptance would make this process easier, but I'm probably even more antsy now! Fortunately I recently found a temp job as a nanny that should decrease the amount of time I have to waste.

[Yes]

Ok, here is my list:

1) alarming levels of cigarette consumption

2) cooking, especially the really difficult stuff. I think I must have made at least 50l of icecream over the last weeks. Problem is, I live by myself. So I eat it all.

3) watch 24 - reminds me that things could be worse. I could be kidnapped. Or the victim of a nuclear attack.

[downtownchick]

I put a ton of Crabtree & Evelyn lotion all over myself and had a perfect pedicure like a housewife from Orange Country.

- Nah, not quite. I started reading another good novel. It doesn't take much for me, another literature girl, to cope with anything. I get high with words promiscuously. Thank God!

[karenwog]

YES, this is a major addiction for me! So much so that my fiance worries about me sometimes lol. And now that I have an acceptance at a school in another city that's only made it worse!

Other than browsing Craigslist, I've been catching up on Lost starting with season one which has consumed a LOT of my time. I've also been reading a lot, spending lots of time with friends, and of course checking this website and the status of my apps obsessively. You'd think having an acceptance would make this process easier, but I'm probably even more antsy now! Fortunately I recently found a temp job as a nanny that should decrease the amount of time I have to waste.

you arent nannying for 3 yr old twins by chance, are you? i was a nanny for these kids in texas that moved back to Chicago and their mom said after me she would always look for a grad student from now on...(they also have a little sister). just a shot in the dark, if it were true that'd be great!

i am also obsessively looking at CL and places to live-- i got accepted at Kansas so i've found some AMAZING places that are going fast which is more stressful to me than waiting for responses from schools!! i have the greatest housing situation ever right now (900 sq foot charming cottage in the woods of virginia) so finding an equally good living situation is paramount to my sanity. i also have to live alone with my 2 cats and NO shared bathrooms! i'm find that to be tricky to do cheaply...

i NEED to be working on my Master's thesis and creating my powerpoint for 2 major presentations at conferences i have coming up (anyone going to St Louis end of March for PCA/ACA?) but instead im watching the Olympics in my pjs. progress?

[hadunc]

you arent nannying for 3 yr old twins by chance, are you? i was a nanny for these kids in texas that moved back to Chicago and their mom said after me she would always look for a grad student from now on...(they also have a little sister). just a shot in the dark, if it were true that'd be great!

i am also obsessively looking at CL and places to live-- i got accepted at Kansas so i've found some AMAZING places that are going fast which is more stressful to me than waiting for responses from schools!! i have the greatest housing situation ever right now (900 sq foot charming cottage in the woods of virginia) so finding an equally good living situation is paramount to my sanity. i also have to live alone with my 2 cats and NO shared bathrooms! i'm find that to be tricky to do cheaply...

i NEED to be working on my Master's thesis and creating my powerpoint for 2 major presentations at conferences i have coming up (anyone going to St Louis end of March for PCA/ACA?) but instead im watching the Olympics in my pjs. progress?

No, I'm actually what they call an "on-call nanny" for a work options program, which means that employees of companies enrolled in this program have access to emergency daycare if their usual arrangements fall through or their child gets sick or something. It cuts down on employee sick days. It's basically a temp job to bide my time until I figure out if I'm going to be moving away to another city or not. Usually permanent nanny jobs require at least a one-year commitment.

[Medievalmaniac]

Branwen - you wouldn't be a medievalist, would you?

I'm in the same boat - waiting, terribly impatiently, DYING to hear back one way or the other. I have no nails yet. I am re-reading the Dragonriders of Pern series. I actually graded all of my students' 8 page essays in a week of their being turned in (what the heck?! lol) I even played ten rounds of Candyland with my daughter last night, just to avoid checking the computer again (because obviously, all graduate programs send their acceptances via email between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m....!)

You're not alone....this is awful. Worse than when I was waiting for MA news. GAH!

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Branwen - you wouldn't be a medievalist, would you?

I'm in the same boat - waiting, terribly impatiently, DYING to hear back one way or the other. I have no nails yet. I am re-reading the Dragonriders of Pern series. I actually graded all of my students' 8 page essays in a week of their being turned in (what the heck?! lol) I even played ten rounds of Candyland with my daughter last night, just to avoid checking the computer again (because obviously, all graduate programs send their acceptances via email between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m....!)

You're not alone....this is awful. Worse than when I was waiting for MA news. GAH!

I am indeed a medievalist (and not the only one wandering around gradcafe) - but a bit of an odd bird in the field (I'm super interested in the human need for fantasy in literature - starting in the Middle Ages, when most of these legends were first written down in some form or another - dragons, magic swords, fairies, heroic, god-like protagonists, etc. - specifically the Celtic stuff, and then crossing it with popular modern fantasy / children's lit). And I LOVE the dragonrider's of Pern series!! McCaffrey's been a favorite of mine since I was 10. My main problem currently is languages - being fluent in Hebrew and having some basic French does nothing for medieval lit - but I'm sure I can overcome it (Latin class here I come...). Also very interested in learning Welsh, but I may have to go to the UK for that...

So welcome, medievalist!! As for myself, I'm keeping massively busy by checking one of my student's application essays to college, translating a 9,600 word user manual, and applying for various additional jobs so I can save money (This is all when not chain smoking and watching Monty Python or reading novels like other ppl eat popcorn).

[flower power]

In no particular order:

1)Drinking lots of tequila after work

2)Calling old friends I normally don't chat with

3)Whining to my boyfriend every day about how I "just need some answers!" about my application

4)Going to the gym when I haven't been in months

5)Watching movies from my childhood like "Milo and Otis"

6)Listening to emo-ish music

7)Looking at websites for weekend getaways

8)Reading books I have been meaning to read for ages, usually at around midnight or 1 am when my mind won't quit spinning

Those are my primary coping mechanisms, I'm sure there are others that are more secondary that I am forgetting...

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

Okay, here's my list....

1. Hit the "Results Search" over and over and over again.
2. Watch Doctor Who from start to finish.
3. Tend to my carnivorous plants in my terrariums.
4. Drink lots of plunk red wine.
5. Play RPG computer games, e.g., Oblivion or Dragon Age.
6. Actually, do my class work.

[jmb04]

Does anybody else spend hours sifting through Craigslist, imagining where you would live if you got into one of your top schools? Or is that just me ...

I've done this too! And it's great looking at apartments in cities with a lower cost of living than the one I'm in now.

When I'm not pretending to work while in the office or hanging out with friends/family, I am re-reading The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Talk about a time suck. There are, I think, 12 books in there, some at 1,000 pages or so. And I am on Book 5.