So I got a new queen-sized bed, a headboard, and I reinvented my room entirely. It looks pretty good so far. I still need to hang a few pictures, and re-arrange a few random things here and there, but for the most part it's coming together really nicely.
I'll put up pictures eventually.
Class is still taking over my life, along with work. But this summer is gonna be filled with a ton of things to occupy my time, so I doubt i'll have a ton of time to post more blogs than usual. So yeah. Have a nice day.
Thought I'd give a quick update. :-)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Terms of Endearment
I really don't know what it is, but I can't stand it when people call me by an endearing term. "Baby" "Sweety" "Honey" "Love" - any of them. It bothers me to no end.
I think that maybe I have some kind of inferiority complex about it. I see "baby" as belittling. Like I'm a weak-minded, naiive girl who can't think for herself without a male counterpart. That's the feminist in me I guess. I mean, I know that no one ever means it that way. And generally people call me those things to be nice, or polite, or whatever else. But I feel like I don't need that comfort. It's not comforting to me.
A friend of mine was helping me through a rough patch. And he wouldn't stop calling me by those things. It was his way of "comforting me" or "being there" or something. But all it did was tick me off. I ended up telling him so, and I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, because he's a good friend. But when everything is kind of complicated, and out of whack, I'd rather just be called by my name. I don't need the sweet talk. Just give it to me straight up.
Another thing about it all, is that I associate it with some kind of romantic or relationship status. When my relations with someone are far from, or no where close to a "relationship" or anything in terms of romance, that's just going to make me uncomfortable. I hate discomfort. Especially when it's unnecessary.
But really. I don't need it. I don't want it. I'm weird, I know. But just call me Abby. Please. lol
I think that maybe I have some kind of inferiority complex about it. I see "baby" as belittling. Like I'm a weak-minded, naiive girl who can't think for herself without a male counterpart. That's the feminist in me I guess. I mean, I know that no one ever means it that way. And generally people call me those things to be nice, or polite, or whatever else. But I feel like I don't need that comfort. It's not comforting to me.
A friend of mine was helping me through a rough patch. And he wouldn't stop calling me by those things. It was his way of "comforting me" or "being there" or something. But all it did was tick me off. I ended up telling him so, and I hope I didn't hurt his feelings, because he's a good friend. But when everything is kind of complicated, and out of whack, I'd rather just be called by my name. I don't need the sweet talk. Just give it to me straight up.
Another thing about it all, is that I associate it with some kind of romantic or relationship status. When my relations with someone are far from, or no where close to a "relationship" or anything in terms of romance, that's just going to make me uncomfortable. I hate discomfort. Especially when it's unnecessary.
But really. I don't need it. I don't want it. I'm weird, I know. But just call me Abby. Please. lol
Monday, May 14, 2007
My Favorite Flower
Ok, so I figured out what my favorite flower is: the Chrysanthemum, daisy: meaning fidelity. In some countries of Europe and Spain, chrysanthemums are symbolic of death and are only used during funerals to put on the grave. Wow, not a pleasant fact... I may re-evaluate my favorite flower. Ha, no just kidding. It's still my favorite.
They were titled the official flower in the state of Chicago in 1966. It's also the flower of November. (Good old Wikipedia) It's in the daisy family, so I wasn't really far off when I said that my favorite flower was a daisy (before today).
The ones I like best look like the ones in the picture. I really like the brighter colored ones, like the magenta, or orange. I found that out when I bought my mom some flowers on mother's day - it was a bouquet of chrysanthemums. I bought them for her, specifically, but only because I liked them so much. ;-)
It's funny though, I never pictured myself as a flower person. I thought they were frivilous and tacky because it would be a waste of money to just buy something that's already dead, you know? But now I think I rather like them. I wouldn't want them all the time, but every now and then would be nice. :-)
National Health Care: Solution to a Brighter Tomorrow?
National Health care is a system in which direct provision of health care and other services given by the government is not required because within the system, every resident of a geographic area is mandated to have health insurance. Sounds pretty great, don't you agree? It ensures the health of all citizens and benefits the entire nation economically because we'll all have to spend less on health care if it's a set amount.
"In market-based systems...the mandate is coupled with a private insurance market. In government the mandate is coupled with a government agency that pays for a wide range of health benefits" (Wikipedia, 14 May 2007).
There are a lot of countries worldwide that use this system of national health care: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom to name a few.
Although this is such a widespread and growing idea, the United States fails to recognize the importance of such an implementation on our current system. The reason is simple: they haven't come up with an ideal plan for opperating it. Sure, it's a good idea, and it would definitely be a nice thing for people who are sick and just need a simple procedure or treatment to be able to go in scotch free and come out feeling fine. However, what about the people who need major surgery? Triple-bipass? A heart, or lung, or liver transplant? What happens to them? I'll tell you: they get put on a waiting list, and might just die in the process of signing up.
Patient: "Oh, I need a new liver. This one isn't working, and I think I could die any second"
Doctor: "That's too bad... Just put your name on the waiting list among the others and we'll see when we can get to you"
I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like such a great scenario.
The idea itself, and the system works. And it could potentially work for a place like the United States, but there's no way we could do it any time soon, just because of our current system and our government. Their solution for everything is to throw money at it. Go deeper into debt. More funding. Etc.
What happens to the medical students who realize that because national health care is in effect, that they only get a certain amount of money, and they need to make the most of it. People are going to stop trying to develop new medicines. They'll want patients to keep coming in for old ones that don't work as well so that they make more money. What happens when they all realize that it's not worth going the extra mile to treat people? They're all going to be about the money. Not your health. This is where a nationalized health care plan would go totally wrong in my opinion, which is why it needs to be handled very seriously. I just think that nationalized health care is going to lead to poor performance on our physicians parts.
Several states are already implementing nationalized systems for semi-national health care: California, Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont are a few of them.
So for now, we can hope that some day the United States can adapt some system that relates to the idea of nationalized health care, but I truely think that it's not a very likely outcome, and it would be close to impossible for us to actually pull off. Accurately. Something would go horribly wrong, and I think the ultimate outcome would be chaotic.
It's a nice idea, and I'm a lot of other countries use it. As for the United States, I might have to laugh a bit at that idea. (heh)
"In market-based systems...the mandate is coupled with a private insurance market. In government the mandate is coupled with a government agency that pays for a wide range of health benefits" (Wikipedia, 14 May 2007).
There are a lot of countries worldwide that use this system of national health care: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom to name a few.
Although this is such a widespread and growing idea, the United States fails to recognize the importance of such an implementation on our current system. The reason is simple: they haven't come up with an ideal plan for opperating it. Sure, it's a good idea, and it would definitely be a nice thing for people who are sick and just need a simple procedure or treatment to be able to go in scotch free and come out feeling fine. However, what about the people who need major surgery? Triple-bipass? A heart, or lung, or liver transplant? What happens to them? I'll tell you: they get put on a waiting list, and might just die in the process of signing up.
Patient: "Oh, I need a new liver. This one isn't working, and I think I could die any second"
Doctor: "That's too bad... Just put your name on the waiting list among the others and we'll see when we can get to you"
I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like such a great scenario.
The idea itself, and the system works. And it could potentially work for a place like the United States, but there's no way we could do it any time soon, just because of our current system and our government. Their solution for everything is to throw money at it. Go deeper into debt. More funding. Etc.
What happens to the medical students who realize that because national health care is in effect, that they only get a certain amount of money, and they need to make the most of it. People are going to stop trying to develop new medicines. They'll want patients to keep coming in for old ones that don't work as well so that they make more money. What happens when they all realize that it's not worth going the extra mile to treat people? They're all going to be about the money. Not your health. This is where a nationalized health care plan would go totally wrong in my opinion, which is why it needs to be handled very seriously. I just think that nationalized health care is going to lead to poor performance on our physicians parts.
Several states are already implementing nationalized systems for semi-national health care: California, Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont are a few of them.
So for now, we can hope that some day the United States can adapt some system that relates to the idea of nationalized health care, but I truely think that it's not a very likely outcome, and it would be close to impossible for us to actually pull off. Accurately. Something would go horribly wrong, and I think the ultimate outcome would be chaotic.
It's a nice idea, and I'm a lot of other countries use it. As for the United States, I might have to laugh a bit at that idea. (heh)
Intro to Graphic Design: Day 1
So today was my first taste of my graphic design class for the May semester. It's only a 3 week course, and the class is every single day. Intense? We shall see.
In any case, I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's definitely in my field: photoshop, illustrator, and some other program I've only heard of. But I'm pretty good with photoshop, and I've briefly experimented with illustrator. So I really like the idea of all the design aspects and techniques involved in stuff.
The only let down, really, if I can call it one, is that only 2 students (including myself) are actually Mac users. Everyone else is new to it. It's not to say that it will take them long at all, but I was a little frustrated at the professor having to go through every little step to get through things. And then there's this girl next to me (here we go again...) who seems technology challenged. She kept hitting the "eject disc" button on the keyboard, and wondering why the disk drive opened every time she did. (Hmm...I wonder...)
Anyway, this won't be too bad, I hope. After this though, my summer is REALLY gonna start.
Someone take me to a party or something where I don't know anyone. lol I can get social pretty quick these days. ;-)
In any case, I'm actually pretty excited about it. It's definitely in my field: photoshop, illustrator, and some other program I've only heard of. But I'm pretty good with photoshop, and I've briefly experimented with illustrator. So I really like the idea of all the design aspects and techniques involved in stuff.
The only let down, really, if I can call it one, is that only 2 students (including myself) are actually Mac users. Everyone else is new to it. It's not to say that it will take them long at all, but I was a little frustrated at the professor having to go through every little step to get through things. And then there's this girl next to me (here we go again...) who seems technology challenged. She kept hitting the "eject disc" button on the keyboard, and wondering why the disk drive opened every time she did. (Hmm...I wonder...)
Anyway, this won't be too bad, I hope. After this though, my summer is REALLY gonna start.
Someone take me to a party or something where I don't know anyone. lol I can get social pretty quick these days. ;-)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Bad Day Getting Worse
This has really been a day for emotional meltdowns. And letdowns for that matter. I had this huge presentation all set up for the Mother's Day service in church this morning. I even had a backup disk in case the first one didn't work. What I didn't plan on happening was the sound totally kirking out and not working at all.
I was thoroughly disgusted at the whole issue. I know there was no way it was anyone's fault, but I was pretty upset the entire time. I literally cried probably the whole service over it. It wasn't enough that I had spent so much time on it, but that it was specifically for Mother's Day. It would've been the perfect touch, you know?
Anyway...I'm bummed about the whole thing. They're showing it next week, but it won't be the same. What can ya do?
I was thoroughly disgusted at the whole issue. I know there was no way it was anyone's fault, but I was pretty upset the entire time. I literally cried probably the whole service over it. It wasn't enough that I had spent so much time on it, but that it was specifically for Mother's Day. It would've been the perfect touch, you know?
Anyway...I'm bummed about the whole thing. They're showing it next week, but it won't be the same. What can ya do?
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