Well Duh

As a graduate student in psychology I generally find my area of academic pervue quite interesting. I enjoy learning about people and what makes them tick. And occassionally I come across some bit of research that makes me say.... well,duh! After reading about some fact that any person off the street would recognize as being true I wonder who picks these research ideas. Specifically, the article I just read concluded that people with low self-esteem who have failed at a task would prefer not to compare themselves to someone they know was more successful. Uh, yeah. If I felt badly about myself and then I failed a test, would I want my nose rubbed in it by being compared to someone who had an exceptionally high achievement? Can't we just use some common sense people?
But I guess asking for common sense may be a bit too much for people. Just ask any person who shot themselves while cleaning the gun after they failed to engage the safety. And this is just as bad. After looking at this I am going to go buy a gun to clean.

Evening Out of the Universe

Of course into every life a little Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco renunion must fall. I personally think this event marks the decline of our civilization and possibly the coming of the apocalypse. Well, not the event itself...I have learned that many TV executives make a living by trying to figure out the next perverse and disgusting event and televising it for the populous. I also understand that Amy & the Buttafuocos are probably each getting paid more than their combined yearly income. Of course if people watch and it gets a high viewer share then my fears about the decline of civilization will have come to fruition.

But despite such horror, the occasionally ray of light falls into our lives to make up for the perversion. In my case it is my friendly neighborhood bar, Dr. Dremos (www.drdremo.com), which was scheduled for closure this month. A fact overwhich I must admit I was becoming increasingly depressed. They have been given a stay of execution until September 2006 - at which time the real estate developer who bought the property will find out if the county will re-zone that paltry strip of land so they can build a damn ten story 170 condo building. For those of you that don't know Arlington, let me explain that we are by no means short of yuppie pandering, over priced condos that dot our horizon, make parking impossible, and overpopulate what bars and restaurants we have. (My friend and I were repeatedly told we would have to wait half an hour for lunch on a Sunday.) We are lacking in friendly, fun, cheap bars where you can just hang out with your friends and play some pool. Such places are becoming an endangered species and I would move to have them protected under the same laws that have served the Giant Panda so well. (Keep up the good breeding Giant Pandas! Although, tip the to the newsmakers, I could do without the PandaPorn That is private!)

Not prone to ranting, but apparently "insane enough"

What exactly is 'insane enough'? Well you would have to ask my brother about that. This blog is a direct result of his encouragement and rejection of what I think is a lovely blog name, Bit O' Smart. I told him I can't blog because I am not prone to ranting but he believes I am "insane enough" (his words) to have something to talk about.

So about me to get the ball rolling. I am living the high life in the Metro DC area, rubbing elbows with the lower middle class of our Nation's Capital! Fantastic. I work in mental health and I go to grad school for the same. And yet I manage to find time to have a little bit o' fun....a bit o' smart don't mean nothing if you don't have that. I am currently single, which I find immensely entertaining.

And I would like to close with a shout out to D.E., my grandmother's brother who passed away yesterday. He was one of those happy, friendly people who loved to have fun and socialize. At my cousin's wedding this past summer he stayed up later than both my brother and sister, who are in their 20s, to dance the night away. I spent the day trying to express my thoughts on a card for the flowers...something like 'one such as he will never really be gone because of all the lives he touched.' Of course my next thought was how that sentiment minimizes their grief.....Why are you crying? He isn't really gone!