Your basic D.I.D.

Hmm...lots of thoughts tumbling around today...but which ones to talk about?  I know, ALL of them!  Or maybe just the ones that pop into my head as I'm writing.  Okay.

RESEARCH:  So I'm working on some sociological research right now, basically continuing what I was doing last semester but now for academic credit and not for pay.  Kind of a bummer that I don't get paid, but at least I get something out of it.  I'm working with the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), gathering information that will show us whether or not there is a significant difference in a child's health and sexual outcomes when raised by a single mom or single dad.  Sounds interesting, doesn't it?  I didn't choose the topic, Mikaela did (my professor), but it is proving interesting.  The ECLS was given to a specific set of kindergarteners and their parents, and their progress has been followed up until the current year, their 8th grade year.  If only the program would work, though...unfortunately, this little dataset requires that you order a CD for full access to the data and codebook, which we did, but then you have to download a program from the CD onto your computer.  (P.S. the data is the actual results from each respondent, and the codebook is the list of questions a.k.a. variables that were asked with the numerical values given to each answer so that we can actually read the data.)  The ECLS program won't download to a flash or anything else, it has to be onto a computer, and it is very finicky, so finally after a zillion tries, I was able to download it to my home computer.  However, it's a really random weird program that nobody else has, so I can't take what I do to the data anywhere else unless by some random chance another computer also has this program.  Which none do.  In other words, I'm stuck at home.  At my first real research meeting with Mikaela and the other student researchers to show what we've done, they were able to pull out and show her everything because while they're answering the same research question, they're working with normal datasets like the NLSY79 that give you access online.  I, on the other hand, had to paste print screens into a word document and show her that because my work couldn't be saved into any other format, not even one to be read by notepad.  ANNOYING.  It gets better, though--this step is just reading the codebook and choosing the appropriate variables to be used, but the next involves actually cleaning up the variables and making them usable for the study...which requires SPSS, an expensive data analysis program that of course, I don't have.  There are a few select computer labs at school that have the program, but--surprise!--those computers won't let you download ANYTHING onto the computers, and if you are given permission to download something, that something is erased each night.  In other words, I can look at the variables at home, choose the ones I want to use, but then I can't do anything with them because I don't have the program at home (and can't afford to buy it).  BUT I can do stuff with them if I use a computer with SPSS--but then I won't be able to work with the variables as easily because I won't be able to see them.  Logical, no?  Argh, frustrating.  That's it, I'm movin' to Sparta.

CLASS:  I'm taking Comparative Perspectives on Marriage and Family, which is very interesting but requires a LOT of reading.  Knapp loves huge reading assignments; he thinks they make us smarter, which may be true, but certainly makes us get behind in our work.  We have our midterm next week, then it's off to the second half of the class.  I can't believe we're already half done!  In the second half, we get to read Anna Karenina--supposedly not the whole book, just segments of it, but the course outline currently shows that we're reading the entire 817 page Russian novel in three weeks.  Yikes.

READING:  I've been whipping through the Percy Jackson books lately, which have been fantastic.  Definitely written for children, but still, very enjoyable.  Much like a Harry Potter series for Greek mythology lovers--very similar in style, character development, and basic overall plotline.  I highly recommend them.  After that, I'll proceed onto the Fablehaven books.  I've gotten finish them before Amy leaves at the end of summer, because she's taking them with her.

TV SHOWS:  Glee and Bones are where it's at right now, my friends.  Those are my t.v. shows, and if people try to bug me between 8-9 on Tuesdays (Glee) or 7-8 on Thursdays (Bones), I am not happy (same goes for Amy!).  I apologize in advance if you try to talk to me during those times and I ignore you, but consider yourself warned.  Yes, I've heard of Hulu, and yes, I'll watch the shows on Hulu if I can't do it live.  But my old school computer hates Hulu and pretty much any online videos; they don't work half the time and the other half of the time are very skiddish and just really not worth it.  So yeah.  =)  Glee has taken some interesting turns lately, and I'm wondering how the season will end.  I have mixed feelings about the show; I love the music and I've grown to love the characters, but some of the plot developments are not that great.  They've been throwing in a lot of dirt lately, too, so we'll see whether or not it's worth it to keep watching.  Bones is fantastic, as always!  Last night's episode with the Gravedigger's court case was extremely intense; all the important evidence kept getting thrown out because of legal issues, and when they finally found her guilty (on only one charge, though), it got even more intense.  Max's wallet was stolen while he was in jail, so I'm thinking the Gravedigger will somehow get someone to work for her or escape from prison and attack Brennan's father, whose information she probably got from his wallet.  I had a dream about that very possibility last night, haha.  By the way, for those of you who don't follow Bones, which is many of you, I'm sure, the Gravedigger is a serial killer that they've been fighting since early season 2 (we're about to finish season 5).  She captures individuals, typically using a high voltage stun gun, then buries them alive in various places, telephoning with a distorted voice recorder to demand ransom.  If the ransom is paid, GPS coordinates are provided for the victim, and if not, the victim dies and may or may not be found later.  Brennan and Hodgins were buried alive together back in season 2, and because of their brilliance and the brilliance of their colleagues, they were able to be rescued barely before suffocating.  In season 4, Booth was captured by the Gravedigger, and they were barely able to get him out only because they found out who the Gravedigger was--a woman named Heather Taffet.  Taffet wouldn't tell them anything because she's a brilliant psychopath, but they found Booth and had her thrown in custody.  Unfortunately, Taffet is also a really good lawyer who defended herself in last night's court case and almost got herself cleared.  Booth, Brennan, and Hodgins were only allowed to testify as expert witnesses if they were not considered victims, which meant she was only tried on one case.  Anyway, the jury found her guilty, but I don't think it's over yet.  What is really surprising to me about the show is that they threw us for a loop again--Brennan told Booth that she's getting tired of the whole catching murderers thing.  She said it weighs her down, all the sadness, the difficulty, the stress, just the heaviness of the work.  Will she quit?!  If so, what will happen between her and Booth?!  Next week is the season finale, and I've gotta know :-o

Uhh...that's it for now.  I've already written too much, so I'll close.  Have a great weekend!  As my high school AP English Language teacher used to say, "Just because they pass it doesn't mean you have to smoke it."  We dance, we kiss, we schmooze, we carry on, we go home happy. What do you say? Come on.