Nerd Fest ‘08

So this past week I was required to attend the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Last year I received a grant to run my own study under the guidance of DG. It has been a buttload of work and it all pretty much culminated on the poster I presented at the Symposium. Rather than being excited about showing all my hard work to like-minded nerds, I was more excited to rock my new suit. The last time I had to wear a suit was when I was at a nerd camp for kids who wanted to be doctors. Are we seeing a trend? Not to toot my own horn but I think I looked pretty snazzy. I couldn’t help but strut around Madison like the city was one big catwalk. I was pretty surprised at how well I knew the ins and outs of my study. DG was the quintessential stage mom during the whole thing. I am pretty sure we took over 20 pictures some of which were action shots of me describing the poster. Jesus H.

This past weekend I went out with the guys from the lab. We went to the Shammy as I now affectionately call it. I had a blast just hanging around talking with each other. I don’t really get the point of trying to pick someone up at the bar. What will become of it other than a one maybe two-night stand? Also, who knows what you could catch from some of the skeezes that frequent such establishments. I don’t mean to judge but I think it is fairly reasonable to assume that a guy who gets it on with multiple men isn’t exactly the poster child for a STI-free life. I guess when I imagine meeting someone, I think of it being in a sober setting rather than stumbling into some rando and asking, “Your place or mine?”

I have mad homework to do this week. A week from tomorrow I have both a paper and presentation due in my psychodynamic class. I should be working on it right now but I would much rather waste time on the Internet than actually face work. Huh turns out that in Microsoft word the word “Internet” is capitalized. I did not see that coming.

Artist: Tokyo Police Club

Hey My Mojito!

So in the previous post I started to talk about this guy who had asked for my number when I was out with my lab friends. Well last Sunday we got together and had a drink at the Shamrock. It was interesting to see the type of people who choose to spend their Sundays at a dive bar. It seemed to be mostly older men just hanging out with friends and there were a couple of younger guys too. Well Steve and I sat down and he got us the drinks (what a gentleman). So he and I are chatting and he seems fairly cool. I don’t really like his laugh all that much, which could be a problem because, lets be honest, an annoying laugh is like rat poison to any relationship. Also, he does this thing where he pretends to makes notes of things I am saying. At one point I said that Love Actually is probably my favorite movie and he says, “Uh oh, you said love in the first 10 minutes of the conversation. You better slow down.” Seriously? It was like we were having two completely different conversations. So we finish our drinks and we decide to leave. He says that he will give a call later in the week to hang out.

So instead of calling, we have been texting back and forth. Over the past week I have been called mojito, porn star, and naughty boy. Seems like someone likes to use pet names unfortunately I find them to be revolting and creeptastic. At one point I wondered if he had forgotten my name and was trying to hide it. I have also received two poems set in the style of “Roses are red, Violets are blue” so obviously he is a renaissance man. Needless to say I think there may be a disconnect between who he thinks I am and who I actually am. I totally forgot to tell you his age: 31! Now I don’t consider myself to really care about age but in this case it seems to bring an added element to the budding relationship; if you could call it that. I get the feeling that the fact that I am 10 years younger adds to his attraction to me. He talks to me like I am a kid. I don’t know, I just am not feeling him in the way he seems to be feeling me.

He texted me today to tell me to keep next weekend open because he wants me to go out with him and his friends to Club 5. For those of you who don’t know, Club 5 is Madison’s gay club, and I use that term loosely because the place is tiny and skeezy as shit. Back to Steve, he said that his friends want to meet me. Here’s the thing, he doesn’t even know me; we hung out once. I don’t really think that I should be introduced to his friends this soon. Oh and the fact that he wants to go dancing doesn’t really jive with me either. I have to be near blackout before I bust any moves. I will say that when I do, I can drop it like it’s hot with the best of them. So all in all I am not exacting feeling butterflies in my stomach.

I think what I need to do is stop waiting for the guys I am into to ask me out rather than just being proactive and ask them out myself. That is my homework for the next time I got the hots for someone.

Artist: Tegan and Sara; Deathcab for Cutie

I Ain’t A Playa, I Just Crush A Lot!

So this past weekend I went out with my fellow research lab members. We got dinner at a restaurant that claims to specialize in traditional Wisconsin fare; which means there was a lot of beer, cheese, and beef. Needless to say I was in heaven. I guess I should confess that I am an FKS or for those not in the know, a former fat kid. Now I want to emphasis the former part because it is an important distinction not only for my psyche but also because former fat kids still can eat like they shop in the husky section of the department store. I packed that pepperjack cheeseburger with bacon in like it ain’t no thang. We all got drinks with our meals and I can honestly say that I will miss all the different beers they make here in Wisconsin.

I should give the breakdown of who makes up my lab. There are ten people in all but only five of us are worth knowing about. The five are Kyle, Jordan, Vika, MadJ and myself. We all head over to a coffee shop and wine bar that Kyle used to work at and we sit down to have a few drinks. The girls decide to head home, which they usually do and the rest of us, including Kyle’s boyfriend Josh decide to head to the bars. If you haven’t already guessed, all us guys are gay so we headed to Shamrock’s, Madison’s premier gay bar.

We are all having a great time, talking to each other and people we know. I notice this short guy, which means something since I am 5’8”, who has a mad ‘fro and major meth face. He keeps staring at me as he walks by and I am getting majorly creeped out. Kyle offers to pretend to be my boyfriend and I have never been more grateful in my entire life. Why do I always get the winners? So they announce last call and we all start to get ready to leave. I am leaning against the wall facing the bar and I notice this guy looking at me. I, in my usual fashion, keep averting my eyes because when I am drunk I assume that the guy thinks I am staring at him and that he is weirded out. So this continues for a while until he waves me over. We start to talk and he ends up asking for my number, which was pretty bomb since he didn’t look like an addict with a horrible hairstyle.

I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Artist: Panic At the Disco

So What Are You Going to do With Your Life?

Seeing as how I am going to be graduating this May, I have been getting this question a lot. I even got this question from some random waitress at an Applebee’s-type place a few months back. She was caring enough to inform me that my Bachelors in Psychology doesn’t really offer a lot of job opportunities without further education.

Which brings me to what has probably contributed to my sudden case of insomnia in the past week. I have been vacillating between either going to graduate school for clinical psychology or going to law school. I am fortunate enough to have a family that allows me to make my own decisions without feeling pressured to go in any particular direction. My Dad, whose opinion I value pretty much above everyone else’s, has told me that whatever I decide to do he will be there for me. I don’t know too many people who are lucky enough to have a dad like that. Unfortunately though, I am feeling tremendous pressure from my research professor to go in the direction of research-oriented clinical psych. This person, who we will call DG, conceives of plans for everyone including her “boyfriend’s” son who is 9; he will be going to a particular Ivy League he just doesn’t know it yet. I would go into why I know such intimate details about my academic superior but this post isn’t about DG; more on DG at a later date.

Okay, back to my future. I really think that I would feel fulfilled if I went to grad school for psych. I am fairly confident that I would do well in law school but I don’t think that my heart is really in it. I don’t want to be one of those people who just do something so that they can make money to enjoy other aspects of life. In the long run I think it is more important to do something you love rather than just work a job. I am taking a year off before applying to either school so that is helpful. One thing that I do feel confident about is that it is okay that I don’t already know what I want to do with my life. I am only 21 years old, I don’t really think I should have my entire life planned out yet. I don’t even know who I am completely and I have had over two decades to work on that. So that is where I am at right now.

Ahh fuck it, I just need a sugar daddy. Now there’s a profession for ya.

“So what do you do?”

“Oh I do an old guy and roll around in roller skates and hot pants. I am expecting him to croak soon. You’re a CPA right? How’s that going?”

“Fine, tax season is coming up so you know I’m pretty busy.”

Sorry, that was kinda random.

NEW FEATURE: I am gonna write what I am listening to as I write my posts so that you can get an idea of how ridiculously random my music tastes are.

Artist: Imogen Heap