I know Advisor always tells me not to hope for significant results when I analyze my data, but for results that show the truth. However looking at reviewer comments on the poster for my master’s study, I think what they really care about are significant, clear results, and not the muddled mess of “truthful” results that I actually obtained. XD lol, joy.

Being the TA for multivariate statistics is really kicking my butt. I wonder, do the students in this class care as much about statistics (and the subtle differences in interpretations of the various effects) as I do? I certainly hope so, because if not I’m seriously wasting my time giving so much feedback on the homework assignments. I try to go faster and not to get caught up making comments here and there, but I just can’t help it. It’s like that one xkcd comic (especially the roll-over text, lol) — I can’t come to bed, someone is wrong on the internet homework. What am I supposed to do, just leave it? Then they’ll keep being wrong! XD

Back to grading.

What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong! http://xkcd.com/386/

So while reading for one of my classes, I found out about TESS and WEXTOR. Joygasm! ^-^;

Yesterday, I defended my master’s. And yes, I passed.

Taking the weekend off and celebrating the end of the semester/my successful defense at Sake (酒 or さけ) Café tonight. Hooray for sushi!

So in my weekly meeting with my advisor today, I mentioned how I had been sick during most of the winter break. I only got sick after classes were over, and I started feeling better right before they started again. Also, the doctor wasn’t sure what it was that was causing my fevers, but suspected it was some sort of viral infection.

Advisor, however, had a different theory as to the source of my illness: “You were having grad school withdrawal syndrome.” Right. That must have been the problem…

–Tati

My social cognition final exam is little more than 12 hours away, and I still want to go over my notes and summaries at least one more time in full between now and then. I need to sleep and shower at some point between now and then too.

But the stress is nowhere near over. As soon as this final is done (6pm tomorrow, or I guess technically today now), I have to write about a thousand more pages for my master’s proposal so I can get a draft in to my advisor by Wednesday. He really wants my proposal approved by the end of this month, and I really have no idea how that’s going to happen, considering that means that he’ll want revisions of that draft by Friday. My statistics final exam is also on Friday.

I keep reminding myself that by this time next week, I’ll be done with all this — I’d have to be, my deadlines will have already past. I just really don’t see that happening…

So it’s nearly 10pm and I’m in the psych building, waiting for the rest of my study group. The final exam for social cognition is on Tuesday and I’m dreadfully unprepared; it’s going to be a long night.

–Tati

Dear JPSP,

This isn’t working. It’s not me, it’s you. I’m sick of your 4+ studies per week-long article, and my eyes grow weary of your microscopic font. Mostly though I think you’re just too verbose for me — and I’m a girl.

I was at first willing to get over these issues. I’ve read many, many pages, multiple articles, without even so much as a coffee break on countless occasions, yet you apparently don’t understand reciprocity. I’ve read for you, the least you could do was shorten a bit for me — just a page or two, every once in a while. But instead, your articles grow increasingly longer.

I tried to make this work, but we’re just too different. And as it turns out, there are indeed other fish in the sea, so I’m leaving you for Psych Science.

I wish you all the best and am sure you can take comfort in knowing that you have plenty of other subscribers who will try to read you.

Sincerely,

A Short-Attention-Span Graduate Student

I know I should go to bed, and I am pretty tired, but I just. can’t. do it.

It’s rather ridiculous. I went to bed early and I had no problem getting myself out of bed this morning when the alarm went off. This happened several times last week as well. Being rested and refreshed enough to get out of bed with no desire to hit the snooze button is not something that happens very often. In fact, I don’t think that’s happened since last summer. It’s actually quite nice.

But, I feel as though there’s more I can do, and should do, before I go to bed. I’m positive the quality of my work suffers when I’m tired (surprise surprise), and I can usually notice a sizable difference in my reading too — how well I can focus, how many questions I generate, how much I can remember, all of that. I know I work better when my eyelids aren’t droopy.

Yet, I keep remembering something James said once. He said that when he was in graduate school, and he wanted to go home but knew that he could or should get some other work done, he’d ask himself, “what are my competitors doing?” The answer was usually, well, they’re probably staying up that extra hour or so to finish reading just one more article, or some such thing. And now, even though I don’t care to worry about the job market right at this point (and I’m intrinsically motivated besides), I still can’t help but ask myself, “what are my competitors doing?” James worried about what his competitors were doing, and I dare say it worked out well for him, very well indeed.

Unfortunately, I usually only remember my phantom competitors when I’m ready for bed; when I’m not being productive during the day, I just don’t really remember it, or on the rare occasion that I do, it just doesn’t have much impact. Perhaps I should tattoo it on my arm.

(p.s., I bet those phantoms are reading another article, or t-testing the living daylights out of their data. Curse them.)

So this weekend was the SPSP conference. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I went to some good talks, looked at some posters, met some cool people. I wanted to have met more grad students, but all in all I think the conference went well. It’s hard to pick a favorite talk, but definitely near the top of the list was one on the behavioral immune system and what actions people take to avoid health threats, which of course went into cues of health threats, and so forth. Another talk that was really great was one on how we shouldn’t just look at positive versus negative affect, and how we should recognize the qualitative differences between emotions. Further, these discrete emotions should also have certain predictable affects on our mental processing.

I also went to a huge party afterwards for all the attendees of the conference. It was surprisingly fun. We didn’t arrive until nearly midnight, I think, because it took us so long to get dinner and change. But we stayed for a while and shockingly, I actually danced. And though I definitely didn’t dance well, there were times when I really got into it and just didn’t worry about what the people around me were thinking — they probably didn’t notice me anyway. And I do have to admit, my advisor tore up the dance floor. I figured he would get into it, I just didn’t expect to be so, well, impressed.

But I don’t have much time to write, as I have a test to study for and statistical analyses to run. Wish me luck (I’m going to need it).