(e:Jenks) gave me some good advice about something, and it helped me out a lot. It made me see things in a different way than I had been. I appreciated having that perspective from someone who was willing to say it like it really was.

It hurts about what has happened over the past few months, but there's very good things that came about as a result of that hurt.

Work hasn't been going that well. I can't get into the situation on a public forum like this..but it's definitely not the best. I have been enjoying my classes (though the workload is very stressful). I especially like my state and society seminar. We get guest speakers each week from the department who introduce us to different fields and specialties. It's fun to have new professors every week. I still don't really know anyone that well. Most people are nice, but they are mostly just people I talk to about school stuff. Hopefully, that will start to change. I think they need an albany estrip or something.

Aaron's coming up next week, and we're going to see Dylan and Costello! I'm so psyched, it helps me get through the drugery of the days. Then, the next week, my sister and her boyfriend are coming up for a visit.

I guess not much in the news is shocking anymore, but it chilled my spine to think of soldiers going into temples and beating/killing monks.

Scientists find new species in Vietnam 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

HANOI, Vietnam - Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Wednesday.

The new species were found in a remote region known as the "Green Corridor" in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam, it said.

"You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them," Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical adviser in the region, said in a statement.

The new snake species, the white-lipped keelback, generally lives close to streams and eats frogs and other small animals, WWF said. It has a yellow-white stripe along its head, red dots over its body and can reach a length of 31.5 inches.

The new butterfly species are among eight discovered in Thua Thien Hue since 1996. One is a "skipper," a butterfly that flies in a quick, darting motion. It is from the genus Zela. The other is from a new genus in the subfamily Satyrinae.

Three of the new orchid species are leafless, which is unusual for orchids, WWF said.

The other new plant species include one in the aspidistra family, which produces a black flower and can subsist in low light, and an arum, which produces yellow flowers surrounded by funnel-shaped leaves, it said.

"It's great news for Vietnam," said Bernard O'Callaghan, Vietnam program coordinator for the World Conservation Union. "The jungles and mountains of Vietnam are fascinating places and they continue to surprise scientists."

All the new species are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam's Annamites mountain range, which offers unique habitats.

All species in the area are under threat from illegal logging, hunting and development.

Many threatened species live in the Green Corridor, including the white-cheeked crested gibbon, one of the world's most endangered primates.

Things I regret over the past year:

1. All the fights my mom and I had. I think we've worked things out, but I'm sad for all the time that we lost. We both apologized to each last night and had a long talk, but I want things to be better year round.
2. Not being there for certain family members when they really needed someone. I wish I had done more to be there for them.
3. I wish T. and I wouldn't have gone back and forth so much about things. If I could have understood better his point of view, maybe it would have made things easier for him.
4. Not calling my dad enough.
5. Losing touch with friends I've always cared deeply about.
6. Making excuses for things that I should have done, but didn't.


Last year on Yom Kippur, a friend of mine was battling advanced brain cancer. It looked as though he was going to die. Somehow, he not only lived, but is now doing much better. His inoperable tumor is almost all gone, and he's healthier than he was before he had cancer. He's starting a part-time job and is moving back out west with his friends.

I don't believe that God is behind what happens to us in our lives. I want to, especially when I see things like that happen to my friend. But then I see all the terrible things that happen to people for no good reason. I can't believe the people who say that bad things happen for a purpose. There's so many terrible, random things. Maybe I'd like to believe that God is the force behind those rare good things that happen. Sometimes I feel like an agnostic, but I'll see the sunset, and i feel that I can't just look at life through a materialist point of view. At those moments I feel there has to be something outside of ourselves. I haven't figured this out at all.

For (e:Jenks)
1. Go to .
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.

For (e:libertad)

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
Yawnin', stretchin', try to come to life
Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the streets the traffic starts jumpin'
And folks like me on the job from nine to five
Chorus:

Workin' nine to five
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Nine to five, for service and devotion
You would think that I
Would deserve a fair promotion
Want to move ahead
But the boss won't seem to let me
I swear sometimes that man is out to get me
Mmmmm...

They let your dream
Just a' watch 'em shatter
You're just a step
On the boss man's ladder
But you got dreams he'll never take away

In the same boat with a lot of your friends
Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in
And the tide's gonna turn
And it's all gonna roll your way

2nd Chorus:

Workin' nine to five
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind
And you never get the credit
It's enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Nine to five, yeah
They got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you think about it, don't you?
It's a rich man's game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin' money in his wallet

3rd Chorus:

Nine to five
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use you mind
And they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Fade:

Nine to five, yeah
They got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you dream about it, don't you?
It's a rich man's game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin' money in his wallet

My top matches for career choices, according to careercruising.com:


1. Anthropologist

2. Human Resources Specialist

3. Criminologist

4. ESL Teacher

5. Critic

6. Mediator

7. Writer

8. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

9. Editor

10. Computer Trainer

Most of those are appealing choices, especially those related to literary endeavors. What kind of surprised me is that the occupations I trained for- historian, archivism, curatorial- were not even in my top-40 on the match list.

I feel scared and alone tonight, and I don't really have a reason to be.