Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in peace_cory's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
1:27 pm	Snow ( I am such a dork about snow! ) I know it's a bit late to be putting NY Resolutions up, which is fine because I don't really do them. I am not saying that I will quit smoking and drop 25 pounds by X month, but I am making a dedication to my health this year. Getting to the gym, taking vitamins, doing more yoga, cutting back on the amount of cigarettes... all of these things got me through last semester when all I wanted to do was cry most of the time. I can't imagine what they will do for me when I am as happy and focused as I am now. So, I just vow to keep going in the same direction I was heading in and to be nice to the thing that allows me the freedom to do whatever I want: my body. Current Mood: energetic (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006
12:23 pm	I did it!!! I don't know how, but I pulled out the B I needed to never have to take Biostats again!!! After making a 47 on the midterm (which I was able to raise to a 60.5 by doing the extra credit project), the TA informed me that the only way to make a B would be to ace every homework assignment (which I did) and every quiz (which I also did) from there on... but those weren't my problem. It was the figuring out what concept went with what on the cumulative tests that I had a hard time with and I would have to kick some major ass on the final to get the B.... which I apparently did!!! I have never worked this hard or been this happy to earn a B!!! AND, that was the last stats class I had to take!!! Four in three semesters was just mean and cruel and now IT IS OVER!!! *doing the Happy Dance... doing the Happy Dance* Big Ups to my tutor, Patricia, who made this Happy Dance possible!!! Current Mood: ecstatic (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 8th, 2006
2:38 am	Halfway there... My community and social classes are done - two down... Two to go: theory and Biostats (my two hardest)... I think I can... I think I can... I think I can... I will be done no later than 8:15 Tuesday night... I will be drunk no later than 9:15 that night. Showdown in Fort Worth, anyone? Current Mood: tired Current Music: Suenos Madrigales - Del Castillo (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 5th, 2006
3:06 am	No words... well, some... I am mystified by what I just saw! I know tonight is a full moon and that circles are normal around the moon - but I have never seen one so bright, so solid, so BIG before tonight! It is absolutely awe-inspiring! It just feels inspirational, like one could just be in the presence of the Goddess! And, while I know her presence - along with God's - is always a part of what I do and apart of the world, I do not usually feel it! Most men - and maybe a lot of women - won't get this part. But, my cycle is back on track with the moon's cycle. It took being off BCPs for 4 months, but I started today and tonight is the most amazing full moon! It feels wonderful for me to know that my body will re-align itself with nature when I allow it to. The greatest thing about it is that this has been my easiest PMS (basically none) in MONTHS! I don't know if it's the vitamins, the exercise, the more natural food... it seems as all of those play a huge role in how I feel. But, I wonder, if this is the first time in months that my body has been with the moon cycle AND it's the first time in months that I made it through my first day of my cycle without feeling sad, there may be something to it! In fact, not only was I not sad, I have felt energized and maybe a bit powerful today. (Sure, procrastinatie-ish, but that's every day!) Give thanks for the blessings and the energy that runs through all living creatures. Current Mood: peaceful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
6:14 pm	"Jr., You're a Genius!" How the crap did I pull this off?!?! Turned in Biostats extra credit last night, flew through my midterm and found out that not only do I have TWO EXTRA pages of notes that I can bring to the final, but an extra week to get those written out!!! (Yeah, ummm, Cory, you really should look at your syllabus more often...) Finished tonight's paper Sunday night, sent it to my partner, finished the PP presentation for it yesterday, sent it to partner, have had back and forth revisions today, but they have been light and easy to do. We are now ready to present in an hour! Started tomorrow night's 10-12 page research paper (I have been reading and collecting data for a LONG time, so I knew what I wanted to say) and have 10 pages and the rest of tonight (after class) to finish and clean it up. I got my degree plan stuff handled so that I could register for classes (did that too), got the paperwork for financial aid that I will take care of next week, and talked to both of my advisers about how these two schools REALLY should try to talk and get their shit together a bit more (well, one has the shit, the other's schedule IS shit... the school, not the advisers). Oh, and I talked to a recruiter for the Public Health Service Corps and feel good about not only applying, but feel good about the fact that the due date is one month and one day away. My recommendations aren't due then, so I can exhale and go ahead and apply. Not bad for a procrastinator! Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: workers outside (Comment on this)
1:12 am	Hehe - I liked this! ( A little about me ) Current Mood: unmotivated Current Music: Random easy stuff (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 20th, 2006
1:21 pm	Thoughts about... ( Kissing ) Current Mood: good Current Music: kids outside (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 18th, 2006
5:05 pm	Feeling a bit "Carry-ish" It's amazing what technology has done to us and our relationships: with ourselves, with our loved ones, with our friends and with our one-nighters. I don't give technology much credit usually because I feel as though our world is advancing too much too rapidly. I get angry when I think about the fact that there are people in the world who don't go out of their houses: they work at home, shop from home, get their food and groceries delivered to them after ordering on-line, "virtually" go to virtually anywhere in and out of the world and only have on-line relationships! Where is the living in that?! Then, today, I started to contemplate my own relationship with technology, what it's done in my relationships. It began with the drunken realization last night that I had been "blocked". This made for a very unhappy drunk. A slightly better rested but much more hungover me decided that the only way to seal the deal and get on to being a happier me again was to just delete the whole friendship - because isn't that what MySpace asks: "Are you sure want to delete ______ as a friend?" And, with a stroke and click of the mouse, that friendship no longer exists, finally letting me put it behind me and stop thinking about it. Then I started to think about it - Why did saying 'yes' to that question feel so good? How frequently has this happened in my life? When did technology take the back-seat to a shoulder of a good friend? Well, there was that horrible day back in April when I had to bite the bullet and delete my new ex from my yahoo! messenger list. Oh, and there has been the 8 years of misunderstanding between my father and I that finally came to a deafening stop - all through e-mail. There's the fact that I have friends and family members whom I haven't found the time to call in months or years, but I know I can still find them because I have their e-mail addresses. And, oh yes, there was the electronic personal organizer that had a mighty lengthy list on it - when the battery died and it lost its memory, I lost a feeling of self-doubt and shame. I'm O.K. with it today, though, because last night, I went out with some very old friends. I had good laughs, good beer, good music and overall some good times. There was some stickiness there at the end, but even that is good - the human emotion means that there is life! And, life isn't easy. But, you know what? I'm sitting on my balcony, basking in the sun wearing shorts and a tanktop while ladybugs land on me, writing on my laptop. So maybe, if we try very hard and make sure to get the combination right, technology and life can go hand-in-hand. Maybe I'll find the answer to what the "right combination" is if I Google it! Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: birds chirping and cars driving (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
10:41 pm	Yoopie!!! I only have one class next week: all of my PH classes from Tues.-Thurs. have now been canceled!!! (I thought until tonight's class that I had to go on Tues.) So, what kind of party time does that mean for me?!?! It so doesn't! Turns out that my two research papers are due in two weeks and so is the extra credit in Biostats. Yeah! Lots of work!!! However, I found today that vitamins are like legal, non-addictive crack! Or, something is: I did homework while eating breakfast, went to a yoga class (damn! I love yoga!), got ready, finished homework, ate lunch while doing research reading, swept and mopped all floors not carpeted, then walked to class (~2 miles or so). I feel that I did well on the Biostats quiz, found out that the extra credit is worth 15 points toward the mid-term and our two lowest quiz grades will be dropped! Holy crap!!! I may just eek out of this class as I am still seeing the tutor for the next few weeks! I would so LOVE to NEVER have to do this again!!! I feel better about... well, just about everything today - it's amazing what exercise, food (I remembered to eat today before 6:00 p.m.), vitamins, cleanliness and accomplishment will do for the ego/esteem/overall wellbeing! I have cool people in my life, a cool life and a cool apartment! Life is good, even if there is impending cloud over me of Things To Accomplish In the Next Three Weeks. I thought I might share. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Random mix (2 Comments |Comment on this)
10:40 am	This may seem slightly out of nowhere, but I haven't been journaling much lately. Oh, well; you're smart people - I'm sure you'll catch on quickly. So, I now have about four weeks of class this semester?!?! WHAT?!?! I have two research papers due in the next few weeks that I should be weeks of research ahead of where I am now. I will start getting my take-home finals soon. I have to ACE my Biostats final if I want to never have to take it again, which means that I have to really make a wonderful (legal) cheat sheet. And, I need to start registering for next semester soon! And I spent a portion of my life lamenting about boys?!?! ... Maybe I am a stupid person ... Then again, maybe I am just a person, one of those human things that has feelings and gets lonely sometimes... (yadda, yadda, yadda) But not again in the next four weeks! I must now be Super Student! Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: Plow Monday (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
4:44 pm	In need of help... So, for Halloween, I decided to paint my finger nails bright lime green (you can see them in the pictures I have posted on myspace from that night). I used a clear polish underneath, but I just don't think that was quite strong enough. I left the polish on for only one week, which was, apparently, enough time. I now have a yellowish stain to my nails. I knew it happened to my toes, but I thought maybe I just wore it for too long! I was wrong! Does anyone have a suggestion about how to make this go away?! I point a lot at work for people to follow along with some literature or something and they see my nails quite a bit. I am not being snobbish, but in a medical setting, you want to feel like these people are healthy and don't have some weird disease, which is sort of what I am looking like now... Between this and my constant need for lotion (due to the weather change), I am sort of feeling a bit reptilian... Not a feeling I want frequently! Current Mood: bored Current Music: Jack FM (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 6th, 2006
1:24 am	Not afraid of thunder... But tonight, Texas is putting on one of its best lightening shows I have seen in a long while. (Yes, I'm about to turn off the computer.) I was standing outside when a multi-lightening spark gave off a thunder that sounded like a string of black-cats had been lit on my little enclosed porch - popping and rumbling all around. I jumped and squealed just a little... and I don't squeal! I was standing there, enjoying the smell and sound of rain, thinking about how this would be the perfect time to be snuggled with someone, looking out my rather large window. I sighed... I came inside to the music playing... I realized Depeche Mode's "Somebody" was playing, my quintessential description of what I am holding out for. I sighed again. Then realized that music was coming from my computer... one more lightening... another good reason to turn it off. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: Jack Johnson (now) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006
5:05 pm	I thought I might try sexy... I have no clue how this ended up becoming my costume, but it was so much fun to do!!! I haven't dressed up for Halloween in so many years and I have never had this much fun doing it before! The original idea was for me to wear the white coat I got from the the School of Public Health over a costume similar to this... thankfully, I have creative friends who will practice their parenting skills by dressing me up as a ... ummm ... Spanish Pirate Boat Captain Slut... or something along those lines! ( Click here to see pictures! ) Current Mood: cold Current Music: None - wonder why (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
12:25 am	They're Over!!! I finished my midterms tonight!!! I think this one was full of BS, but I turned it. I find out tomorrow night how badly I bombed my biostats test (it was bad!!!) and the other two will come back the following two days. But, for tonight, I am DONE!!! So, I finished watching a movie that everyone who is against war should watch! "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train". I can't believe that I saw this man talk about a year ago and had NO CLUE who he was - I was there to see Paul Farmer! I think I got jipped just a bit because they talked about the importance of book writing for education. Yes, it was good, but the minds and hearts of these two men sitting side-by-side - WOW!!! That could have been so much more exciting with another topic, something dealing with the inequities they have seen and the ideas they have to change it! I know, I know... I should read their books for those ideas... *sigh* (At this point, Cory considers giving links to the nice people in case they don't know who she is talking about... then she remembers that she got three hours of sleep last night... with the alarm going off every hour because she was stupid enough to try to pull an all-nighter because she had to turn in a midterm and give a class presentation about Eric Wolf and political economy at 6:00 this evening... she can't even pull off a link when in her right mind... so then she sightly sends up a "thank you" for the wonderful joy that is The Google!) I have one of the first copies of "Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers" that I want to watch now, but can barely hold me eyes open for typing. This is the latest film by the guy who made "Walmart: the High Cost of Low Pricing"; I have not been to a Walmart or Sam's Club since watching that movie. Evil people! Peace Activists, doctors who get care and treatment to the people of the world who need it, political economy, Marxist theory, movies about stopping war and exploitation as my chosen entertainment... What the hell happened?!?! Who turned me into a activist?!?! I feel... ummmm... I think I feel like a grown up or something! Good thing I stayed out partying with randomly cool people until 5:30 in the morning the last two weeks in a row! That grown up thing was looking a little too real! (But why do even my party conversations get so serious and political?... DAMN IT!!! So close!) Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: trains outside in the distance (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
11:26 pm	The Fight is Back On! So, the last time I wrote, I was feeling just a little deflated... actually, I was feeling very defeated - a defeat that is probably going to always creep up in my life as my line of work will always be a fight. After I wrote, my brilliant aunt wrote back and told me to look into Vitamin B. I took her advice and found the Vitamin B Complex that my equally as brilliant mother left at my house "for energy". I have taken it for three days now and feel like a completely re-inflated person again! So much so that I just did The Time Warp around my apartment as I have Rocky playing and am just listening to it as I work (work... check e-mail... whatever...)!!! I wish more people understood the Power of the Vitamin... and I wish that the Power of the Vitamin could work as well on everyone as it does me. I tried to see the movie "Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers" tonight, but they had a lot of sound issues. SO, I instead got a free copy of it to watch at home and to have screenings of! It's made by the same guy who did "The High Cost of Low Prices" about Wal-Mart but seems to be a bit choppier than "High Cost" was... maybe it'll be better when I can actually hear what everyone is saying! O.K. - time to get some sleep so I can take on the protesters tomorrow... or, at least take them with a grain of salt... Current Mood: determined Current Music: "When in just 7 days, I can make you a maaa-aaa-aaan!!!" (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, October 9th, 2006
1:21 pm	Nine months In nine months from today, I will turn 30 years old. And, I am starting my period today... I know this messes with the emotions and all, but I have never cried liked this just because it was the first day of my period. (Not that it's a lot, but it does keep creeping up...) I think the Good Ol' Southern Girl part of me is realizing that I was being serious when I made the determination to not have a kid before I turned 30 (well, really it was to not have a kid before I finished my master's degree - which I have turned into 2). I think the Romantic in me has realized that I have made it this far in life and haven't been able to find someone I could do that whole baby-making thing with even if I was ready to (or wanted to - I still haven't decided if I want to be a parent). Well, I suppose if they produce sperm, I could do it... it's more a matter of would... Silly that a woman should have standards, isn't it?!?! I know that everyone is either approaching or past 30 - life doesn't begin or end here. I am usually VERY happy with where I am in my life and very cool with turning 30. But, today, I'm sad... Not of where I am in life, but of where I will never be able to be. Current Mood: but not so angry Current Music: Welcome to Jamrock (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, October 6th, 2006
7:04 pm	My job I think I figured out today that working for Planned Parenthood is definitely the right place for me to be. How did I figure this out? When I started a sentence like this: "You know, if I were still speaking to my father and I thought that I might one day think about getting married..." Possibly, the ending was just as much a part of it: "I would still never want to be 'given away' like some piece of property! By the time I would get around to getting married, I would be enough into my 30s that ain't no one 'giving' me to anyone else!" While this has been a common thing for me to say in the past 5 years, it just seemed more fitting in that circumstance. I had to do a domestic violence report yesterday on my patient with a black eye. When I see a woman who is getting an abortion with a black eye, that scares me so I will always ask where it came from. "I tried to come to come here last week for an abortion and this is what the guy did to me after keeping me locked in the house to keep me from here." was the reply. If any of you has read - not seen, but read - "Fried Green Tomatoes", you will know that my Twanda coming out (who was as angry as her) was a slightly scary thing. MAchine guns and machetes! This man in her house had made his way in by preying on a 31-year-old widow, mother of a 1-year-old, who lost her husband tragically... He is just out of prison, won't work and likes to choke women to show them who's in charge. Thank god she had an abortion because that man's spawn does not need to be living in this world! (Horrible thing for me to say, I know... but I am angry with men, cranky, it's a full moon and I was the one who had to deal with the situation! You tell me your thoughts when your on this side of it!) Anthropologically, PMS is a culture-bound syndrome - it does not run thoughout the world... mostly just here in the States and some other industrialized countries. But, I know that I will soon start my period (I know due to the wonderful acne I still get at almost 30-years-old) and I feel weird - yesterday and today. I have asked women who do believe in PMS and who don't know about culture-bound syndromes if it changes as we get older... They all said "yes". But, I don't know that I like this so much. I've never been cranky at people during PMS - mostly, I just want chocolate, I will clean everything meticulously, and I get sappy with commercials and movies. Right now, I feel deflated and as though my desire to make a difference won't do a damn bit of good as long as we have politicians and people who exploit others. So, I will drink some more beer before studying the facts I have before me to support the deflated feeling... Current Mood: and a bit lonely (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 4th, 2006
11:26 pm	This is me, procastinating my studies... I have some swirling ideas in my head for a practicum and how I can make it work. ( First part ) ( Second Part ) ( So, Put Them Both Together ) I feel obsessed right now about this - hopefully my research paper in Social and Behavioral Aspects of Public Health will help to get things a bit more clear. I have proposed to research the threat of a higher infection rate due to people not understanding that "no symptoms" is not equivalent to "cured". My obsession has kept me from studying for the mid-term in that class tomorrow night - which is what I should be doing now... So, - P.S. YES YES YES!!! I MADE THE LJ-CUT WORK!!! Current Mood: excited Current Music: Adult ALternative station (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
10:26 pm	Cory Conquers Router You know what is more awkward than filling in the conversation gap with your ex-boyfriend as your computer thinks about trying to get on the internet? (It really wasn't that bad, Jon; it's just a catchy opening line!) Sitting in silence with an man you know is in India and thinking about what time it might be there (is it 8, 10 hours difference?) and how miserable he must be dealing with some frustrated, pompous American who makes stupid comments like "Now I can work in my office instead of the living room" when he might be living in a house with a huge family and no privacy... as your computer thinks about trying to get on the internet! I'm "Bad Anthropologist" who makes stupid comments like that. But... I HAVE WIRELESS INTERNET NOW!!! (Apparently, I can forgive myself rather quickly...) I can finally get to work in my office instead of "working" in the Shaggy Bag (read: falling asleep with the nice warm computer on my lap in the Shaggy Bag - I know, Poor Me...)!!! It is so pathetic, but now my apartment is complete! I have my internet; I have my furniture; I have my decorations; I have my incense. What more could a woman want?! Well, maybe my cat... hair on all the wonderfully soft furniture... so maybe not my cat. It's been a while since I posted and many things have interested me and made me happy since then - so many that I will not get into them. I will just say that life is on-track and my brain is trying to process all the great stuff I am learning now! Though I will be happy when I reach the end, I sometimes like being a student. It's hard, yes, but I love the things I am reading about! It makes me know that I picked the right two degrees and that - hard or not - I did the right thing by taking on both of them. If only Public Health didn't require Biostats - I could definitely have gone the rest of my life without learning this shit! I feel as though I've already gone through the first half of the semester without absorbing it... my guess is that it'll be gone from my memory by the end of December. ;-) Now that I have tackled and conquered the wireless monster, I must go to a place that doesn't hurt the eyes so much... a little thing I like to call "printed paper". I have a date with Margaret Mead! Current Mood: ecstatic (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 4th, 2006
2:36 pm	My Labor Day Weekend... Was full of buying and moving furniture!!! I am sore, I am a bit tired, I am behind on my homework... I AM SO IN LOVE!!! This is the first time I've ever had a place of my own - my own furniture, my decision on how to decorate COMPLETELY, my name on a lease... That part is just a little strange. And, it is everything I was hoping for: cozy, comfortable, spacious, random and FUN! I spent three weeks looking for a house with hardwood floors; then found a carpeted apartment one Thursday, signed the lease on Tuesday and moved the first parts of the furniture in the Thursday after I found it. I spent weeks looking for furniture, including The Scary Trip to THE IKEA!!! I thought I wanted a red couch and kept looking for them; I found the softest light army green couch and love seat at 9:15 Moving Day morning... and had bought them by 11:00 for a third of the price as New Red Couch! My whole apartment has come together by the grace of my best friends and Craigslist for the price of one couch and chase lounge! AND IT LOOKS LIKE AN IKEA AD!!! The icing on the cake for my Wonderfully Soft, Plush, Comfort Zone of Happiness is the purchase of my new Shaggy Bag - I have wanted one for the past year (the first time I sat on one). However, I could not afford to buy a "bean bag" for the $400 price tag on my budget... so when I found one on craigslist for less than half the price, I jumped on it. Quite literally: once I got it into my apartment last night, I took a running plunge onto it! It's wonderful! I feel like such a grown up right now - but still a silly and fun-loving one. It's good to know that doesn't have to go! Of course, I should be studying for my Biostats quiz and am, instead, blogging... Time to go do grown-up-type things... Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: Randomness on Adult Alternative channel (2 Comments |Comment on this)