TED|Talks

In lieu of being eyes-deep in academia, I have to forage for other forms of intellectual stimulation.*

...Well, that's why Al Gore** made the Internet, right?

So, in case anyone else has been starving lately, I thought I would mention that I've been a fan of the TED conference talks for quite some time now. The moniker itself stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. Through their website, http://www.ted.com, they host these innovative 20 minute talks in embeddable, linkable, remarkable video format.

Here are only my recent views, because it would be impossible to list all that I've enjoyed:

• Vilayanur Ramachandran on A Journey to the Center of your Mind
  
• Susan Savage-Rumbaugh on Apes that Write
  
• Jane Goodall's What Separates Us from the Apes?
  
• David Gallo's Underwater Astonishments

*Yes, yes. I've been reading voraciously, but even Michael Pollan, Malcom Gladwell & Richard Dawkins have joined the dark side.

** Actually, Al Gore made the Internet so he could give a TED Talk, even though it later causes him to become the butt of some well-intentioned jokes from Tony Robbins.

Grad School Blues

So, here I am.

I submitted all of my applications at the beginning of January, and now the period of time that stretches out before receiving my rejection letters could be no less insurmountable than a black hole. I waited with bated breath for the first few days, thinking I would hear more about this marvelous transformation that would occur as I left my corporate cocoon to become an academic butterfly.

Maybe I failed to get across just how much time, effort & thought went into the selection of a field, and the pursuit of relevant experience. The past year of soul-searching, volunteering, preparatory classes & exams has been the yin to my travel obligations, technical writing, curriculum development & corporate training job's yang. But, at this point, I think the only thing I have going for me are the 8 GR credits I earned while picking leeches out of my nether regions.

Even as I type that, I know it isn't true. I'm creative and dynamic. I'm terminally afflicted with perfectionism. (These things in combination are hilarious.) Throw in the fact that I'm analytical to a fault, and I am capable of some sensational work, but you're going to need a bigger carrot.

Hence, why, if silence turns to rejection emails (Emails, seriously.), I am blowing this Popsicle stand. I have thoroughly exhausted the living-in-Indiana-working-my-corporate-job lifestyle, and will be moving to greener pastures.

Then I get to start this whole process over again, preferably somewhere coastal with many cultural to-dos. Happy Happy, Joy Joy.