And we thought steroids were bad...

Earlier this week I was listening to an NPR report about people using drugs or surgery to increase their effectiveness in school or their career. Trying to boost performance seems to be a chronic problem among athletes, the steroids thing is beyond out of control, but now there are the academic dopers, kids whose parents have them take Adderall, ADHD medicine, so that they will be able to focus and do better in school. According to the journal Addiction, one in four college students misused ADHD medication, and the Partnership for a Drug Free America reported that 1 in 10 kids between middle school and high school age are using drugs like Adderall or Ritalin without a prescription. In addition, people also give Tiger Woods a hard time because he had lasik eye surgery, and thus has an advantage over the other players as his eyesight is not better than 20/20. I've heard all of these things before, and have my own opinions about them, but check out this new one- click on the title of this blog and be prepared to be shocked...

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Well somehow I have ended up in Flagstaff, AZ and not Carolina or California, oh well. I have committed to being better at updating the ol' blog, so we will see how it goes. Anyway, I drove Friday afternoon in a U-haul towing my car. Yes, it was a fabulous drive. I think that the fastest we went was 65 mph and that was downhill. Needless to say, it was a very long drive. But now I am in my new home for the next two years, well for the next little while at least. So here are a few pictures of the place...

View from my window



I realized when I was unpacking that I have a lot of clothes. And I don't know why that is, I'm not a fancy dresser, I think that I just like to have options. Well, that is all good when I have limitless space, but there is no space here for me to hang my coats and dress pants, and where to put all of my shoes?

Closet:

And new "mobile" closet at the foot of my bed:


Some pictures from around campus, now these aren't the greatest pictures because, don't judge me too harshly, I was driving when I took these pictures. Gasp- I know, dangerous, but I did it for you, so that you could see what it was like!



Driving down street around campus

The skydome

And yes, the mascot of NAU is the lumberjack. Fantastic, right?

Also, Saturday night it smelled like a fire outside, and then Sunday we could see smoke- it was a fire about 14 miles away. I was convinced that I had brought some bad fire karma to AZ, in SoCal we have a fire season after all, but then I talked to my sister who lives in Mesa and she reassured me that there is generally a fire or two in AZ every year. Talk about relief, I thought that the burning of the forest was going to be blamed on me and the neighbors were going to come with their pitchforks and kick me out of town! (Although, it might be axes instead of pitchforks...) Here is a picture that shows the sky Monday evening:

And finally, I went to a grad student orientation today and towards the end they had a raffle and I won! Wahoo! I can't believe it! When they announced that the prize was a family of four pass to Meteor Crater I told my table that I wanted to go there, and I won! I think this could be the start of a great time here in Flagstaff...

Bon voyage...well, almost

Countdown to Europe trip: 13 days. After buying the ticket in October, it seems crazy that it is finally nearing the time for my trip- I am so excited! First of all, it is definitely time for a vacation for me, and I am so excited to go and tour around the different countries and have some fun adventures. Hooray!

I haven't thought about packing at all, and as I have a slightly OCD personality, I realized this yesterday and am going to start making lists of what I am packing. In addition to the OCD, I also have this little problem of over-packing. If you have ever been on vacation with me, you are aware of this. I can start out with a reasonable amount of clothing, but then at the last minute you'll find me in my closet, stuffing more sweaters, shirts, shorts, etc. into my bag until it is bursting. Thus, I have to make a determined effort this time to pack only what I need. This is really going to be a test of mind over matter. I will have to update as to whether I succeeded or failed...

I Cannot Go to School Today

Does anyone aside from my sister Elizabeth and me know that poem? By Shel Silverstein? It is great, a little girl named Peggy Anne Mckay tells her mom about all of her symptoms which consequently are going to cause her to miss school. Everything from the measles and mumps to a gash, a rash, and purple bumps are used. Then at the end of the poem Peggy's mother is able to get in a word and tells her that it is Saturday. Well, Peggy jumps right out of bed and goes out to play! If only I were able to do that, but no, I am authentically sick. The curse of working in an office where people come in while sick, and thus spread their illnesses around. So while I can appreciate having the "day off," I do not appreciate having to laze around in bed sipping cough syrup, ingesting zycam every three hours, and trying to get rid of the Nyquil induced hangover. Oh the curse of being sick. I am sure that once the entire weekend is over and it is time to go back to work on Monday, I will be fine. Once again having to waste a perfectly good weekend. I know, woe is me. But this is what being sick does to a person!

On a different note, I finally signed up for facebook. It is a little crazy having people requesting to be my friend, I feel slightly pressured, like I am a rock star being mobbed by all the roadies. But I am getting used to it, I guess, and people assure me that I will love this new Facebook world I am entering. Hmmm. I will reserve making my judgement until later date...

Longer Than a City Bus

I've never been too bothered by snakes. I don't often encounter them unless I am at the zoo, and then there is glass in between us. Since we all know that Harry Potter is a fictional story, I'm not too worried that someone is going to speak in parseltongue and make a snake come after me. I've even "pet" snakes before- a very strange feeling. But when I saw this snake I was glad that is is extinct. I would not want to meet up with this fellow...
http://news.aol.com/article/fossil-of-massive-ancient-snake-found/329070