Short & Sweet

Just checking in to say hello to blogger world. It is strange, because technically, I could be saying hello to absolutely no one! Funny concept, this blogging idea. Seems a lot like a journal, only this one is open for public viewing, should anyone feel the need to be nauseated from time to time!

I entitled this posting Short & Sweet because I have to get back to The Beast study questions. I let myself get behind my previous goal, which was supposed to be 100 questions per day. So now, in the week remaining, I have to cram 200 questions in per day. It is not pretty. I am alternating between using the textbooks and the computer CDs. I don't know which one I prefer more. Each has it's pros and cons, none of which you will be interested in unless you are a student of some sort, but I will drone on anyway.

The textbooks are nice, because I can curl up on the couch or sofa (what do you call that long rectangular piece of furniture in your home? Could be the subject of a future riveting blog....)

It allows me to be present with my family, and if the TV is on, I can just jam the iPod ear buds down my ear canals and drown out whatever it is they're watching with music of my choice. I don't know how I can study this way, but it works for me, so I do it. I asked my 12-year-old if he minds  that I am in the room, but not actually able to communicate with him or his dad.  His response seemed to indicate that he is just happy to have me there, even if the only words out of my mouth are, "Huh?", "What?", "Are you talking to me?".

But since I am talking about the textbooks, I have to mention that I bought one that is really stupid. The study book itself is good, the material is fine and I've learned quite a bit from this large book (like the fact that it measures 6.0 on the Richter scale when dropped on the floor). But what I mean by stupidity is, and I wish I'd noticed this in the bookstore, the answers to the questions are directly beneath each question! So unless you have phenomenal cosmic powers (thank you Genie in Aladdin) that allow you to keep your gaze on the question & multiple choice  answers, you are going to see the answer. How stupid is that? So now, in order to use this text, I have to take those little "Post-It" notes and stick them all over my book before I answer the questions. The pages look like those "lift-the-flap" children's books. It's ridiculous. (See ridiculous picture above.)

Okay, enough whining about books. The computer is my other home away from home now, and this has it's advantages, too. The questions are available in separate study areas, or you can ask for a "comprehensive" test in which the CD spits out a random series of questions for you to take a swing at. Hey, I just ended a sentence with the word at, and there's nothing anyone can do! The freedom of blogging is absolutely intoxicating!

What I like most about my CDs is that I get instant feedback about how I am doing in all areas of testing. It shows my strong as well as weak areas, and finding the answer to each question is just a click away (as opposed to flipping through pages and pages and risking life-threatening paper cuts).......Life-threatening paper cuts? Okay, it could happen, if I was on anti-coagulant therapy and there were no bandages in the house, and I didn't know I was bleeding and the bleeding went unchecked for hours. Or if I was a hemophiliac. So there. My preposterous blog does make sense.  But what I don't like about the computer (brace yourself, here comes the whining) is the chair. It is an extra chair from the kitchen, and even though it has a seat cushion, and a pillow for my back, it is uncomfortable to say the least. My back starts to ache, and the circulation to my legs becomes almost nonexistent. Also, after awhile, if I don't take a break, my eyes go into cross-eyed mode and stay fixed in that position until I walk away and eat chocolate. Go figure.

Okay, enough with this silly blabbing. This was supposed to be short and sweet and instead it was long and sour.

Back to The Beast. Time to decide which study method is best for this moment

Paper cuts or back ache?

I think I'll start out with the chocolate.