Magic Eye

I have one nearsighted eye and one farsighted eye. My farsighted eye isn't so bad, the prescription is only about +1.25 or something. My nearsighted eye sucks. (The prescription is -3, which isn't that bad considering my sister wears a -7.5 or something.)

To remedy my vision, I wear a contact in my nearsighted eye. The other eye just isn't bad enough to bother with.

Now here's the part that horrifies people. I never take out my contact. Never. I wear a two-week contact in my right eye, but I leave it in generally for a 6 or 8 weeks, continuously, and I sleep with it in. Contacts aren't made to last forever, so eventually it gets old and falls out or something, and I put a new one in. I've been working with this system for a few years now, and it seems to work. I never even realize it's there. Knock on wood, of course, because I know leaving them in can cause problems in some instances. But I really think I have a magical eyeball. Except for the part where it can't see.

May I be excused? My brain is full.

I meant for this to be a blog about economics, but going to school for econ, as well as dealing with it somewhat in my full time job, has rendered me unable to think about anything but puppies and LOLcats and whatever frivolous crap I write about here in my free time. Not that LOLcats are frivolous or anything.

Songs!

I'm making a playlist of depressing-uplifting songs. You know, the kind that are about how much life sucks but there's something vaguely uplifting about the lyrics.

So far--

John Prine, Illegal Smile
Otis Redding, Dock of the Bay
Rehab, Sittin at a Bar
Blues Traveler, The Mountains Win Again

I also love bands where there's a disconnect between the style of their songs, and the lyrics. The Format (RIP) is one of those--super upbeat songs with utterly depressing lyrics. On the other end of it, The Cure--they have some happy songs, but Robert Smith does a great job of making it sound depressing.

Sisyphus Cat tries again

There's really nothing better than mixing a nerdy Greek mythology reference with LOLSpeak.

So, things have been overwhelming lately--I'm pretty sleep deprived, thanks to grad school, and just in general feeling like roadkill for a number of reasons, some of which are detailed in previous posts, some aren't. I had a professor this summer who was incredibly demanding and made my life pretty painful and at the end told us he did that to demonstrate that just showing up and not quitting was one of the most important skills you could learn. I'm trying to remember that, and not just check out, but there's nothing I want to do more than just sleep for the next several days.

My favorite character in Greek mythology is Laocoon, a Trojan who just really got a raw deal. In Vergil's Aeneid he said the now famous phrase, "I fear the Greeks, even when bearing gifts;" he was warning against bringing in the Trojan Horse. Then he was eaten by sea serpents, and the Trojans brought the horse into their walls.

How I Feel Today

Weedwhacker

Cutting the grass is one of the tasks my roommates and I decided I should be my responsibility, mostly because I kinda enjoy it. I always loved peeling wet grass choppings after mowing from the wheels of the lawnmower, and the smell, and the general coolness of operating heavy machinery.

Our backyard is pretty small, so we just have a weedwhacker. It usually does the job. However, it's been a few weeks since I've cut grass and our backyard is starting to look like Vietnam. It's hiding a lot of dog poop that my roommate hasn't picked up (her dog). I can't really blame her. It's hard to find poop in the jungle that's our yard currently. This could be a movie or a video game--armed only with a string trimmer, girl must fight against demons such as dog poop, pieces of sticks that fly up and hit you in the face, hidden holes and obstacles, and avoid chopping cable wires, plants my roommate likes, and her own ankles.

A Case of the Blahs

So much homework, so many ways to procrastinate. FML. Trying to drag myself out of bed. Need coffee. I feel like a zombie. Braaaaaiiinnnsss...

I has a sad

So I got dumped last night. I'm doing some constrained optimization problems because it's more fun than the actual homework I should be doing, drinking beer, and watching football. I should drink faster but that could lead to bad things. I'm rather sad right now. Oooh, maybe not. I just saw a fantastic play in the VT-Nebraska game. And...YES YES YES YES TD FOR TECH!

Last time I broke up with someone (it was mutual but that didn't make it any easier) I consumed nothing but beer for about 2 weeks straight. I lost roughly 15 pounds. I was just kind of in this haze for awhile, and it was compounded by the fact that my parents beloved cat died just a day before we broke up. I think the part about the cat may have been worse, because all of my memories with him are fond, except when he licked my eyebrows in the morning but even that was kind of cute. I think the first time after that that I remember laughing really, really hard was about 2 months later at a friend's wedding. Yeah, so, this one isn't all that bad. We'll still be friends. Time heals all wounds.

Image from xkcd.

It's back!

Football, that is. Unfortunately, grad school is also back and I has butt-loads of reading to do.

Today I tried to go shopping after work, for work clothes, upon realizing that I just don't have that many. Shopping is not an activity I have patience for. And, since when does it cost $100 for a pair of pants? (Contrary to my nom-de-plume, I actually have to wear them sometimes, especially if I ride my bike.) I didn't buy anything. Fail. I'll try again soon.

I've done it again

I forgot about my blog. Here's an econ post, though.

So, I attend a graduate institution that's rather notorious for its free-market philosophy. There are many followers of Freidrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman. This frustrates me for a number of reasons. Several faculty members--and to a greater degree, the students--can get downright nasty about their beliefs, dismissing anyone who supports universal healthcare, for example, as a socialist. I'd best be described as Keynesian, and contrary to popular belief, I don't want to dismantle free markets. I want to make the market system better and more efficient. And I believe that regulation has a role to play in that.

I'm not denying Friedman or Hayek's contributions. I agree with Friedman on many issues--most notably, the natural rate of unemployment, though Ed Phelps deserves credit there too. Friedman was very interested in data and empirical evidence, and I can respect that. I have a harder time with Hayek. He shunned mathematical and statistical analysis of the social sciences because it can't accurately describe the real world. This I vehemently disagree with, but I understand his reasoning and am willing to read and understand.

I had a professor this past spring whose extent of explaining Keynes consisted of drawing an IS-LM curve on the board, muttering a few sentences, and making a nasty comment about Paul Krugman before moving onto to talking about the Coase Theorem. There are many examples, just like this one, and it bothers me deeply.