Internet Rage

So I haven't written that much about my internet psychology class. That's not because I'm not taking it, but because it's so painful as to not even be funny. Here's what we do each week:

* Read four chapters of a textbook
* Post four answers on ONE narrow topic plucked at random from one of those four chapters
* Write a chapter summary. (Italics indicate disbelief.) Minimum word count is 600. I got a C on one I did that was 1800 words because it needed "more detail."
* Write a 600-word minimum essay on a topic from one of the chapters. So far the only feedback I've gotten is "longer and more detail would improve score."

Here's the actual question posed by the professor this week, and a sample answer--from him, so you know it's supposed to make sense.

QUESTION: 535 members of the U.S. Congress pass laws which sometimes affect small parts of the population and in some instatnces the entire population of 300 million. What factors discussed in chapter 15 might help explain how a mere .00018 % of the population can dictate the rules for the other 99.99982 % of the population?

ANSWER: There are many factors that determine why so few can dictate to so many. Suggestibility shows that people are willing to conform to what others say they should or should not do. It is a subtle type of conformity-pg 546. Being part of a group may allow us access to valuable information. "When influence supports our opinion we approve, we applaud those who are sensitive enough to be responsive".--pg 547. "Obedience was highest when---the person giving the orders was perceived to be a legitimate authority figure.-pg548. Social loafing might be seen when a group of people work together to obtain a common goal. In some instances these individuals will show less effort as there is a lack of individual accountability relative to the outcome of their efforts.-pg550.

If you think that makes no sense, I really can't even get into my "classmates'" answers. It's too mind-bottling, you guys.

And One More Thing!

I might buy this dress. You know why? Cuz it's a free country. Look it up.

Speaking of our great nation, could ANYONE win against a McCain/H. Clinton ticket? I'm no pundit, I'm just saying...

Helmet Time!

I know you guys get excited when I say that because it means I'm about to blow your MINDS. So let me get right to the point: I just bought some high-waisted pants. And they are awesome, because they have a really long inseam. And I guess what I'm trying to say is that from waist to hem these pants are FORTY SEVEN INCHES LONG. Just think about it. That is almost four feet of pantsdom. Seriously, go measure your pants and get back to me once you've absorbed it all. OMG I'm going to be so tall!

PS: Shopping report: What is up with suit skirts that go down to your knees? That is disgusting.

Photo credit: I took this Keira pic from rubyglam, which apparently is a website that exists.

Facts for Americans: Issue 2

If you are sitting in row 2 of a plane, and spend the entire flight talking to a person in row 1, and I move back so I'm in row 4, and I can still hear EVERY GD WORD YOU ARE SAYING for the entire flight and I'm sitting next to a PROPELLER?

Then I don't really care that you were up until 5 am bc your boyfriend, who lives in Lynchburg, his mother is dying this week, and you found this flight for $300, and he's coming in from Chicago, and also your ex-boyfriend goes to U of Chicago, and you used to have this great T-shirt from there, and anyway he went back to college to major in mathematics and lives in the dorm, and there's no money available for adult students, and you are a freelance writer and you've been doing a lot about healthcare education and you have to pitch stories and your editors are only nice to you when you have a connection they want; and similarly, I don't think the guy at Hertz cares that you got this flight at 5 am, and your bf is coming from Chicago and you both have cars and is it a straight shot to drive to Lynchburg, and what if instead of giving you two small cars can they give you one big car, and what is a Le Sabre exactly, and does he think you should take the car now and go there, you're staying at the Holiday Inn, or should you wait for your boyfriend who's coming in and oh my that flight is delayed how long, and what do you think I should do? I don't care because my point is that YOU TALK TOO LOUDLY.

This One's for All the Super-tan Haters

So this weekend I've been in another state visiting my DYING* grandmother, who is confined to a hospital bed. And she looks at me on not one but two separate occasions and says, "You need to get a suntan on those legs."

So for everyone who would lecture me about the dangers of tanning booths, I ask you: Would you have me defy my dying* grandmother?! Is that who you are? Because that's not who I am! I'm a wonderful grandchild. And I'm tan(ning)!

*We all are. Act accordingly.