All Things Phil

Posted By Phil on November 21, 2008

I’ve done something I never thought possible: I walked into Lowe’s today and bought an item to improve my home that is not electronic. You hear that, interwebs? I walked into a home improvement warehouse. And bought something. My first ever set of blinds, to be specific.

Tomorrow, one set of the eight-foot tall by ten-foot wide curtains that are the object of my intense loathing will be replaced by a set of tasteful, simple faux wood blinds. Leave it to a home improvement project to bring out the butch in me. But, to borrow a word I learned from Thom some time ago, that’s all just part of the process of fagifying a home. But honestly, it’s crazy how much I’ve been loving this.

Category: butch, everyday, gay, home, maintenance, nablopomo 08 | 4 Comments »
Tags: blinds, home, home improvement

Posted By Phil on November 20, 2008

It’s 11:30pm on this Wednesday evening, and even though this week has left me bone tired, I’m sitting at the computer reading up on bidets. It’s not my fault, entirely. I blame the fine folks at Apartment Therapy for this one. There I was, innocently reading entries and marveling at fabulously decorated houses and rooms, when I suddenly read this post about a cool new water-saving flush device for toilets. As if it wasn’t enough to suddenly realize that I want one of those, I just HAD to go and click on the link about an inexpensive bidet: the Brondell Swash Ecoseat.

I’m no stranger to bidets, as Maxie could tell you, but I’ve never actually used one. I must confess that the idea of having a little spray of water do all the dirty work, so to speak, sounds luxurious. Plus, given the current state of my endlessly busy weeks, I think it’d be something pleasant to add to the daily routine.

If you’d like to know more about this newfound apple of my eye, click the link above for a nice review. I can’t review it because I don’t have it, obviously. (Let me deviate for just a second: I’ve had offers in the past to receive certain products and review them on this website, all of which I’ve turned down. However, I’d be willing to make an exception here. Hear that, Brondell? I will voluntarily receive and use a product and review it on this website for all ATP readers to see. All you have to do is get in touch. Plus, after reading what Khaled Hosseini had to say about the state of sewage systems in Afghanistan, I think it would be incredibly awesome if your company donated a percentage of each sale towards improving sanitation and sewage in countries around the world in desperate need.)

And in conclusion, I just learned (also thanks to Apartment Therapy) that November 19 is a very special day of the year… I’d like to wish everyone a very happy World Toilet Day! Peace.

UPDATE: I had totally intended to include this, but spaced it completely when I posted this last night. That’s what I get for blogging right before I go to bed. Anyway, thanks to Deutlich for reminding me. This particular Brondell model includes a special spray for the ladies. But don’t ask me, go watch this video and see for yourself. RIGHT NOW. And when you’ve finished that, go watch this video for some added hilarity.

Category: holidays, home, living, maintenance, nablopomo 08 | 9 Comments »
Tags: bidets, home improvement, toilets, World Toilet Day

Posted By Phil on November 18, 2008

Ever wonder what is the answer to the universal question? The universal question being, of course, What the fuck?

I offer, thanks to my neuroanatomy class, the answer(s):

• flocculonodular lobe
• fastigial nucleus
• vermis
• cerebral peduncles
• dorsal horn cells
• extrafusal muscle fibers
• dermatomes
• Nucleus Ambiguus
• Arachnoid villa

That’s just a tiny sample of the misery I’ve been forcing myself to study. I’d be less opposed to this information if it was first put into English before it became completely jargonized. El Profesor can barely pronounce 90% of the vocabulary we use in the course, much less wax poetic about it. Based on the sample quizzes provided, she’s looking for details and I aimed for a general working understanding. I feel I’m better off, but we’ll see if she feels similarly. Fingers crossed!

Category: argh, grad school, nablopomo 08 | 5 Comments »
Tags: grad school, neuroanatomy, speech

Posted By Phil on November 17, 2008

What do you do when there’s wildfires burning throughout the city and you’re not keen to go outside and frolic in the lack of proper sunshine? You do this:

Of course, this is also what you do when you have a huge mid-term exam approaching on Tuesday that threatens to disembowel you if you don’t properly study for the thing. My studies have been anything but proper, but I’m at least feeling better this time around than I was for the previous mid-term.

And by the way, check out the sexiness that is my new dining table! I picked it up yesterday after having seen it advertised on craigslist in a moving sale. I haven’t actually dined at it yet, as I promptly pulled out my books and laptop so I could study at it. Still, methinks I’m going to get my money’s worth from it.

Category: california, fires, grad school, living, nablopomo 08 | 6 Comments »
Tags: furniture, home, new, table, wildfires

Posted By Phil on November 16, 2008

I’ve spent most of my Saturday cooped up inside my house curled up next to my air purifier. Yesterday, I was aware of more wildfires happening in the Los Angeles area. Then, this morning, news broke of a fire nearby once again, only this time eight miles away from me.

Luckily, my air purifier does a great job keeping my humble abode from smelling too bad. I did have to leave at one point today, to go across town (the opposite direction of the fire) to pick up a new dining table (which is fabulous, let me tell you). Upon stepping out the door, I was met with a stench that can only be described as “foul.” My first thought was that this did not smell anything like the previous fires. I think I actually said out loud, to no one, that “it smells like someone lit a full pasture of cow manure on fire.”

A quick glance at the grass in the yard answered my question: my landlord had taken it upon himself this morning to fertilize the entire backyard. The grass was covered in a layer of dark brown manure and, when combined with the foul smell of smoke, was enough to make me want to find the nearest machete and chop my nose off in the hopes that that would disable my sense of smell.

I managed to take some pictures from my car while driving back to my house from the coast, which I’ve posted on Flickr. As for me, I’m going to go to bed and hope that the winds die down, the fires get contained, and the weather cools the fuck off. Oh, and maybe once all that happens, there’ll be less static electricity everywhere too. Even my shiny Mac keyboard has been giving my fingers little sparks from time to time as I type, and it’s getting ridiculous.

Category: california, fires, home, nablopomo 08, news | 5 Comments »
Tags: california, pictures, Sayre fire, wildfire

Posted By Phil on November 15, 2008

My previous record of never having won anything from any contests on the internet is officially broken. When I checked the mail this afternoon, sure enough there was a package from Ben. (The package was already open when it arrived on my doorstep; I’m not sure if that’s since it was shipped from Canada or if it was an accident during the shipping process, or maybe even if it was my landlord’s wife being nosy about my mail. Who knows.)

In October, the coolest dachshund blog ever held a contest to win a very special book about a very special dog. Being the literary fiend I am, I entered. My luck for contests usually ends up favorable only when the grand prize is a bushel of radishes or something equally distasteful, so imagine my surprise when I found out that I won this fabulous book!

Obviously, the first thing I did was to snatch my new treasure, plop myself into my cozy POÄNG chair to read. It’s a wonderfully sweet story and I’ve already thought of roughly two hundred ideas for which I can use this for working with children and adults alike.

A big thank you to Who’s Your Dachshund for this contest, not to mention for pointing me in the direction of this book, and I’d especially like to extend my thanks to Barbara Gail Techel for sharing her story. Don’t hesitate to go purchase your own copy of Frankie the walk ‘n roll dog! It’s definitely worth it. And don’t just take my word for it; take the word of this picture, too:

Category: blogs, books, contest!, uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Tags: books, contest!, dachshund

Posted By Phil on November 14, 2008

Hey, remember that one time when I got harassed by my ex-roommate about actually using the bathroom I thought I was paying to rent? Or how about the time I got bitched at for daring to put a bag in to line the icky metal decorative trashcan? No? Well, maybe the time she berated me over the undersides of plates not being clean enough? Do you at least remember when it got so bad that I wrote ten reasons why I was ready to move out?

It turns out I wasn’t off by much when I described Medusa’s bastard child as clinically psychotic. As far as I’m concerned, the only reason I’m not 100% right is because I don’t think the woman has ever been officially diagnosed. And while I suspected that she most likely suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as well as Bipolar Disorder, I learned about something today that’s far more insidious, and probably exactly what she actually has.

See, despite suspecting OCD, the creature exhibits none of the standard obsessive repetitive routines so common to the disorder. And while she certainly had her ups and downs, I’m now beginning to suspect I was wrong about her being bipolar. See, today I learned about Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. To put it simply, it’s something that makes my reaction of thinking she might try to hit me over the head with a frying pan a reasonable fear. Which, in hindsight, is terrifying. (Perhaps it’s time I suggest that Roommates.com start paying close attention, as it’s through their service that I ended up living in that nuthouse. Obviously, it’s not their fault I ended up there, but I say this because I wonder what that might do to ensure that others don’t end up in my same position, having to call the domestic abuse hotline at one point because you’re afraid either for your own life or for the life of someone who shares that living space.)

Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) can also, apparently, be considered “Perfectionist Disorder.” And from every description I read, it’s perfectionism to an outrageous extreme. According to this article my ex-roommate would check yes to pretty much every single item listed in the description of the disorder. Obviously, the immaculate state of the house and relegating me to two cabinets she frequently organized, is an easy indicator. But perhaps this is why she never knew why she pissed me off so much:

Unfortunately, OCPD insistence on doing things according to logical rules angers others. Some individuals with OCPD become aware of their impact on others but they do not understand it. Others with OCPD appear oblivious to the negative emotions they elicit. In fact, if confronted with this anger, individuals with OCPD are inclined to believe that these people have no right to be angry (Turkat, 1990, p. 85).

And the following may explain the totally unreasonable conditions of her keeping $150 of my deposit for merely cleaning the carpet and painting a few spots on the wall (notice I said ‘explain’; in no way does this excuse her actions, in my eyes):

People with OCPD will go out of their way to impress those they define as in a superior status. They are quite anxious if they are unsure of their position with these individuals. On the other hand, people with OCPD are autocratic and condemnatory with subordinates. They often behave in a pompous and self-righteous manner. They are haughty and deprecatory but cloak their actions behind regulations and legalities. They justify their aggressive approach by referring to rules or to authorities higher than themselves (Millon, 1981, p. 225). (Emphasis added.)

I suppose, given her uncontrollable desire to control everything, it’s no wonder she didn’t respond well to me asserting my own human rights. I don’t believe I did anything wrong, but given that I witnessed (and had to involve myself in) a particularly violent outburst from her when she realized she was unable to maintain control, it would have been nice to have known about this ahead of time.

It scares me that I willingly put myself into such an environment, and makes me triply glad I’m no longer there. Worse still, I fear for those still involved in her life. But most of all, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, I fear for this woman. She needs help desperately, and I wonder if she’ll ever seek out that help, or have someone in her life who cares about her enough to insist on it. It seems to me that people as unstable as my former roommate, especially given her nature, have absolutely NO BUSINESS even seeking out a roommate. I just hope that my brief time spent living with her woke her up enough to realize the same thing.

Category: living, medical, nablopomo 08, roommates, uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tags: OCPD, psychology, roommates

Posted By Phil on November 13, 2008

The lesson of the day today is this: if you’re checking the scheduled pay period for the month, and you suddenly find out you get paid Friday instead of next Monday, it’s completely understandable if you want to jump for joy. Just refrain from doing so until AFTER class is over, because people will look at you funny and ask why you’re whooping at that particular point of the diagnostic evaluation you’re supposed to be observing.

Category: grad school, nablopomo 08 | 4 Comments »
Tags: grad school, nablopomo

Posted By Phil on November 12, 2008

My previous post about warning future grad students was, I daresay, a tad misdirected. Specifically, I should have pointed the warning to a specific sect of grad students: speech pathology ones. Between taking courses, working in two clinics, working at least twenty hours per week, and getting all caught up in election fervor and debates and thoughts about the atrocity that is Prop 8, it gets to be a bit much. I wouldn’t have it any other way, of course, but that fact certainly doesn’t stop me from griping about it from time to time.

I took the opportunity of my day off to sleep in and get some much-needed studying done. I struggle particularly in science courses, and my neuroanatomy course is no exception. However, as always, I’m learning more about how I learn, and that I need to play to my strengths. One of my strengths happens to be reading, so while I’m not reading the books super intently, I’ve taken to reading and rereading the slides of notes. My latest trick: read five slides, then double back and read them again. Then read them a final time before moving on to the next five. Little by little, I feel like I’m making some headway.

Regardless, it’s going to feel SO GOOD to put this semester behind me.

Category: argh, election, gay, grad school, nablopomo 08, politics | 3 Comments »
Tags: grad school, lack of sleep, prop 8, speech pathology

Posted By Phil on November 11, 2008

If I had to nail down a particular talent of mine related to work and school, I’d say that I have a real knack for saying I’ll do something and then completely forget to do it. In fact, I’m skilled to the point that I won’t even REMEMBER that I didn’t remember to do it. Occasionally, I do remember, but not until long after I was meant to.

Mostly, I attribute this to my current state of being: incredibly busy during the days and too exhausted by the end to actually use my brain once I’ve arrived home. To counter this, I’ve taken to writing notes to myself. I’m at least not naive enough anymore to write it down on paper, because that’ll just get buried in the bottom of my bag, and who has time to go rummaging through their bag to find something important they need to? I sure as heck don’t.

Which is why I’ve taken to sending myself email messages from my phone. The messages serve as little reminder notes for things that need doing. In theory, this is fantastic: no piece of paper gets lost, and new information and lists are right at the top of my inbox. Or right in the middle, or at the bottom of the second page. Mostly, the messages end up going unread, because I don’t bother to open them for one of two reasons: 1.) I don’t have time to read emails from myself because I have many more emails from other people to read, obviously, and 2.) because reading emails after a 12-14 hour day goes something like this: “Hey Phil, zdf;lkjadfadfzzzzzzzzzzzz”

That last part is the sound of my head hitting the keyboard as a crash into a deep sleep. Speaking of which… that’s enough for today NaBloPoMo. I’m cashed.

Category: nablopomo 08 | 5 Comments »
Tags: exhausted, grad school, nablopomo, tired, work