Deep Thoughts on the Next Decade

I feel bad for people who are going to graduate in this upcoming decade. Not because of jobs, or air pollution or whatever, but because it's going to be awkward saying their graduation year.

This enlightening thought popped into my mind as I was crossing the Washington Ave. Bridge this afternoon. I noticed a sign that read "Help welcome the class of 2014." I then realized that this year's graduating class was the class of '10. The class of '10. That sucks. You ask someone when they graduate and they say "ten." Ten what? Ten days, ten months? Just think about saying, "I'm the class of '11." The class of 11. It just doesn't sound right. The number is low enough where it sounds like there are eleven people in your class.

In addition to feeling sorry for the upcoming graduating classes, I began to realize how old I am becoming. Whew! Oh well. To quote Oscar Wilde, "What is youth but an unripe time?" I am much happier now than I ever was in my early twenties. Granted, I'm not actually old yet but whatever... I'm choosing to believe that life gets better with age.

Plus, the class of '05 doesn't sound awkward. Sure, I graduated in a decade that no one could decide what to name (the Ots? 2000s? Tens?), but at least the individual years sound good. That's more than the "teens" decade will be able to say.

A Lesson on Aspberger's

The other day, my ever-so-in-the-know roommate Molly asked if I’d heard of the writer Penelope Trunk. I had not, so I decided to google her, and the search brought up a plethora of results. Apparently, she’s been in the a lot of reputable newspapers, and currently writes a blog called the “Brazen Careerist,” in which she gives career advice--particularly to individuals in their twenties. I was relatively impressed with her writing, and was half-way through her most recent post, when Trunk casually mentioned she had Asperger’s Syndrome.

I was confused. Asperger’s is a mild form of Autism. Usually, people living with Asperger’s lack social skills needed for career success. That was my impression anyway. So, I asked Molly—who happens to be an Autism specialist thanks to her job—how someone with Asperger’s, like Trunk, could be so successful.

Molly’s reply was very educational. Your insight into the realm of autism will double, perhaps even triple, after reading her responses below. Note: This conversation was over gchat. The modern way to socialize.

Autism Gchat Convo. 101.

me: how do you function in society with Aspberger’s? I mean, be successful? That would explain why she broadcast her miscarriage on twitter I suppose

Molly: I have a staff who has it, and yes that would explain it. Autism is weird because you can move from having "severe autism" to Aspberger’s in some cases with the proper interventions. Some kids also start out without having any diagnosis, are developing typically and then begin to lose all language and social skills and are diagnosed with autism, this happened to a client at age 14, regressive autism its called I believe.

Strange, isn’t it? That’s why everyone is so concerned about the epidemic. One in every 150 kids is being diagnosed on the spectrum!

me: Wow that sucks, 14! So this trunk woman, can she function normally then? I mean, if she's successfully giving people advice?

Molly: Well, she's probably gone through a TON of cognitive-behavioral therapy and still does it, probably a lot of things she does seem off to most people, but they probably can't quite put their finger on what it is. For example saying exactly what she thinks.

me: Yeah. I suppose. It's just strange because I always thought you need good social skills to be in a field of career advice and journalism.

Molly: She probably has a really hard times in loud, bright places and needs a lot of breaks, its probably all stuff that is manageable now, but was super difficult to control. People with Aspberger’s usually go through intensive cognitive behavioral therapy and do social skills groups where they learn what is appropriate and what is not. They may understand life as more scripted than you or I, because that's how their minds function. They can for sure do it; they just have to learn it differently than other kids

me: It's more like, live by laws...rather than by relationship…I just subscribed to her blog, it's good.

Molly: Yeah, to some degree, but its not to say that there's no emotion, because there definitely is, it’s just difficult for them to process through it.

me: Perhaps I will have to turn this informative gchat into a blog.

Molly: YES! Success! You should interview me more. I am informative. ...On the ground!

Editor's Note: The "on the ground" references was to a SNL digital short you must google. Now.

Rain Rain Go Away & Halloween Blues

What's going on here? Do I live in Seattle? It's been raining for like, all of October. I don't think I've ever kept my umbrella in my schoolbag before. I just sounded like a second grader when I said schoolbag. Oh well.

Ok, let's transition to Halloween. I have always been really annoyed with Halloween. It takes so much effort to come up with a costume, and I'm forced to once a year. Usually, I just throw something stupid on the day of, but this year, I feel obligated to think out my false persona for once.

How do people come up with good costume ideas? I have no idea. Everything I think of either requires too much money, too much effort, or is really lame. Last year, I was an ex-pat. It was kind of stupid. My friends came up with killer ideas. Four of them were the perfect representation of John and Cindy McCain, and Sarah and Todd Palin. I had a colorful sheet wrapped around me.

Something's gotta give. Perhaps it will this year. I have plans to attack the Salvation Army downtown tomorrow, in hopes to find Halloween costume gold. Wish me luck.

A Seminar For Teaching Assistants...

Hahahaha. I just received an e-mail from the University of MN Center for Teaching and Learning (because I'm a TA), advertising its upcoming seminars.

I'm sure all of you armed with degrees from big schools remember constantly complaining about not being able to understand your math professors. Well, it looks like someone finally listened.

An upcoming teaching seminar for University teachers (as copied from my e-mail):

Fine Tune Your Accent

Mondays, 1-2 p.m.
In this workshop series, international faculty, scholars, and graduate students will uncover the nuances of English pronunciation that matter most for conveying meaning effectively in U.S. academic settings: fluency, emphasis, and tone of voice. Participants will learn and practice research-based speaking strategies to enhance classroom teaching and conference presentations.

* Oct. 26 - Fluency
* Nov. 23 - Emphasis

* Dec. 21 - Tone of Voice

Hahaha, oh this is so funny to me for some reason. I wish my math teacher would have taken this. Maybe then I would have actually understood college algebra. Actually, I highly doubt it.

Happy Hour and Mindball

It's official, I cannot relax to save my life. My uptight norm was proved today during a strenuous game of Mindball at the Bakken Museum (a electricity museum founded by Earl Bakken, creator of Medtronic). Mindball is a fascinating game. You sit across from another person, you both put these headbands on, and then you try to relax. There is a ball in the center that moves with your brainwaves, so, whoever is more stressed draws the ball towards them, and loses. I lost hard core. No competition. My roommate, Molly, however, surprisingly beat numerous people. I had no idea she was so relaxed!!!

The reason we went somewhere as geeky as the Bakken today, is because we wanted to check out its "Bakken Night Out," which happens every second Tuesday of the month. It was sweet actually. We had buy one get one free coupons to get in. Thus, it was $2.50 to go, and once you got in, you got free wine and appetizers, plus free reign of the museum. So we played Mindball and watched a play about Mary Shelly -- the author of Frankenstein. It was pretty interesting. Do you know, Frankenstein is actually the creator of Frankenstein (Victor Von Frankenstein), and who we call Frankenstein today was actually called "The Monster" in the novel.

Who knew?

Only those who have actually read the book --- or those who, like me, go to science museum's for happy hour. Hey, sometimes, you just gotta live a little.

Suburban Revolutionaries. Yuck.

You know what bothers me – well, besides my ridiculously slow and irregular internet? White Americans that get all revolutionary about Palestine. Well, I should say, about giving Palestine its independence.

I have no qualms about Palestinian independence. Believe me. In fact, you might even say that I am an advocate of Palestinian Independence and the good ‘ol two-state solution. However, this does not mean I will wear a PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) scarf to Arabic class. Why? Because I grew up in Hastings. I am not Palestinian nor am I part of the PLO. NOR do I really realize what it would be like to be a part of the PLO. So I will not wear the scarf! I will also, not wear a t-shirt that says I (heart) Palestine when my hair is blonde, roots are German and my hometown is Edina.

There’s this girl in my Arabic class, who is, by all means, a very nice girl. She’s been to the Middle East once to study abroad. She’s painfully American. But everyday she wears this PLO scarf to class, and once, she wore the "I heart" t-shirt I was complaining about. I mean, how did she come to be so personally passionate about Palestine? I guess every cause needs its advocates. At least she’s passionate about something.

However.

It is a bit ridiculous. European-Americans passionate about Palestinian Independence could be compared, perhaps somewhat, to suburban teenagers who wear Che Guevera shirts.

Che Guevara? Really? You’re not a revolutionary. You love Target, and if not that then at least iTunes. If socialism were forced upon you, you’d complain about it. So go sit down, take off your Guevara shirt and put on some Hollister.

Really people. OK. End of rant.