This distance is an ocean, and time has taken my boat away

Did you know my title line comes from a song in a sandwich commercial?

So, during our personality unit in psychology we learned about Rotter's theory of locus of control, which, in the spirit of giving impressive-sounding names to embarrassingly simple ideas, is the concept that all people put the majority of the blame for what happens to them on either themselves (internal locus) or their circumstances (external locus). Logically, everything is a mixture of the two--nothing is solely your fault or solely God's wrath taking your bird and bush--but people are kind of dumb and usually tip the scales one way or the other. I would self-diagnose myself with an internal locus, personally, and ever since I've been trying without success to figure out how having that tidbit of self-knowledge benefits me in the slightest.

Do you ever find yourself awake late at night, tossing and turning, thinking to yourself, "I sure wish Linda had a site online where she posted pictures of some of her art pieces from this year"? You're not alone. There is a cure.

Here's your word, you can have it back

I've been thinking a lot less than usual. Or thinking about stupid things. I'm probably getting dumber.

"Brainwashed" (and all its grammatical forms) is to be added to my growing list of words I hate. It's usually used in the context of revealing propaganda, which is ironic, since the word itself is pretty loaded with its own condescending connotation. Using it implies that 1) you're an impressionable idiot and 2) I know the clear, untainted truth. While I can appreciate the psychological reasons behind the "my reality is the correct reality" thing, I think it's unacceptably jerkfacey to assume that my opinion is somehow free of outside forces, whereas yours is as suggestible as Elizabeth Taylor's marital status.

Conservative republicans brainwashed me into thinking that puppy drowning is wrong. Pass it on.

5 Random Habits I Have:
- Organizing everything aesthetically symmetrically, even if it puts things logically out of order.
- Biting the skin around my nails.
- Eating the crust first.
- Opening the fridge when I come home, regardless if I'm actually hungry or end up pulling anything out.
- Taking off my shoes when I get into cars.

It sure as hell ain't normal, but we deal

A part of me hates digital cameras, because I think that the overwhelming convenience is resulting in an abundance of photographs that make the whole "capturing important memories" idea obsolete. Every moment is not a Kodak moment. I remember, back in the day, only having one or two precious shots left on my roll of film and agonizing over the perfect time to use them up. Perhaps we should all take a moment to reflect on this concept the next time we have the urge to immortalize in photo Best Friend Hang Out Session #72.

So, looking back on my little discussion of standards last week, I think anyone who has ever had a semi-serious conversation with me would probably place me frequently into the "holding people to my standards" category. In my defense, it worked perfectly for me when all my friends' personalities were modeled from Little House on the Prairie, but at this point it's running me into an increasing number of problems and arguments. I acknowledge relatively frequently that life would be a lot easier if I cheerfully accepted all of my friends' actions, decisions, and capabilities at face value and kept my pointy little nose and occasionally equally pointed opinions to myself. But laissez-faire attitudes just aren't my style.