Its been two weeks since my tests and I have, I think, finally gotten used to having free time that I dont have to feel guilty about. So I started reading NY Times, and quickly, as usual, became very depressed.

For almost a month, my news consumption had hit an all time low. I looked at the NY Times main page, scanned for what I thought was the most important/interesting and that was about it. I was feeling rather bad about being so uninformed, but I needed to study.

Sidebar
Caltech is a perfect place to study because you are surrounded by people who will always be 10x smarter than you on their worst day. This motivated me, since most of the people I smiled at while walking on campus, refused to return the sentiment. "Im smart dammit!" I wanted to scream, but would then return to my room and attempt to relearn 4 years of college biology and hang my head in despair.

Warm fuzzy CSET studying trivia: I had been studying some chemistry and came across the work of Robert Millikan, who found the charge of an electron from oil droplets suspended between two electrodes (WTF?!, I know). I then went on tour of Caltech and what do we come across? A bust of Robert fuckin Millikan, who was once president of Caltech. <3

Oh, one more Caltech warm fuzzy. SoCal just happened to have an earthquake, a rather large one, and who was everyone looking to for info? Caltech.

Anyways, back to depressing news. So today, I finally got back into the routine of reading the news, and I just became increasingly upset at what I was reading, beating myself up that I cannot change the world tomorrow. How long can I take these beatings? I dont know. What I do know is that it is rather unhealthy and cant possible be helping me fight my issue with chronic stress. So....just to included everyone in on the fun, here are two articles that make me want to jump out a window.

'The Jungle', Again
The Biggest Issue

(Yes, I realize they are op-ed's but that doesnt mean they still dont piss me off)

Besides all that, Im well, and excited to return back to my life in a little over a week, with some new exciting/terrifying additions. : )

P.S. I now have a facebook and it has (of course) become an addiction