3,000% - a Ridiculous Dosage of Anything

As I mentioned in a previous post, I like energy drinks and I've been drinking a lot of them since I started working on my thesis. I have a couple of favorites, but I also like to try new kinds all the time. Today I'm sampling the one pictured above. I bought it because it made me laugh. 3,000% the RDA of B12? That's ridiculous! What is the point of that? There is a recommended daily allowance for a reason. Approximately 96.6% of the B12 in that drink is purely superfluous. With some vitamins, it can actually be hazardous to your health to consume that much above the RDA. I don't think B12 is one of them, though... At any rate, I won't be drinking this energy drink again - it tastes like a vitamin.

The menagerie that is the University of Washington

The title of my blog, as you may have noticed, is "Marianna'a Random Ponderings." And I am really tempted to post just a whole bunch of random ponderings today. Here's me giving in to temptation.

I saw a duck about half an hour ago. I was walking to the writing center to get some advice for my senior thesis, and he was hanging out right outside of Mary Gates Hall. I came within about 6 feet of him and he didn't even look at me. How weird is that? I wonder- If I threw something at him, would he have ducked? But anyway, the duck made me think of my senior thesis. When ETA was first established, their name was almost something different. I don't remember what it was, but the acronym would have been ATA. Then they realized that "ata" is the Euskera word for duck. So they changed the first word.

I almost wrote, "But I digress," just now - then I realized - that's the point. This whole post is one big digression - Yay! What fun!

I saw a raccoon a few days ago. I was walking across campus on the way to my car the other night after studying all day. The little guy was on his way up/down (I'm not sure which) a tree right in the middle of campus! I know where the duck came from - Drumheller Fountain. It's always full of them. But what was the raccoon doing hanging out by the library? I think that's the first time I've ever seen a raccoon in real life. I came within about 12 feet of him. It was cool for me.

Thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday :D I loved the songs, comments, and messages. Whoever this "Victoria" is that keeps leaving me comments and written birthday songs - thanks. I don't exactly remember who you are, but I appreciate it anyway.

I just found out today that I share a birthday with Sigmund Freud...

Just prior to the Duck Sighting mentioned above, I spied a bird snacking on a worm. The funny thing was, he would just kind of peck at it a couple of times, then look around for a few seconds, then peck at it a couple of times, then look around for a few seconds - you get the idea. It didn't seem like a very effective way to eat a worm. If I were bird, I'd just eat him and be done with it. Actually, if I were a bird, I would change the way birds eat. Birds would drink coffee and eat candy bars.

I'm hanging out in the writing center right now, waiting for my turn.

I've basically moved in to the library now. I'm going to try to be signed in to MSN Messenger more often so I can chat with you folk. Even if my status is "Busy," you can interrupt me and we can chat for a bit :D

I'm becoming addicted to energy drinks. I like them. They're great.

I graduate in just over a month! That's mental! If anybody wants tickets to the ceremony, let me know. It's June 10 and the tickets are free, but I need to request them by May 21.

I may post some more pics soon and I may try to blog more often, but then again, it may not happen. So I'm not going to commit to anything.

I may be here pretty late tonight studying. The more I am able to write tonight and turn in tomorrow, the more I will be getting feedback on.

In light of that, I think I will close now. Gotta get back to writing!

Final update or I am wired(weird?)

Hey. So. I finished off that energy drink, and about halfway through the class I started getting sleepy. Luckily, we get a 10 minute break halfway through the class. So, I went over to the HUB (Husky Union Building - there are a bunch of restaurants and a convenience-type store there) and got myself another Full Throttle. It did the trick. And then some. I am so wired. Hey. I just realized that wired is an anagram of weird. That's weird. Or is it wired? Umm..ok, that's the Full Throttle talking. Anyway, so I got home a few minutes ago, but now I need to leave again to go to my cadre. Hopefully the energy drink doesn't wear off until I get back home. I just need to hold out for a couple more hours! In conclusion, today I learned that energy drinks combined with a lack of motivation to study make me a compulsive blogger.

Progress report

Okay, folks, here I am - checking in. I realize that when I have a recent blogging record of every 3 weeks, the chances that anyone has actually already read the blog I posted a couple of hours ago are slim to none. Nonetheless, I had a half-hour break between my second class and my last class, so I thought the most effective way to use it would be to post another blog. Not really. I thought the most effective way to use it would be to study, but I didn't want to do that.

So, I made it through another class with no problem. Despite the fact that it was an hour and a half, fairly boring, and they even shut off the lights to show some slides - sleep, my old foe (and sometimes friend), did not even make an appearance. The real challenge will be halfway through my next class. It's always tough around that time, on 2 hours of sleep- it could get pretty hairy. I popped open the Full Throttle a few minutes ago. I like. But I fear that sleep deprivation plus 16 ounces of energy drink may cause me to react like Victoria on skittles. Or Strong Sad on caffeine. That could be crazy. Time for class again. Got to go!

Choose your own title

That's right, choose your own title. It's like Choose Your Own Adventure, only I'm not giving you options to choose from. It's all you. Please submit title suggestions by posting them as comments. All suggestions will be considered. Winners will be announced whenever I feel like it and some random prize will be made up at that time. No purchase necessary.

Hmm...three more weeks and one more blog. So that two week break that I mentioned in my last blog was nice - it was way too short, though. The finals crunch has begun. I had a paper due on Tuesday and one due today. Then I have one more next Thursday, a final on Friday, and two finals the following Monday. Then on Tuesday...dun dun dun...(drum roll)...I'M GOING BACK TO SPAIN! HOORAY! I'M SO EXCITED! CAN YOU TELL? YES, I KNOW I'M YELLING - I CAN'T HELP IT! Actually, fortunately for me I can help it. I'm only yelling internally. I don't think the rest of the people in the library would appreciate me yelling out loud, even if I am going to be in Spain in 2 weeks. AAAAAHHHH!!! I'M GOING TO BE IN SPAIN IN 2 WEEKS!

My goal right now is to get through the next week and a half without entirely burning myself out. I have a game plan, too. Ready? Here it is: Quit procrastinating. I put this game plan into effect last week and it started out nicely. I actually decided on my topic and started organizing my thoughts last Friday for my Tuesday paper. Okay, rabbit trail: Who came up with the expression "organize your thoughts"? It's dumb. It's like I have a box full of thoughts and I'm putting them all in labeled file folders or something. Who does that? It's a waste of time and file folders. I just leave 'em all in a pile in the corner and pull out a random thought whenever I need one. So now you know where I stand on organized thoughts, as if it weren't already clear by my blogging style...ha! Anyway, back to Tuesday's paper. So by Friday I was already researching and making notes for my paper. I even came up with the title, "The Role of Religion in Machiavellian Politics." (Did you hear that, Jess? I said, "Machiavellian Politics." It makes me think of you every time ;) This is huge, people. I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of the effort that I put forth. It was only a 5-page paper, and I started thinking about it not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 DAYS IN ADVANCE! And it did help. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to begin the actual writing of the paper until the night before, so I was up until 3:30 am finishing it, but it definitely helped that I started ahead of time. Then again, I probably would have finished a lot earlier if I hadn't taken so many breaks and then decided to hang out in the living room with Isaac and Lindsay while I wrote my paper... Oh well, starting on Friday helped my stress level, if nothing else. The real problem with the plan is this: If it is not implemented early and correctly, it cannot be sustained. Case in point: Tuesday's paper was started early, but not finished until the night before. So, after sleeping 4 or 5 hours Monday night, then spending all day at school, I arrived home exhausted at around 6:30 pm Tuesday night. I managed to do a little bit of reading for today's paper before I crashed. Then on Wednesday (yesterday) I had to work until 6:00. So I didn't start on today's paper until last night. Alas, but I started out with high hopes. After arriving home, I, of course, procrastinated some more, because as a great American icon once said, "That's what Tiggers do best!" I didn't actually begin typing up the paper until about 2 am. As a result, I did not finish until 7:30 am.

After a 2 hour nap, here I am, back at school. I've got 2 more classes before I'm free for the day, and I've gathered supplies to help me make it through. Sleep will not be my master! I'm drinking some french press coffee right now, and on my way to the library, I bought a 16 oz can of Full Throttle, some Lunchables, and a bag of Cheetos. I ate the Lunchables for lunch. Yum. If my enemy, sleep, starts gaining ground during one of my classes, I will simply crack open some of my provisions and the day will be mine! Mwah hah hah! I'm not sure about the whole Full Throttle thing. I've never actually had one before. I'm not really an energy drink type of person. Oh sure, I enjoy the occasional Red Bull (especially because, as they say, "Red Bull gives you wings" and I like flying), but I don't generally drink too many energy drinks. I was hoping for some Rocket Chocolate, but they didn't have any. It's okay, though, I'm sure what I have will suffice. I've got to go to my next class now, so this is where the blog ends. I'll add a note later to inform you of the outcome of the Battle Against Sleep. In closing, I'M GOING TO SPAIN IN A WEEK AND A HALF! HOORAY! That is all.