Thursday, August 27, 2009

i feel slighted

According to your ex, are you pretty?
Why would a current or past datable person think i wasn't?

Do you have trust issues?
Not like i did when i was younger.

How have you felt today?
ha. i'm doing this quiz b/c i can't sleep. i can't sleep b/c i had a terrible run-in with someone. Not a good day so far. haha. and it just turned 8am!! Lol.

When was the last time you talked to your number 1 on top friends?
quite a long time, actually. AMY is always busy b/c she is studying to become a professional, plus she's married now, so i forgive her. :)

Did you have sex with someone on your top, be honest?
nope.

What are you wearing on your feet?
-nothing

Ever made a girl cry?
-yes. and then she got fired...for stealing...

Do you like your name?
-sure. Although it's becomming more common of a name..

Do you wish someone would turn up at your front door right now?
-actually... :\ yes i would.

Do you like being in pictures?
-sure!! i like taking pics of myself sometimes...
O_o

Have you ever skinny-dipped?
-lol no. too nervous. just don't like people staring at my parts..

Are you a morning person or a night person?
-definitely NOT an A.M. person by choice today!

Have you ever changed clothes in a vehicle?
-oh yes.

When was the last time you were extremely disappointed?
TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

Do you think you'll make a good husband/wife?
i think i could be, one day.

Who is your last text from?
kenny

Are promises important to you?
-no. b/c i know they're hard to keep.

What inspires you?
i really couldn't say right now.

What's on your mind?
-idiots.

Have you ever been in a hospital?
never!

What's the last thing you "awwww"ed at?
a top story on the Today show about a 13yr old girl who was the only survivor on a plane crash from France to Africa...

Have you hugged anyone in the last 72 hours?
-oh yeah.

What is the last movie you saw in theaters?
Inglorious Basterds. (Rental...)

How much money did you spend today?
i spent between $20-23

Whose bed did you sleep in last night?
-not mine.

Do you plan on sleeping in tomorrow?
-i plan on sleeping period.

If you had $100 would you spend or save it?
spend some of it.

Last place you went out to eat?
-taco bell

Did you have a dream last night?
no i didn't sleep well enough to dream..

Where were you when you heard MJ died?
work. and who cares?

Do you have any plans for the weekend?
don't care.

You receive $50 without any reason, what do you spend it on?
i don't know.

What was the last curse word you said?
i haven't a clue, i do it so often...

How many months until your birthday?
4.

Ever felt like your not good enough?
oh sure. like now?

Is there someone who continuously lets you down?
HA. wow. this is better than the LAST quiz!!!

Where did you get the pants you are wearing from?
thrift store.

If you can't sleep at night, what is keeping you awake?
hunger. stress.

When is your birthday?
-Dec 23rd

Last three-way phone call?
god, like MIDDLE SCHOOL!?!?!

How often do you hold back from saying what you are thinking?
not often.

Are you shy?
-sometimes

Is it cute when a boy calls you baby?
no! you have to earn that privilege..

Think back five months ago, were you single?
-yep.

Has anyone ever told you they don't want to lose you?
-i'm sure my parents are the only ones.

What is your biggest fear?
i fear death without knowing & accomplishing my purpose.

If you could be anywhere right now where would you be?
santa cruz.

Do you know any Spanish?
not too much.

What email service do you use?
gmail.com

What phone service do you use?
-Verizon

Have you ever highlighted your hair?
no.

If something was wrong, who is the first guy you would go to?
-guy? greg. lady? mom.

What are your plans for today?
it's another day off. i'm losing hours at work. probably gonna sulk about it. it IS raining, so it seems appropriate to cry.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

So i see that this is my 40th post on blogger. Geez. i used to post SO effin much back in the good ole' Lj days...seems like forever ago.
Anyways. Today is my only day off this week. I have been doing SO well there!! Lol. Seriously i made so much $$ this weekend it's amazing to me that i have nothing to show for it now!! I made nearly $90 from Fri-Sunday! That's in tips, mind you. i get that PLUS my hourly wage!! So i'm super happy.
Greg texted me @ work yesterday asking if i'd like to go see GI JOE with him. I loved it!! The guns were so freakin' cool & just all the gadgets they had! It was super loud and action packed! I was really glad i saw it in the theater.
Greg's birthday is in a few days. I think i should just get him some cash. Not sure yet. Maybe cook. get a nice recipe.
bah. Too much on my mind.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Blog sayings: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v112/ariana6057/lj/icons2/sayings/lidi/

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

How to Overcome Short Term Memory Loss

[edit] StepsConsult a doctor if your memory loss is chronic or interferes with your everyday life. Your doctor can help you identify the cause and eliminate serious conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, brain trauma and more.
Understand that short term memories are stimuli stored in the brain for only a few minutes with minimal processing. You can also bring long term memories 'to the surface' to be included in your short term memory for a short time, as you do when you recall a phone number.
The short term memory system is naturally limited in the number of items that it can hold, usually between 5 and 9 items depending on the individual.
Repeat things you want to retain in your mind. Repetition can help "hold" things in your short term memory.
If you are a heavy user of drugs or alcohol cut back a bit on your consumption or quit.
Keep a journal of your daily activities that you preformed the day before or even the week before. That way if you can't seem to remeber you can look back and read over it to help recall.
Go to sleep at a set time each night. Try to have 8 hours of sleep as this can help your short term memory.
If it's a word, use it in a sentence. A persons' name, call them by their name during the first meeting.
Saying what you're trying to remember out loud, involves another sense thus adding to your chances of retaining the thought.
If you are sad because of your short term memory loss, try watching a movie. These are good because you can practice remebering the characters names, and the plot. Then you can watch it a week or two months later and see how much you can remember. If you want to you can even watch a movie about short term memory loss like 50 First Dates.

http://www.memorylossonline.com/glossary/memory.html

Glossary
Memory

Memory refers to the storage, retention and recall of information including past experiences, knowledge and thoughts. Memory for specific information can vary greatly according to the individual and the individual's state of mind. It can also vary according to the content of the information itself; thus information which is novel or exciting tends to be better remembered than information which is uninteresting or ordinary. Failure of memory can normally result from failure to adequately store the memory in the first place, failure to retain the information (forgetting), and failure to retrieve the information later.

The precise biological mechanisms of memory are not fully understood, but most scientists believe that memory results from changes in connections or connection strengths between neurons in the brain. One possible mechanism is long-term potentiation (LTP). Roughly stated, LTP refers to a process whereby if two neurons are usually active together, the connection between them will be strengthened; over time, this means that activity in one neuron will tend to produce activity in the other neuron.

Categories of Memory Systems

Psychologists and memory researchers often divide memory into categories defined by the duration for which the memory is expected to last.

Sensory memory refers to the fact that, after experiencing a stimulus, information about that stimulus is briefly held in memory in the exact form it was received, until it can be further processed. Typically, sensory memories may last only a few seconds before decaying -- or being overwritten by new, incoming information. But, while they last, sensory memories contains detailed information: almost like an internal "copy" of the stimulus, in perfect detail. For example, psychologists have assumed that there is a memory area (called a "buffer") where incoming visual information is stored as a picture or icon. This is sometimes called iconic memory. While visual information remains in iconic memory, an individual can answer detailed questions, such as what is the third row of numbers in a numerical display. Psychologists have assumed that there is also an echoic memory for auditory information (stored as an echo) and other buffers for information related to the other senses: taste, smell and touch.

Short-term memory refers to memories which last for a few minutes. Unlike sensory memory, which is stored in the exact form it was experienced, short-term memory has received some processing; thus, "A" is stored not as a visual stimulus, but as an abstract concept of the letter "A". Short-term memory is of limited capacity, usually 5-9 items ("7-plus-or-minus-two"). Beyond this capacity, new information can "bump" out other items from short-term memory. This is one form of forgetting. Objects in short-term memory can be of indefinite complexity: thus short-term memory can hold several numbers, or several words, or several complex concepts simultaneously. Thus, while an individual may only be able to remember seven random digits, it may be possible to remember more digits if they are "chunked" into meaningful objects: thus, "1776-2001-1941" represents twelve separate digits -- well beyond most people's capacity -- but only three easily-remembered chunks.

Items can be maintained indefinitely in short-term memory by rehearsal: e.g. by repeating the information over and over again. An example would be a seven-digit phone number, which is maintained in short-term memory by repetition until the number is dialed, and then fades from short-term memory once the conversation starts. Repetition may also increase the probability that items in short-term memory will enter permanent storage in long-term memory.

Intermediate-term or working memory is sometimes considered a synonym for short-term memory. However, memory researchers often consider this a specialized term referring for information about the current task. Thus, even though a specific phone number may occupy short-term memory, working memory contains the information that lets you remember that you are in the process of phoning the gas company to complain about a recent billing error.

Long-term memory is memory that lasts for years or longer. It contains everything we know about the world, including semantic and factual information as well as autobiographical experience. In general, long-term memory is organized so that it is easy to reach a stored item by a number of routes. For example, the concept "umbrella" may be retrieved by seeing an umbrella, experiencing a rainstorm, hearing the words to the song "Let a smile be your umbrella," and so on. Retrieval of an item also facilitates other related items: so that retrieving information about a cat can lead to retrieval of information about dogs, lions, specific instances of cats (Grandmother's tabby), the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and so on.

NOTE: Clinicians (e.g. neurologists) often use a slightly different classification, in which short-term memory is memory for events which occurred recently (e.g. a few days or weeks ago) and long-term memory is memory for events which occurred in the distant past (e.g. childhood).

Kinds of Long-term Memory

There are several different ways to classify long-term memories according to their content.

Declarative memory is a term for information which is available to conscious recollection and verbal retrieval (i.e., it can be "declared"). Two subclasses of declarative memory are episodic memory, which is autobiographical information, and semantic memory, which is factual information about the world (vocabulary items, knowledge of what a hammer is used for, memory of multiplication tables, etc.).

Brain Structures involved in Long-Term Memory

Most types of memory appear to be stored in the cortex. Different areas of cortex specialize in different kinds of information, so that visual information about the Statue of Liberty may be stored in one location (e.g., the inferior temporal cortex), while information about its associations to liberty and immigration might be stored in another (e.g., the frontal cortex). High linkage between these two areas means that seeing a picture of the Statue of Liberty can retrieve memory about its associations. At the same time, damage to specific areas of cortex can produce specific memory deficits. For example, damage to a specific region within the temporal lobe can produce a memory deficit in which the patient loses knowledge about "living things" (e.g. dogs, lions, birds) but maintains knowledge about other categories (e.g. inanimate objects such as furniture and utensils).

Formation of new declarative memories depends on the hippocampus and related structures in the medial temporal lobe. When these structures are damaged, a condition of anterograde amnesia can result, in which older declarative memories are largely spared, but few if any new declarative memories are acquired. At this point, the process whereby the hippocampus and other medial temporal lobe structures contribute to long-term memory formation is still incompletely understood. Some researchers believe that the hippocampus acts as a temporary store for new information, which is then gradually transferred to permanent storage in the cortex. Other researchers believe that the hippocampus never actually stores information itself, but is needed by the cortex in the process of developing new memories.

Another important structure is the amygdala, which lies near the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobes. The amygdala is critically involved in emotional memory; an individual with damage to the amygdala may remember the details of a traumatic (or joyful) event but not the emotional content of that event.

Pathology of Memory

Memory can be impaired by various injuries and diseases. Damage to the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus can devastate the ability to acquire new declarative memory; damage to the storage areas in cortex can disrupt retrieval of old memories and interfere with acquisition of new memories -- simply because there is nowhere to put them.

Another critical factor is attention. Items are more likely to be remembered if they are attended to in the first place; this is why novel or exciting items are more likely to be remembered than dull or ordinary ones. Damage to the frontal lobes, which disrupts attention, may affect memory.

Various psychiatric disorders such as paranoia and schizophrenia may affect memory adversely, either by disrupting attention or by disrupting the biological bases of memory, or both.

Alzheimer's disease causes memory impairments from the early stages, probably because of cell death in the basal forebrain, an area that produces the chemical acetylcholine which facilitates plasticity (learning). Recent memories tend to be poorly remembered, while there may be good memory for long-ago events.

Other conditions such as viral infections, depression and use of drugs (including medication) can affect memory by disrupting brain chemicals as well.

Although a mild memory impairment is a common feature of old age, there is currently much debate over whether memory loss is inevitable with aging, or whether it is a by-product of conditions (such as Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease) which are more common in old age than in youth. (See also: Age-associated Memory Impairment.)

Further reading: L. Squire & E. Kandel (2000). Memory: From Mind to Molecules. New York: Scientific American Library;
R. Klatzky (1980). Human Memory: Structures and Processes, 2nd Edition. New York: WH Freeman.

by Catherine E. Myers. Copyright © 2006 Memory Loss and the Brain

Are You Suffering from Short-Term Memory Loss?

I just took this quiz...

http://quiz.ivillage.com/cgi-bin/health/tests/shorttermmemory.pl

You have mild short-term memory problems
Though your memory is generally good, you sometimes have trouble recalling recent events. Hormonal fluctuations, stress, a diet that lacks adequate vitamins and supplements, low blood sugar and not getting enough exercise may be contributing to your minor forgetfulness. Memory retrieval also slows down as you age, but this doesn't mean the memories aren't still there -- you just need to work harder to remember them.

There are tricks that can help to give your memory a boost by improving your concentration and focus. Try the quick ways to boost your brainpower from Female and Forgetful: A Six-Step Program to Help Restore Your Memory and Sharpen Your Mind by Elisa Lottor, Ph.D., N.D., and Nancy Bruning to help sharpen your memory when you have trouble recalling a fact or finding something you've misplaced.

Also learn more about the possible reasons behind your forgetfulness, from hormones to poor nutrition.

If you're still concerned about your memory, take the Are You Suffering from Long-Term Memory Loss? and Do You Have Brain Fog? self-assessments.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Super fantastic! I'm gonna have a laptop @ my door in roughly 24-48hrs!! Thank you NEWEGG.com!!!
Tonight was very nice-
Hung out with my brother all afternoon. He went nuts @ the Goodwill - I only got one pair of jeans for myself & a gag gift for Greg. I can't wait to give it to him for his birfday. Hehe. i just hope i don't lose it trying to hide it. HAHA Yeah; i'm one of those silly people who hide things from others just to figure out that i can hide it from myself!! HAHA. I'm retarted. Anywho..
I had also gone to the doctor today, nervous as hell b/c i hadn't had a pap smear in nearly 5yrs. My last visit wasn't pleasant & i hated that doctor. He looked at me creepily..Anyways i had this really cool old hippie doctor, which is not what i expected either. Every one of the secretaries is black, and the nurse that took my blood pressure & asked all my family questions are black, so to see a white doctor there @ the free clinic, i was a bit surprised. Idk. [i'm not racist]
But anyway everything checked out normal, so i'm really happy!
And the fact that i got free birth control pills & basically a whole box of condoms for ~free~ is really amazing!! Super duper!!
greg's at the beach the next few days & i'll update more soon.