Thursday, May 25, 2006

LOST

As if all the speculation and mystery in the episodes don't already infuse themselves into my brain, now websites like the http://www.thehansofoundation.org and http://www.oceanic-air.com are stealing more of my work/study time thoughts (as well as occasionally scaring the shit out of me)! I'm tempted to add The Bad Twin to my Amazon cart, but for now it's just sitting in my wishlist. Plus with random actors posing as characters in real life (i.e. Jimmy Kimmel), and the countless other (most likely official) LOST spinoff sites/advertisements...I feel like I'm being swallowed by a giant marketing monster...and enjoying it all the while.

Monday, May 22, 2006

mondays RULE

Today I was approved for the raise I requested. I came home, tackled the Kaplan GMAT 800 questions (good book!), went to the gym, and enjoyed some laughs, smokes, and pinot grigio with friends. Now I'm relaxing in my room with my mp3s at full blast. I can't remember ever having such a good Monday!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

wait, so i'm NOT a perfect 10?

It's funny how being in a long-term relationship had made me forget that I ever had any insecurities whatsoever. I guess when I had someone by my side, telling me how amazing and perfect I was and how lucky he was to have me, I became a bit disillusioned...

But now that I'm living the single life again, I feel as though I've been hit with a tidal wave of reality: so... i'm NOT absolutely perfect? What do you mean... my jokes aren't really that funny? Why isn't every handsome available man tripping over himself to ask me out? What's this rejection word and what does it mean???

I'm not trying to be obnoxious. This singledom thing just takes some getting used to!

Monday, May 15, 2006

studying > moping

I've been having a bad week (and a bad year for that matter) and everyone seemed to assume it was because I've spent so much time studying. If anything, having the GMAT to focus on is a relief, since I don't have time to sit around over-analyzing everything that's been bothering me.

I admit I'm still halfway stuck in my rut of misery but I am climbing out slowly. I ditched my study session today for leftover cake and wine, but it was neccessary to regain my sanity. I think it paid off. During lunch, a friend randomly mentioned being really happy with the people he has in his life. It made me think about the people in mine, and I concluded that I don't have anything I can justifiably be unhappy about (although, I'm sure I'll find something).

Here's hoping this week will be better than the last!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

ERRR

Ok, can the Kaplan software be more asinine?! I don't need sound effects or little cartoons giving me guided tours of some virtual Kaplatopia. These aren't the PSATs...

So...I did OK on my first adaptive diagnostic test (6xx) but I've got to plan a little better for my saturday morning exam time. It would probably do me well not to drink so much the night before. ...Probably. And the downstairs bathroom was being remodeled, so the hammering and drilling noises weren't helping. Nor were the visits from housemates. I'll be sure to have a "testing in progress" sign up next week.

I've been doing really well on the math in-book practice questions, but I hadn't realized how much time I'd been using per question. I've got to step that up. I was guessing with 3 seconds left on the last question for each quant section. :( And I haven't yet decided if seeing the time makes me more or less nervous...

Ok, I'll stop making excuses. I should go review my wrong answers now.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Verbal Shmerbal

Today was my first day of my new study schedule and it went relatively well. I studied during my lunch break at Starbucks, but was intermittently distracted by an obnoxious couple yielding a disposable camera. But I managed to chug through the sentence correction despite the smooching and photo snapping. At home I finished up the reading comprehension. On my bed. Which wasn't the best idea, because my bed is practically a giant white goose and pretty damn comfortable. But besides falling asleep for 20 minutes, I think I studied well. Tomorrow I'll try Borders.

I realized I probably need to stop glossing over words whose definition I'm not 100% certain of. I need to actually write them down and look them up later and stop guessing from the context. So today I've confirmed the meanings of four words I've previously just made assumptions about, and that feels good. But I'm embarassed to reveal them here. I swear that they're like, big words, with a bunch of syllables and stuff. :)

I've now gotten through the verbal section, scoring at about 80-85% correct on the sample questions in the book. I haven't taken any adaptive computer tests yet, but I plan to do that this Saturday (and every Saturday morning from now on). I imagine I'll do much better on the math since math is relatively fresh in my mind from college and from the scattered SAT tutoring I've done in the past few years.

That's all that's new on the studying front.

P.S. I'm currently using the general Kaplan GMAT book, and I've got the GMAT 800 and the Official Guide books in queue.

Friday, May 05, 2006

GMAT, I shall own your ass!

I finally set a date for my GMAT--late July. I did manage to get some verbal studying done during an unexpected (emergency) trip to Salt Lake City two weeks ago. Unfortunately after getting back to Los Angeles I was a little disoriented, and the trip to Vegas a few days after didn't help (but I did finally get over my fear of in-person poker). Now, I'm ready and motivated, and my study-buddy and I have officially forked out the $250, so it's time for me to get into gear!

I decided to go as early as possible with my date because I needed an additional month to re-take the exam (if neccessary) and then a good two months or so before first round deadlines. Although I haven't been hardcore studying just yet, the added pressure of it being nearby will only be good for me, I think. I'm probably overestimating my motivation with the following schedule I've set, but better I aim high while it's still early:

Monday-Wednesday: 2-3 hours in the pm
Saturday: 4 hours in the am
Sunday: 4 hours in the am

I'm sure this will require some major tweaking within my first week. As for where to study, I will attempt to try borders, where tea and coffee flow endlessly and there are fewer things to distract me. Borders was my roommate's study zone of choice and he scored a 730, so I figure it's worth a try...

800, here I come!

There is no point.

The subject of this entry reflects how I began to feel in my post-college pre-adulthood mid-twenties. After I’d moved past the afterglow of the landmarks of turning 21, graduating school, and settling in to my first real job, I wondered what else there was to look foward to, besides the grim world of marriage, babies, and death.

For the past two years I’ve (somewhat passively) pursued different career paths in my spare time, from fashion designer to ebay millionaire to web developer, in hopes of finding that one thing that is supposed to make life worthwhile.

I’ve decided (for now, anyway) to pursue an MBA, and to use this blog to document my journey. Enjoy…