Amy WHYnehouse...

So honestly, I have not really watched an awards show in its entirety in a really long time. They usually do not sustain my attention. I really just think that they could last an hour or two, instead of 3.5, but this is America and celebrities are what we love!

Last night I watched most of the Grammy's -- some parts were muted because I was also studying and Aretha Franklin, though a gifted gospel singer, can be quite distracting! I think what really sustained my attention for that long was my desire to find the answer to the question I had been pondering ALL night, "Do people ACTUALLY like and respect Amy Winehouse?" First, I must say that I do not keep up on pop culture at all, and pretty much my most recent impression of Amy Winehouse was a You Tube video of her smoking some illegal substance, which I briefly saw on the news. By now I know better than to make snap judgments about people based on snippets of information provided by the media, but really....clearly, she was smoking something last night.

So here are my questions, which I have already posed to some of my most trusted and closest friends (who are also the only people who read this). If you have randomly stummbled across my blog, "Hello!" and feel free to leave your opinion:

Do people actually like Amy Winehouse? If so, why? Additionally, what exactly might be wrong with her? I mean, other than her apparent drug problem and intense denial, which ironically resulted in a Grammy win for best song of the year! I guess it does have a catchy beat....?

I can just imagine the possibility of teenagers using drugs and alcohol and refuting their parents' argument against such substance abuse with "Amy Winehouse smokes crack and won 5 Grammy's!"

Really, I understand that celebrities are under a great deal of pressure. I might go nuts if I had that much attention on me all of the time, but this is what they wanted, right? If you're going to be a public figure of any kind, it's your responsibility to act responsibly. Don't they get that people are watching them? That kids and teenagers are influenced by them?

I guess most people don't really get it because Amy Winehouse was rewarded with multiple Grammy's last night despite her behavior...

I like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift.

Frantics...

Um, grad school is hysterical. I mean, I can't speak for all grad school, but if you're working towards or have earned a doctorate in clinical psychology, you know what I'm talking about. Seriously, a reality t.v. show could be made from this experience. But I suppose that's not saying much. After all, Flavor of Love season 100 is about to air....

Really though... most days I go through my usual routine and do not really think too much about it, but there are times when I get a spare moment and the inevitable question that pops into my mind is "what am I doing?"

This just happened to me right now as I am frantically typing, printing, and stuffing envelopes with 15+ cover letters, C.V.'s, work samples, rec letters, and transcripts (Yes, I know that applying for internship is way worse). It happened last night when I was frantically attempting to memorize the steps of chemical neurotrasmission. It will happen on Friday morning when I am trudging through the snow, ice, and slush to bring these 15+ manila envelopes to my least favorite place in the entire world....the post office (ugh!). And once I get there, I will be frantic about whether or not the postal worker is REALLY weighing each envelope individually, so that correct postage can be calculated. Then she'll probably yell at me (it's a rule that someone MUST yell at me during every trip to the post office) and I'll spend the weekend worrying about whether or not the envelopes will make it (as I frantically memorize more principles of chemical neurotransmission, while simultaneously administering the Rorschach).

You see, everything that I do must be done frantically or else it will never get done in time. Most of the time I feel like I'm running from place to place in much the same way as Phoebe did in that one episode of friends. At times I view the things I am doing from an outsider's perspective...that's when I don't get it. That's when I ask, "what am I doing?" But sometimes I get completely inside of myself where there are no loans to be paid off or completely asinine assignments to be done. Those are the moments when I know why I am doing this. Those are the times when I feel the freedom and joy that Phoebe felt in that episode; running towards the greatest accomplishment of my life, and the thing that I am most passionate about.

But it only gets more frantic from here on out...Year 4 is quickly approaching. At least I'll have some good stories to tell my children (and my 3 blog-readers)