Sometimes I wonder if going to grad school is the most selfish thing I could have done. Had I just got an Engineering job, my family wouldn't be in this mess.

I learn the results of my qualifying exam in sixteen hours. Gonna seem like an eternity. Must. Not. Think. About. It. Or. Will. Get. Nauseous. Ow. Tummy hurts.

I subscribe to people on Youtube who just play video games. For some reason, a lot of them are now playing Pikmin and have just started recently. Conspiracy?

For us... men?... and our salvation

I know I've been blogging here sporadically. So here's what up.

I took my quals. I'll know my results in two weeks. I need to figure out whom I'm doing research with this fall semester, as well as figure out my teaching duties for the College Algebra class I will be helping in.

So, another thing I noticed today at church. Let me just say, it started in Berkeley. Being Catholic, we recite our version of the Apostles' Creed (which I guess is also called the Nicene Creed as I'm looking it up online, basically a profession of faith) during Sunday mass. There's this one line that goes:

For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven...

When I was in Berkeley I noticed right away that they tended to omit the word "men." I figured it was a personal choice, trying to promote equality and gender neutral spirituality. At first it bugged me since I had been ingrained with it. I never thought of it as referring to only men, but rather for all of mankind, but still I found it peculiar that they would skip the word entirely, without skipping a beat. Back here in Tucson, the priest still says Men, but you can start to notice that fewer people are saying it out loud. Is it just a sign of the times? I'm not sure. I've stopped saying Men and just take a breath. I've never paid attention to what my mom does. I like to think that it's getting phased out maybe due to redundancy. Need we specify that it was for people? I don't know.

One thing I have noticed these past few years is that I have began nitpicking little things about religion here and there. I think I want to have a Confirmation (This is normally done in high school, and in Hispanic cultures it often coincides with the quincenero or quincenera.) but it's a commitment that I would have to focus on full time in order to prepare. I think my mom still has my baptism certificate somewhere.

The beast rears its ugly head, its sharp claws and cindering breath taunt me. I stare into its soulless eyes. BRING IT, I yell. THIS. ENDS. NOW!