Mixed Nuts

WARNING: EXTREME SARCASM THROUGHOUT ENTIRE POST. THOSE WITH WEAK CONSTITUTIONS CLICK HERE. THAT IS ALL.
Yesterday, I returned to the local mental health facility, this time for a fun-filled social psychology field trip. I didn't walk a mile this time, but I did climb seven flights of stairs, along with the rest of the class, in order to see the room at the top of the clock tower at the center of the campus. According to our thrilling tour guide, this may or may not be the highest point in the county, or town. He wasn't too sure. In fact, he was unsure about most things, and I don't know why he was our tour guide. For one thing, he actually believe that the mentally insane were never tortured at the facility, when the video that we were shown, about that very same facility, explained the brutal methods that were once used there, and the advancements that had come about in more recent times. He did know a few things, though.
1. There are about 600 residents at the facility.
2. There are 10 living units, which each house 50-75 people.
3. The oldest resident is 94, the youngest is 18 [that's the youngest that they will accept], and most residents are in their 30s and 40s.
4. The Department of Health Services [DHS] is divided into two sections: Developmental Disabilities [DD] and Mental Illnesses [MI].
5. Before electricity, surgeries were performed in the room in the clock tower, because it was the best source of light.
Other than that, we were mostly on our own. So, here are some fun psychological terms for you and I to learn about. Many of them are methods used to restrain mental patients. Whee!
1. Utica crib: a person at a former incarnation of this facility was kept in an Utica crib for 14 years!


2. Restraining chair

3. Calming chair: a restraining chair with a nice box for your head

4. Kissing chair: this has nothing to do with psychology, but there was one up in the clock tower, and I thought it was spiffy.

5. Dorothea Lynde Dix

6. Hydrotherapy

7. Electroconvulsive therapy [ECT]

8. Wet sheet packs

9. Psychosurgery: more commonly known as lobotomizing

10. Idiot, imbecile, & moron: legitimate terms for levels of mental retardation in the 18th century.

^{Without the blessed intervention of the 3 Stooges, psychologists might still be using these outdated terms}
Let's end on a positive note...
KIRBY DANCE! <(*.*<) ^(*.*)^ (>*.*)> ^(*.*)^ <(*.*)>   KIRBY DANCE!
~Sushi

Nobody's Hero / 100th Post!

I have never done wiring in my life. And yet, Spock's mom, Moose, trusted me to wire the chandelier that she bought for her new house. I suppose, given that there were no directions to follow in the first place, I did a pretty bang-up job. It works, after all. And we only had to rewire it a few times. Moose's friend from work was helping us along, but he didn't know how to wire the thing either. So I wired it, we wired it into the main power, and... nothing happened. After taking it apart and checking connections, we tried again.. nothing. Then, the guy realizes he told me the wrong way to wire it. I took the entire thing apart, rewired EVERYTHING, and then, and only then, it worked. Oh, that glorious chandelier finally worked!
So, Spock and I went back to my house to watch my sisters, because my parents went out to meet a friend of Severe's and his wife for dinner. They couldn't have been gone more than five minutes when Severe called, and told me to jump in the car and meet them, in the dark, on the side of a road about a mile away. Mama Bear, valiantly trying to avoid killing a dog, still managed to clip the beast, and while the dog lived, her van didn't fare so well. There is a gaping hole in one side, and to top it off, she also got stuck in a ditch. We used my itty bitty Plymouth to pull a minivan out of a ditch. It was so epic.


I am happy to announce that this is my ONE HUNDREDTH POST! To celebrate, I will be doing a Top 10² List. It's going to be time-consuming, lengthy, and freakin' awesome!
Top 10-Squared!
1. Top ten Most Frequently Used Blog Tags
  1. spock (43)
  2. family (17)
  3. school (13)
  4. star trek (13)
  5. movies (12)
  6. top 13 (9)
  7. contest (8)
  8. weebeast (8)
  9. death (7)
  10. halloween (7)
2. Top Ten Nicknames of/for Former Boyfriends/Girlfriend
^{Not in chronological order}
  1. Puff
  2. Spock
  3. Squishy
  4. Beaver
  5. Goofy
  6. Stupid
  7. Bunny Boy
  8. Bear
  9. Shadow [applies to two]
  10. Shithead [applies to most, but not all]
3. Top Ten Bad Habits
  1. Nail biting
  2. Picking scabs
  3. Facebook
  4. Staying up too late
  5. Correcting spelling mistakes in IMs
  6. Picking fights
  7. Swearing
  8. Lurking on other people's Facebook pages, trying to remember if I know them, and looking through their friends to see if I missed friending them
  9. Making e-mail accounts that I never check
  10. Talking back
4. Top Ten Most Frequently Played Songs on My iTunes
  1. Hope, Rush [44]
  2. Sunday Morning, Maroon 5 [44]
  3. Planet of the Apes, Mindless Self Indulgence [38]
  4. Madrigal, Rush [32]
  5. Valley Girl, Frank Zappa [31]
  6. Wonderous Stories, Yes [29]
  7. Superconductor, Rush [26]
  8. On It, Mindless Self Indulgence [25]
  9. Pick Up the Pieces, The Average White Band [25]
  10. For Your Entertainment, Adam Lambert [23]
5. Ten 100x100 images
^{Using a random word generator for searches!}
  1. Undesirable =
  2. Behalf =
  3. Contributor =
  4. Brown =
  5. Gig =
  6. Troop =
  7. Outset =
  8. Logic =
  9. Freeze =
  10. Net =
6. Ten Musical Artists I Have Recently Latched Onto
^{Keep in mind I usually just listen to Rush and Yes}
  1. Lady GaGa
  2. Adam Lambert
  3. Beyonce
  4. P!nk
  5. Marilyn Manson
  6. Eurythmics
  7. Korn
  8. Katy Perry
  9. No Doubt
  10. Disturbed
7. Ten 100x100 Pictures of Random Body Parts
  1. eye =
  2. nose =
  3. toe =
  4. hand =
  5. leg =
  6. buttock =
  7. joint =
  8. thumb =
  9. knee =
  10. stomach =
8. Ten Fun Flash Games
  1. Sushi Cat
  2. Kitten Cannon
  3. Red Remover
  4. Seed
  5. Mind the Blox
  6. Woobies
  7. Linyca
  8. Columz
  9. Combine
  10. Bomboozle
9. Ten Videos of Large Men Dancing
  1. Single Ladies, by Beyonce
  2. Hips Don't Lie, Shakira
  3. Headsprung, LL Cool J
  4. The Fat Dance
  5. Push It, Salt-N-Pepa
  6. Various rap songs
  7. My Humps, Black Eyed Peas
  8. Yo, Chris Brown
  9. My Milkshake, Kelis
  10. Dragostea din Tei, O-Zone
10. Top Ten Ridiculous Apparel Items
  1. Brossiere
  2. Muu Muu
  3. Crocs
  4. Dog Sweater
  5. Ugg Boots
  6. Beer Hat
  7. Stirrup pants
  8. Pink cowboy boots
  9. Shirts with fake pockets
  10. Sweatpants
Here's to a hundred more!
~Sushi

We Will Fight in the Shade

The first time Spock watched 300 was at a military base in Spain. The first time I watched it was in my living room, with Spock and Severe. Either way, and in either place, it was fucking amazing. There is no other way to describe it. There was so much blood, and so much yelling, and stabbing, and piercings, and pert naked breasts... so much of everything that is awesome in life. I know I'm behind in watching 300, seeing as it came out almost four years ago, but the hype was definitely true to the movie. Few hyped-up movies can live up to expectations, but this one has. And, so that you can enjoy it further, I present...
Top Ten 300 Spoofs and Parodies
^{...and my favorite line from each}
1. 300 - PG Version
^{This is delicious!}
2. 300 Trailer - Second Best Parody Ever
^{He's always kicking Persians}
3. This is Sparta! Last techno remix
^{I'm gonna die!!!!!}
4. The Latino Comedy Project's "300"
^{*Mexicans roaring*}
5. The Spartan 300 Workout Program
^{Learn how to kill walls with your bare hands.}
6. It's Raining 300 Men
^{It's raining men! *Persians fall off of cliff*}
7. Failed "300" Auditions
^{Yes, we are looking for big nipples.}
8. 300 Parody - Where's My Cat?
^{FIND MR. SCUFFLES!}
9. Sparta Remix - Chocolaaate!
^{This! Is! CHOCOLATE!}
10. 300 LEGO Trailer
^{We're in for one wild night..}
Even a god-king can bleed.
~Sushi

Obsession

The TV channel A&E, affectionately dubbed the "freak channel" by my parents, has this wonderful show called Hoarders. As scary as it is to see the pestilent disasters that people allow their houses to become, I'm quite addicted to the show. As far as my parents are concerned, though, we are hoarders, and thusly, ever since the show came on, they spend their waking hours going through our stuff, sending it off to the thrift store. Now, giving our stuff to a cause has never been strange to my household; it's the magnitude of it that scares me. My mom went into a tirade a few days, claiming that she couldn't walk through the house because of all the stuff everywhere. I'll admit, we do have lots of things in our home, but to hear her tell it, the stuff was eating her alive. It was frightening. Gladly, my parents have not yet raided my room, though my mother constantly urges me to donate clothes, books, etcetera, to the Salvation Army, and other various thrift stores that my clothes already came from in the first place. And so, to end this tirade, I invite you into my room...
Ten Weird Things to be Found in My Room
1. Kabuki mask

2. Coolie [mine is cooler]

3. Rainbow suspenders

4. Ceramic Chinese take-out container

5. Scrapbook of Dave Barry articles

6. Giant lightbulb [well, not that big]

7. Caution tape [great for raves]

8. Bowling pin

9. License plates

10. My immense skull collection [the most beautiful shape in the world, in my opinion]

Someday, I'll have to put up pictures of my skulls. Someday...
~Sushi

Accepted

Two interesting things, at the very least, happened to me this week. For one, I was accepted into the university I want to go to, so I'm extremely excited about that. I've already activated my new e-mail address and checked out the website, and other fun things like that. I also called my friend, Freak [her actual nickname, not an insult], to tell her, because we might be rooming together. Fun stuff, says I.
Also, I got my first henna tattoo earlier this week. It's a very pretty design on my hand, and sadly, is already fading. I'll try to get a picture uploaded soon; Spock took one today. I have the website of the lady who did my henna tattoo; I think she did a fabulous job, and so I'm compelled to link to her. Definitely hit her up for parties, business functions, and bar mitvahs, among other things. She's awesome, without a doubt.
So, in the spirit of embracing Indian body art culture, I present:
Ten Beautiful Henna Tattoos











Beautifully done.
~Sushi