oh, women.

This evening, I offer to you a smattering of excerpts from my reading for Neuroscience. They are from a review of Principles of Mental Physiology, with their Applications to the Training and Discipline of the Mind and the Study of its Morbid Conditions by William B. Carpenter, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. From 1874. That's kind of important.

"It is always wise to try the simplest explanation first, and in women the capricious is certainly more common than the biological temperament, even if the author's statistics of the latter be correct."

"The writer well remembers when going with Dr. Conolly through one of the wards on the female side of the lunatic asylum at Hanwell, Dr. C. remarked to him, 'It is my belief that two-thirds of the women here have come to require restraint through the habitual indulgence of an originally bad temper.'"

overheard

...while I was on the bus and my driver was taking a break outside. (Side note: Even though I was pretty frustrated that the first bus just blew past me while I was waiting at my stop, maybe it was worth it to hear this.)

He was on his cell phone with, I'm guessing, his wife, so the conversation below is only one half. His half was all said with an amused, with touches of incredulity, intonation. You can also imagine his great, thick southern accent.

"Wuh'd you baby?!?!"

"You got to stop!"

"Naaoooh! You just got to stop!"

"When he puts on his lights, you just got to stop! Stop in the middle of the road -- it don't matter!"

"You can pull over if you want to, but you got to do it fast! You can't just keep on driving!"

"Did you tell him you're from Russia?"

intensives

I am now five days down in the 13 days during which I will complete two classes (2 credit hours each). It feels good to have one week done, although it was pointed out that we have only had one project due during that time, so I think the second half(-ish) will feel quite busy. Overall, it has not been as bad as I was anticipating. But enough about the work side of things.

The other -- and more important -- thing that comes along with these intensives is that we get to meet and get to know the rest of our cohort! We are now a class of 32, I believe, which nearly triples our class from last year. I can't definitively say I have talked to each person, but I think nearly. We have already taken two opportunities for socializing out of class, which I have greatly enjoyed. Good times, good people, good pizza, good limoncello margaritas (really good -- they lived up to their legend!).