GRE = DONE!!!

Well I finally got the opportunity to write my General GRE earlier today.

I ended up with marks that are acceptable to me, in addition to being in the right range for graduate school.

I am so glad that's over! Now for all of the other facets of the grad school application experience :$

Until next time,
- Inkhorn

Stigmatization and Safety on Campus

Had a bit of a scare tonight.

Went to the Japanese restaurant on campus to sing at Karaoke Night. At the end a friend and I ran into a neighbour of ours from last year on the way out of the restaurant. Spoke with them for a while and shook hands before leaving. Now the neighbour we spoke to is gay, and was at the bar with his boyfriend. Having seen my friend and I shake hands with these fellows, some other guys starting shouting accusations of homosexuality at us while we were leaving.

It wasn't so much the accusations of being gay that I really cared about (I'm not afraid of sexuality accusations coming from people I don't know) but the possible short term consequences of them. I feared that they were going to follow us and beat us up. I guess I was lucky that I was with my friend, or else I'd look totally defenseless.

The feeling was really something. To feel that someone might come attack me and I'd be able to do very little about it was scary as hell. Defenseless. Dependent on outside forces.

Dangerous combination.

Getting beaten up like that would probably change me quite a bit. I'd take a while to feel normal in everyday situations.

I'm okay though. Nothing happened and I still have my basic trust in my safety when I'm at York. Just an anomalous situation!

Phew.

Anyway it's time to sleep,

-Inkhorn

The Time is Arriving :)

Well the exam that I have been studying so much for is finally on the near horizon.  This coming Monday I will be going to London Ontario to write a four hour exam which will test me on my Arithmetic, Algebra, Problem Solving, Graph Interpreting, Vocabulary, Verbal Reasoning, Semantic and Critical thinking skills.

I won't say much about it now, as I have a lot of other things to do.  Basically I know that I've studied a lot and whatever happens as a result of it will be okay.  I feel that I can adjust one way or another.  If I don't achieve my goals one way, I will get them another way.

Farewell for now.  Please send me your best wishes.

Till next time,

-Inkhorn

The Word "Kike"

My father is a Family Doctor who does Hypnotherapy for people who need it. He just told me that recently a patient of his got very angry with him and called him a "Kike". I know that the term is supposed to be a derogatory word for Jew, but wasn't sure what it REALLY meant.

The following information, found on Google, comes from http://kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu/Dictionary/kike.htm . A website maintained by someone named Kim Pearson.

kike (kaIk) slang. Also kyke.

1. n. An offensive name for a Jew.

2. adj. Something Jewish in origin or ownership (also kikey).

3. n. A grasping, dishonest if also shrewd person (irrespective of race).

The etymology of kike is hotly contested, although it is commonly agreed that the word dates back to the late 19th century. Many plausible theories have been advanced:

a) To borrow from Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish, "The word kike was born on Ellis Island, when Jewish immigrants who were illiterate (or could not use Roman-English letters), when asked to sign the entry-forms with the customary 'X,' refused -- and instead made a circle. The Yiddish word for 'circle' is kikel (pronounced KY - kel), and for 'little circle,' kikeleh. Before long the immigration inspectors were calling anyone who signed with an 'O' instead of an 'X' a kikel or kikeleh or kikee or, finally and succinctly, kike."

Rosten explains that for the Jewish immigrants, an 'X' was an evil sign, representing both the horrors of crucifixion and the sign of their (Christian) oppressors. Jewish - American merchants continued to sign with an 'O' instead of an 'X' for several decades, spreading the nickname kike wherever they went as a natural result. At that time kike was more of an affectionate term, or used by Jews to describe other Jews, and only developed into a racial slur later on.

It's funny that this label started off as something empowering, but ended up being so offensive. It strikes me that the new meaning connotes "otherness". "You are a kike" seems to mean "You are an unwanted outsider", "You do not belong with me", "It is shameful to be what you are". It is the 10 foot pole which keeps one human at a distance from the other.

The thing which really gets me is that labels made for other groups do the exact same thing.

Is this something good or bad? There is no easy answer.

With that thought I must leave :)

- Inkhorn

Hebrew Word of the Day 3

I learned a good hebrew word the other night while at a shul in the Bathurst and Finch area. Not surprisingly it is another word that relates to Psychology.

מחשבה

And by popular request, here is the english, phonetecized version:

Mach-shevah

This is a noun meaning: mind !

Here is a pertinent sentence:
פסיכולוגיה היה הלמוד של המחשבה


English, phonetecized version:

Psikologia hayah ha-leemood shel ha-mach-shevah.

Otherwise translated in english:

Psychology is the study of the mind.

---

One more sentence should do:

המחשבה שלי היה מענן

English, phonetecized version:

Ha-mach-shevah sheli ha-yah meh-oo-nan

Otherwise translated in english:

My mind is clouded

---

Till next time,

- Inkhorn / אינקהרן

Breakfast banter

My general Graduate Record Exam is almost upon me.

On Monday, September 26th, at 1:00 pm I will be traveling to London Ontario to take part in my exam that will aid a select few universities in determining whether or not they want me in their graduate student body. The strange thing that you would notice, if you were a fly on the proverbial wall of my mind, is that I don't get nervous about things like this until maybe the day of. I suppose it is because there is time to study until the test comes. I can always study. Studying is very patterned, very predictable. You don't have to worry about negative consequences of studying, because usually it is quite positive. You can make a mistake while studying without worrying that your mark will be lowered. You can even neglect your studying if you want (but that for sure would bite you in the ass come test day!). The main point is that before your test date you have control.

Other than that I am happy to report that my neighbours have really turned out to be nice respectful people. This year is going to be a pleasant last year at York. I feel that it's definitely time to finish up! If I stay here any longer then I think I will get sick of this place. I feel as though it's asking me to leave. "Okay, you've had some good experiences with me, but I'd like to move on to new students. Go and have fun with another school. Don't worry about me!" Well I will move on and have fun with another school. I just need to muster up the courage to plan for this change. I've been partially avoiding it for quite a while, but it is time to own up. This Sunday I'm going to find exactly the professors who I would be interested in working with on the web and email them. I'm also going to be searching for graduate school scholarships that I can apply to. This is one of those things that I'll probably laugh at some years down the line. Just a little unsettling for the time being.

Anyway, I need to study some Math and then do some quizzes on my Kaplan CD. Just to make sure that things are okay!

Till next time,

- Inkhorn

Hebrew Word of the Day 2

Since I'm interested in going into Clinical Psychology, what I'll have to be doing a lot of is 'listening'. Therefore I have decided that the second word of the day shall be שמע - listen!

עבר אני שמעתי אתה שמעת את שמעת הוא שמע היא שמעה אנחנו שמענו אתם שמעתם אתן שמעתן הם שמעו הן שמעו	Past Tense I listened You (male) listened You (female) listened He listened She listened We listened You (male plural) listened You (female plural) listened They (male) listened They (female) listened
עבר שלישי אני לא שמעתי אתה לא שמעת את לא שמעת הוא לא שמע היא לא שמעה אנחנו לא שמענו אתם לא שמעתם אתן לא שמעתן הם לא שמעו הן לא שמעו	Negative Past Tense I did not listen You (male) did not listen You (female) did not listen He did not listen She did not listen We did not listen You (male plural) did not listen You (female plural) did not listen They (male) did not listen They (female) did not listen
צווי שמע לי! שמעי לך! שמענה לו! שמע לה! שמעי לנו! שמעו לכם! שמענה לכן! שמע להם! שמעי להן!	Imperative Listen to me! (Directed towards a single male) Listen to to you! (Directed towards a single female) Listen to him! (Directed towards a group of females) Listen to her! (Directed towards a single male) Listen to us! (Directed towards a single female) Listen to you! (Directed towards a group of males) Listen to you! (Directed towards a group of females) Listen to them (male)! (Directed towards a single male) Listen to them (female)! Directed towards a single female)
עתיד אני אשמע אתה תשמע את תשמעי הוא ישמע היא תשמע אנחנו נשמע אתם תשמעו אתן תשמענה הם ישמעו הן תשמענה	Future Tense I will listen You (male) will listen You (female) will listen He will listen She will listen We will listen You (male plural) will listen You (female plural) will listen They (male) will listen They (female) will listen
עתיד שלישי אני לא אשמע אתה לא תשמע את לא תשמעי הוא לא ישמע היא לא תשמע אנחנו לא נשמע אתם לא תשמעו אתן לא תשמענה הם לא ישמעו הן לא תשמענה	Negative Future Tense I will not listen You (male) will not listen You (female) will not listen He will not listen She will not listen We will not listen You (male plural) will not listen You (female plural) will not listen They (male) will not listen They (female) will not listen.

Well that certainly took a while! Anyway time for lunch now :)

So long for now,

- Inkhorn

Adventures in Rez

Well it's my second full day here in Winters Residence at York University.

The room I have here is pretty nice! It's big, has a cheap bed that I surprisingly get good sleeps on, has more than enough space for all of my things.... The only complaint I really have about this place is that they have a heater/AC unit that doesn't seem to work. I don't know why, but it seems as though all of the adjustment knobs have been pulled out so that one can't make it go 'higher' or 'lower'.

Surprisingly my neighbours seem relatively reticent. To one side I have a double room, inhabited by 'Joe' and 'Russell'. I really don't hear much from Joe and or Russell. The only thing I know about them is that they had a waffle sitting right in front of their door for two days before they were able to pick it up. Oh well, at least the waffle helped me remember where my room was! On my other side I have an Israeli exchange student named דותן or Doh-tahn. I met him when I moved in, chatted with him for a bit about Israel, and then the next I heard from him was really late in the night time when he was playing his guitar too loud. Thankfully he was respectful enough to keep it quiet when I asked him to!

Not much else to report I guess! Now that I've bought myself a desk fan to have going in here when it's really hot I'm pretty content.

Till next time,

- Inkhorn / מנחם

The American Dollar

I was just looking at the price of a computer accessory that I ordered off the net (@ www.ecost.com) to see if the price had changed much. The basic price of this accessory (for those who are interested, see it @ http://www.addlogix.com/usb/embed.asp?stuff=se_unixpress_body.html) did not change, but BOY did the american dollar change! According to www.xe.com , a very dynamic website that charts exchange rates between currencies down to the minute, this is where our dollar is in relation to the US Dollar:


1.00 CAD = 0.841432 USD
Canada Dollars United States Dollars

That's crazy! I remember not even a year ago one Canadian dollar was worth around 67 - 70 something cents American. What has been happening to the American dollar that its losing its value? Is this symptomatic of problems the US has been having with gas? Gas prices have sure skyrocketed here I know that much!

Anyway hopefully someone can give me some answers.

Till next itme,

- Inkhorn