GRE Test Blues

I really dislike standardized tests. There is something undeniably fell about them. Normally, I don’t prepare or strive very much at all for a standardized test. For the SAT and ACT I just went in without preparation. In my mind, I was able to palliate the tests, but still do well enough on them. When I was in high school, WASL was in its testing phase. But, now I must conquer this imbroglio called the GRE! Now I want to not only get into grad school, but get some money from the school I attend. So, I’m really struggling to get all my ducks in a row to be a competitive candidate. I cannot abjure the GRE and gainsay its necessity!

First of all, it’s different from other tests; it is on a computer, so there is no book for scribbles and reading. All the better to jejunely reject! Second, it’s an adaptive test, so if you get a question right, the next question is harder and worth more points. Conversely, getting a wrong answer gives you easier questions worth less points. One of my favorite strategies: skipping and backtracking is extirpated. Also, none of the questions in the quantitative or verbal sections is hard per say, they focus on pretty basic skills and knowledge levels. But, for this reason, they make the test difficult by making the questions confusing and the answers misleading. Consequently, I have been studying test taking strategies for the GRE for probably about a month, rather than excoriating the philosophy behind such a test. Now, I’ve moved on to taking practice CATs (Computer Adaptive Tests) online, and my score is in the gutter. I am feeling contumacious about this anathema!

If I sound bitter, it’s because I am. I have no idea why a graduate school would require this kind of test. I don’t really understand why a graduate school would require an applicant to take a lengthy, costly, computer based, and inconvenient aptitude test. Why?!?!?! Is it not enough that I am submitting a letter of intention, a 15-20 page paper, 3 recommendation letters, along with an academic history? If a school was evaluating my accomplishments, don’t they have enough resources? It seems like a poor score on a GRE would be a captious reason not to accept a candidate.

Even though I hate standardized tests, I can brook their use in a limited scope. They are fast, regulated and efficient. You can gain a lot of empirical data about where a student is in relationship to other students. Also, it can be especially useful when there isn’t a lot of preexisting academic history for a student.

This whole standardized testing business is just a racket. ETS may be a non-profit, but I don’t think I’d be the first person to express my skepticism about their practices and influences. They asseverate that they are non-profit, and for this reason they can avoid certain taxes and regulations. It’s vial that the academic world is held hostage by a group of standardized testing thugs.

Standardized tests put the wrong sort of emphasis on school and ineffectually build (or destroy) a student’s confidence. A standardized test reinforces that academic and intellectual accomplishment is mostly about the right answers. Sure, they throw in analytical essays now, to show creative thought, but mostly, it’s a right or a wrong thing. Furthermore, a student who can do well in a standardized testing environment may descry themselves as intelligent people. This may or may not be the case, but the test only evaluates one type of intelligence. Conversely, a student who struggles and fails may assume that they are bad at school and eventually they might just give up. The fact that I relish learning is no anodyne to this test taking process.

Obstreperous complaints aside, things aren’t so bad. Hopefully, I’ll be reporting next week about a solid score. Regardless, I still have domestic bliss to return to. I share cups of hot cider with my husband, play with the kittens, watch the rain, admire the fall leaves, and today I even saw a hummingbird at rest licking his “lips.” GRE-schmeaRE!




**Plus, I have had the opprotunity to learn cool words like imbroglio and bedizen!

Another harangue of vocabulary: now with kitty pictures

So, OK, forcing all these platitudes and all this inflated diction is kind of ridiculous. This is less than a trenchant use of language. However, it helps me when I peruse the vocabulary words in some sort of context to remember what they mean. For this reason, I will not attempt to rarefy the verbosity of this blog. (and FYI: soon I’ll take the GRE, and we’ll be back to more casual entries)

Meet Cairo and Alexandria. My savage, mercurial, little darlings.



The life of my cats is quite quotidian. But, I imagine the same thing happening every day makes for a halcyon existence for the territorial little beasts. They inveigle my attention at the most inconvenient times, but their trickery does not make me irascible. Cairo especially likes to "help" me study.





I actually enjoy taking breaks from the quiescence of study and spending time with them. Especially after a hard day at work, their perspicacious playfulness is redoubtable.



Additionally, the kitties are inured to my own playful attacks upon them. I try not to be penurious with the time I spend with them. Also, play time is useful because it makes them soporific. A good romp of running and pouncing is ideal before bedtime.



Together, they are truculent and pounce and bite at each other fearlessly. However, with my play-attacks, they are more chary. My attacks are far from pernicious, and generally consist of a surfeit of kisses on their heads and nuzzling in their bellies.



My clinging displays of attention might feel like perfidy for my cats. They are recondite under the bed, I coax them out, and lavish them with attention they might not find particularly emollient. They are the most recalcitrant after I give them a little cat nip and they completely resist me picking them up and teasing them.



I keep my cats indoors and have obviated their need to wander in the neighborhood by opening the deck in order to fill their intransigent need to observe the outdoors. Sometimes cats are so aloof, their momentary affection can seem like spurious attempts for attention or food. They certainly have a great deal of acumen, even my lazy in-door cats, but lovingness is just as endemic to my cats as playfulness I believe.



From my incipient experience with the kittens, I loved them. I enjoy caring for them, feeding them salubrious food so they will grow up strong and healthy, sedulously playing with them every night, and repudiating bad behavior. I try to remain consistent when training my cats so as not to enervate the rules.



I also take care of their hygiene, although Cairo behaves as though getting his nails trimmed was a virulent punishment and Alexandria treats getting brushed with opprobrium. She prefers her own methods of cleanliness.



From their inchoate times in the house, I have socialized them with different people, to avoid implacable feline behavior. I feel like the shyness of Alexandria in particular has been abated.



Neither cat has ever had the disposition to fulminate anyone with hisses, and when jumping and playing they take perfunctory caution to make sure their claws are retracted.



While I have always been an animal lover, I only recently adopted my own pets. Now I have solvent means to support them, as well as a tenable amount of time to nurture them. While I was not penurious before, time and space made me repudiate adopting animals prematurely. I wanted to give proper care to my cats and not be a profligate who takes on more responsiblity than is managable. They were worth the wait!

Malapropism to Volubility

As I prepare for the GRE, I am trying to improve my acumen, especially by integrating new vocabulary words into my speech. While precise language can make conversation more pellucid, sometimes too much prolixity can attenuate communication. So, here goes an experimental blog that might be a bit gauche.


I do feel some diffidence as I apply for graduate school. Studying for the GRE leaves me torpid, but I continue inculcating despite sleepiness, because it’s important for me to be accepted to UW. I have also had to suppliant past employers and professors for letters of recommendation. I have been nonplused by the willingness for them to help me. I hate to say that I expected them to have more cupidity about their free time, but I’m glad that their openness has gainsaid my worries.

The other day I was thinking about some of the philistine people in the world, and how they presumptuously think they are sagacious. They try to disabuse you by telling you what to do with your life, but after such a lecture, I feel more deceived. The words they say is more like effluvia of nonsense. Their temerity and self-righteousness are startling.

I am enjoying my new connubial lifestyle. We have a convivial life, full of comfort and happiness. It took me sometime to winnow my dating choices and finally choose a mate. But, finally I disgorged myself to Robert’s love. Before, my uppity attitude may have gotten me the label of virago, because being a part of my Hungarian family makes it difficult to be phlegmatic. With Robert’s succor, I have found a calm balance in my life.



My parents are both interesting characters. My father, always the raconteur, tells lots of stories and jokes. Sometimes his stories are familiar and proverbial, other times they are just desultory. My mother could be strict and had a collection of sententious phrases to try and motivate me to work hard. While my father can lucubrate and niggle through the smallest details on almost any academic subject, he is far from magniloquent. My mom is a collector of many things, and sometimes we’ve fought over what I’ve considered her fulsome pursuits. My mother has accused me of being overweening. She also enervates my criticism when she brings up my large collection of clothing and shoes.

The Fuchsia Base

So, I'm working on trimming down the budget. This means reducing even my Goodwill and thrift store consumption. Not only is Christmas around the corner, but we're just getting over the wedding and honeymoon costs, plus I'm not working full time and I'm planning on going to grad school next year. Yep, so frugality is especially meaningful these days.

But, what about bedizening the wardrobe?

Well, I came up with a simple plan to mix a lot of the old with a little bit of the new. I went to Target and picked up a pair of bright tights (about $7) and a matching long sleeved shirt (about $6) and created what I call "The Fuchsia Base."

First, I put the base with a casual day time style. I found a flouncy brown skirt, low lace-up boots, and a wool blazer:



(The tights and shirt really do match, my camera is just limited.)

When I picked up the boots in the middle of the summer (Goodwill $5), I was unsure about how to wear them (and with what!) They are definitely funky, and when you pair low boots with a knee-length skirt, you run the risk of making yourself look short and stumpy. However, I think with the whimsical color of the tights, the look is pulled off.




A loose and flowing brown skirt is a must for any wardrobe because it is so versatile, flattering and comfortable. The jacket was another mid-summer Goodwill find for probably $5-6.

It would be easy to expand this look with other shoes, skirts, and coats for traipsing around during the day. Mixing a slightly conservative style with a daring color makes for a unique and eye-catching outfit. So, by spending about $15 or so, I've created several new day time chic outfits. Oo la la.

A few weeks ago I nabbed this vintage Armani pencil skirt at Goodwill for $6. I know we're talking about limiting spending here, but I really couldn't possibly pass this up...




I decided to pair this conservative skirt with a black velvet jacket and open toed heels for an interesting outfit to wear at night out on the town:



Both the blazer and the skirt are vintage, but the shoes are just cheapies from Ross that I've hung onto for a couple of years. Black basics are really good additions to a wardrobe, and they rarely go out of style. Depending on how you pair the black basics, you can create a myriad of looks. I took this outfit out on the town for dinner and a show with my friend. I think the unexpected bright look went along perfectly with our fun night!

Oh, and remember that blue sweater dress?


Although, as you can see I couldn't decide which shoes to pair it with...



The other day I wore this outfit with the blue shoes and got quite a bit of attention. I think wearing bright fuchsia tights with a bright blue sweater dress is bound to catch a few eyes on another dreary northwest day. All the more reason to continue mixing up my old wardrobe with this new fuchsia base!