GRE study #3

Adulterate—to make impure
Advocate—to support; to speak in favor of
Aerie—a nest built high in the air; an elevated and secluded dwelling
Aesthetic—concerning the beauty of something
Affected—phony; artificial
Aggrandize—to increase in power and reputation

I've been having some anxiety about my future this week. The requirements, the rigorous instructions, the forms, the applications—all of it was metaphysically filling in my head, piling up on my desk, filling in every free space of my planner, just consuming me. I wished that I could escape the gravity of it all and fly to my aerie in the sky. How am I supposed to keep my motivation up? Well, I've been focusing on the aesthetics of grad school and a career. Grad school offers a lot of perks like education, personal mentoring, financial aid, benefits of being a student, and the inevitably bigger paycheck. Also, my parents and brother and boss and co-workers advocate grad school and in turn will advocate me to any administrator or registrar. I have confidence that I can get good recommendations; I'm grateful that I've never had an affected relationship with the people closest to me. Nonetheless, my fears and un-confidences keep adulterating my will to persevere. I'm worried about not scoring well, not being good at studying, not knowing what to do next. I don't know where I'll be this time next year, and I wish I could know that. Anyway, if I keep thinking positively, then I will certainly be able to aggrandize myself through persistence and progression.

GRE Study #2

Abstain—to not participate in; to choose not to do something
Abstemious—moderate in appetite
Abyss—a deep hole
Accretion—to add to, to build upon; an increase in amount or size
Acidulous—a sour taste or manner
Acme—the highest point or peak; the highest level or degree attainable

Fast Sundays always leave an acidulous taste in my mouth, literally. Going two or more meals without eating is difficult, not to mention intolerable when you consider the smelly breath you get from not eating anything. If it weren't for the spiritual feasting I receive on fast sunday, then the first of every month would be a physical and mental abyss. It's on these days that I crave anything but an abstemious meal. I want four courses, the whole nine yards. The irony is that my stomach is so much smaller that I have to abstain from excessive amounts of food, which is exactly what I want. When I give in to my hunger full throttle, I notice an accretion in my stomach. Not so pretty. A food baby. A cibo bambino. A cimbo. (Italian slang for food baby). One day I will be able to balance these needs and desires and reach the acme of both spiritual nirvana and edible glory.

GRE study

I am studying for the GRE. I am taking it June 20, 2011, and I'm pretty scared of it. I have a 2.5" thick prep book and a box of 500 words. I'm trying to figure out the best way to study. Through some calculation, I figured out that if I study 6 of the 500 words everyday, I will have them all done by June 20. But, how do I remember these words. I should write a paragraph using them like we did in elementary school. Good idea? Also, that way we can all learn together.
This might bet really boring after a while, but we'll see who gets into grad school, won't we?

abase—to humble, disgrace
abate—to reduce in degree, amount, or severity
abdicate—to give up, right, power, or position
aberrant—deviating from what is normal; unexpected, unusual
abeyance—temporary suppression or suspension
abjure—to reject, abandon formally
abscond—to leave secretly

Last night I turned my phone off. I did this because I was so tired and didn't want any interruptions while I slept. This was quite aberrant of me, as the last time I turned my phone off was when I was on an airplane flying home for Christmas. Well, that's the last time I'll enter abeyance from the cellular world. If I had kept it on, then I would have known that my landlord was coming to sell the entire upstairs to a couple of tenants. He forgot that I still lived there! Furthermore, he insisted that I abdicate my cozy, homey, turquoise, cute, clean, awesome private room to some girl who is probably sick of living in Heritage Halls. Well, I can assure you that that wasn't going to happen. Well, in an effort to not totally abase the landlord, I asked in a nice way if he was going to abjure from the formal contract we signed last August. He wasn't even aware of the contract, so I just told him I am staying til August and not giving up my room. Despite my defiant attitude, I could not abate the surge of hopeful tenants. In a perfect world where I had no inhibitions, I would have made the place as detestable as I could, so no one would want to live there—like put chewed gum all over the counters, dirty up all the dishes and pile them in the sink and on the stove, get one of the stray cats to come inside and do their thing, spray a can of body odor spray (that exists in a perfect world), get a whoopie cushion and sit on it for everyone to hear, be as gross as possible, have my boyfriend walk around without a shirt on. That's what I was daydreaming about as people passed through my kitchen and I read my scriptures to myself by the heater. Hmmmm. Who knows what will happen?