Veg Plate

I'm just curious to what the reason is.

This is the worst for me because I'm full and I just want to relax. Any ideas why?

Within the last 3 months or so I've felt that my wife tends to oppose everything that I do. It's like we are oil and vinegar. If I feel a certain way, rather than just try to make me feel better, she makes me feel as if I'm wrong for feeling the way that I feel. I know that our cultures clash (she's Gujarati Indian, I'm black) but I've never felt this way before. I'm beginning to worry that we may be growing apart. Lately the issues we have are:

money

family values (she's very close to hers, I'm not)

lack of freedom (On my end)

I just want things to be comfortable and not complicated. Any ideas?

So I've been at my current university for two years now working on a grad degree. Between professors either feeling superior to me as a human being (not just cause they have a doctorate), busting my hump for shullbit or just plain giving me a hard time. I just don't know what to think.

Honestly, I feel like I'm going through some club/gang initiation. Except I'm getting beat mentally and not physically. At least with a gang initiation a brother will stand up for me, be there for me, and die for me. With this Master's that I'm trying to get, it seems that I'll only get a completed transcript, a kick in the a$$, and a pat on the back.

For those of you who have master's degrees was it worth it? Did you feel any better a few years down the road, or do you wish you'd spent that time doing something else?

All of my life I've been told that you should be humble. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't! I often wonder however when it reaches a point of kissing @ss! So...in your opinion tell me what's the difference?

I've been awarded money in a settlement, but it was marked stay collection for 5 days. What exactly does this mean? Does it mean that I will get paid in full in 5 days, or that I may get only part of the money owed?

So besides marriage counseling I've never been to therapy. I'm currently a grad student at a school in Michigan and since I've been here I've felt that I've not only wasted my time gaining a degree in which the classes seem to not have very much cohesive tissue with becoming a better teacher, but I also feel that my boss/professor/student adviser treats me as I'm incompetent. On top of that my father is dying, 16 hours away. I feel like I've lost a lot of self-confidence just in the last year, mainly because of the way that this faculty member treats me. I've never been to therapy before about low self-esteem and I've always managed to find ways to get through situations. Is going to therapy extreme for how I feel and what I'm dealing with or am I okay with my decision to seek help.

So besides marriage counseling I've never been to therapy. I'm currently a grad student at a school in Michigan and since I've been here I've felt that I've not only wasted my time gaining a degree in which the classes seem to not have very much cohesive tissue with becoming a better teacher, but I also feel that my boss/professor/student adviser treats me as I'm incompetent. On top of that my father is dying, 16 hours away. I feel like I've lost a lot of self-confidence just in the last year, mainly because of the way that this faculty member treats me. I've never been to therapy before about low self-esteem and I've always managed to find ways to get through situations. Is going to therapy extreme for how I feel and what I'm dealing with or am I okay with my decision to seek help.

So I had a class assignment to find conductors of certain orchestras as well as find minority conductors. The NY Phil was one of them and the conductor to me seemed to look Asian, if not possibly interracial with Asian heritage. Since the class only has 3 students I made a chart for myself with no intentions of turning anything in because I thought we were to discuss this in class. I made the side note that the NY Phil guy "looks Asian" so that I could ask in class. We never got around to discussing such however and the teacher just asked us to turn our results in. When I received the paper back, it was marked inappropriate. Now I don't claim to be an expert on all PC practices, but I am quite confused on how stating that someone "looks Asian" when part of the assignment was based around minorities could be inappropriate. Someone please tell me what is wrong about the mistake that I made.

If you are a member of the Unitarian Universalist please tell me your experiences, you background and how you decided to join that group.

I recently went to a Unitarian Universalist church and didn't see anyone of color. As I searched and scanned pictures of UU churches I didn't notice any Blacks, Indians, Asians or anyone of non-white ethnicity. Are there any Unitarian Universalists out there that are not white?

So my life started out with both parents, but at age 11 my mother died. It was just my dad. He never remarried even though there were women in his life. My dad and I certainly didnt have the best relationship when I was a teenager, but he softened just a little bit while I was in college. I'm now 31 and he's has cancer in the thigh (he says the doctor says it is an unknown type) and has had surgery in the past 4 years, and recently has had chemo and radiation. I call him about once a week because he gets upset with me if I wait any longer than that. When I do call him, he tells me about the effects of the illness and the treatments. I cried one time when he told me his hair started to come out in patches. After that, I have been pretty unemotional and I really dont get caught up in what he's feeling. My sister stays 20 minutes away and she doesnt seem very concerned either. I'm not sure if its because our dad has a history of over exaggerating or if its just because he wasnt the best father when it came to our emotions growing up. Is this weird? If there's anyone else that's been through this and have felt very un-attached to a potentially dying parent please write back. I just want to know if something psychological is happening that I'm not realizing.

I'm currently in a Master's of Music Education Program and I'm enrolled full-time as a graduate assistant. After 4 years of teaching and a full year of study, I'm currently realizing that maybe I should have went for a Master's in Teaching and Not Music Ed. The Master's of Teaching tends to emphasize more on teaching the whole student (cultural diversity/sensitivity, Teaching Adolescents, diverse curriculum etc.) whereas the Master's of Music Ed tends to work more on my musicianship rather than discuss how to teach the student.) Since I've been at this particular school, I feel that I've needed to focus more on how to teach the student and I'm not sure if I'm getting that from my program. However, their are not masters in education for core subjects like Math, English, or History. Those teachers get a master's all under the same program. A Master's of Arts in Teaching.

So my question as stated above is

Do you feel that your Master's degree helped you become a better teacher in the big scheme of things or do you feel it is more of the culmination of experiences that did so?

also, if you feel that your master's was not a big part in your teaching style, then what benefits did it provide to you beyond a pay raise on the teacher's salary scale?

So my wife has a huge extended family and when they get together, they get together. Its like having the in-law family channel playing 24 hours. I was not really raised in the same tradition of having big family gatherings and when my own family would have huge gatherings, (which was when I was much younger) I would shy away and tuck in a corner or in my bedroom. My wife is getting pretty annoyed with me because I just want quiet time in the middle of the day rather than be around 25 other people at one time. Since these gatherings are huge, important occassions for my inlaws, I guess I need to figure a way to socialize and not want to run away and tuck myself in a room. Is there anyone else like this, and how do I overcome this.

So here's the deal. I just got married in July and we both accepted graduate assistantships at a university working together. The thing about it all is that our sex life has went down (mainly me) and I think its because we see each other more often than I can handle. When we were dating and engaged we lived an hour apart and would have crazy sex when we'd get together. While knowing that we would obviously see more of each other being married, I think it would have been differerent if we'd kept our jobs so that way we'd have that 8 to 10 hour span of not seeing each other all day. Also I think I may have problems adjusting to being back in college as well as now living in the Michigan. (We lived in the South, but she's originally from this area.) Not having any friends to really talk to in the area makes it hard as well. I need serious advice. No...It's all your fault cause you're the guy crap.

Thanks In Advance.

Everytime my wife and I go over to my in-laws house, my mother in law offers us someting. Now considering that my wife and I are back in college (for grad school), you would think that it shouldnt be a problem, but I feel as if she offers stuff to avoid talking to me, or that maybe she has good intentions all together but that I'm just a little bit prideful and wish she would only offer occasionally rather than every single time that we are over. (Twice a month at most) I feel uncomfortable with her offering us something every time. Is there something wrong with me. Should I be greatful considering that my wife and I are full time grad students with little money. I just dont like it.

Give me a solution to accept this form of love or give me a way to tell her to back off with the gifts.

So, I've come to terms with breastfeeding in public so that doesnt bother me since I can walk away. However, as a band director around other band directors at a professional function, I'm not so sure it's as accepted. The person in question is a friend and I'm not sure if it's something that I should discuss with her or not. I dont want to be the bad guy, but some of the directors (male and female) are a bit uncomfortable with this. What should I do?