When I go to the lab for that part of the psych study they attach a cap of electrodes to my head, put me in a tiny room with a computer monitor and mouse, shut the door, and shut off the lights. The only light is from the glow of the monitor.

Now the test consists of three grids lined up vertically and I need to think of them in three dimensional space. I'm given verbal directions to move from a marked square in one of the grids and it's always in this order: move left or right so many squares, move up or down so many levels (since there's three grids there are three levels), and move forward or backward (within one grid).

I get the directions and I repeat them back. Then I perform the directions.

The test starts out easy with two moves like: move left one square, move up one level. The test includes four and five moves and that gets more complicated.

On top of that, during one block of tests they shine a red light in my face and the speakers give random bursts of static. Sometimes this static is so loud that I can't hear the directions.

After each block of tests, I fill out a form, rating my feelings and guessing my success rate.

I've had two sessions so far. My third and last session will be on Thursday. It's interesting that when I did my second session, I found the bursts of static didn't bother me at all. I was calmer. And I believe my success rate was higher. I must be getting used to the noise and coping with it. Let alone my skill at following four or five directions in the correct order has been increasing.

Btw, they're studying how moods, emotions, and reactions to stress affect cognitive performance.

It's still worth the $130 I'll be getting. Hopefully I'll get the picture of me with the cap of electrodes. I swear it's like something from The Matrix. They put this thing on and then they "jack" you in. I might even get a picture of my brainwaves.

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Anyhoo, my story for the Denise Little workshop is kicking my ass. I'm having a hard time getting words down, but I am getting words down. It's just difficult. I'm doing the story in first person, which I haven't done in awhile. I think the reason I'm having such a tough time is that I've lost my confidence in doing first person. I'm pushing through it. This story is driven by voice and I'm sure I'll have something to send in the next few days. I had the assumption that I could get this done quicker and more smoothly. Ha!

I won't get it done as quick as I wanted, but it will be done and in there by deadline (next Saturday), that's for sure.