Reducing Stress

I'm thinking that the cause of my fatigue is due to stress. I've tried eating more, but it doesn't make me any less tired. I've tried sleeping 10 hours a night, and that doesn't help. I tried not going to the gym for a week, and that didn't help either.

Probably what's causing me the most stress is all this internship stuff. GAH. I have 12 applications to fill out, and then I have to try calling all the people who never returned my phone calls and emailing the people who didn't return my emails. Ugh. So tedious.

I've put that stuff on the back-burner for the last few weeks as I've tried to focus on my research grant application and my revised software mentorship application. So much to do, so little time.

I guess I'll try to knock out at least one application a day. In the very least, I'll be done in 12 days with the actual applications.

My Mom was suggesting I add another way to reduce stress, besides the gym, into my daily routine. Maybe I can spend time reading each day or working on my novel. These are only potentially time consuming and will be decently effective and enjoyable.

I've tried these other methods, which work alright but have some problems:

1. Smoking. Enjoyable and effective, but bad for health.
2. Going out and drinking. Enjoyable and effective, but can be bad for health in excess. Also, is highly caloric. Very time consuming.
3. Bubble baths. Mostly enjoyable and effective, but can be less enjoyable and less effective when the bubbles don't form properly, and when all the bathwater ends up draining and I'm not even covered with water (even when I tape shut the drain on the side of the tub with duct tape). Time consuming.
4. Walking downtown and doing work in a bar or coffee shop. Extremely enjoyable and effective. Time consuming and cold. Drains the wallet.
5. Shopping and treating myself to something nice. Enjoyable and effective. Drains the wallet.
6. Meditation. Does not work for me.

Also, I've been on a Beatles in original minor kick. Hey Jude in minor is astoundingly hot. I'd really like to meet someone else who understands how music can be hot. Not just one genre, but many different genres. Other classical musicians think that classical music can be hot, but most of the time they hate every other genre of music. Metalheads think that metal music is hot, but again they don't typically appreciate any other genre. I would really just like to meet someone else who thinks that mode mixture, deceptive cadences, owning a solo, glissandi, voice passing, talent, etc. are sexy, regardless of the genre. Yet whenever I mention these things to other people, I typically just receive strange looks and question marks. It bothers me.