Monday, September 29, 2003

hello all. i'm tired. that's all i can say. hahaha. i'm still at the library, running on about 5 hours of sleep, and tired.

i worked out today and managed to get asked out by the trainer... that's the excitement for now. (he called, but wasn't very conversational... ah, so it goes)

sorry, my mind can't work in complete sentences. actually, more it can't work in sentences of more than ten words. oh, that was more than ten words. ha.

what's going on in the world? i recorded west wing and loved it. it actually made me sick to my stomach about military action - gosh, who knew that i was such a pacifist? the more people talk about war, the more i realize it. gosh, and right when i move to a place where "liberal" is "california conservative."

oh, some other things about boston:
* the put prices on everything here. like at the drug store, your shampoo has a price sticker on it. weird. i don't like to be reminded of how i overpaid for shampoo every morning.
* i hate revolving doors as they cause huge traffic jams and you're unsure whether you can enter the same compartment as a stranger.
* they still have a strange fascination with dunkin' donuts. i still don't get it.
* oh, all the beers here suck. ok, maybe not all (sam adams summer ale from tap being an exception), but they don't offer many good ones. sometimes i want to order a pyramid ale or an anchor steam, but am given a quizzical look in reply. gosh, everyone drinks bud light. even i know that's nothing more than water and bad yeast.

that's it for now. wow, more than i ever thought that i could handle. hope it's enough for you!

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

I passed my first exams!

Ok, that's it for now. Running off to the Y. Y-M-C-A! Hahha

Sunday, September 21, 2003

So, it's been one very very very long week. What's going on? I really can't tell you because it's been nothing too eventful. All I know is that I haven't been home and I haven't been studying all that much (which is becoming the story of my life, unfortunately). I'm at the library, supposed to be studying, but I'm signed onto AIM and wandering the internet aimlessly. Another study session becoming utterly useless. Argh. Sorry, today is a day of angst. I slept in til noon today, the latest I've slept in quite awhile.

The quote of last night: "I've had enough angst for one night." - me, while watching Def Poetry Jam

The quote of the day: "4 cents is a lot for Nike" -some Northeastern students, referring to how much Nike pays their workers in developing countries. This is the second time this week I have encountered a stupid group of NE students talking about sweatshops like they had never heard of the concept.

Ok, that's it for now. Sorry for the uncheerful post, but it's dark here and SAD's already kicking in. And since when did the Red Sox get ahead of Seattle???

Thursday, September 18, 2003

So, I had my first two exams today. Yeah, your first exam in medical school and they give you two in one day! What a treat! Ahh, but let me tell you, it feels good to be done with them both. Interestingly enough, I actually think that I did well in biochemistry...is that believable? Oh, but see, "doing good" means "passing" which means "65%". Ahh...gotta love it when you've reached a level of schooling where it doesn't really matter what you get as long as you get something. And then we had a molecular biology "quiz" that was worth 40% of our grade. Fun fun fun.

But big news here is hurricane Isabel. I've never been in the near vicinity of a hurricane. Some of you may laugh to think that I'm still a couple hundred miles from where it's supposed to hit land, but hey, it's closer than a couple thousand miles. So far, not even rain here, but I'm not complaining. Though I'd have to say it's been rather nice lately, but I wouldn't know for sure because I haven't seen daylight or felt the sun on me in about a week. Stupid studying.

So, with the exams behind us, some of my classmates and I were talking about Ben and Jen. Yes, I'm talking about Ben Affleck and J. Lo. Seriously, I don't think that they're really broken up, but that's because I'm still fascinated with the whole hooplah and want some more gossip (mainly because my own life is rather uninteresting). Also on the guilty pleasure thread is my obsession with "The O.C." It's behing touted as the new Beverly Hills 90210. So far, it's rather interesting with gunshots, affairs, financial breakdowns, divorces, and high school crushes. But in short, I'm fascinated and rather sad that I missed this weeks episode due to studying.

Sorry, this is a random posting. My mind is somewhere and I've given up the search for it. Hopefully it will come back to me soon (at least by Tuesday, when I have another exam, this time in Epidemiology).

Monday, September 15, 2003

Ok, so here's a story....yeah yeah it's only two minutes after my last posting, but rather interesting. The California Recall Election has been postponed, per decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (the wonderful wonderful institution that keeps this country sane every once in awhile).

My opinion on the election: I think it's awesome that we are able to recall an elected official, especially someone so important as the governor of California. On the other hand, I think that this recall is absurd and has transformed from being absurd to completely ridiculous. I mean, I was looking at the ballot that my dad mailed to me (yeah, yeah, I'm still registered in California, so I can vote in this stupid election. I promise I'll change before the presidential election), and it has a whole page of candidates. It took me to good read-throughs to find my candidate (if you must know, Cruz Bustamante, though I was VERY tempted to write in my own name). Do I think that this is a reason the recall process needs to be reformed? I don't know. I think that if we make it harder, it may restrict the possibility of a legitimate recall in the future. I just don't know if Davis is completely to blame in this and I think that most of the people who were for the recall when it was still in petition form had no idea of what it would entail.

And on the side note of Ahnold running. Like I said earlier this week to some other students (most of whom were from California, one of which proclaimed "I like Arnold"), "I dislike him as an actor and I dislike him more as a politician." I guess that's all I'll say on that. Yeah he's a moderate and the Republicans are damn desperate if they are trying to get a man who has admitted to using steroids and had "orgies" elected governor of California (the position that is considered a springboard for federal office).

Ok, maybe this posting wasn't too short, but I had to say something. I apologize in advance.
Ah, more regular posts! I'm trying to get into a rhythm here! Oh, talking about rhythms and patterns and such, I'm trying to get back into working out. I'll tell everyone out there that I didn't gain the "Freshman 15" but rather the "Graduating 15." Living at home = bad for your health in so many ways. First, you eat junk food. Secondly, you don't exercise. And third, it's bad for your mental health! So yeah, I go to the Chinatown YMCA, which is interesting. Actually, it helps me with my workout somewhat because some of the workout machines face the basketball courts so instead of counting down the minutes or miles, you're looking at the teenagers play basketball. It distracts me and therefore, I tend to feel better when I'm running or whatever. Who knew that I could feel good when I run, eh?

Other than that, no big details. We have two big tests on Thursday, so I'm studying for that. Woke up at 6:30 this morning and won't be home til midnight. That will probably be my schedule for the next few days, so I'm having fun fun fun! Ah, please someone figure out how to put comments on this darn thing, or even a hit count, if anyone is reading this at all (which I'm sincerely starting to think, though it's not totally unexpected because I didn't tell anyone that I had a web site).

So, this time, no weird Boston stories or anything. Another day.

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Ok, so I'll try and post more regularly, though I don't think anyone's reading this (I've only told a few people...but if you are reading it, send me an email so I know!). Also, no offers on someone volunteering to help me put a comments thing on here. Ah, I'll ask my brothers. They're useful for something every once in awhile.

Oh, I totally forgot to say in the last post that on Tuesday, I got phlebotomy training... which means that I drew blood! Ahhh, it was fun to draw blood, but definitely not to get it drawn. We practice on one another, which is scary enough, but when you have veins that are non-existent, it's even more painful. But one cool thing is that when I had blood drawn for real, yesterday for a stupid blood test, I knew that the doctor was doing something wrong. The doctor failed to wait until the alcohol dries before sticking me... which doesn't infect you or anything, but just stings like h*ll. Well, of course by the time that I noticed, it was already stinging. Ah, the pleasures of being a med student.

Hahha, now that I say that I'm going to post more regularly, I have two exams on Thursday. Fun fun fun. But I'm going out tonight, so I'm obviously not letting it bother me too much. Anyways, by that time, I should have internet at home (it's quite odd, not to have a chance to check your email at home, especially when ALL announcements for this school are sent via email). Who knows, now I'm rambling.

What did I do this morning, you may ask? I tried to study last night, which just failed utterly. So, I went to bed at midnight, woke up at 8 because I had a 9 am appt at the gym. Worked out, took a shower, and now I'm starving so that's how I'll end this post. Good day all.

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've last updated. As expected, medical school is hectic, but not too crazy (though some would argue that my opinion on "crazy" doesn't matter much since I can be deemed so myself.

Ok, here's a rundown, and I'm sure to forget some stuff... though I swear that I had this wonderful list of things to write about. First and foremost, I don't understand the northeast's obsession with Dunkin' Donuts. God, they can't even spell their name correctly, let alone make donuts. Oh, and they're advertising "breakfast sandwiches," which I think are made out of donuts. How healthy is that for you? But they are cheap, only $1.99! Ok, now all this talk is pretty much invalid because I haven't even been to a Dunkin' Donuts yet, though they are on every corner and in every T stop, so I feel almost as though I have.

Another thing on food... groceries are very expensive here. I don't get it, well, actually I do, but still. I'm on a budget, doesn't anyone know this? Actually, the farmer's market is cheap and rather fun... and crazy too... some very rude farmers out there! But grocery stores are outrageous. Peaches for $2.00 a lb, and they're not even pretty or good! I guess I'm too spoiled from Berkeley Bowl that I can't go grocery shopping anymore.

Oh, food once more. The medical school is in Chinatown, which is awesome. It adds a funky flavor to everything and almost every joke cracked about the school is about it being so close to Chinatown. Seriously, it's not just "near" Chinatown, it's smack in the middle of it. The lightposts are mini-house like things. The telephone booth is like that too. The bank even says it's a bank in Chinese (or so I'm assuming, as I can't read or speak). All of the hospital signs are in English and Chinese. It's a rather interesting area, and I'm excited because when I go home, I get to get groceries there and then bring them home.

Hmm...other stuff. Sorry , right now my life revolves around food because I haven't really done much else. I haven't studied much, which isn't a good start to medical school. I haven't slept much, which isn't a good start to anything. I have gone out a lot though, so I'm getting plenty of fun time.

Well, that's it for now. If anyone wants to set up a way to post comments on this page for me, please feel free to email me and say so! I'm totally clueless and don't have time to do so myself. Or you can just email or call my lonely butt (especially around 10PM at night, EST, as that's usually when I'm walking home from the T).

Oh, the T = subway in Boston.