Medi-Medi

Control

2011-06-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

I can control my attitude.
I cannot control the actions of others.
I can control my reactions.
I cannot control others' perceptions.
I can control my mood and my perspective.
I cannot control the decisions that others choose to make.

I wish I had more control than I do. I wish, when things go wrong or when people disagree, that I could mentally place one person in the others shoes. I wish I could take their viewpoint and give it a fresh, untainted perspective.

Take off those thorn colored glasses. See the roses all around you.

Are your actions hurting or helping those around you? Do you even care? You should.

Burning bridges leads only to you being alone on an island with no way out.

I apologize for the vague post. Those who know what has been going on will understand my frustrations.

I sometimes wish life weren't so sad.

I know that if I live as though the Savior were beside me, I will be happy in the end. Sometimes, though, having an Eternal Perspective is very very hard.

What would mom say if she were here?

I am woman - watch me shine!

2011-05-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things in the world is being a woman. I have spent the past year and a half being the only woman in whatever place I've lived. I think that this has had an effect on the amount of appreciation I have for womanly things. I definitely appreciate, more than I had in the past, things that emphasize my femininity!! I have made a list of some of my favorite things that maybe my ladies out there can appreciate with me!

First of all, I love doing my hair. Curly, straight, up, down, no matter what style I go with, I love that my hair looks amazing! Yeah, every once in awhile, I have a bad hair day, but they are few and far between!

I love doing my nails! Making sure they are shiny and polished and the perfect shape may take time, but the effort is worth it! Being able to look down at my hand and look at my lovely nails that I work to maintain makes me smile!

I absolutely love keeping my legs smooth! I have said time and time again that the best feeling in the world is freshly shaven legs and clean bedsheets! And they look so good!

The next thing I love doing is moisturizing! Lotion on my legs, my feet, my arms and shoulders! The one thing better than having soft hair is having soft skin! Not only does moisturized skin look healthier, but it feels better! I hate the feeling of dry skin!

Last but not least, one of the best things ever about being a woman is smelling pretty! From hair products to lotions to body sprays to perfumes to soaps and conditioners!! Mixing and matching scents is one of the more enjoyable steps to getting ready!

Everyone out there has their list of favorite things to do and every girl has a reason that they love being a woman!! This is my list for today, but what's on yours? Come on, amigas, what is on your list of favorite things about being a beautiful woman?

Sunrise

2011-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have been living in California for four months, now.

Since I have been here, I have found everything a girl needs to be comfortable!
I have found a home away from home in the church the young single adults meet in. The feelings of security and warmth are so comforting and the spirit of love is so strong, it is almost tangible!

I have found a great friend who also serves as my therapist. She is a radiant light of positivity and advice! I am glad to have someone here on whom I can rely!

I have also found a thriving social life. I have been to a party almost every weekend since (and including) my birthday. I have more friends here than I can shake a stick at, although why I would want to, I haven't the slightest! The YSA ward alone is bigger than the stake back home!

Among these bare necessities for fun and comfort, I have also found things within myself that have helped me to realize my own strengths.

Since I have been here, I have read my scriptures and said my prayers every single night. I have a small notebook I have been journaling my days in. I have uncovered in myself a passion and a drive. I want to be better than I am. I want to be able to look back day after day and say 'I am better today than I was yesterday'.

I have been striving to improve in all areas of my life. I have already described my improvements in the areas of spirituality and social interaction. Let me continue by describing the ways I have been improving in other areas.

I have been improving physically. I go out for walks in the park, I play volleyball every week and I have played very intense games of soccer at almost half of the beaches in San Diego. I like sports. I like getting sweaty and feeling like a pile of mush the morning after a game. I like the pain that I feel when my muscles are screaming at me to chill out or take a break. But I never do. They are not the boss of me. I am the boss of them.

I have been improving mentally. I have read more books since I got here than I had in the whole of 2010 and now that I am on a roll, there is no stopping me! I have downloaded the entire works of Shakespeare, the Sayings of Confusious, Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities and countless other classics that I have yet to read! I have also been downloading textbooks relating to science and math, my weakest subjects. Who am I to sit idlly by while math and science get the best of me? I refuse to be beaten by them any longer and I am going to be the master of them if it takes all year!

Last night, I arrived an hour early for Sports Night. I was alone with myself. One of the things I have wanted to be able to do since I got here was serving overhand in volleyball. I do not know why I have been so determined to learn how to do this, but I spent an hour last night putting effort into my goal. I practiced my overhand serve until my hand shook. The rest of the night, I was even unable to fully straighten out my fingers on that hand.

Why would I do this? What could have possessed me to spend a full hour repetedly smacking a volleyball against the wall with all my might? Why subject myself to an aching shoulder in the morning and a shaky hand even as I type? The answer is the same reason I will do the same thing next Thursday. Because I have a potential and I realize now what a pity it is to waste that sort of thing.

I have realized the value of working for the things you want. I do not know what took me so long nor do I know how I could have settled for ordinary all this time. But I am done with ordinary.

I have been filled with fresh determination since I have arrived here. I am going to be the best I can be. No excuses, no settling.

I am Mary. I have potental that will no longer go to waste. I am living my life.

Fresh start!

2011-05-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I am done with advertising on the blog. I mean, yeah, it was cool, but seriously, I am done. I want my blog to be fun, and a reflection of who I am. I don't want to be a sellout. I want this to be something I want to do, not something I am obligated to do, yaknow?

I miss the people, the other bloggers, and just the atmosphere this blog exposed me to.

I kind of want to come back to all of this and I mean on a consistent basis. I know I have a lot I want to write about and I want to write for me. I want to get my creative side going, because I have been concentrating so hard on social and educational aspects, I think my creativity and writing is starting to suffer.

Anyway, I just thought I would kick it off with this.

Soon, I am going to be blogging regularly. I got a new iPad for my birthday April 29th, and this on-screen keyboard will take some getting used to, so until I get back up to the 70-80 wpm I was at before when I was typing regularly with an actual keyboard, my posts will be shorter than my usual rambling.

I think that will be a healthy and welcome change, though.

In San Diego

2011-02-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

My mother's favorite brother called me on the 13th of January on his way home from the hospital. His foot was broken and he had just gotten a cast on it.

He needed me to come out and help him drive to and from work, so I told him I would come as soon as possible.

I was there the next Wednesday.

I've been in San Diego now for about 2 weeks and I am looking for something more to do. Maybe a job, maybe volunteering, maybe writing. I don't know. I've been sitting at the apartment for two weeks now and while the weekends have been full of trips to the mall and seaworld and oldtown and other fun places, there's only so much I can do during the week at home.

I've already cleaned the apartment. It'll only get so clean.

I've already made cookies (sugar free sugar and chocolate chip for my diabetic uncle!!) and apple pie. There's only so much cooking one can do before there's nothing to make anymore.

I've done the dishes, I've unpacked boxes that had been packed, I've looked online for jobs, and I've updated twitter, facebook, and now my blog.

I'm going stir crazy.

Anyway, I'm just letting the world know how I'm doing. Now to look for more jobs.

Almost a year.

2010-09-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm up way too late, but I don't care. I'm 22 years old and I can do what I want. That's what I like to tell myself, at least.

A week and a half from now, it will have been a year since my mom died. September 29th is the anniversary of her passing away.

A lot has happened since then; some good, some not so good. In March, our family found out that my dad has a Melanoma. Those of you who follow me on twitter might remember the exact day, because I freaked out just hearing the 'C' word.

Dad had a few surgeries. One to remove the melanoma in early April, another to remove certain inguinal lymph nodes on April 29th. In case you don't know why I would remember the specific date, April 29th happens to be my birthday. My first birthday without my mom and I spent it in a hospital room looking after my dad.

Luckily, I had a friend who was kind enough to bring a wonderful goody bag full of party supplies and treats and presents to me the day before, so when I got to the hospital, I could have my own little party while dad was drugged up and knocked out.

Also, luckily, I had a friend, who had spent a lot of time in that same hospital as a child, come visit me while dad was in surgery, so I didn't have to wait alone. He showed me where the little room was to get dad water or juice or something, and he showed me where the extra linens were. He even kept dad company with me while he was there (and while dad was awake). The guy spent at least 8 hours at the hospital with me, playing bored games with me, chatting it up with dad, and just being there.

In the summer, Dad started an ongoing treatment. He's doing some 'immuno-therapy' stuff, called 'interferon' (sp?). Basically, it's a month (five days a week for four weeks) of high dose meds that make him feel like he's got the flu, and 48 weeks of low dose, less frequent (three times a week) shots that he's been giving himself.

He got an infection a couple weeks ago and none of the antibiotics they tried slowed it down, so they had to go in surgically and remove everything, so that stunk. He spent a week in the hospital, and I spent three days there until he made me go home to take care of the house.

Things have been calmer since then, and I'm glad. I have time to reflect upon the things that have happened this year, and I have time to remember when everything was easy.

I'm still grateful to have a wonderful family, and I'm thankful to still have one parent. I'm thankful for everything my mother was while she was here, and to the wonderful example she set. I'm grateful for the support of our friends here, who, the day they heard dad was in the hospital, sent flowers, visited us, and had us over for dessert and movies and games.

It's just Dad, myself, and my two little brothers at home now, so when dad's not around, it feels like we're a broken family or something. Thankfully, we have a wonderful bunch of friends who are there for us, and we can rely on them for anything, even if it's just a night of company and fellowship to keep our minds off of things.

Yeah, life could stand to be a little easier, but I'm grateful that it's not worse, and that we're going through everything as a family. We still laugh and play and talk and watch movies together, and we say "I love you" to each other more often, and I'm thankful for the trials we've been handed, because they've helped us grow stronger and closer.

I miss you, mom, and I wish you were here, and even though I know you aren't coming back, I hope, at least, you're watching us, and that you're proud of how we've managed so far without you. I know I'll see you again, but until then, my memories of your life and your love will have to do to keep me company when I think I can't handle things.

"And when one of us is gone
and one of us is left to carry on
then remembering will have to do.
Our memories alone will get us through.
Think about the days of me and you.
You and me against the world."

--Helen Reddy

Weekend of Craziness!

2010-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

So I've been working at this preschool for the past month and I finally went to pick up my paycheck yesterday and I was relieved that it was enough for me to put most of it in the bank! I told the bank ladies that I'd be back soon with more money because this weekend was going to be very busy! I'm babysitting, catering a wedding open house, and babysitting some more! I can't wait for Monday morning when I can go to the bank and deposit more money into my very small bank account.

I've been saving up trying to pay for school myself this next semester. I found a number of a woman that might need a summertime nanny, and I think I'd be perfect for the job! I have a car, an imagination and tons of experience! I just need to figure out if I want to take classes during the summer or not. I don't know.

Learning is fun!

2010-02-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Even though I am taking this spring semester off to work and just live, I still like to learn new things. I stopped by the library today and picked up a couple of books on Sign Language! I have always wanted to learn it, but have never really felt that I had time to spare! But now, I think I'm ready to try it out! So I'll immerse myself in non-verbal communication for the next few days and see how it works out!

I wish I had a friend close by who could help me learn, because it's always more fun to learn something new if you have a friend backing you up. But I think I'll have fun anyway. I've learnt songs and the alphabet before in sign language, so I hope it'll be easier than not.

Anyway, wish me luck in my new endeavor! Hopefully, I'll expand my horizons and gain new confidence in my learning abilities! Yay!

Busy busy busy!

2010-01-21T10:15:00.001-08:00

So I'm taking the semester off because I'm just tired of school.

I've decided to just work until the next (summer) semester comes along. So far, I have a few things lined up. They're not exactly 9-5, but they're good. I'll be house sitting and dog sitting for a friend, catering a certain event, cleaning a house, and babysitting! What can I say? I'm a woman of many talents!

Also- Basketball season has started! Well, Church Ball has started. I've been practicing with my girls since November and on the 9th of January, all our hard work totally paid off! We won a game against another ward by 40 points! Congrats, girls! I'm so super proud of all of you!

Now I just hope that Saturday's game goes just as well. It's against a group who has a track record of being good at basketball. I told the girls before the first game that I didn't care if they won or not, as long as they had fun. The same thing stands here. I just want everyone to have a nice, clean game and have fun playing!

I've heard there's a group that has been playing a little rough, and I don't want my girls playing against that, but I guess we'll just stay positive and hope to have more of the older girls there just in case. Not that the younger girls on my team can't hold their own, they're just smaller and easier to knock over. Hehe. But they're adorable.

Anyway, I digress.

Wish me and my team of church basketballers luck! I'll come back later and blog something cool.

Also- GO! DO! HELP! It's so easy to help, it really really is. And Haiti really needs it right now.

http://airwalk.com/doingyourpart/

http://www.musicforrelief.org/

100 things?

2010-01-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

What 100 things do you want to do with the life you have to live?

I've made a list of 50 so far.

I've been thinking more about doing things lately.

Maybe it has to do with this being a brand new decade, full of possibilities and opportunities.

There is a new show coming to MTV* called The Buried Life. You might've seen the commercials for it. It follows 4 guys with a list of 100 things to do. They want to prove that anything is possible if you go after it.

I also had a lesson recently in Sunday School about doing things. I was handed a list that counted to 100 and asked to fill in at least the first five things. That was hard. But the other night, things just started coming to me.

Looking at the list on theburiedlife.com now, I can see that, surprisingly, a lot of the same things are on both my half-list and their whole one. Trust me when I say I never intended for that to happen. I swear I'm not copying. But I see a good 25 or so that I had on my list that they've written on theirs. I also see a few that I'll be adding when I finish up the second half of my list. I've always wanted to take a kid on a shopping spree for toys, but I've never put it in words.

A good number of the things on my list have to do with learning. I want to learn an instrument, I want to learn different languages, and I would love to learn the names of ALL of my cousins. Another majority of things have to do with doing physical things. I want to learn how to surf. Which, weirdly enough, is the exact thing (Out of all the extreme sports, what a coincidence!) on their list. I also want to climb a mountian. I'm not surprised at all that it's on their list as well. I think some of these things are ones that a lot of people would put on their list.

I find it interesting that certain things are different goals, but accomplished through the same means. For example, on their list, they have put "ride a rollar coaster". On my list, I have "conquer my fear of rollar coasters". Different goals, but they will both be checked off through riding rollar coasters.

I like how different people care about accomplishing different goals. For instance, I don't suppose the guys on The Buried Life would care to hug a penguin (#42, I think, on my list), but would love to get into the Guiness Book of World Records; something that I really don't care about doing.

So what crazy, random, or completely normal things are on your list?

*side note on MTV- Why don't they show Music Videos anymore? Why has the Music TeleVision channel turned into reality tv central? I wish they would to back to how they were back in the day. I still remember my first MTV video. Do you remember yours? I hate what MTV has allowed itself to become. It tries making new channels devoted to music, but ends up turning them into the same ridiculous circus act that the other channels have become. PLAY MORE MUSIC VIDEOS!! I think the last time I saw a music video on MTV was like, three years ago? Geez. Do yourself a favor, MTV, and get back to the basics!

Medical *S-coooool!

2009-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

So I though I'd share with you all today my new favorite series. It is actually one of my old favorites as well, but with a new twist.

"Scrubs" has just kicked off their new season and has made it into a sort of spinoff. The new season, Season 9, has been dubbed "Scrubs: Med School". Now, I felt while watching the original "Scrubs" seasons, that it borrowed a lot of elements from Samuel Shem's classic "The House Of God" . I think that this, among other reasons, is why most people claim that "Scrubs" is the most accurate TV portrayal of hospital life out there. I love the show because there aren't one-in-a-million super rare diseases that have to be found every episode, or diseases that get mis-diagnosed five times before the real cause of the problem is found thanks to an epiphany by the main character. I also love it because of moments like these:

Priceless, no?

Now, the new season is just as hilarious and has many of the same hilarious stars as the original seasons! The new stars who play the first year medical students are amazing. Kerry Bishe's character is brilliant! There's no way to describe how funny this season is so far. You'll just have to follow this link to watch for yourself.

But I have a question. Is the new season as true in it's representation of medical school as the past seasons have been in their representation of life in a hospital? I'd like to think they're still trying to be as accurate as possible in their portrayal of these sorts of things, but I'm not the best judge, seeing as I am still trudging through undergrad as if it were molasses.

So to those of you who have both seen the new season's premire episodes and have been through medical school, I'd love to know how they're doing! Are they as accurate as they were with the original seasons or are they slipping? Are they doing a horrible job in their interpretation or are they pretty spot on? Any and all opinions are welcome. Especially if you are of the opinion that my hair is pretty much amazing today, because I would totally have to agree.

*Juuuuust a quick little side-note here, I've known how to spell "School" since 1st grade. The title is supposed to represent how the show "Scrubs" is putting the "cool" back in "school". It's a little pronunciation joke. Nothing to do with spelling. Which I am awesome at. Just ask my 4th and 5th grade spelling bee 1st place ribbons. They have the number 1 and bees on them, so they're pretty much as legit as it gets.

Christmas time is here.

2009-12-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

And so is Finals Week! This week is going to be killer. I seriously am NOT looking forward to the finals this week. I have so much work that's been piling up in the last month and I'm just soooo frustrated with all of it. I wish school would just go away.

Also, there's a dance coming up next weekend. It's kind of a church dance, but they're saying that it's a little more formal and there will be a dinner before-hand. They're also saying "Dates are encouraged, but not required". That's pretty much like saying "Bring a date, or you will feel really awkward". And it's not like high school prom, where I REALLY REALLY didn't want to go. Mostly because I have never really seen the point of prom. It's just "Hey, buy a really expensive dress that you'll only wear once and then put it in the closet to never be seen again so that you can impress all of these people that you'll never see again!" No thanks, high school prom, you can keep your shallow, material sentiments. I don't need them. But I do sort of want to go to this December dance. Just a bit. And maybe I just need to do something and the dance is all that is available to project my boredom solutions on, I don't know, all I do know is that I will probably end up not going for one reason or another.

Anyway, this is just a random brain dump, so feel free to ignore.

Not the best of times, not the worst of times.

2009-11-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate when things happen that not only inconvenience you, but anyone who is involved?

Today, I found out that my bank lost a check. It's not their fault. Technically, they sent the check to a collections service or something and THEY lost it. But the bank, naturally, has to deal with the inconvenient consequences (ie: telling me, working out a way to fix it, etc.).

Now, my bank has been extremely helpful to me in the past, and I understand that this sort of thing happens. I also understand that these people are trying to do the best they can to work out a solution and help me to straighten all of this out.

Their solution so far has been: E-mail the person who issued the check and see if they can issue another one. Either that, or see if they can wire the money directly to my bank account.

So this situation is inconvenient. Not only is it inconvenient for me (who doesn't have the money I expected to have before the Thanksgiving Holidays), but it is also inconvenient for the issuer of the check (who has to worry about the lost check and where in the world it might be and decide whether to send another one or to deal with the situation in another way), and for the bank employees who have to deal with who sent the check when and where it was sent and who put it where.

I think part of dealing with situations like this in a civil manner is understanding that there is not only one person inconvenienced by the situation at hand. It would be easy for one party or another to get frustrated with the outcome of a failed transaction and to start throwing blame one way or another. But I think that throwing blame is a good way to get nothing accomplished.

I mean, yes, I am frustrated with the amount of time it took to deal with all of this. The check was sent one day (with a little delay and unexpected inconvenience on that end, but that's alright), received one week later, given to the bank the day it was received, and was supposed to take 30 business days (no weekends or holidays) to be deposited into my account. So I have been waiting on this money for the better part of 2 months to find now that it's all for naught.

But being frustrated gets you nowhere fast.

I'd like, now, to quote 13-year-old me's favorite movie The Mummy. And trust me, I could recite that movie. My favorite quote from that movie is when the desert people are attacking Brendan Frasier's ship as it's on it's way to the lost city. Brendan Frasier is telling Rachel Weiz to jump overboard, and he's getting impatient. "Patience is a virtue!" she reminds him. "Not right now it isn't!" he tells her as he picks her up and throws her off of the burning ship.

Bottom line = There is no burning ship here. I can wait. I don't have to go overboard.*

*And oh my gosh, didn't that just turn out to be the best analogy ever? I just made it up, seriously, right on the spot! Man oh man! I done good!

Update- Everything seems to be fine now. The situation was handled quickly now that we've turned to the internet to help us. Haha! I am so thankful (hey, it's thanksgiving, right?) for the cooperation and professionalism that has been shown by everyone involved. It's moments like these that help me to appreciate being a "grown up" (yuck! I can't believe I just typed that!).

I'm a big kid now!

Weird new toy.

2009-11-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

Alright, so whilst veggin on the couch, channel surfing the other day, I came across an advertisement for a slightly disturbing toy.

At first glance, you see this young boy playing with his dinosaur toys and having fun, and then one starts squirting water out of it's mouth. Oh how fun! A dinosaur/squirt gun! "Yipee!" the kids shout. "I love my spitting dinosaur!".

But I know the only reason that child is not screaming his lungs out and fleeing for dear life is that he is too young to have seen Jurassic Park.

The only reason the kid in the commercial is not rolled up in the fetal position on the floor covering his face with both hands is that he is too young to have been witness to the terror that can be found in Steven Speilberg's 1993 dino movie Jurassic Park.

And if you are not at least squirming uncomfortably in your seats as I describe this terrifying toy, I feel I need to remind you of a little something.

HELLOOOOO!!!!!

(click only if you have a spare pair of tidy whities handy, cuz your gonna need 'em!)

Alas, if only Dennis the Jurassic Park Menace had thought before heading to the Docks in that horrible weather. I don't care if he couldn't have gotten another boat for awhile, he should've planned his law breaking ahead of time and left earlier! This last minute slip up of Newman's caused him his job, his integrity, his life, and his dignity. He got taken down by what size dinosaur? Really?

I saw this movie at age 5. That part still scares the heck out of me! You all are lucky I was even able to find that clip for you! I still haven't watched the whole thing to see if it's ligit! I've watched, maybe, five seconds at each end.

Frickin' toy. That poor, ignorant child playing with it! If only he knew. . . if only he knew. . .

School! So stay in it!

2009-11-08T20:27:00.001-08:00

Unless you are one of those kids from that movie The Faculty. Then you can run away from your school as fast as your legs will take you.

But if you're in a normal school, then by all means, stay there! And I don't mean in the same way Ryan Reynolds did in Van Wilder, but in the way that all the students did in that movie Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman.

Stay in school to get an education and a diploma and degree, so you can keep yourself from being a hobo.

Side story, I fed a hobo the other day at the hospital. I gave him most of the fries from my chick-fil-a meal, and half of my chicken sandwitch. That counts as a good deed, right?

Does it still count as a good deed if the hobo is my brother-in-law? I'm sure it probably does.

Anyway, back to the subject of school.

Book learnin' is good for ya. So keep at it. If you're thinking "I can't do this, I should just drop out!" , then DON'T! Think positive thoughts! If Doogie Howser could handle it at the young age of 10, then you can do it at the not so young age of however old you are. I know you aren't ten. Ten year olds don't read blogs! The thought alone is ridiculous.

Education will serve you throughout your life. Education is the one thing you can take with you wherever you go. Education is the one thing that you cannot get too much of.

But don't take my word for it! Listen to "Swingin' on a star" by Bing Crosby, as sung by Bruce Willis in this classic clip from the 1991 movie "Hudson Hawk"-

I really only made this post for the references I wanted to make, links I wanted to share, and video I wanted to post. I had no real point other than to be. But stay in school kids! School is cool!

Karma is out to get me!

2009-11-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

I don't know what I did. I don't know who I upset. All I know is that Karma is out to get me!

You'd think that after what happened at the end of September, I'd be on the safe side assuming I wouldn't have to visit the hospital for another year at least!

But this morning, my big sister called. And my little nephew has swollen lymph nodes in his neck.

I brought him lunch, and he seems fine, but his neck is swollen like crazy!

The hospital says they've only seen whatever it is twice before, and pediatrics have called Internal Medicine and ENT surgeon into it!

Even the medical students are being shown into my nephew's room to examine the weird frankenstien neck thing he has going on.

This poor kid is only 4 years old, and his doctor there is now saying that he might need surgery! I have faith as usual that what needs to be done will be done, but talking about surgery on my little buddy is kinda scary. He's my favorite little kid in the world and now he's going to have to get cut open?

I'm kinda frustrated with life throwing us these curveballs left and right. Thank goodness he's at the hospital he is. Our hospital here "has been ranked among the nation's top 50 hospitals in five specialties in U.S. News' 2009-10 publication of America's Best Hospitals."

None of the five ranked specialties have anything to do with my nephew's swollen lymph nodes, but it's still pretty impressive, yeah? Right? Riiiiiiight? Yeah, you know your jealous. Unless you live in Washington State, or Maryland, or Minnesota, or Ohio, or you know what? I don't care where you live. Just be jealous anyway. It will make me feel better.

My Little Buddy

(P.S.- this counts as a med-blog-gy post, right? Riiiiiiiiight? )

UPDATE: They sent him home Tuesday with an Rx for some pain meds and something to keep the swelling down. Hopefully, this was just a weird one time thing that will go away and never come back.

If I were a TV exec*. . .

2009-10-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Coming this fall to the new primetime lineup! A sitcom about a demoralized governer and his newly adopted illigitimate offspring from Argentina!

Introducing: Mark Sanford and Son!

Now that they're together, but on their own, they decide to start a family business of selling junk to people in a lower middle class neighborhood!

The theme song will sound something like this, but will be played by a mariachi band.

This odd coupling will have your family rolling as they try to figure out what life is all about!

_______
*I wish I could make this be real.

Going to go have fun!

2009-10-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go out tonight with my friends to a Halloween Themed YSA dance! I think it's going to be fun. It's a dress-up thing, so I'm going as a cowgirl. I can't get enough of being around people I love. It feels so awesome to get out and be around people who have my back. I won't be home until around 2am, but I honestly don't care because I'll be in good company!

UPDATE:

Had a pretty awesome time! I met my "little brother"'s new gf, and shall report back to my "other mother" as soon as possible. Also, I almost entered the costume contest, but when I was informed that the prize would be a date with the host of the party, I decided it wasn't all that worth it. Hahaha! I think that guy likes himself too much.

Anyway, my favorite costume was some girl who was dressed up as Flo, the progressive insurance lady from the commercials! (linkage to my favorite commercial with her)

Anyway, I had a pretty awesome time, but was up super late! Got to bed around 2pm! Holy cow! But then I slept for ten hours, and now I'm all better.

I can't help it. . .

2009-10-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

. . . if I have a legit celeb crush on Dan Gurewitch. Especially after he actually responded (on Ustream) after I asked if he was single on the trending (for like, 20 minutes) twitter topic #pranked . (Watch Pranked!) Other than co-starring and co-writing in The CollegeHumor Show that ran for a short season on MTV earlier this year, and acting in Giancarlo Fiorentini's HIT MOVIE The Old Man and The Seymour he also acts, writes, and directs sketches for the collegehumor.com site.

And I do believe that this may be one of the most link-filled posts I've done, like, ever. I guess that's what I get for blogging about someone who works on the internet.

Is it more ridiculous. . .

2009-10-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

. . .That I got into a "Who loves Christmas more" argument. . .

. . .or . . .

. . .That I won after three solid minutes of comparing who has more christmas things?

I guess it just proves that I do love Christmas an aweful lot. I wish it came twice a year. And that we could just skip over Halloween.

And haha! Look at that! Christmas is even a posting label on my blog! Yay Christmas!

Upbeat Post

2009-10-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

My big bro just texted me, and shared a hilarious story, and I thought I'd share it with you!

His text said "So theatre nerds just mobbed the crap out of me."

I texted back "Freak, man. For real?" ("freak was said because my phone can't spell "frick")

He texted "Yeah, there's a regional high school competition, so they're roaming the streets in hoards"

I texted him "I hope you are planning to elaborate"

Then he called me and explained that he was on his way to The Grind to get some hot chocolate, and when he walked in, a group of theatre students at a table looked at him. One of the students, a girl, said "That's him!!!" and they all rushed toward him.

My brother, of course, asked them what they were talking about.

Apparently, they said, they had a friend in the hospital with a broken knee.

At this point, he panicked, thinking that they were trying to blame him for the mishap.

But they went on to explain that she had one request before she went into surgery.

She said that the last thing she wanted to see before surgery, (in case she didn't make it through) was a hot guy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Apparently, this describes my brother. I personally have no idea if he's hot or not, so I have to rely on outside sources, which confirm that he is a looker. All this means to me is that I have to help him beat off the crazies with a stick. But other than that, good for him.

So they took his picture, sent it to their hospitalized friend, thanked him and left.

My poor big brother. I hope he can learn to avoid situations like this in the future. I'm not out there at school with him (He's in Utah!) so therefore can't defend him from the evils of girls and theatre kids.

Watch out Bro! Keep an eye on those ladies! They're tricky!

I hope, one day. . .

2009-10-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

I hope, one day, I'll be as wise as my mother was.

I hope, one day, I'll be as brave as my father is.

I hope, one day, I'll be as independant as my sister.

I hope, one day, I'll be as strong as my brother.

I hope, one day, I'll be as loving as my uncle.

I hope, one day, I'll be as caring as my aunt.

I hope, one day, these traits I will have.

But now, today, I can only hope.

My Last Day

2009-09-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

My last day with my mother was yesterday.

She wanted me to take my brothers to seminary and school because her head hurt.

I did.

She wanted me to take her to the store because she wanted to buy presents for my little brother's birthday.

I did. And we waited a half hour outside a store that opened later than we thought it did.

She wanted me to take her to Publix, so she could buy milk for later.

I did.

She wanted me to drop the kid off at pre-school so that she wouldn't have to drive. And then get to class immediately afterward.

I did.

She texted me in the middle of Math class. It said "Call Me".

I walked out of the class right then and did.

She said that she called the nurse at her doctor's office and that the nurse told her to go to the emergency room.

I immediately told her I'd be right there, hung up, and ran to get my stuff and get to the car and sped home. I think I made record time.

She wanted me to drop her off at the emergency room, so that I would be able to continue with the things she wouldn't do, like picking up my little brother from school.

I walked her in and said that I loved her and goodbye.

She called from the hospital later telling me that they said everything was alright.

And then they called later than that. And I went down there.

And everything is not alright.

she's gone

Checkup from the Neck-up.

2009-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

That was a line from Fern Gully. Such a good movie.

Anyway, so I've been collecting quotes from my American Government teacher for quite some time now (as I did with my Anatomy and Physiology teacher) and I don't care if this means I have one less quote to include in a future blog for fear of being too repetitious. It went a little something like this. . .

"When a government fails, who's fault is it? It's your fault. It's your neighbor's fault. It's your mother's fault. It's always been your mother's fault. Always."

. . . My first thought? Don't you be talkin' bout my momma like that.

My second thought? He is out of his mind.

Is the government my 5th grade math teacher?

2009-09-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

They can get anyone to apologize for anything.

Ex:

Back when a certain vice president shot a certain friend of his in the face, who apologized? The friend. "Sorry you shot me in the face and had to deal with all of this horrible guilt" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_incident

After the President used some less-than-kind words to describe a certain stage-rushing musician, and then was quoted, the person who quoted him had to apologize for "quoting words that were never intended to be made public". But I think that's kind of silly, don't you? Shouldn't one be held accountable for what they said instead of someone else being held accountable for repeating it?

When a certain congressman from my own state shouted out very rudely during a presidential address, he rightly apologized to the interruptee. But apparently, that's not good enough. Not just one, but two or three apologies are needed! Geez!

So I have a question for you. Can the government do me a favor and make all the mean kids from 6th grade apologize? Ohh! And my 6th grade music teacher. He was really rude to me. OHH OHH! And that guy from 9th grade who drew mean things in my yearbook. Can the government make him apologize too? OH OH! And my 6th grade school psychiatrist who wouldn't believe that I was kidding about having an imaginary friend, so he called my mom to ask her to get me "psychiatrically evaluated"? 6th grade was an ugly year for me. The government should just find everyone I came in contact with that year and make them apologize for all the stuff I had to deal with.

Oh, and since they're in the business anyway, can they make my little brother apologize for running into my fist? It was a traumatic experience for me watching him writhe in pain while I stood over him and laughed. And maybe the government should make whoever it was that told that one girl that I thought her shoes were ugly apologize for spreading it around. That'll be good enough until I make another mistake or misspeak. Maybe if this blog is taken the wrong way and critisized meanly, the government can make everyone who read it apologize for their pre-suppositions!

There are no bells in college!

2009-09-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

COLLEGE!!!!

We all know what it's like. We've seen "Animal House".

We've seen "Accepted".

We've all seen our share of college-themed movies and shows.

Some of us, me included, are actually in college ourselves!

And we know what it's like. The drinking, the partying, the tiny refrigerators with the too-small freezer that you can maybe fit a few dozen fla-vor-ice freeze pops in, the R.A.'s, the microwavable meals. . .they all give the impression of "yeah, I'm in college"

Now, we've all seen that show Saved By The Bell, right? The high school kids, the early 90's, and the antics that followed them through all four years of school?

You know you have. Don't act like you didn't laugh that time Slater and Zack had to fix Mr. Belding's car before he got back to school but the shop kids took the whole thing apart. Oh those roughneck auto shop kids; always making things more difficult for Zack and the gang!
The hilarity is almost overwhelming!

Now, like a good show about kids in school, it stuck to the time limit of four years. So the kids went from freshman year all the way to graduation in a very timely manner.

But in 1993, they tried to send the kids to college. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of higher education, but anyone can see why Saved by the Bell: The College Years only lasted one season.

While they attempted to cover the basics of fraternities, sororities, and raising money to go to spring break in Cancun, they failed to grasp college as a whole.

Examples-

They went to all of their classes. And when Kelly skipped a class or two, Zack yelled at her and told her that she'd "never amount to anything" if she continued the behavior.

They all went to the same college and stayed best friends forever. Zack even married his high school sweetheart in the season finale! (oh, come on, you know you weren't planning on watching this anytime soon!)

They were all best friends with their Resident Advisor who is an ex football player and way too old to be in college. (NOTE: My apologies. There's no such thing as "Way too old to be in college", and I should not have said that. My anatomy and physiology study buddy last semester was in her 60's at least and making better grades than me! So my bad on that one.)

I didn't see a single illegal substance during the whole one episode I watched.

And lastly- There were no Bob Marley, John Belushi, Scarface, or generic hot chick posters anywhere!

Oh Saved by the Bell. You disappoint me.

Hopefully, one day, we'll have a show that tells it like it is. A show that does for college what The Office did for desk jobs. But for now, we'll have to either put up with ABC's "Greek", or just stick with National Lampoon's classics.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check out some Collegehumor.

I love Jolly Ranchers!

2009-09-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I have a Public Speaking class this semester. My first speech has to be a process speech. It can be about anything (says my teacher). She even said I could trace the history of a specific company if we wanted to! Like presenting a timeline to the class! The company I've chosen is Connected Ventures.

I spend enough time on their sites and know enough about the company already, it'll be easy to talk about it. And I'm sure I won't have any problems with finding enough information to present. I think my biggest problem will be making a smooth segue from one point to the other.

I think segues are my biggest issue when required to speak in public. I've spoken plenty of times, and have no problem doing so. I live for the laughs I get when addressing a group of people, but I hate spending time coming up with ways to transition from one subject to another.

But I have until next Wednesday to prepare and to make sure my transitions are smooth.

I think the only type of Jolly Rancher I'm not fond of is the apple kind. Can't they find someone who likes the apple kind and give them all the ones from my bag? Can't I just have a bag of blue, red, pink, and purple?

See? Did you see the complete lack of segue there? I mean, I went from talking about a class to talking about jolly ranchers! What the heck is that?! Where did that come from? I don't know. You don't know. No one will be able to find a connection that isn't there!

But seriously, Jolly Rancher people, if you could just find it in your hearts to make customizable bags, that'd be great.

Dang yall. . .

2009-09-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today my American Government teacher said what he'd been wanting to say since he first met us.

-Direct Quote-

"I am smarter than all of you."

---
Yes, that's right. Not "I'm smarter than all of you when it comes to. . . " No. He finished it with a period and everything. Question- Am I surprised? Answer- Not really. I've been waiting for it, actually.

But ah well. At least I'm passing. That matters much more right now than his ego.

I'll be able to stick it out for the next however many weeks and deal with it. A silly unrelated to the discussion comment here (ex: wow, those are really big words you're using) , a random personal question there (ex: did you get a haircut? cuz it looks - aaamazin'!) and I'll be out of there in no time.

Also- anyone who wants to buy one of these for me can if they want to. . . (hi mom!)

Any Advice?

2009-08-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

Thinking of switching from blogger to Tumblr. Any thoughts? Objections? Advice? I don't really know alot about Tumblr but I think you can customize a whole lot more. But I also don't know alot about designing something like that. Anyway, just thought I'd put it out there. Dunno if it'll be a good idea, but I'm just trowing it out there.

Yay!

2009-08-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

My adorable nephew came by today and we had fun playing video games! I'm glad he's around to help make it look like I'm awesome at them. And make it look like I'm taller than I am.

This is us being very very serious. See our serious faces? Nothing silly or funny going on at all in this picture!

School is. . coool?

2009-08-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

Well, not all the time.

I've started a new semester and it's on to dealing with a whole new group of teachers. My American Gov. teacher seems to want to turn his class into an ethics/philosophy class, my Stats teacher wants to show us the long way even though we "won't ever need it", and my pub. speaking teacher was out for the first two weeks havin a baby and I haven't met her yet. My American History teacher is a little too enthusiastic, but other than that, fine.

Meanwhile, my big bro is across the country going to school in Utah. He gets to have a snowboarding class. How unfair is that?! And he hasn't called his favorite sister at all since he left! I guess he's having too much fun without me. . . but I miss my wingman.

Anywho, I've got a busy schedule and lots of homework. I'll be transferring next fall to USC and I've got to get my GPA up to a reasonable level. Dude, I'm such a slacker sometimes. I let videogames and hackeysac get in the way of more important things. But ah well. I'll get it together before I transfer. F'real.

Also- Mom has "Tennis Elbow". How funny is that? I mean, it's not cool at all for her, but it's funny that they call it tennis elbow, because she doesn't play tennis at all. But she's been Wii Boxing like crazy! So maybe she has "Wii Elbow". That should be a thing. Somebody make that a thing.

My vid for Annie, Kimmeh, and whoever else.

2009-07-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Already showed them, but I figured I'd put it up here for y'all to check out.

Back-story!!

I was sittin there, at the Annie and Burl show last Wednesday, and the topic of conversation was Pickup Lines. So I have a pretty good one that I've learnt and it helps me pick up spanish speaking hotties. But that is a lie. So I shared it with the chat room, and Annie tried to pronounce it. Which turned out to be hilarious. But at least she was braver than kimmeh and burl! Who both dismissed even attempting to say it.

So during the show, I figured I'd make a quick little vid about how to actually say it! So here is the video for you guys to check out. Enjoy!

Ouch.

2009-07-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Today, whilst joining in some horseplay with my little bro, I went too far ( I guess). You know that movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop? That part where Kevin James' character headbutts the guy and they're in the ball pit and he moans afterward "Nobody wins with a headbutt!" Thats sort of not true. I won. Well, and I lost. See, I got in trouble for it, but at least I didn't cry about how bad it hurt like someone. So I won and lost at the same time, I guess. Is this proof that I'm tougher than my little bro? I think so. And don't forget it!

I'd take a picture of the bruise I left on my head, but my camera is M. I. A, so I can't. But it's a pretty big red circle on my forehead. Luckily (even though I have a class tuesday night), it's like, 4 days until the next ysa dance, so I don't need to worry about it. It'll be gone by tommorrow most likely. And if it bruises, that'll be long gone come friday night.

Here's some music to send y'all off with, and a sweet fanmade vid to go with it- check it out, y'all!

I'm gonna go take an advil for this headache. (Totally unrelated- the headache is from the paint fumes filling our house right now thanks to the painter guys painting our house with paint.)

To Kimmeh

2009-06-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Congratulations and feel free to gloat. I'll be over here grumbling about it.

Never have I been more dissappointed than after last night's game.

*grumblegrumbleredwingsgrumblegrumblepens*

*moregrumbling*

Check it out Here if you must.

I'll be telling myself that at least we didn't lose as bad as a certain other team in a certain 5-0 game. *coughcoughgamefivecough* And that at least it wasn't a slaughterfest/shutout like said previous game.

Have fun with that cup while you can, because by this time next year, it'll be back where it belongs.

(hehe, I love hockey)

Side Hobby

2009-06-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe you've seen and maybe you haven't the new show on ABC called "Castle". I'll admit, I've never seen it. But that doesn't mean I'm not going anywhere with this. One of the main characters (if not the main character- again, never seen it) in this show is played by a man who goes by the name of Nathan Fillion.

Now, this guy is hilarious. He really is. You've probably had a taste of it if you've seen even an advert for "Castle".

I found out who he was through this fun little internet movie called "Dr. Horrible's Internet Blog". If you haven't seen it, don't worry, you can check it out on Hulu.com anytime for free. I personally have bought the DVD and gotten a digital copy for my Zune.

Neil Patrick Harris is also in it. You know, "Doogie Howser, MD" (also on Hulu) or the guy from "How I Met Your Mother". He's a pretty funny guy. Also an amazing singer.

The show follows amateur super-villin Dr. Horrible (he has a PhD in "horribleness") who is trying to get into the Evil League of Evil by committing different crimes. He is thwarted again and again by his nemesis, Captain Hammer.

My big sister knows Nathan Fillion well. He starred in a sci-fi series called "Firefly" which, despite only lasting for a single season, was so popular it lead to a feature film: "Serenity". This came from both the cult-like fanbase and their demand for more and the sheer volume of DVD sales. Both series and movie were directed by Joss Whedon. He'd done alot of things before, and I think some of the fans of "Firefly" were rollover fans from his previous series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Another little "Branch" of this complicated tree is the internet series "The Guild". This series was sort of an inspiration for Whedon's "Dr. Horrible" movie, and stars the beautiful and talented writer and producer of the series- Felicia Day. She was cast as Neil Patrick Harris' crush in the "Dr. Horrible" movie, and has one heck of a voice.

Let's change over to a different subject for a minute. Y'know how iceburgs are, right? Take a look at this generic picture to get the gist of things.

If you've ever taken a psychology class, any professor will tell you that the mind, like an iceberg, is deeper below the surface.

I think the same concept applies to this subject. I saw some fanart from a guy named Jeffrey Cruz over on Deviantart.com and decided to check out "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". As soon as I saw it, I was a fan of the movie and wanted to know more about the actors in it.

So I checked out a few episodes of "Doogie Howser, MD" on hulu. I watched out "The Guild" on youtube. I didn't mean to get this far down in the iceburg, but it just happened.

How glad I would be to be able to go back to just being a "Tip of the Iceberg" gal. But no, I am officially weirder for having gone down this far.

But at least I can say that I'm not as obsessive as alot of other people. Like I said before, I've never seen a single episode of "Castle", and I haven't watched Whedon's newest series "Dollhouse". I'll admit I've seen one episode of "Firefly" and have experienced the cinematic followup, but I've not seen the whole season. Nor have I ever gotten so into Whedon's "Buffy" or "Angel" as to watch more than an episode or two.

So maybe there's hope for me yet. . . please?

My awesome week!

2009-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

So last year around November, I got a letter from the clerk of court calling me to serve JURY DUTY!!! Super awesome, right? Wrong! They then, a couple weeks later after I responded with the thing they asked me to fill out, postponed my Jury Duty until May '09! What?! I was so mad! I wanna be a jury person!

So May rolls around, and the first day I'm supposed to be in court, I am late for forgetting all about it! How horrible is that? But at least I showed up, so they moved me back a week.

So I go in on time the next week, I go through security, I go sit in a big room with about 150 other potential jurors, and I wait.

Eventually, the judge comes in and starts his spiel on how he knows we don't want to be here and have so many better things to do, but that he hopes that we will take advantage of the opportunity that has been forced upon us.

He then went through the list of exemptions that almost no one met. We were then split up into groups of 30 and sent to random courtrooms to be chosen or not for a certain case.

I was in the first group, and so I went up the stairs to the courtroom and sat waiting for some Jury action!

The judge explained the case and told us that we would then be called by name and either dismissed or called by the court to serve. Now, this process is pretty nerve-wracking. You stand up when they call your name, and if either the defense or the prosecution objects to your being a juror, you're out! How uncool!

But I guess fair is fair. So I watched, as one by one, my fellow jury duty people got called and then dismissed. It was intense. By the time I stood up, there were 7 people left who hadn't been addressed and only 3 spots on the jury.

They asked the state about me. The state said YES! (Well, they used alot of technical court jargon to say it, but basically, they said yes) They then asked the defense what it thought. I didn't think I was getting it. The defense had rejected so many girl jurors that I figured I was just one more, but I crossed my fingers and waited.

And finally, the defense attorney (in her equally fancy court jargon) said YES!! I quietly "whooped" to myself, and high fived people on my way out. "Cuz I'm a winner!" I whispered to them. That caused some giggling. But I really was excited to be on a Jury!

From then on, Jury escapades ensued left and right! I absolutely loved listening to the opening and closing statements. And we got our own little Jury room, and it was adorable hearing the D.A. yell "Objection!" left and right. I think that was her favorite word.

And it was also fun watching the State's attorney trying to win us (the jury) over with his shiney smiles. It was as if he had a checklist in his head:

Smile at the Jury to show them I'm on their side. . *flash a smile* And Check!
Stand next to the Jury in order to better relate to them . . . *move to the jury box* And Check!

He even brought a cute little posterboard of the crime scene! It was adorable! Like it was a show and tell he had worked on for a week with his mom.

I was kind of sad when the Defense didn't even present a case. That meant no more witnesses or evidence. Both of which I enjoyed very much! How cool!

So in the end, we deliberated. That was my favorite part. And we decided Guilty or Not Guilty. And then we watched as the decisions were presented.

If it didn't pay only $10 per day, I think I would want a job as a professional juror. How fun would that be? Only, of course, until I finished college and moved on to medical school.

Anyway, I had a wonderful time, and I hope to do it again sometime, but they said that the cycle only allowed for you to be called once every three years! How uncool!

Anybody got any jury duty I can take off their hands? I'll trade ya!

My birthday!

2009-05-01T06:08:00.001-07:00

My birthday was Wednesday. I am now 21. I don't feel any older. I guess 21 is something you have to grow into.

We had a party Sunday. The whole family was there. I got some cool presents and some not so cool presents. The coolest of which included:

-A Flight of the Conchords CD!!!
-A The Fray CD!!
-Toy Night Vision Goggles!!!

And

- Bagles! I love bagles!

The worst present I got, I won't mention, but the person who gave it knows who they are. And to them I have this to say:

Despite the ridiculous lack of effort on your part, I still love you and I know that you love me. I know that you were probably too busy or something like that. So even though the gift I received was something I saw the next day on a mcdonalds commercial as the give-away toy, forget about it. I know I'll try to as well.

Now! I think I'll kick back and watch the old version of Escape to Witch Mountain. You know the one. The two kids and one plays a harmonica and there are flashbacks to a tragic accident. . . etc. Anyway, I hope I'll get to see the other one sometime in the future.

How I waste my time-

2009-04-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here's another special "skill" of mine.

Thinking about how some people could possibly know other people. Just listen to what I'm saying, alright? It won't make sense and I'm not promising it'll be completely sensible, but check this out.

By the way, this is another one of my special skills.

I am friends with Dr. Val, right?

Well, at least, I certainly hope so!

And Dr. Val did an interview with Phylicia Rashad about peripheral artery disease back in September, right?

And it seems like the interview was a pretty good one! So it's safe to say that they could be considered friends, right?

Now, assuming that I'm correct so far, let's now go to The Cosby Show. In which Mrs. Rashad starred alongside Bill Cosby and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. So it's probably safe to assume that Mrs. Rashad is still quite good friends with those men she shared the stage with for so long, yeah?

We're going to assume I'm right.

So Malcolm-Jamal Warner recently filmed in a movie with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson called Fool's Gold.

I think it's safe to assume at this point that they're all good friends from spending so much time together during filming, right?

Now, going from there:

Matthew McConaughey just recently finished filming his newest movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past which also features Breckin Meyer.

Breckin Meyer guest starred on an episode of House, MD back in 2008. Alongside both Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard.

Robert Sean Leonard starred alongside Robin Williams back in 1989's Dead Poet's Society.

One of my favorite movies with Robin Williams is Hook. In which he stars as Peter Pan across from Dustin Hoffman's Hook and Julia Roberts' Tinker Bell.

Julia Roberts was spectacular in her performance in Stepmom alongside Susan Sarandon.

And finally, Susan Sarandon starred in 2008's spectacular musical sensation Enchanted with Patrick Dempsey.

So if we assume that everyone is friends with everyone they meet at least once, that means that I AM FRIENDS WITH Dr. Val who is friends with Phylicia who is friends with Malcolm-Jamal Warner who is friends with Matthew McConaughey who is friends with Brekin Meyer who is friends with Robert Sean Leonard who is friends with Robin Williams who is friends with Julia Roberts who is friends with Susan Sarandon who is friends with PATRICK DEMPSEY!!

As you can see, it's very exciting.

Cuz Brandi Chastain says so.

Which reminds me. Not only are there only 12 days until my birthday, but there are only 419 days until the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa!!!! Wooo-hooo!! Start picking your teams and checking their groups! I think Romania has a very good chance this year! They were so close to the semi-finals in Euro '08 last year! But I still love Italy and Spain from Fifa '06!

Anyway, that's all from me. I hope you weren't too weirded out by my crazy movie association game. But I do it all the time. I just thought I'd share this one with you. I spent a good five minutes figuring it all out. And be sure to keep in mind that Fifa '10 Cup is coming up! And that my birthday is coming up sooner. I'll be 22 by the time the Cup rolls around, how weird is that?

But alas, it is time to finish up this blog post!

Farewell all!

Adios!

La revedere!

You look like you could use a haircut. . and maybe some surgery.

2009-04-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

So lately, there have been alot of . . . injuries . . in my family. A little more than a month ago, my little brother broke his leg. Both the tibia and fibula.

Luckily, doogie howser-lookin' resident at the local children's hospital was able to fix the bones and put them back in place. He did a really good job, so my little brother didn't need surgery. He would've needed a plate and some screws if it hadn't gone as well as it did.

About a week after he got his cast on, my big brother called from a hospital up in North Carolina about his broken collarbone. He had been snowboarding and I guess he fell off of the lift straight onto his face. So he's been hurting for a little less than a month.

He is going in today (I'm writing this friday and posting it saturday) for surgery, and will be home later this afternoon. So he'll be getting a plate and 3-4 screws in his collarbone to stick it all back together. It was broken in three different places!

But he has been super frustrated. He's afraid that the bone will have healed wrong by now. And he was really mad that Surgery was "scheduled" for Tuesday, and then moved to Friday. Apparently, the person who told him surgery was on Tuesday was new and made a mistake. He apologized and scheduled (for real this time) his surgery for Friday.

Big bro wasn't too happy about that at all.

But he's finally going in today for some outpatient surgery. So he'll be home later and I'll be in charge of watching him tonight while mom and dad have their weekly date night. So I guess that's neat. Getting to make sure he's comfortable. I think that he'll be asleep most of the time, though. Poor big brother.

(Quote in the title was from the hilarious show "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack".)

P.S.-25 days until I turn 21! Hurry up and find him! Hahaha!

La Pelota

2009-04-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

So a year ago, FIFA released a video displaying amazing soccer tricks. Look up Fifa Street 3 anywhere and chances are, you'll happen upon this video:

Now, I don't know how much (if any) of this is photoshopped or fake or whatever. I do know it looks flipping cool!

When I first saw this video, I really dug the sound. That song playing in the background sounds awesome! So I tried to find an actual mp3. But they didn't actually record a track or release an mp3! They made it just for the video! So I went on for months searching for the mp3, eventually giving up.

But I was looking it up today, the first time since last november, and I discovered THIS! The song wasn't La Pelota by Alejandro Londono- it was La Pelota by Massive Music feat. Alejandro Londono! AND! They provide links to download the mp3 for free! How amazing! So now, I have a brand new song on my zune and I love it!

Happy early birthday to me! :)

P.S.- I've posted this on facebook, but I wanted to say it here as well. My birthday is in 26 days. You all have until the 29th to find Patrick Dempsey, put him in a really big, really pretty gift box, and send him to me. Get going! What are you still doing here, reading my blog? GO!

Sleep

2009-03-13T06:21:00.001-07:00

I have a skill. It's a super-secret skill. And I would like to discuss the unique aspects of my "talent".

I'd probably better start by telling you what it is.

I can sleep anywhere, anytime and on virtually anything.

Let me just say here, that no, I'm not narcoleptic. I am just skilled at sleeping. I think it comes from my high school years. But I think my mom would say it comes from years of practicing and staying up late.

But high school is boring. The classes weren't too terribly hard, the work load was light, and there wasn't alot going on. The teachers weren't engaging or interesting, and some classes, even the people around me were boring.

So, like most young high school students, I developed the ability to sleep in one of those desks that has the chair and desk attatched by a metal bar.

Sometimes, when the class was emptier and the day was slower and the teacher was lazy and didn't want to teach, we would have a lazy mess around day. On one of these occassions, I slept in three desks at a time. You just have to arrange them the right way!

So while I was remembering this, and recalling all of the things I've slept on, I came up with a pretty big and quite impressive list!

I've slept :

On School Desks
In a movie theater stretched across several seats
Sitting back to back with a friend one morning in high school
In a tent with a sleeping bag out camping (several times)
On a rock. It was a big rock.
In a tree. Just find a couple of branches close together or one big branch and drape yourself across them! Many an afternoon were napped away in the branches of the big tree in the backyard in Atlanta.
On a picnic table in an adarondac.
On a hammock (not that hard)
In a bed (easiest place for falling asleep)
On neumerous floors. Carpeted, hardwood, you name it.
On the ground. Concrete ground, outside of school.
On the grass, outside
On the dirt, with lots of rocks and pebbles around.
Backstage on misc. props whilst waiting for curtain call.
On a ladder. It's quite easy if it's a stepladder.
Chairs. Wooden chairs, plastic chairs, even metal folding chairs.
Stairs. Actually quite relaxing.
In the pool. This requires a floatation device.
On a boat.
On a plane.
On a countertop.
On our back porch.
In a car. (Backseat, front seat, truck bed, even the trunk! Cars are one of the easiest places to fall asleep)
Couches (any couch can be easily converted into a bed by laying lengthwise on the couch.)
In a closet
In a bathroom (oh like you haven't! And it was whilst taking a bath, weirdos)
On bleachers. While they are, at first, kind of cold, it's do-able.
On top of cardboard boxes. They're warm and soft and comfy.
On a car. I already said in, but I've fallen asleep on top of a car before.
On a beach, lying on a towel. Again, not difficult to do.
Leaning against a wall.
Sitting in an empty kitchen cupboard. There are pictures.
And last but not least- in the middle of a road. On the warm asphault. Soaking wet.

That's all I can think of at the moment. The list includes dangerous places where I don't suggest you attempt sleeping in. And some were for as little a time as 1 minute and as few times as one. But sleep is sleep.

I must say that there are some instances mentioned that happened when I was little, and haven't been tried since I was 12.

So there you have it! Proof, no doubt of my amazing sleep-tastic talent! No matter where I am or what I'm doing, I can best the beast of tiredness using sheer willpower and thinking happy thoughts.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, just leave a comment! I'll be glad to give you the story behind any of these. I'll respond in the comment section as soon as I can, so go ahead and ask about any you feel weren't accurate or weren't safe or just sound like they have an interesting back-story!

Spring!

2009-03-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Cleaning? Well, I'm packing up stuff and cleaning things out. I cleaned out my clothes a month or so ago and I'm cleaning out books and things now. Packing up things, etc. I so far have three and a half boxes full of dvds, tapes, and other things. I'm going to be organized by my birthday. True story. And it's funny that even though this is spring, it snowed last night. It was fun stuff! I got a couple good pictures and a good video. So I have lots of time on my hands. Yep. . . lot of time. In fact, that's why I've started cleaning. Too much time, too much mess. And yes, I know you have alot of stuff for me to do if I'm bored mom. But not bored enough that I'll clean everything all day. I just want to start small. With my own room and stuff. Maybe then, I'll feel as if I have time enough for cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen and the dining room and the rest of the basement. We really should move my room upstairs. Then we could paint the basement and not worry about anyone being down there! Make it picture perfect and then leave it that way whilst I move up to a brighter room! And no, this isn't my excuse for getting a room that isn't blue or in the basement. This is me thinking of you. Aren't I just so thoughtful?

Fans

2009-02-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

I have no fans.

And before you start thinking I'm emo or something, let me explain.

What I mean by fans is hard to explain. Part of it comes from the site "friend or follow". I've been checking it for awhile. And I kind of hate seeing people who I'm following but aren't following me back.

I mean, in some cases, it's fine. I'm following around 4 romanian twitterers, because I am in the process of learning the language. Eu stiu putini, dar nu vorbesc foarte bine. I'm working on it. Anyway, as a step in learning it, I follow these 4 romanian twitterers to measure how much I know, and compare it to how they type. It's helped alot so far with understanding spelling and, since alot of their tweets are in the first person, helped with understanding the grammar a little as well. I don't care if they're following me back. I really don't. I'd feel guilty if they followed me just because I followed them.

And I also hate seeing the number of people who are following me but I'm not following them back. Because I don't know how many people are empty followers, or how many are spam, or how many are just trying to get followers of their own. I don't count these people as fans because I have no interaction with them. I never hear from them, I never communicate with them, and I am pretty sure alot of them don't care. But I can't speak for every single one.

Now, I found friend or follow through a friend, and since it's one of those sites where you can pretty much put in any username and review their stats, I checked out a few other twits' fans friends and following lists.

See- some people I don't mind if they follow me or not. I really don't. But when I consider someone a friend and follow them on twitter, and they don't feel the same way and don't follow me on twitter, I feel bad. Especially if it's someone with, say, 420 followers (don't bother checking, it's no one who actually reads this blog, I'm sure) who only follow 58 people, and one of those people isn't me. Sure, the person responds to my "@replies", but since they don't follow me, they respond through direct messages. And even then, only if I'm "lucky" enough for them to even notice I've repied to a tweet in the first place.

This sort of thing is something I've come to sort of despise. It feels like hero-worship. As if I am just a lowly fan, and they don't realize that respect is a two-way street. I respect people, I really do. I respect alot of people, but when it gets to the point where I'm the only one showing any respect in a "friendship", I kind of lose the respect I feel for the person.

Now, I hope hope hope that I have no one like that. No one that I've snubbed because of a "I'm better than you" complex that shouldn't exist. If you feel I'm ignoring you unjustly, let me know! I know how it feels. I definetly hope I have no "fans" and hope to death that I only ever have friends.

(I have since stopped following the person on twitter, because I felt like a number, not a friend. Though I still read their blog, I don't know how to handle the situation. One of the last times I've commented, I was made fun of by a fellow commenter and the blogger's indifference has discouraged my willingness to keep up with them at all, but I'm hanging in there to see what happens. I always thought I was more than "just a fan" and more like friend to this person, but we'll see. I'm beginning to lose interest.)

QLD and the blind.

2009-02-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

Have you guys heard of the best job in the world? I heard it from Leif Pettersen. I applied. Check it out HERE!

Rate my video to help me get the job HERE!

Thanks guys! I know I've already e-mailed some of you and I'm sorry if you don't like getting e-mails like that, but I'd still appreciate your help to get me into the top 1o!

This is the shortest blog I've ever written I think.

But maybe not, because I feel a random thought coming on. . .

Why don't dollar bills have braile on them? I mean, blind people can't tell the difference between bills! How much more convenient would it be for them if bills were different? Y'ever thought of that? They have to rely on people to tell them which bill is which. And some people are dishonest, and might not tell them the truth.

Yes, I watched that new reality show that came on after Deal or No Deal. So sue me.

Wellsphere

2009-01-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

Alright, so you all remember my post about the company that was trying to get my content on their site? If not, refresh your memories here.

I politely declined their invitation. Hee hee.

But the aforementioned company was a place called Wellsphere.

Well, as I mentioned in that post, alot of other medical bloggers had been contacted about also allowing their content to be on the site.

But the catch was, if you offered to put your posts on the site, they became the intellectual property of Wellsphere.

This catch was written in small print in the Terms and Conditions page. And everyone knows that rarely anyone reads the Terms and Conditions when signing up for things. I know I don't alot of times.

But since then, I've started to!

So Wellsphere and it's content provided by over 1,500 bloggers has recently been sold to Health Central Network.

Which means all of it's intellectual property is now HCN's intellctual property. And they got money for it.

None of the bloggers who contributed to the site saw as much as a penny.

Fair? I think not. After you've checked my blog post and the two at the bottom, feel free to spread the word. Also- make sure to check out Dr. Anonymous' BlogtalkRadio show tonight! We'll be discussing Wellsphere and it's diabolical plans!
For further reading, see these blog posts. Written by very smart women who put it much more eloquently than I ever could.
Dr. Val sums this situation up very nicely here.

Helen Jaques provides an amazing take on all of this.

Dear Mr. Used-to-be-President Bush

2009-01-20T09:30:00.000-08:00

An open letter to the previous president of the United States. He might not have been the most popular president in the world, but he was my president. And I liked him. And I've always wanted to hang with him, so here's my letter.

Dear George W. Bush-

So, now that you aren't the president anymore, I bet you have alot of time on your hands, huh? Not so busy doing important things and talking to important people anymore I bet. So . . . what'cha doin'? Got any plans? I mean, now that you have time for other things. . . d'ya wanna be my best friend? I hear I make a pretty good best friend, and I've always really wanted to meet you. But seeing as you were always so busy with presidential things, and I've always been busy doing. . . kid stuff. I mean, you've been the president since I was 12! I grew up with you as the president! And I'm going to miss seeing you on tv! So I figure if we're best friends and hang out alot, I won't miss you so much! It's really the only solution I can see. I promise to never be mean or throw shoes, and if you want to play tic tac toe, I'm fine with that. If we play battleship, I want to be the red board, and if we play checkers, I'd prefer to be the black. But you can choose what color you want if we play chess and if we disagree on which movie to watch on movie night, I'll gladly play you in rock, paper, scissors to decide which one we watch. But I promise to never make you watch a chick flick. We'll stick to action, comedy and drama. I hope you can get this letter. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Mary

Sugar and Spice but I'm not very nice.

2009-01-20T04:44:00.000-08:00

Oh guh-ross! Barbies?? Blegh! I do not like Barbies. The doll that looks like it belongs in the playboy mansion. The doll that comes with . . . *shudder* Unicorns and. . . blegh, adorable pink bunnies, and even worse-

A career!

I just saw a commercial for Barbie. And let me tell you. I wasn't wrong to distrust those plastic boob havin' , 1950's Doris Day lookin', unattainable goal projectin' . . . punks!

Growing up, I played with toy dinosaurs. Those things are awesome. And they were the kind that had the name on the belly so you could tell what dinosaur you were playing with. I had two Pachycephalosauri who constantly bumped heads with my one triceratops. One Anklyosaurus, who liked to bludgeon my Iguanodon, a Tyranosaurus Rex, and an orange one that was bigger than the t-rex, but didn't have a name on the bottom. But he was a carnivore for sure.

Anyway, so whilst I was playing with my dinosaurs, my best friend was playing with barbies. When she brought barbies over to my house, I would play with them, yeah. But they'd be doing something awesome. Like re-enacting some scene from Rambo, or flying.

My mom never bought me Barbies. And I thank her endlessly for that.

This commercial I saw just a few minutes ago had the usual Barbie commercial song. Stating that you can "Be who you want to be! B-a-r-b-i-e!"

And you know what career they were giving her today? Today- the inaugural day of the first Black President. Today- nine years and twenty days into the twenty-first century. Today! The time when women can not only vote, but can also have careers and lives outside of housework and homemaking!! Hallelujah the strides we've made!

And today- Barbie was cooking. Barbie was making pie, I think, to be more specific.

Now, what's wrong with cooking? Nothing- lots of people do it. What's wrong with pie? Nothing, I enjoy pie, and I myself can make a pretty mean apple pie.

What's wrong with the commercial? Everything. Barbie is a sort of example for girls out there. A sort of spokeswoman if you would. And you know what she was telling your little girl? She was telling your girl to be who she wants to be. . . as long as it's feminine.

See, I have this sort of problem with these sorts of ads. I have a definite problem with multiple toy commercials. Commercials for barbies, commercials for hot wheels, commercials for video games, etc.

Any commercial that tries to draw a line and put "toys for little boys" on one side and "toys for little girls" on the other gets on my last nerve.

And McDonalds is the worst! Every month or so, they come out with a new promotion. Giving away new toys in their happy meals for little boys and girls to enjoy. What's the big deal? I'll TELL YOU what the big deal is! When you order a happy meal for your kid, they give you a specific toy based on the gender of your child. If you have a little boy, he gets a hotwheels car. If it's a girl, she probably gets a pretty little barbie.

But what if your little girl doesn't want to be restrained by the ideals of society? What if all your little girl wants to do is race her brother down a mountain with a wicked awesome car? Well too bad, little girl. You'll lose that race. Because you know what? Barbies don't come with wheels, specialty paint jobs and amazing modifications (. . . insert joke here). Barbies come with dresses and aprons and cleaning supplies. And those don't stand a chance against brother's new corvette up on that racing mountain. Not a chance.

Little Tikes Hot Wheels Car Adventure Mountain

Weird but relevant- Whenever I get happy meals, I always have to specify that I want a "boy toy" (. . again, insert your own joke here).

My first (kinda) Video Post. . .

2009-01-14T11:37:00.000-08:00

. . . In which I make a fool of myself.

Ummm. . . alright, so. . . . . . . . .

I was bored. . . it was late. . . my camera was, like, right there waiting to be used. . .

Sooooooooo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yeah.

I pretty much started off by saying hi and about two seconds into it, I thought that I was starting off my video the way that Doc A usually does. So I got a little carried away pretending to be everyone's favorite medblogger/podcaster. But it was fun. You have no idea how hard it was keeping a straight face.

Also- sorry but it's kinda sideways. I would've fixed it, but I honestly didn't want to spend that much time on it. I'm lazy. (Ask my mom- she'll tell ya all about it.)

So learn to deal. And just so you don't have to look sideways to see me right side up, I'll even put up a picture!

Awesome Hat was made by my friend Lisa's Mom! Thanks Lisa's Mom!! How awesome! I love it and I'll probably be wearing it nonstop for a while. I love it!

Awesome Polka-Dot Long Johns were bought for me by momma

Awesome Pink Tank-top was bought by me from some store down in Myrtle Beach this summer.

The vid is kinda dark, so I don't know if you'll be able to see that well. It was lighter on my camera . . .

Don't forget to check out the REAL Doc A show! Show number 67 this Thursday, January 15th, at 9pm Eastern time! It's gonna be gooood!

Ninja Ropes

2009-01-12T07:34:00.001-08:00

Ninja Ropes. It's a game of skill, intuition, luck and a bit of hand eye coordination. And it only works on. . . firefox. Well, at least for me. It's the only thing I use firefox for.

The Game:
Ninja Ropes Extreme

I have that open at the same time as I have youtube open. Because for some odd reason, Ninja Ropes only lets me get a super high score when I'm listening to the Ninja Ropes song. Here it is for you all to enjoy!

The Song:

The song came from "Commentary- The Musical!" which is a musical commentary that came with the DVD version of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog". It's a pretty awesome movie. When you have 42 spare minutes, go check it out for free on hulu.com !

The Movie:
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I've never been the biggest fan of the director (Joss Whedon) before. I'm just not into the whole vampires, sci-fi, etc thing. I mean, it's not like they weren't good shows- I've seen an episode or two, they're just not my bag.

But this was fun. Dr. Horrible was brilliant. The songs are addicting and the acting is hilariously well done. I think I'm actually a huge fan of Neil Patrick Harris now. I had no idea he could sing that well and his acting was superb. I even went back and watched a few episodes of his early series Doogie Howser, MD (also on hulu) and am now a fan!

So play the game, listen to the song, check out the movie, and have fun!

My Ninja Ropes record:

83.39 Yards Can ya beat it?

Screenshot Proof:

Extra Credit if you can see whose blogs I have bookmarked up at the top there. Speaks volumes.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-27T11:36:00.001-08:00

So Christmas is over, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end! I've got tons of presents to play with, and a few parties to attend!

A few of the more notable gifts I received include:

A brand new digital camera (red)!

Some long johns. Those are fun!

Mamma Mia Soundtrack- which I immediately put on my zune and can't stop listening to!

Raspberry Hot Chocolate!! I flipping love hot chocolate. I should register that phrase as a trademark. Hahaha. I say it often enough. But it's true!
A lava lamp (from a white elephant christmas party, so it's still technically "something I got" for christmas)

So anyway. I have a party to get ready for. I've been cleaning all day. Some high school friends and I are going to get together. I'm not going to tell you which nerdy club we were all in, but I'll tell ya - it's sure as heck not Physics Club ;) hee hee!

So I've been putting up old articles and flyers from "back in the day" (this phrase here means 2006) . And I kept some of the props/costumes from then, so I've been putting them up on diplay for the partay. (Note: "partay" was spelled as such in order for it to match the word "display". Don't think for one second I can't spell "party". I won the spelling bee in 4th and 5th grade, yaknow. Got the ribbons to prove it. And besides. When you p-a-r-t-y as much as I do, it's hard not to spell it right!)

I'll be at a different party tommorrow night. At Jenna's house as per the usual. That's where all the hip-hop-happenin' people go for things like chrismas parties or new year's eve! That was where the aforementioned white elephant christmas party was held as well. I can't count the number of times I've gone to their house. It's just so much fun! (But don't worry, Mom- I have much much more fun staying at home and watching movies with you than I ever will at anyone else's house ever!)

So those are my end of year plans! See y'all later!

Guest Post: Why Doctors Go Unheard

2008-12-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

I got an e-mail awhile back from Kelly Kilpatrick who writes articles for Nursing School Search, a site dedicated to helping nursing students find exactly what they're looking for in a school! The articles she writes are very good, and I was sort of surprised that she wanted to guest post on my site. I don't think I was the only person to whom she sent a request to guest post, but unlike some other bloggers, I'm a risk taker. ;) Hee hee. So anyway, on with the awesome guest post!

GUEST POST:

____________

Why Doctors Go Unheard…

There’s not much sense in going to see a doctor if you’re not going to accept their diagnosis and follow instructions for your treatment, but that’s just what most of us do at some time or the other. We recognize signs of illness and wish to get them checked out, and so we go to a doctor. But there are times when we fail to listen to them, and the reasons are:

We may feel the suggested treatment is too aggressive: Some patients get it into their heads that the doctor is out to make more money off them and so, recommends diagnostic tests and medications that are not actually needed. Some feel that they’re under pressure from the drug companies to prescribe their products, especially if the medicine is not life-threatening. Other patients feel that the doctors are scared of being sued for malpractice if any serious disease shows up later, and so, are trying to cover all the bases by taking extra precautions.

We may feel the suggested treatment is insufficient: Some doctors are considered too lazy to properly examine the patient and then diagnose his or her condition – they use superficial symptoms to make a hasty diagnosis and prescribe placebo-like medicines. Some patients feel that their symptoms are too strong to be dismissed as just a common cold or a viral fever, and if the doctor pooh-poohs their fears, they get to thinking that they’ve not been subject to the right amount of treatment.

They feel the doctor is not competent enough: Some patients feel that they know enough about medicine to tell when a doctor is good and when he or she is not. They may base their decision on the questions the doctor asks and on his or her bedside manner.

So what happens when a patient refuses to accept a doctor’s treatment at face value? Well, if the treatment is perceived as being too aggressive, they may decide to skip a few of the suggested tests or forgo a few of the medicines prescribed. And if the treatment is thought of as being too mild, they may seek another opinion before following the original prescription, or they may decide to change doctors altogether.

The dicey part of not listening to your doctor is that you don’t know if you’re making a big mistake or if you’re just being smart enough to call things as you see them. A large part of medical treatment involves trust; you need to trust your doctor because you are literally placing your life in his or her hands, and when this trust does not exist, it’s time to question your doctor’s diagnosis and seek another opinion. Remember, it’s not the doc who has anything to lose if you decide to leave and go elsewhere; but if your decision is wrong, it could cost you your life. So follow the treatment, one that you trust.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of choosing a nursing school. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com
____________________________________________________________

To read other articles from Kelly, try out these links!

The Heparin Conundrum

Caring for the Caregiver

And don't forget to check out the rest of the site over at http://www.nursingschoolsearch.com/!

Thanks, Kelly for the wonderful guest post! If you are ever in the guest post-ey mood again, feel free to drop me a line! And that goes for the rest of you as well!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas needs to get here already!!

2008-12-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I love Christmas. I really really do. The little kids getting excited, the toys in the store, the smell of winter, that chill in the air. Not to mention the christmas songs on the radio, the "magical" tv specials, and that feeling in the air on a cold winter's night when you're cuddled up on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa, there's a Christmas song playing gently in the background, a fire crackling in the fireplace and the Christmas tree glowing brightly in the dark night.

And I wish it would hurry up and get here! I mean, I know I still have shopping to do. I'm a procrastinator. But I don't mind shopping. Just the other day, the heavy-set hispanic clerk at the local dollar store said I had a nice smile (I smile all the time, smiling's my favorite)! How cute is that? I had a little skip in my step the rest of the day from that little self-esteem boost.

But other than a bit of shopping, I'm soooo ready for Christmas to come! I can't stand waiting! The presents are piling up under the tree and it's getting colder and colder outside. We've always had tons and tons of presents under the tree. Growing up, there were 8 people in the house all buying (or having mom buy for them what they picked out themselves) presents for everyone else. That's 8 people buying one present each for Mom, Dad, and each of their 5 siblings. And then Santa would always fill our stockings with more goodies than we ever could imagine. Big family, big Christmas.

Now that the family has grown up a little more, we're including two nephews and a cousin/roommate who will be getting and giving presents! There are going to be a ton of presents under that tree! It's going to look awesome!

My favorite part of the holiday season is giving. I know it sounds lame and like I'm only saying what I'm supposed to say, and I'm not going to lie to you. I love getting presents. But it's really not so much the stuff, or what I get. I like seeing what sort of thing people get me. For example:

My big sister always gets me some sort of girly stuff. Like those baskets with lotion and body wash and things. One year she got me perfume. Britney Spears' Curious perfume to be precise. This sort of gift shows not only that people give the type of gifts they love to receive, but also the kind of gifts they think the person would need or like. I used to hate the gifts she gave because I didn't like "girly stuff" or I thought she was trying to send a certain message with her perfumes and soaps. But I've come to appreciate the thought that went into it. No, she doesn't think I smell bad, and no, she doesnt' think I'm a slob. She knows that having those things for her helps her feel better about herself and makes her feel pretty. And I think that by giving those things to me, she's trying to make me feel better about myself. Which is awesome, because those gifts work. She always knows exactly what to get me to make me feel like a grown up woman, and not a little girl. And I deeply appreciate it.

So when I give presents, I like to show people how well I know them. I love showing my mom that I was totally paying attention that time we were in the store and she was eyeing that cute towel set. I like to show my brother that I totally get his taste in music and know that he would love to have this cd or that record. I love showing my big sister that even though we might not see eye to eye on the things we like, I still care enough to get those things for her.

The message we send when giving gifts is priceless, and helps to convey feelings and emotions. These messages help to define the relationships we share with those around us. And even if we lose that one gift from our cousin we didn't really need but still liked, or keep that boring gift in our closet to re-gift next year, or even if we use that really awesome gift over and over until it's worn down, it isn't really the item that matters. It's what we're saying by giving it.

So this holiday season, I'm going to pay attention and see how my presents are recieved. I'm going to try to get the perfect gift that will convey the message I want to send with exactness. And remember that it's not the size or the price of the gift - it's what you're saying by giving it, and how you can convey your love in the right way to the right people.

(Just a random side note: That little baby crab that Dora helps out by taking it to it's mommy is adorable. I love that episode.)

Getting a little personal.

2008-12-10T08:54:00.001-08:00

It's raining right now. Pretty hard, too. The rain is beating against the window pane and I can feel the cold seeping in from outside. I just know that later, when I go outside, I'll be able to smell it. You know that smell. The "it just rained and everything's starting to dry off" smell. I love that smell.

I was born in Austell, Georgia. The house I grew up in was right across the street from the elementary school that my siblings and I attended. My best friends lived next door, across the street (Not at the school, but across the street the other way. Our house was on the corner.), and halfway down to the cul-du-sac.

The sidewalk near my house had eight handprints on it. When they put it in, Mom and Dad took us out to go make handprints and write our names on the sidewalk.

In the front yard, there was a pear tree that never really produced alot of pears for some reason. Also in the front yard was a tree that was good for climbing. I mean, to even reach the lowest branch, you had to prop your bike up against the tree, but still. Once you got to that first branch, the rest was an easy climb to the top. There was a tree like that in the backyard as well. The climbing tree in the backyard was my favorite. It was right up against the fence, so we could climb up the fence and into the tree with ease. Needless to say, my siblings and I were a climbey bunch of kids. We must've climbed every tree in the neighborhood and the small woods around it at least once each.

So mid '96, when I was about 8 years old, my dad built a loft in the garage. Now, since our house was a split-level house, the garage was pretty darn big. It went from the very bottom, to the very top. And none of the other rooms in the house did that. If it was clean, we could've fit a couple cars in there with plenty of room to spare. But we had so much stuff to store, we could never clean it all. Thus the loft. The loft was supposed to help with storage and getting things out of the way. I'd say it was about 16 feet high, and took up a corner of the garage.

Now, to an eight year old, 16 feet is pretty big. And at first, we probably weren't allowed up there at all. But there were things stacked against the loft, and we were able to climb up and hang out there. Eventually, a TV made it's way into the loft, a couple of cushions, maybe a blanket or two, and it became the place we would go after school to hang out. Just my siblings and I. But mostly just me. I was probably the youngest kid who was allowed up there. My little brothers wanted to come up, but mom never really let them until they were bigger.

So after school, I'd go up to the loft, lay on my stomach next to the 16-foot drop (it's where the tv was, okay?) and watch my afternoon cartoons, play video games or read books. I loved reading books, and I'd be up in that loft for hours at a time with my boxcar children books. Sometimes, my friends and I would hang out in the loft. I think if their parents had seen the loft, they might not have let them come over to our house anymore.

But one of the things I remember most about the loft was that since there was no room above it, and no rooms around it (except the kitchen on the other side of one wall), you could hear the rain very very well. So I would go up to the loft whenever it started raining hard. I say this because when it wasn't raining too hard, I would most definetly be going on adventures in the woods with my friends. But when the heavy rain started and the thunder started pounding, I would go up to the loft, with the lights off, and just lay there, listening. I would even fall asleep sometimes laying there in the dark, listeining to the rain. Since the loft was in the garage, the sound was even louder because of the empty space. I would lay there until mom called me in for dinner or something. It was very nice. And I knew I was safe in the loft. My Daddy built it, so why wouldn't I be? Although I do remember almost falling off of the edge, and that scared the heck out of me. But mostly, I was comfortable with the edge. I would sleep with a leg and an arm hanging off of the edge, or I would be dangling my feet down, or just lay on my stomach and look down at the garage from right there on the edge.

Everytime it rains that hard, I think about the loft, and how I'd love to go back and take a nap in it. But sadly, in the winter of 1999, we tore the loft down because we were moving to Memphis, TN. The people who wanted to buy our house didn't want a loft in their garage, and wouldn't buy our house until we took it down. So down it went. My safe place. My old friend. My loft.

R.I.P Loft
1996-1999

Finals Week

2008-12-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

Finals are this week.

I mean, it's not that big of a deal. I'm doing pretty good in all my classes (exept philosophy! So difficult!) and I've learnt alot.

My spanish class has been tons of fun, my music class has been really enjoyable, and my computer class has been. . . well. . . easy at least. Philosophy class was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever done. My teacher chose to use a novel as the text for the course, his lectures were dull, uninteresting, and uninformed. And even though I didn't understand everything, I could tell I wasn't alone. The teacher was right there with me. Always frantically searching through his notes trying to answer whatever questions we had. I don't understand why he never liked my questions.

For instance-

1. The teacher explains a theory where- because man is IN the world, man cannot fully comprehend the world.

My Question- What about astronauts?

2. The teacher tells of an analogy where there are people chained up in a dark cave. When someone leaves to go into the light and comes back to tell everyone what they are missing, they kill him.

My Question- If it's dark, and everyone's chained up, how can they kill him?

There were alot more, but honestly? Every single one of those questions was shot down as being a ridiculous question not worthy to answer. So I forgot alot of them.

But even though I'm going to certainly fail philosophy this semester, I don't care. I'll try harder and get a different professor next time. It's not my fault, and I can't do anything about it, so I'm not going to waste my time complaining. I just need to learn from my mistake and try harder next time.

Music appreciation class will be a difficult one to try to remember everything we studied. I know alot of the composers and alot of the compositions, but not when everything happened. I'll have to look over that the next couple days.

Spanish will be easy. I've spent so much time on it already, I feel as if I should be proficient, but I'm not. I wish I knew more, and I wish I was better at speaking it, but I guess I'll just have to keep trying!

Computer class will be a piece of cake as long as I can keep my teacher from driving me insane with all of her nagging.

So exams will be over by 12:00 thursday afternoon. Well, at least mine will be. I have two tuesday and two thursday. And I'm going to take a big nap afterward. I still have a little christmas shopping to do, but I have a few weeks still. And also- Saturday, there will be a huge phase ten championship game. Hahaha! So funny. I'm going to enjoy it! And it'll be the perfect end to what's looking like it's going to be a scary week.

Just a little update. Thanks for reading Mom! (And anyone else who managed to get this far without clicking away to something more interesting- kudos!) :)

Engage With Grace

2008-11-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is important. You'd be surprised the sorts of thoughts this discussion can introduce. Good ones, of course. I was invited to share this with you all by my good friend Paul Levy over at Running a hospital. And I recently printed and discussed this slide with my own family. I think you all should do the same.

(you still have to scroll down and read my thoughtful thanksgiving post if you haven't yet. I spent alot of time on it and want you all to read it. But this is more important I think than that.)

_____________________

We make choices throughout our lives - where we want to live, what types
of activities will fill our days, with whom we spend our time. These
choices are often a balance between our desires and our means, but at
the end of the day, they are decisions made with intent. But when it
comes to how we want to be treated at the end our lives, often we don't
express our intent or tell our loved ones about it.

This has real
consequences. 73% of Americans would prefer to die at home, but up to
50% die in hospital. More than 80% of Californians say their loved ones
“know exactly” or have a “good idea” of what
their wishes would be if they were in a persistent coma, but only 50%
say they've talked to them about their preferences.

But our end of
life experiences are about a lot more than statistics. They’re
about all of us. So the first thing we need to do is start talking.

target="_blank">Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project was
designed with one simple goal: to help get the conversation about end of
life experience started. The idea is simple: Create a tool to help get
people talking. One Slide, with just five questions on it. Five
questions designed to help get us talking with each other, with our
loved ones, about our preferences. And we’re asking people to
share this One Slide – wherever and whenever they can…at a
presentation, at dinner, at their book club. Just One Slide, just five
questions.

Lets start a global discussion that, until now, most of
us haven’t had.

Here is what we are asking you: href="http://engagewithgrace.org/content/theoneslide.ppt"
target="_blank">Download The One Slide and share it at any
opportunity – with colleagues, family, friends. Think of the slide
as currency and donate just two minutes whenever you can. Commit to
being able to answer these five questions about end of life experience
for yourself, and for your loved ones. Then commit to helping others do
the same. Get this conversation started.

Let's start a viral
movement driven by the change we as individuals can effect...and the
incredibly positive impact we could have collectively. Help ensure that
all of us - and the people we care for - can end our lives in the same
purposeful way we live them.

Just One Slide, just one goal. Think of
the enormous difference we can make together.

(To learn more please go to href="http://www.engagewithgrace.org"
target="_blank">www.engagewithgrace.org. This post was
written by Alexandra Drane and the Engage With Grace team)

___________________________

Thanks Paul for inviting me to be a part of this endeavor! I'm glad I had the opportunity!

Thanksgiving! To: You

2008-11-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

Alright, so after spending all day on Twitter today, I feel like making a thanksgiving post. I saw so many friends wishing each other a Happy Thanksgiving and expressing their gratitude for friends and family (and twitter). And I thought that yaknow what? 140 characters is too little space for me to express myself and the gratitude I feel.

I'm listening to christmas music, smelling the thanksgiving dinner, waiting to eat the apple pies I made myself, helping mom clean and cook. I chopped up a ton of potatoes today for mashed potatoes later. I'm hear my nephew complain about being bored and my mom calling for a different tablecloth. . all the usual sounds of the holiday. And it makes me feel grateful. What am I grateful for you ask?

I'm thankful for the fact that my friend Vijay doesn't live in Mumbai. Oh my goodness how I'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for the fact that even though this blog has only been around for a year or so, and isn't very good, that I still have so many amazing friends who read and comment on it that I've never even met in real life. I love you all. I really do. It might sound weird, but I have all of your collective backs if you ever need anything.

I'm thankful for the plenty of friends I have in my life who read and comment on this blog. Thanks guys. I appreciate the fact that you find this blog somewhat amusing at times. And I'm grateful that you are all there for me.

I'm thankful that Leif doesn't think I'm creepy. I honestly am soo grateful. Anyone else would've taken out a restraining order against someone like me commenting like I do at his blog. (I know I would've) And that he understands that I'm just playing around. Thanks for indulging me in that sense, man. I appreciate it. (Although I am usually not lying when I say that you are witty, charming and handsome. You know that's the truth ;) )

I'm thankful that my family gets along. My parents are still together after 25 years, and my brothers and sisters and I all speak to each other and love each other very much.

I'm thankful that I have a ward family that I get to spend so much time with. I love all of them and have soo much fun hanging out with all of them. Yay ward!

I'm glad I get to spend so much time with my family. We all live relatively close (haha relatively. . like relatives get it? hee hee) enough so that we can all spend time with one another.

I'm grateful for my big brother and the example he sets for me. I'm glad we spend so much time together playing video games, going camping, etc. It's awesome.

I'm thankful for twitter. I know that sounds kinda retarded, but I am. Um, thankful that is, not retarded. Well. . . But I digress (lol the smiths). Twitter helps me to keep track of my friends and stories and helps me to build a stronger friendship with those I care about. And I'm glad that I have the opportunity to learn so much more about you all!

I'm thankful for the home I live in, and how hard my parents have worked to afford the lifestyle I'm used to. Cable t.v. AND my own room?! Sweeet. I'm grateful that my parents love me and my siblings enough to be here doing this for us.

I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to gain knowledge. To grow. To learn and to experience. This is a sweet life I get to lead, and I am grateful I get to live it every day.

I'm thankful for music and the role it plays in my life. I love that I love it, and I love that I know so much about it.

I'm thankful for the church I belong to, and the opportunities I have there to learn more about my savior's love for me and the gospel he has brought to the earth.

I'm thankful that I'm an honest person. I love the feeling that comes with complete honesty.

I'm grateful for my testimony and the spirit's influence in my life.

I'm thankful that I've been able to avoid harmful substances. I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, or anything like it, and I never have, and I'm glad.

I'm thankful for the people I am surrounded by on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I'm glad that they're kind people who understand my standards and values and respect them.

I'm thankful for fuzzy slippers and hot chocolate in the chilly november.

I'm thankful for all that I know about the world, and all that I don't know. It will be an adventure learning about culture, people, religion, and societies.

I'm thankful for love.

I'm thankful that even though I don't have a guy in my life, I don't mind. I'm glad I don't feel like a relationship is something I need to have in order to feel good about myself.

I'm grateful that I have a healthy self esteem, and that I can encourage others to feel the same way about themselves. And I'm not trying to get all Richard Simmons on you, but- You are a beautiful person. Remember that.

And finally- thank you all for the people you are and for the examples you set for me. Thank you for indulging me when I want to play four different games of wordscraper and scrabble in the same day. Thank you for coming here and reading this. Even if it's only scanning through looking for your name or something you might find interesting. Thanks. Thank you all for teaching me whether it be by example or just by being there for me. Thank you all for being the wonderful caring people you are, and for actually wanting to spend time with me. Thank you for making me feel special whenever I need it.

I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

(just so ya know. . . that turkey up there. . .I put my hand up to the computer and traced it on mspaint) ;) hee hee

I politely decline your invitation. . .

2008-11-20T04:08:00.000-08:00

Since starting this blog, I have made an e-mail account to go along with it. You can see it over in the sidebar under the "Contact Me" box. ---->

Now, usually, this is a neat little thing to have. I loved the fact that as soon as I set it up, Doc A sent me a quick e-mail saying hey. I love when I get updates telling me someone new is following me on twitter. I love sitemeter's e-mails telling me that people actually come to this site and check things out. And I welcome any e-mails from friends who want to say hi!

But sometimes, having an e-mail like this is bad news bears, because it means people you don't want contacting you can contact you anyway. But I guess that's why I wanted a seperate e-mail for the blog? An e-mail account that could take a bullet for my real one by accepting impersonal advertisements and offers etc. etc...

Alot of you know what I'm talking about. But let me clarify.

A certain website contacted me awhile back telling me that they loved my blog and that they wanted to feature my blog and have me blog for them blah blah blah. No, I will not tell you what website, but if you follow me on twitter, or you're a medblogger who has had "trouble" with them as well, you probably know. Now, I knew I'd seen this company before and that I wasn't too happy with it then. So when they e-mailed me, I was cautious. I don't want anything to do with them or their website. So I ignored their "invitation".

Just today, I logged into my g-mail to check my mail (of course!) and I had another e-mail from the same site, inviting me yet again to be a part of their "community".

I felt like ignoring them, yeah. But I also felt mad. I know the sorts of things they do, and I don't approve of their ways of doing things. So I e-mailed them back. Better to be proactive about these things, right? The best way to fix a problem is not to sit on your keister and wait for it to go away or pretend it's not there. The best way to fix a problem is to do something about it. (most of the time anyway, I can't guaruntee "doing something about it" will work with every problem)

My e-mail to them:

Dear _______,

I hereby decline the offer. This is not the sort of thing I would like to participate in at all. So no thank you. And if you even read my blog, you would know that the closest I have ever gotten to working in a hospital was during my acting gig, and that I don't really blog a whole lot about health related issues. I'm planning on going to medical school, yeah, but honestly? right now, my blog is one of a community college student who dreams of being a doctor and lives in her mother's basement, and the social interactions that ensue. So please do not contact me again about this. Your company is one with which I would not like to be affiliated. Do not link to my site, use any of my information, or "set up a profile" for me. The e-mail was very flattering, but (and I use this term figuratively) I'm not buying it.

Very sincerely,

Mary
Student / Unemployed Freeloader
Living in my mom's basement, Inc.

Everyone else is doing it.

2008-11-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

I know sometimes, I'll read a blog post that happens to be an open letter addressed to some famous person, usually politically based. And I think: How interesting! This person is writing to this famous person about something and maybe that famous person will happen across this open letter to them and consider the contents therein.

So now it's my turn. I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

An Open Letter to Owen Wilson.

Dear Owen Wilson-

Really not trying to be mean here. And I'm probably sure I could find an answer by searching on Google. But I've been wondering this since I was 13. . .

What's up with that nose?

Very sincerely

Me.

My Playlist. 2nd edition.

2008-11-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

For me, I've been hooked on a few songs lately. My Last Playlist was awesome, and I still love those songs, but I have a few more that I've been going bonkers about! And I wanna share with all of you!

1. Stay With Me - Akcent

2. Stay - Jay Sean

3. Life With You - The Proclaimers

4. Take on Me - A-ha

5. What is Love - Haddaway

6. Heaven - Dj Sammy

7. Lovers Cry - Akcent

8. I Met You - The Proclaimers

I hope you enjoy this selection of songs as much as I do. That last one has to be my favorite of the bunch lately. I even take the time to rewind the tape in my car to hear it again and again! The next time I post a playlist, it will be Christmas songs (Which I love! They're so magical!)

Fun times! Fuuuuun times.

2008-11-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

As you all may or may not know- I have a life.

I do. Really. I promise.

And as proof of this, I've decided to share with you all the gratuitous amounts of fun I've had this past week.

This past halloween weekend was our annual Young Single Adult Conference. Two dances, three seminars, a hundred or so Young (18-30) Single (not married) Adults (kinda grownups), and TONS of fun!

It started Halloween night with a costume dance. I went as a doctor because I already had the costume from last year, and I really couldn't find anything else. But one of the ideas floating around was that people had to dress up as half of a famous couple so that you could then find your "other half" to dance with them! And while it was a cute idea, it didn't work as well as some had hoped.

The next morning, we got there in time for breakfast. After breakfast, we split into three groups and started rotating through the seminars. All of them were wonderful, and I had a truely wonderful time learning more about life, and hanging out with my friends!

After the seminars, we had lunch (pizza, yum!) and got started on the service project. We made christmas cards to send out to soldiers who would be away from home during the holidays, and that was fun!

After we were done making cards, we changed into more comfortable attire and went on with our activity!! Our wicked awesome fun times activity was making videos! Each team was given a bag of props and assigned a channel to film for. Ours was the weather channel. My favorite videos were the ESPN video, and the CNN video. The rest weren't as hilarious, but still quite creative! (if you can't see the videos in the links, let me know. You might need to sign into facebook to see them.) And yeah, that's my big brother refereeing in the ESPN vid, and my friend Lisa as "svetlanka" the anchor. Hahahaha, fun times!!

We had a few hours free between the activity and dinner that night, so I sat down with my friend (also in the ESPN vid, he was the one in the blue shirt. Cute, no?) And we played all ten phases of Phase 10. Read up on phase ten, because I'll mention it again.

During dinner, we watched the videos and had a fun time chatting about the fun times we had so far.

After dinner was a dance, and I met a lot of new people! One of my favorite new friends was "fred fredburger" (my name for him, I forgot his real name), but maybe that's just because he looks like this guy.

The next morning, we had our church meeting and everyone shared their wonderful experiences. It was a lovely end to a lovely conference. After the church meeting was over, we had lunch and headed home.

Tuesday night, I went over to a friend's apartment and we stayed up late to watch the election! Several people were there including my brother, my friend Lisa, my friend Crystal, the guy I had played all ten phases of phase ten with on saturday, and a few others. We had pizza, microwaved M&Ms (they're gooood!) and soda as we watched, and we also played through phase ten while we were watching the election results.

Tursday night, the same group got together for dinner downtown to celebrate a birthday. It was great fun trying to fit a group of 8 into the small entrance area of Sticky Fingers while people were trying to get in behind us. They sat us, and funnily enough, we ended up with a boy table and a girl table. We didn't even try to sit like that, but that's how it ended up. The four guys at one table and the four girls at the other one. Although the tables were pushed together, so I guess it didn't really matter. After dinner, we went over to the birthday girl's apartment for ice cream and a game of. . you guessed it- phase ten! I did really well, and if we had gone by points, I would've won, but by the fifth hand, we decided it was late and that whoever went out first in that round would win, so Lisa walked away with another victory under her belt.

So that was my exciting week, and with a whole weekend of Dr. A shows going on, I'm exstatic! Will the fun ever end?!? I hope not! Stop by blogtalkradio all weekend for non-stop fun!

Well, I've managed so far. . .

2008-10-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

. . . To stay away from discussing politics.

Yeah, I know. Its weird for me to post more than once a week lately, but I found some interesting stuff.

So, the reason I've avoided this topic so far is that I know no matter where I stand, there will always be someone who supports a different candidate. Also, people whose opinions I value support Obama and make fun of those who support McCain. That made me hesitate to share my political view as well. And the old saying that advises against discussing politics and religion. Well I've already discussed religion on this blog, so why not go politics?

Just so you know, I'm very opinionated when it comes to politics.

First of all- VOTE! I don't care who you vote for! Just vote! Those of you who don't really have no right to sit there and critisize the government for it's shortcomings when you yourself didn't go out and participate in the voting process.

Second- Check your facts! Don't go around beleiving whatever your favorite news anchor tells you about a candidate. Make sure you find where they got their information and do a little research!

Third- Don't let the Media decide for you! If you see a video on youtube, or on facebook or something, look up the things they say and make sure you understand where they're coming from. At least check Google or Wikipedia. Because while they're not always the most reliable sources, at least it means you've attempted to find out more. Try to find a non-biased site that reviews claims from both parties and evaluates their accuracy by citing speeches and voting records. For example- This is a very informative site.

Fourth- For the youngguns out there- make sure you know why you're voting for your candidate. Don't let the reason be because your parents have voted that way all your life, or that all of your friends are voting for that candidate, so you should as well. NO! Look at the issues that are most important to you and research what your candidate plans on doing about them. See how your views, opinions and concerns match up against your candidate's views, opinions, and concerns! Who knows, you might change your mind about who you want to vote for!

Yeah, Acting's My Fallback

2008-10-24T04:31:00.000-07:00

So around here, there is a program called the Standardized Patient Program. This is where actors are used to simulate a patient-physician interaction. The actor plays the part of a patient with a certain chief complaint and list of symptoms. A medical student taking their OSCE exams comes in and gets as much information as he or she thinks they need from the patient in order to make a diagnosis.

The actor is provided with a checklist of items the young medical student should have covered through the exam. These items include questions the medical student should have asked or behavior the medical student should show.

So Thursday, I had my first job with the SPP. I was playing a patient with shortness of breath in the Internal Medicine OSCEs.

Now, I'm not allowed to disclose any specifics about the case or the patient I play in it just in case there are medical students out there looking for cheat sheets. But what I can do is tell you that this is a fun job.

The training for it is fun, and you learn all sorts of things. The acting part is fun because you get to pretend to be someone else (and sometimes hand out clues) to help a medical student pass their exam.

I get a packet of information during training which includes the page the student will get with your name, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and any other basic stats they should know. Another page gives me the information I need to study about the character I'm playing like medical history, family medical history, review of symptoms, the medications being taken, the family life, amount of children, job of spouse, and age that the character is. Finally, I get a checklist with all of the items the medical student should cover. I review that to make sure I keep an eye out for everything during the exam, and when their exam is over, I go over it with them and give them any information they left out if it's important to the case. I also make sure they know what mistakes they made or what questions they might've left out, and just generally let them know how they did.

All of the students Thursday did wonderful! And I think I did a pretty good job conveying the information without handing it to them on a silver platter. I heard from one of them that a standardized patient at a different station had really let them have it for leaving out a certain question! That surprised me greatly! Our job is not to critisize, it's to help! And I hope that the person who berated the medical student for forgetting to ask about whatever it was comes to see that that's not what we're there for.

Google Reader Trends

2008-10-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

Top Read:

In reference to the picture above: If you are wondering why Ramona is on there twice, it's because she's just that awesome!!! ;)

Also- I haven't figured out how to stop double following people on blogger and google reader, but that's only because I haven't bothered trying.

Most Starred:

.
.

Same reason why Bongi is on this one twice. He's just that amazing!!! ;)

I also can't understand why Killing Batteries isn't higher on both lists. That guy is cool.

I wish google told you which blogs were your favories, because these lists would be in a totally different order.

I really use Starring as a way to bookmark posts I want to read again, not only those I really like, but also those which I just want to check out later rather than reading them at that moment.

Baseball

2008-10-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

My story starts early last Thursday. Well, not really early, but early on in Philosophy class. And this is just a small subsection of a big story I have to tell you that spans over a whole week, but only covers three of those days. It'll make sense later.

So, you may have heard, if you follow me on Twitter, that I am not particularly fond of my Philosophy class. The teacher is not very nice, the constant questions are confusing and the whole "which philosopher generated which theory" thing absolutely confounds me. I have no clue who said any of the things I hear in class. I have no textbook, only a novel with occasional side notes crediting quotes and theories to their philosophers in a small paragraph or even one line sentence.

Oh yeah, and it also reminds me of that one day I threw up in class, but we won't go there today.

No, today we are taking a trip that many a student has taken before. The trip down the familiar "This teacher has a personal vendetta against me!" road.

Let's begin, shall we?

So yeah, as I was saying. Last Thursday. I was in Philosophy class as you may or may not have already guessed, and the teacher was introducing the subject of discussion. In my constant stupor of thought that possesses me the moment I enter the room, I was confused before he finished his first sentence.

What do confused students do? Naturally, they raise their hands to ask a question or make a comment in an often futile attempt to become un-confused.

So I raised my hand.

Usually, when this happens, I get positive feedback from teachers. I get a kind answer and a patient explanation of whatever confusing thing I am asking about. Sometimes the response is humorous and says "don't worry, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either" and sometimes it says "don't worry, you'll get it in a while" or maybe even "that was a really thoughtful question, I'm glad you asked!!".

What I got this time, word for word started with "Put your hand down!! I haven't asked any questions yet!!"

That surprised me, but I went on to answer that I didn't want to answer any questions, and that I had a question of my own.

The teacher faces the class and laughingly tells them something to the effect of "this girl is so funny! I haven't even opened the discussion and she's already anxious to participate! She is just so excited about this class, it kills me! It's so funny because she loves this class so much!"

He was laughing, and I wasn't. He was trying to dismiss me as just another one of those students who is vying for their daily amount of "participation" extra credit. I wasn't one of those students.

Now for a little sidenote. Those of you who know me know that I have a hard time lying. And sometimes, I am even blunt or brutally honest about what is on my mind. Trust me, this is one of those times that bluntness was needed.

I quickly corrected him, telling him "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No. I hate this class. I'm just confused"

The rest of the class laughed. I did not. (Neither did the teacher if you are curious)

I thought then that he might've been mad at me.

I might be right.

Last Tuesday, the teacher condemned a student for wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. The student quickly tried to make up for this by insiting that he didn't like the Red Sox, and was only wearing the hat for the colors. The team he is really a fan of is the New York Yankees. Really.

Did that work? No. Apparently, the teacher is a fan of the White Sox. He then goes on to warn against claiming support for either the Red Sox or the Yankees. He says that either team is ridiculous and that, while we have a free pass today because of our ignorance, he will not be so lenient in the future.

Of course, he was playing around. The other students were laughing, I was laughing, and even the teacher thought that he was hilarious. I don't know enough about baseball to be a fan of any team, so I decided to comment that I was a fan of "all baseball teams".

I started it out with "I'm a fan of the Yankees and the Red Sox!". I was about to go on to say that I liked ALL the baseball teams! After all, they must be talented to make it into the pros and being that skilled means training, endurance, hard work. . all admirable qualities.

But before I had the chance to tell him anything about my widespread respect for all teams in baseball, he interrupted me.

"You are about to leave this class." and this time, he wasn't kidding. He took my remark as a smart mouth thing to say. This was unfortunate for me.

Thus began the verbal onslaught of threats. "If you want to review with us this class for the test next Tuesday, you need to just shut your mouth." or "If you want to stay in this class with us, you will not mention either the Red Sox or the Yankees again the rest of the period" and then there was the "there is a difference between 'joking around' like we've been doing - ha ha haaa -and being rude to the teacher like you just were"

Needless to say, I was ignored for the rest of the day (which was bad because he wanted everyone to tell him what to review, and I had alot I wanted to review) and everytime I raised my hand, either the subject was quickly changed or he just ignored me until I put it down and he called on someone else.

Thus the whole "personal vendetta" theory.

So today in class, we took a test. I studied very hard for this one, and will be surprised if I get any lower than an 80% on it.

You should've seen the look on his face this afternoon when I looked him straight in the eyes while wearing my dad's New York Yankees cap and left after finishing my test.

Conference Weekend!

2008-10-04T21:14:00.001-07:00

Alright, so I have a secret. Well, it's not a secret. But I think I'll remind those of you who might've forgotten:

I'm Mormon!! (A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be more precise)

And, as every Mormon knows, this weekend is General Conference.

That being so, I've already attended two sessions, and my brothers have attended 3. All in all, I've sat through around 4 hours of wonderful talks from wonderful people.

My favorite speaker so far has been Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I love his story about the Moldovan Young Single Adults who went to their YSA Conference (ours is coming up at the end of the month, and I can't wait!!) and took notes to share with the YSA who didn't have an opportunity to attend because they couldn't afford to travel that far. How amazing!

For those of you who have no idea what General Conference is, it's basically a big meeting that is held in Utah, and broadcast through television, internet, and the radio throughout the world to the members of the church. It is translated into 62 languages over the internet, and probably more than that when it is transcribed and published in our church magazine to be sent all around the world.

General Conference takes place twice a year. Once in April, and once in October. There are usually five sessions of conference that are held over a period of two days. Typically, 3 sessions will be held on Saturday, and 2 more the following Sunday. These sessions can last anywhere from 90-120 minutes, and can have anywhere from 6-8 speakers who are usually chosen from the general leadership of the church.

My big brother is actually in Utah right now and has had the opportunity to attend a session live, and will attend another one tommorrow! Attending conference live is quite an opportunity. While tickets are free, they are sometimes hard to come by. The Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah seats 21,000, and was recently completed in April of 2000.

Tommorrow, we will have two more sessions of conference, with more wonderful talks, and more amazing speakers. I can't wait!

I love computers!! And a few realizations.

2008-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not a weird way at all!

And don't even think about saying "well if you love computers so much, why don't you go marry one?!" because that is soooo fifth grade. And sooo my joke.

But the truth of the matter is, I'm awfully fond of computers and the Internet and all of the useful things that go along with them!

The other day, I got a text from my friend in Washington State (who I met online) and he was on vacation. But something came up, and he needed to contact our mutual friend in Nottingham, England (who we both met online) about some urgent business concerning him, and yet another mutual friend who lives down in Alabama (who also is one that we met online)! I got the text after school, and as soon as I was home, relayed the text to my friend in England who appreciated the help and took care of things from there.

It made me feel special to be a part of this sort of "grapevine" of messages. Like I was in that movie 101 Dalmatians (the cartoon, not the real life one with Hugh Laurie, Jeff Daniels, and Glenn Close) and it was that part where the dogs have their little "barking chain" thing going on? Not that I am anything close to a dog, but the basic concept was close enough for comparison.

Now, I have a considerable amount of online friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. who I communicate with on a daily/weekly basis. And I feel connected! I have three different pals in Romania, two in Wales, three in England, and one each in Ireland, Russia, Turkey, India, and South Africa. And about a dozen others across the United States!

And friends that I've made in my life that have made their way across the globe and are now in places like Cambodia, Argentina, and Hawaii.

And those people have dozens of contacts around the world as well! It is amazing what a small world we have!

And it's getting smaller every day.

I have a friend here in SC who comes over and chats about once a month. She's really awesome, and very very interesting to talk to. All of her kids have moved out of the house. I have met only one of them, but I hear her talk about the others and feel like I know them.

Just the other day, I had this friend over and we were having a nice conversation about why I was learning Romanian and about the things that each of us know about Europe and other far away places. And as it turns out, her son is really into Gypsy music. And we chatted about that for awhile. She asked if she could give him my e-mail address and I said that that would be fine, and I gave her the one I use for personal interactions. And she also mentioned that he had a blog, and suggested I check it out.

So I checked out his blog, and my mind was blown.

You'll understand why in a minute.

I guess. . . growing up in the South, I don't really realize how . . sheltered. . . I've been. Especially growing up in a LDS family. And I realize now that having friends out there in the world doesn't really give me an accurate view of the world itself. The life I live goes by like a slow, quiet, gentle river. My constant sub-urban surroundings have sheltered me from the chaos on either side. I've never known city life. I think I know it from movies and books, and fancy magazines, but those never tell the truth about what it's really like. They dress it up and throw it out there on display for everyone to see, but for no one to really experience.

Growing up Mormon helped as well. I've had LDS friends as long as I can remember. And it's WONDERFUL! I rarely hear any foul language, I never have to deal with any smoking or drug use. I don't have to be around alcohol. Being surrounded by people who share the same beliefs as I do has made my life easier than most. I know my friends would never ask me to do anything that is against my standards or beliefs, and I know that as long as I am with them, my values and morals are safe. I'm constantly uplifted mentally and spiritually by the people I surround myself with, and it's splendid. Sure, I know about the things that happen in the "real world" and can tell right from wrong, but I really haven't had to make that many decisions on it. I've never been offered drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. (Although I'm sure I'd say no if I were offered.) And I haven't seen firsthand the effects that these things have on people, families, or friends. I have never been around anyone who was intoxicated. I've never been around anyone whose life has been torn apart from drugs or some other dangerous addiction. I don't really "Know" what it's like to see someone throw their life away through substance abuse.

Watching movies, I've come to a certain sense of what is "normal". I have ideas and concepts of what a "normal" person is like and, for the most part, expect that everyone is just as "normal" as everyone else. I recognize different cultures and traditions and religions, but all in all, I think to myself, everyone is really the same.

-Back to the "Mind Blowing Blog"-

And then I stop by that blog. And I see things that make me think. Just seeing his video of him riding the L train at 6:00 in the morning in New York and riding a bike through the streets going from work to home blows my mind! There are people who live in New York and they actually ride trains and they work all night and get home early in the morning. There is a big, busy city there that I personally would be scared to go anywhere in without my mother's permission and a printout of directions from Google maps. And I certainly would never think that anyone would walk to where they need to go! Much less ride a bike!

I guess I never really realized that those people on the streets are actually transporting themselves from home to a job or to school or to a party or from a friend's house back to home or something like that. I never really realized when I watched those movies that Hey, this is actually their form of commute! And I saw that video and I absolutely went nuts with this realization. Why hadn't I thought of that before? Why hadn't I realized? Why am I just now seeing this??

And then this guy whose blog I stopped by, I see that he's not Joe schmo office worker calling a cab to take him to his apartment or to his cubicle. I see that he works in a bar. His culture and surroundings and social life are completely different than anything I've ever seen. I started to realize that maybe not everyone is the same. I guess people are different. And can be unique without being those attention-starved posers you see in the halls of your high school. This whole different "sub-culture" of punk gypsy bands and going to places, and trying to break into "the biz" (my word, not his) of tattoo artistry. This life that he leads is an eye opening view!

Not to say that since reading his blog, I'm now an expert on the world. I'm not. I'm still protected and sheltered here at home. I'm just a little more aware now. And a little less. . . brainwashed by media portrayals.

Needless to say, I'm going to stop by more often.

The Aforementioned Blog: Captain

Blog Highlights 4

2008-09-22T04:34:00.000-07:00

Blog Highlights is a thing I did earlier in my blogging, that I haven't done in a long time. I know both medical and non medical people visit my blog, and also that people my age and "more mature" ( I originally put "Old People, but I know how sensitive some of you are when I go there, so I didn't ;) lol) people as well stop by here every once in awhile. So I figure, why not show each the other side by highlighting the blogs that I find interesting, and kinda giving them a tour around the blogs I like!

This comeback blog highlight will be about...... SCANMAN!!!

Over at catscanman.net!!

Alright, so in case you guys haven't seen it, Vijay has a podcast up. Now, even though he hasn't done an episode since like, February. . .(we want more Scanman!!) It's still wicked awesome!! He tells awesome stories, and with his own time limitations, all three episodes take a little less than 45 minutes to listen to! (I know, because I went through them all last night on my zune!!)

Check it out right HERE!! My favorite one is the one where he talks about meeting his lovely wife for the first time. Very funny story if you haven't heard it, and hilarious story even if you have!!

If you have a zune, like me, just copy/paste this address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ScanManSpeaks

into your add podcasts section and you'll have instant access to whenever he posts a new one! (Which should be soon! Now that I've found them, I want more scanman podcasts!!)

So check that out, and also check out his blog over at http://www.catscanman.net/blog/

He always has interesting and fun posts like one with a image perception personality test on it. . . (I just had to take it to see how my scores matched up with his!) He got Artist and I got Guru!! We are only one space away! We must be twins or something!!

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NFPS - The Guru

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

______END OF BORING QUIZ YOU DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT____

So yeah, go check out his blog, and his podcast and his twitter!! Follow him on Twitter here if you aren't already!! --> http://twitter.com/scanman

He's an awesome medblogger and an even more awesome friend! He was one of my first medblogger friends, and has been an amazing person to know, and I feel privelaged to have met him!

If y'all wanna know exacly how awesome he is, stop by the Dr. A podcast next Thursday night, and he'll probably be in the chatroom ready to greet and befriend any newcomers that stop by! You won't regret it!

______________

(if any of you care to see the other posts in the Blog Highlight series, just click on the tag, and you'll be whisked away into a land of . . well, you'll be taken to a page with all of the blog highlight posts on there)

Just a few notes. . .

2008-09-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

I had wanted to blog about a local news story awhile back. But I feel that the time has come and gone, and it's really not that big of a topic for me anymore.

I wanted to blog about certain goals I've been reaching for, but they don't seem that important now, because my progress is hardly showing.

I wanted to blog about that new book I got: "Med School Confidential" because it had a few activities in there for the future medical student to do to see if they REALLY REALLY want to go. Just questions, really. Like "why do you want to go into medicine?" or "what do you think it will be like?" etc. etc. I figure when I don't have other papers to do, I'll sit down and think them out.

I was going to share my "threw up in philosophy class" story, but then I figured it wasn't all that . . neat. At all.

So this leaves me no choice. I've gotta blog about something I've been thinking about lately, and something that applies to more people than just me.

So how many blogs do you stalk? How many blogs do you stop by on a daily basis without commenting just to read? How many bloggers do you admire who have no idea you exist??

I can count mine on one hand.

Now, how many people stop by your blog without commenting? How many silent watchers does your blog have?

You probably can't count that number as accurately as the first can you? Why? Because the silent watchers are just that- silent! No comments on the blog, no tweets on twitter, no e-mails no nothing. The only way you can tell they've been there is because your sitemeter tells you that you have a hundred or so visits that week. (by all means, not a real number, I look at my sitemeter reports ONCE and then forget everything that was in them, but I'm sure I don't get 100 views a week.)

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm not! I love stalking blogs and not feeling like I neeeeed to comment. I like stopping by blogs without the pressure to actually interact. (Although I do wish that certain people would acknowledge my existance!!)

I love the fact that there are people who read my blog (probably only once and then they run away!) and I don't find out until I see them on my blog's blognetwork on facebook or something. It makes me feel special (warm and fuzzy inside, etc.)! :) I even sometimes doubt they actually exist until things like that happen.

Or until I find a comment that they've left on a post I wrote awhile ago and didn't check the comments until the other day when I went back and reviewed all my posts/comments.

But honestly? I'm always scared that I've chased them all away! I'm always paranoid that I'll post a dumb blog post one day and then no one except my mom (thanks mom!) will ever ever want to stop by ever again!

And I also freak out when I don't post a comment on someone's blog and then they won't know how amazing and cool I think their blog is! Yaknow?

So anyway, I just want you all to know that yeah, I read your blogs. Even if I don't comment, I'm there. I'm enjoying and google reader starring your posts one after the other. I'm thinkin about y'all when you have no idea I'm around.

And wouldn't it be cool to have a list of the people who read your blog? Like if you could have sitemeter jot down the names of everyone who stops by and be like "oh yah, so and so stopped by and checked out your blog for (random amount of time)" Wouldn't that be nice? That would be nice.

Also- Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is a hilarious show, and I dont know why it's so funny. Inflatable Bubby is amazing.

A Mommy Story

2008-09-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

[From The Desk of Our Very Special Guest Blogger!! Enjoy! -3M]

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mary for asking me to place a post on her blog – I am always delighted to “share” my many life experiences with Mary. She is so sweet and so very easy to talk to. As she stated in her intro, we met in medical terminology class and have continued to grow our friendship ever since :)

During our weekly gathering after class, we all sit around a table and talk about our many classes. As I listen to each of the students, all of whom are so much younger than I, I cannot help but to think about how lucky I am – here I am, 42 years old and surrounded by young adults in their 20’s, just starting their adult lives with such enthusiasm and open minds! How fortunate I am to feel accepted by the warm and loving hearts of our campus community.

After sharing the fact that I have a son (who ALSO attends the same college) I decided to tell them one of my many “mommy” stories about my son, Andrew …

At the very end of my pregnancy in the summer of 1990, I became quite ill. It was a hot summer that year and I wasn’t due to give birth to my son until July 17th. On July 2nd, I spiked a temp (approx 102) experienced a backache, nausea and vomiting. For 24 hours, I tried to deal with the “virus” I initially diagnosed myself with. Sometimes, those who are in the healthcare field make horrible patients – seems we are always ready to help others, but fail to take care of ourselves the way we should :)

Well, that temp did not go away and I knew that it signaled an infection. The back pain I experienced was near my kidney and I was concerned enough to go to the Dr. After a trip to the OB/GYN, he confirmed a kidney infection. Since my “due date” was only 3 weeks away, he wanted to contact the pediatrician to see which med the baby could tolerate best. He sent me home with Keflex and assured me that my 4th of July holiday would not be negatively influenced by this illness :)

As instructed, I went home and took that horse pill! They also prescribed Phenergan, which helped to cease my vomiting and also made me sleepy. The next morning, to my elation, I woke to find that the Dr was right! Here it was, 8 a.m. on the morning of the 4th of July, and I awoke after the BEST night sleep OF MY LIFE! My fever broke, the backache was gone and I felt WONDERFUL! I remember my husband and I rolled to face one another in bed. I told him how happy I was to feel so much better. He embraced me as we snuggled together for a moment. I then giggled softly and said “too bad we couldn’t have a 4th of July baby” …

I then sat up in bed, and my water BROKE – literally GUSHED right after my statement! Andrew entered the world that evening, 10:42 pm, amidst the fireworks I could see from my hospital room window! As soon as he was born, the Dr and my husband commented on his striking RED hair, so fitting for a 4th of July baby!

He truly is, and always has been, my little “firecracker”!

The moral of the story might possibly be: A good night sleep will prepare you for all you may face the next day :)

Guest Blogger Coming Soon!

2008-09-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I know it's weird for me to post more than once a week when school's going on, but I have a special treat for you all!

I have secured a special Guest Blogger who has agreed to share a story with you all. I have had the opportunity to know this woman in real life, and let me tell you, she's amazing! I was lucky enough to meet her in my Medical Terminology class last year, and her sweet spirit and enthusiastic personality made the whole class brighter every day! Her encouraging words helped people to get excited about the world of medicine, and her kindness towards everybody in the class made going to it a special treat!

I'm fortunate enough to have her in my Spanish class this semester, and, as before, her amazing attitude and wonderful sun-shiney personality have made this class better than, I think, it would've been in her absence.

I myself have had wonderful discussions with her inside and outside of class, and our discussions are always pleasant and enlightening for, I'm sure, both of us!

The other day, she shared a story with me that I loved hearing so much that I wanted you all to enjoy it as well! I asked her today after our Spanish class if she wouldn't mind sharing the story with you guys via a Guest Blog! Thankfully, she said that she would love to share the story and was delighted to be a guest writer on my blog!

I decided that she deserved and introduction, and didn't think that I fit an introduction about someone so wonderful into a paragraph before the guest blog.

Thus this post. So stay tuned to this blog, and keep an eye out for my Guest Blogger! You'll kick yourself in the head if you miss this one!

The Birthplace of Spam?

2008-09-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

No, sillies, I'm not talking about that processed ham substitute that they shove into cans so that the un-healthily minded can scoop it out of said can and shove it into their mouths.

No. I'm talking about the type of spam that afflicts anyone with any sort of access to the internet. The type of spam we come across on websites, in our e-mail inboxes, and even in the comments we get on our blogs!

It gets annoying to find your inbox filled to the brim with advertisements, insincere offers of free gifts, and even promises of monetary gain!

But where does it all come from? Who actually has time in their life to write a letter asking for people's names, address, telephone numbers, etc?? Who had the time to sit down and write the letter I received today detailing the gruesome recent demise of an African billionaire who- oops!- doesn't have anyone to give his billions upon billions of dollars to after his tragic death on the top of a mountain in some far away land??

My theory? It comes from the land of geeks. Every corner of whatever online role playing game floats your boat hold a spammer. Every single online game that you come across where there are people pretending to be mystical creatures surrounded by horrible graphics and poor plotlines is an opportunity for a spammer to be born.

These people obviously have no life, right? They've been unemployed and living in their mother's basement since they were 15 or so and, even though they are in their mid-30's now, the only thing that has changed in the last few decades is that they went from playing Dungeons and Dragons with their buddies in person to playing World of Warcraft with their buddies that they never see, and never really talk to except on the game to trade armor, or swords or whatever the heck you trade on there.

Anyway, on with my theory. Since these people have no contact with the outside world except when they occasionally go out to an important family event, they obviously have to do something when their computer/internet goes through some lag-time, or while their computer -gasp- loses power. So that's when they put together their plans. That is when they compose their outlandish stories and etc. to fill the gap left behind by the absence of internet.

The other theory I have is of the Door to Door salesman. Haven't you all noticed that you never see door to door salesmen anymore? Why is that? Did they die out? Are they extinct? Did a meteor land on their "door to door salesman" convention in the middle of their annual get together? No, my friends, they have gone to the internet. The same annoying little distraction from your otherwise normal day is certainly unwelcome, but do they care? Of course not! They go about their business of having doors slammed in their face (without the physical door!) and being virtually ignored by not only stay at home moms and housewives, but also by their friends and family and anyone who has access to a computer!

Sorry door to door salesmen, but the gig is up, and the sad thing is? This online spamming thing is even worse for your wellbeing than before.

Not that all people who play online games or go door to door selling things are bad. I'm sure they're lovely people who are, at least, beautiful on the inside! I know some completely wonderful people who are not in any way awkward, socially challenged, pimply, nerdy or anything close! In fact, there are some people who play these games that are perfectly normal people who may or may not spend an insane amount of time online, and also find time to live a life. I'm not trying to diss them at all. And going door to door selling things can be a very respectable source of income if you do it the right way! I have nothing against most of them.

No, the problem I have is with the spammers. The people who waste other people's time (not to mention their own as well) with meaningless messages, e-mails, pop ups, advertisements, etc. The people who have nothing better to do than to sit at home on their computer and bother other people who just want to go about their business in peace.

Also- everyone deletes spam. Everyone closes pop-ups. If their is any worse way to advertise something, it's by using popups and spam. So thanks for that offer of 3.2 million dollars if I wire you money to escape from some country I've never heard of. I'll deeeeeply consider that offer. I'm already halfway to the nearest bank to transfer it into your account right now. Really. Keep e-mailing me. It'll get you something. Be persistant, PLEASE! And maybe you can share your boundless wealth and (no joke) "2 boxes of treasure" with me. R-E-A-L-L-Y.

My Weekend (well, last weekend)

2008-09-04T12:48:00.001-07:00

*BEEEEP*

This is Mary's phone, and even though we have AT&T, we still had no bars in that podunk little town we stayed in during our vacation. So thanks for that call about. . well if anyone had called, I wouldn't have gotten their message.

But seriously, the vacation last weekend was pretty fun. We left home round about 4pm on Friday night, and arrived around 10pm that night to the house we were going to stay at.

The house we stayed at was nice, and we were able to take a tour before we went to bed Friday night. We chose the rooms we wanted to stay in and then explored the rest of the place. It was a cute little house and I wouldn't mind living there at all, but the house was owned by the company my dad works for, and is on the property. It's a guest house for employees like dad who need to commute back and forth from work on the weekends and such.

But it had a pool table, and we all were able to improve our pool skills while we were there. So that was pretty neat. And the plant was a wonderful place for me to take pictures and look around. So I did that once or twice.

Saturday, we woke up early and were out the whole day almost. We looked at houses, and met my sister for lunch in Augusta. I wasn't feeling like being there at all because I'm not too fond of Zaxby's. Especially after I found a bug on the sandwich I ordered. I got a new one, but really didn't think that it made sense. "There was a bug on your last sandwich, so let's get you another and hope there's no bug on it!" Yeesh!

But other than that, Saturday was alright. We had fun playing pool and hanging out at the house.
Sunday we went to church down there, and even though our church really is the same all over, the congregations are definetly not the same all over. There were alot of . . . older people. Talk of dentures and depends littered the conversations I overheard. Although they were awefully nice people, I wish that there had been more people my age around. There was even a college right across the street from the church and there weren't any kids my age around!

Monday, we stopped by the Airspace Museum down in Macon, and I took tons of pictures, etc for my buddy who wants to be a pilot. The museum was pretty interesting!

But I'm way glad to be home, and to have the internet!! And to be back in my own bed, and have an actual signal on my phone (not that anyone calls me, but still). I don't know why it took me so long to post about the trip, but I'm glad I did.

Aaaaand, one more pic, just cuz I like this one.

Was taken in Downtown Macon, GA. The full view is much better. I sure do hope these ones all pop up if you click on them. . . that'd be nice.

Look what I can do!

2008-08-28T20:10:00.001-07:00

Hahaha, I can tie a tie.

I found out that I know how to! Big Brother, a few weeks back, gave me a crash course one afternoon during a commercial break from whatever hilarious show was on, on tying ties! I had one of dad's old ones lying around, and so Big Brother showed me how a tie is tied.

After a few tries, I got it right, and I've been trying not to forget! I mean, what good is it knowing if you are then going to go and forget it by not practicing??

So tonight, after the Doc. A. show, during the Ustream afterparty, there are too many commas in this sentance.

Let's try that again.

During the Ustream afterparty tonight, I found a tie on the computer table! It was one of Big Brother's that he left around after church or something. My thought process procedes as such:

Lookit how pretty it is! But wait, uh oh! I think I forgot how to tie a tie! Aww, man! Does anyone in the chatroom know, and is willing to walk me through it?

Apparently, all that the chatroom can do is tell me to search wikipedia or youtube. Psh! Like I'm gonna do that just for learning how to tie a tie!

I'm sure I can remember if I just try. . .

So I try.

This is, I think, Big Bro's favorite tie. It's his Donald Trump tie. Now, I had no clue th

at The Donald put out a line of ties before Big Bro came home from his mission with one.

But lookit how shiney and fancy it is! I definetly liked messing with it and trying to remember how to tie it! So fun!

And dang I'm glad that Big Bro didn't catch me messing with his tie. He's very particular about his ties. Luckily, he won't find out unless he reads my blog! Hee hee, sneaky.

A few minutes of trying and failing to produce a smooth knot, and finally I figure it out! I had to do it a few times more before the knot looked even remotely like what a tied tie should look like. But I finally got it. And that's my little success of the week!

(That black stuff under my eyes is paint. I was fingerpainting before the show. There's proof for all of you doubters! I guess technically, I was supposed to keep the paint on the paper, but I decided to have a little bit of fun with it.)

Last night's show

2008-08-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

Allllll-right. As alot of you know, the Doctor Anonymous Show comes on Thursday nights, at 9pm eastern time, and many of you know that I love going! I love going because the guests are always amazing, and the people who call in are always so fun, and, of course, Doc A is super-cool.

Well last night's show was no exception. The amazing, beautiful, and popular Ramona Bates of Suture for a Living was on last night. And, although at first she was a little nervous, once she got used to being on, she was awesome! So, good job Ramona!

Alot of people called in to talk to Ramona. Theresa and Val both called in while she was on the show, and it was fun hearing from my three favorite blogger ladies.

In the middle, the show kind of gets to be crazy. Scanman calls in to talk to Ramona, but she had already hung up, and then as soon as Scanman hangs up, Ramona calls in again! So then of course, Bongi, who had wanted to speak with Ramona but had gotten to the show a little later, called in. And then Scanman called in. And then Rico called in, and then I (seeing all of the amazing people who had called in) wanted to call in! It was a five person pileup on the Doctor A show, and it was amazing. One by one, we left as we talked to whoever we wanted to talk to (I chose to ask Bongi a question).

And I think, as always, I was the last one to leave the party. I'm soo lame that way. Always have to be the very last one. But oh well. I tried to hijack the show for a bit at the end, and close it up as elegantly as Doc A, but it didn't work that well. It was fun attempting to close out the show. I recapped the guests and thanked everyone for being there, but I have no clue how Doc A does it without being as ridiculously awkward as I was. Probably his scripted notes and such. I thought it funny when someone suggested in the chat that I was the new co-host. Probably Rico. He's a joker.

Anyway, I encourage all of you to check it out! If you don't know where to find it, I have it on my sidebar over to the right, and the most recent episode of the Dr. A. show is always on there if someone wants to listen to it! Show 45 is going to be up there until a newer show replaces it next week!

So go listen!

Wii Online is fun stuff.

2008-08-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright, I admit, It's not like it's completely new. But I still love doing it.

Turning on that Wii Console and heading online to see some of my favorite sites on the big TV screen. . . it's an amazing feeling!

But I haven't done it in awhile, and I decided to hop on and try a few things. First thing I tried? Twittering on the Wii!

As you can all see (even if you don't follow me on twitter), Twittering on TV is fun!

Although the obvious downside is that I have to search and peck to find what letter or key I'm looking for. That number one hand there runs around typing for you, it'd be easier to just hop on the computer and twitter yourself!

But for those days when there's someone else on the real computer or when your computer is down but the internet is still working, Twittering on the Wii works just fine!

Next Stop? Over to some of my favorite Med-Blogs! I search and pecked my way to Google, and found Doc A.!

Such a useful search engine!

Also- I laughed out loud when I saw what post it put on the front page of google for his blog.

Looks like I'm not the only one with a "pee post"!

Once I clicked on the link, and the Wii dropped me into the Doc A blogiverse, I noticed a flaw in the system!

I can't watch the video posts!

(But I can wave at my reflection in the black box where the video post is supposed to go!)

And from this shot, you can all notice our extra-ordinarily messy entertainment system, sorry mom!

From there, pointed and clicked my way over to Vijay's Place.

(I wish I had remembered that Doc A had a link there before I went through the painfully time-wasting search and peck process!)

Once it looked like everything worked over there on the wii- (I'm sure it's because you use firefox, Vijay. Because firefox, as everyone knows, is magical ;o) )

Lastly,

I felt like combining the page zoom and the hand shaped pointer to make myself laugh. The best place to do that?

Why, over at Val's blog of course! Onward to Revolution Health hooo!!!

Oh silly pointer! Stop picking Val's nose! I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate that at all!

(Side note: Lookit how pretty Val is! Even with a hand shaped pointer pretending to pick her nose!)

It's a wonderful life

2008-08-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

So now that dad's found a job down in Macon, GA, I have been having to make more . . . shudder. .decisions. I've decided not to take a semester off this fall. I'm still going to go to my little technical community school. The classes will be easy ones. Transferrable, but basic. I'm going to be taking:

Elementary Spanish
Intro to Philosophy
Music Appreciation
Intro to Computers

Which should all be pretty simple classes. I took 3 years of spanish in High School, so hopefully, it'll be like riding a bike. I played the trumpet all through middle school, and have been trying to learn to play the piano and harmonica, so I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. And intro to computers?? LOL! Honestly, I think I'll sleep through that class. I've taken two computer classes in high school and am on the computer constantly. Pu-leeze! The only thing I haven't even touched is Philosophy. I honestly have no idea how that class will go, but I don't think I should worry. I've gotten through psychology and sociology with high grades, so I don't think that philosophy will slow me down now.

All in all, I'm counting on this year being a GPA boosing semester. Easy A's all around. This semester is going to be what I like to call a "practice semester". I'm going to practice studying, doing homework, and getting with the gosh darned program! So hopefully, I'll develop some good habits and get rid of some time wasting ones during this semester. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

After this semester is over, and I've (hopefully) been accepted to BYU-Idaho (still haven't heard, it's worrying me a little bit), I'll start to establish residency in Georgia. I'll go there during breaks and holidays, and hopefully, when I look at Georgia's Medical Schools, I'll be able to go without paying out of state tuition. And I'll have a greater chance of getting in, I think.

So that's my plan, and- if perfectly executed- I'll be well on my way to medical school in a couple of years!

Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out the way you want it to. But I'm hoping this time will be different. Excuse me now, whilst I go knock on every wooden surface in the house!

100 Post Celebration

2008-07-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

So this is my 100th post. And I figured instead of a regular post about music or social life or the rare medical post, I'd post a video.

Now, this is a video of me eating some Cheese Balls. And I have a glass milk. Also, I think I do a pretty good job of putting on a show for you all. I dropped the first one, so that wasn't awesome. But I caught a good few.

Yay for post 100 and yay for Costco-sized barrels of round cheesy poofy snacks! On with the video!

I do think, looking back, that maybe I should've used a real camera instead of a camera phone camera. Also: I should've eaten 100! That would've been awesome and a feat worth accomplishing!

So sorry for the horrible video quality. I really should get a real camera.

Talk about a social step backwards.

2008-07-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

This was on MSN News this morning. I think it's a huge step backwards socially. I mean, sure, there are times where it would be handy to call straight to someone's voicemail. But in the way that they suggest in this article? Very tacky if you ask me. Like a vocal text message. <Rant Coming> Which are also slowly killing our social communication skills, by the way. I mean, sure, sometimes, you just can't be on the phone, and text messages are handy for subtle communication, but what's wrong with calling a friend up on the phone?? Nothing that I can see. But of course no one does that anymore because of "texting". <End of Rant>

Dump Your Lover Directly on Voicemail

"Everybody has gone through the scenario where they've called somebody and just
hoped they got voice mail so they didn't have to have a conversation,"

Certain things should be dealt with face to face. Not on the phone, and definetly not through such cowardly means.

My Playlist

2008-07-23T06:22:00.001-07:00

Here are some awesome songs that I think you guys should check out!

1. Johanna (Shut Up)- Dan Balan (AKA Crazy Loop)

2. Mama Mia - Meryl Streep (Mama Mia Movie Soundtrack Version)

3. SOS- Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan (from mama mia)

4. SOS- Akcent (not the mama mia version)

5. Our Last Summer- Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth

6. Playback Song- Marius Nedelcu (and pretty much every other song in his new album)

And those are my top 6 songs right now. Still hooked on my Un-official Theme Song, but I already embedded the video for that in my last post, so watch it again if you want.

My (unofficial) Theme Song

2008-07-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

I think everyone needs a theme song. I really do. I'm a firm believer in the "soundtrack of life". Everyone has different songs on theirs, and everyone has all kinds of different genres of music representing them.

I found my theme song today. The one that I hear and say: That's me!

Now, I know you all probably think that that's pretty weird. Well it's about to get weirder.

Why?

Because I actually like to pretend that that song really was made just for me! I mean, come on! My name is in it! You'll be convinced it's made for me when you hear it as well.

The guy who sings this song is Marius Nedelcu. He was in my favorite Romanian boy band Akcent. Now he's out on his own. Some of you might remember my post about him leaving to make his own solo album.

And I like to pretend that THAT POST is the reason that he wrote me this song. Logical, right?

And now that you are all thoroughly weirded out by my wild imagination, let me tell you that I know I watch too many movies. I watch too many chick flicks. I daydream way too much. But I enjoy myself while doing it!

Edit: Someone finally uploaded it onto Youtube, so I just embedded the video to save you some trouble.

(Un)-Official Medi-Medi-Mary Theme Song: "Doctor Mary" by Marius Nedelcu

Finally

2008-07-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

. . . My dad has a job.

In Macon, GA. Of course, I'll be staying here in Greenville for awhile, but I hope that I can eventually move down there with him.

This is making me look at different medical schools down there, of course. GA has a very nice selection of medical schools.

First of all, Mercer University School of Medicine, which is in Macon, and therefore would be the closest one to home. Also, Daddy went to Mercer University to get his degree in whatever he has a degree in. (sorry dad, I don't really pay attention to those sorts of things.) I'd finally be able to wear that old shirt of his and be showing my school spirit at the same time!

Second- Emory University School of Medicine. I've heard good things about this one. Very good things. It looks like it is the largest one with 11,098 students (fte '02).

Third- Medical College of Georgia. I must admit, I haven't ever heard of this one. Doesn't look like it's as big as Emory or as picky as Morehouse.

Fourth- Morehouse School of Medicine. They love accepting minorities and women. I have at least one of those attributes, right? This is the smallest one with only 219 students (fte '02).

I don't really know, without doing more research which one I'd choose. I might not even go to medical school in GA. It's just a thought.

posi+ives to Med School in GA:

In-State tuition
I used to live in GA, and I would love to live there again!
I know have a nurse friend who works at one of the hospitals in Atl.
I wouldn't be in an unfamiliar environment.
The Atlanta Temple is so beautiful and being closer would give me more of an opportunity to stop by.

Negatives?

It's fricking hot down there!
The family would only be a short drive away.
My Crazy, blogslacking speed-demon cousin would be down there making the roads more dangerous.
They're horrible drivers anyway down there.
The Jeff Foxworthy radio show might accidentally find it's way to my ears.

So anyway, that's what's going on lately. What I'm thinking about and what's happening around here. Still haven't gotten my acceptance/rejection letter from BYU-Idaho. I just today mailed in that application for the made-for-me job up at the hospital. (With my credentials, I'm a shoe-in. Let's just hope they see it that way as well.)

On a side note- my hair looks very nice today. I wish you all could see it.

My bee's wax. All up in here.

2008-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Golly I'm tired. I've been running around all month doing this or that. I'm trying to get a job, keep up with the multiple internet things, and enjoy life at the same time.

It seems that I'm missing out on some random chats with my peeps! That's distressing. Someone needs to text me or call me to let me know about these things. I should really be more aware of the goings-on around here. But here is what I have been up to as of late and what I'm going to be doing for awhile:

This month:

1st- Helping a friend move from one apartment to another. Totally sore muscles.

4th-Fireworks and Cookout with another family. 19 people total from our house, and probably a little less than 15 from the rest of the cul-du-sac.

5th- Hiking from 5am-3pm (more totally sore muscles)

10th- Six Flags over GA. Was awesome. (even more soreness)

11th- Dance 10pm-midnight

12th- Water activity at church! Played volleyball against dad. (Way bruised arms!)

13th (today) Church followed by chilling with my church group at Jenna's house.

14th- Family night. Followed by me going over to a friend's house to get details about dog/house-sitting thu-sat.

16th- Church class @ 7pm

17th- Rock climbing at the local sports club with some buddies around 5pm. (also dogsitting)

18th- Seeing a movie with some pals. Batman Begins!! Probably around 7. (also dogsitting)

19th- Lake Day! Boating and jetskiing and all sorts of fun. (last day of dogsitting!)

20th- probably the same as the previous sunday.

21st- Cliff Diving.

Keep in mind that all of this is happening while trying to find a job, waiting for my letter of acceptance (or rejection) to BYU Idaho, helping my mom with random childcare gigs, doing random childcare gigs of my own, wondering why I don't have a boyfriend, and trying to learn a language for no good reason other than there's a couple of cute guys who speak it.

(if you've gotten this far, congratulations. Especially if you managed to keep focused through that slightly rant-ey paragraph)

The list was partly for you all to see how awesome my life is, partly so that you can see why I've been so busy, and partly because I need to write it all down to remember.

Anyway, this is me promising another post soon. I have something interesting that I want to talk about. (well. . . I'll find something interesting at least.)

But I feel awesome, and all the soreness from all the activities has gone away so far, and as long as I'm busy, I'm happy. So thank you all for sticking with it!

Just a photo-dump

2008-07-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Just putting up some pictures I took with my phone!
Enjoy!

Momma got this for me. My very own Doctor Kit! Now I can be Patch Adams! :D

This Diet Coke was on sale, so mom got 8 12 packs. Don't you be jealous, Dr. A!

One of my favorite Study Skulls. We had to memorize tons of things. It's sitting on the list of terms so that I can't cheat!

When I was giving blood. In case you haven't heard, I am a world record bleeder. On this, my third time giving blood, I bled in 6 minutes! Last time it took around 10. And I had to get poked in both arms before they found a vein! I'm getting better at this!

Yes, Yes it does.

Apparently I do do these things.

2008-06-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

I know some people have a "no meme policy". You know "Memes". They're the official word that someone made for those types of things you forward people in an e-mail. The annoying e-mails that friends would send asking you to list five things you loved or the place you wanted to visit most. Stuff that's interesting to read about someone, but not really the type of stuff that you needed to know.

The type of thing that you get but never really want to do. They're annoying, time consuming, and all together a waste of space.

But I do them.

I do, because I like answering the questions. They make me think about things I don't usually think about.

Like what really is my favorite movie? Or. . which one of my guy friends would I want to date?

But fortunately for everyone else, I do them without expecting anyone else to read them or pass them on. I'm not the "Tagging" type. I'm the "I'll do it and put it up in case anyone really wants to know my third grade teacher's name. That way, if they want to take it and do it on their blog, they can, and if they don't, I don't look like an idiot." type when it comes to these.

(I know, that was some pretty sad sentance structure, but I really don't know any other way I could've put it)

I also do them to avoid having to tell people that I don't. As if I'd be seen as a "party pooper" if I didn't. Although admittedly, I never forward the e-mail stuff. If no one knows I didn't "forward it to all my friends within five minutes or your crush will never look at you", they won't have to be offended, right?

But in places like these, where it's more "stop by and see" than it is "open this e-mail I sent to you". . . I'm willing to put them up here.

Oh, yeah, you're probably wondering if I'll ever actually put it up. Sorry for the "suspenseful" and prolonged rant.

I was tagged with this by Jenna

(This one is pitiful by the way. I've done ones that have been up to 100 questions. This is amateur meme work.)

Ten years ago I was Ten. I was running around the neighborhood with my buddies starting "no girls allowed" clubs, climbing trees, skinning my knee, jumping in creeks, hiking through the woods behind Phillip's house, and catching frogs, salamanders, lizards, and other miscellaneous things mom never let me keep.

Five things on today's "to do list"

1) Be cool

2) Be gooooood looking

3) Kick some butt

4) Feel good about myself

5) Try out some dancersizing

In case you're wondering, these are daily things that are accomplished indefinetly.

I enjoy: Watching/playing soccer; Chillin with my buddies at the Doc. A. show, and the off again on again post-show party; I particularly enjoy the company of my good friends Doc. A, Vijay, Ramona, Theresa, Pk, Val and Rico! And I love blogging of course; and I love watching funny movies, or action movies, or sci fi stuff. There are alot more things, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

I have lived in:

Heaven :)

Atlanta, GA

Memphis, TN

Greenville, SC

And of course, I tag no one. Sorry for not passing it on Jenna, but I hate tagging people.

Unless we're playing real tag. Freeze tag is my favorite. TV tag is also tons of fun! Ohh, and I love jump tag. It's awesome.

On an unrelated note: I love S'mores, and the movie Billy Madison.

Luckily, I like trying new things.

2008-06-25T06:04:00.001-07:00

Finally checked out google reader. It's one more thing that I have to check. I seriously need to decrease the number of things I check. I guess since google reader lets me know when someone posts a new blog, that's that many less blogs I feel obligated to check. But I still need to start decreasing the number of things I need to check.

I have

4 e-mail accounts

2 msn screen-names

3 "what'cha up to?"/multimedia update sites (twitter, etc.)

3 swapping accounts (paperbackswap)

3 miscellaneous memberships to different "artsy" sites

1 pch subscription that I need to get rid of

2 job search site memberships

2 different school accounts (current, future)

1 blog I have to update.

1 social networking page

3 different webcam show/broadcasting sites (ustream, etc.)

1 photo-storage site account
A billion other random things that I can never keep track of

It's more than I'd like to keep track of. And I think I need to find a way to dump some of the less important ones. Some are ones that I like more than others. Like the things I can use to keep in touch with you blog buddies. But other ones are either just plain redundant or superfluous.

Cleaning out the closet in more than one way then, this weekend. For those of you who follow me on twitter, you know that I now have more laundrey than I can handle. I need to ravamp my closet in real life, and now I find I need to do some online closet cleaning as well. It'll be a pretty nice experience. Kinda like a "shave your legs, put on some lotion, and jump into a bed made with clean sheets" feeling. You girls know that feeling. It doesn't happen frequently due to poor timing of either event, but it feels good on the outside and the inside. Like you're somehow. . . more smooth than you were ten minutes ago.

Anyway, that was a pretty bad side track. The point it I'm going to start eliminating some of the more unnessecary elements in my life.

News Cruising. . .

2008-06-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

I found this article while reading the blogs this morning. I found it over at med student musings. Nice find!

If You Only Knew ...
Reader's Digest offered two dozen doctors a chance to tell it like it really is, and general practitioners, surgeons, shrinks, pediatricians, and other specialists took the challenge. Some wanted to be anonymous; some didn't care. But all of them revealed funny, frightening, and downright shocking things that can help you be a better, smarter patient.

Oh, you doctors think you're being sneaky keeping these secrets, huh? Well Reader's Digest has got your number! None of these really surprise me.

And I thought it was funny when one of the physicians gave Reader's Digest what was coming to it!

• I know that Reader's Digest recommends bringing in a complete list of all your symptoms, but every time you do, it only reinforces my desire to quit this profession.
--Douglas Farrago, MD

I thought that was pretty funny. Like him saying "Not even Reader's Digest, "Oprah condensed", is completely without fault here." I mean, seriously, that is like going on the Dr. Phil show or something and saying "I know Doctor Phil here always tells you _______ but the truth is ________". I'm honestly kind of surprised that they published that one.

This last one is the final one that I want to mention. You know it'll have people bringing their measuring tape from home. You know it.

• In many hospitals, the length of the white coat is related to the length of training. Medical students wear the shortest coats.
--Pediatrician, Baltimore

So watch out you guys! I know all your tricks! You think you can fool everyone but you can't! Reader's Digestives will make sure of that! Don't you try to keep secrets while they're around, 'cuz they'll find them! Yeah, they will!

Oh, and make sure to stick with it until the last page. Priceless for those anal-retentive people who love to complain about bills.

My turn for the dance party.

2008-06-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing big, just chillin at my ustream.tv site. Just because I've been wanting to try it out. If you guys wanna stop by and hang out, I'll have it going around the same time as Dr. A's last saturday night.

Click Here at 9:00 pm eastern time. If you want your name to show up, you'll have to register with the site. I'll be there with my webcam and there will be a chatroom. If you guys want to stop by to chat, that'll be fine.

I'll put the link up on twitter once I've gotten everything set up tonight, but seeing as some of you aren't on twitter, I'm putting it up here so you can all have the opportunity to drop by.

See you all tonight!

There we go.

2008-06-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Alright!! Switched over all my medi medi accounts (I had alot, trust me) to my new e-mail. Finally. I decided to switch when stickam decieded it didn't want to accept my regular e-mail as a valid address. And since I've been wanting to have a seperate account for my blogosphere world, I finally did it.

I had to switch over:

Twitter

Britekite

Pownce

Blogtalkradio

And this blog.

So now my profile says I'm a new author or whatnot. Psh. I wish it was easier on here like it was on twitter or britekite. That would be nice.

But unfortunately, it was weird switching. Like I had to register this e-mail as an author and then as an administrator and then delete the old one from the new one.

I lost all the "profile views" that I had, but I'll be adding a sitemeter for things like that soon.

I had fun with all of you tonight on the Dr. A show!! It was awesome!! Maybe soon we'll have another dance party?? Maybe?? I hope. If Doc A doesn't have one, I'll set one up myself!!! And you'll all be invited!! Haha.

Anyway, that's it for now. Just testing out the blog from the new e-mail.

I'm so proud of myself.

2008-06-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

I was able to, for the first time in, like, forever (that was soo valley girl), go through the list of links that I have over there and read everyone's most recent posts!! I found a variety of wonderful stories. Some were heartbreaking, some were inspiring, and some were just plain hilarious.

I also found that my Best Buddy was inspired by a recent post of mine to post about something that bothered her on the news. I must say, she is much better at it than I am. The way she does "righteous indignation" is comparable to the way Emril cooks a fancy meal. It's incredible watching how gracefully she does it. She is one classy girl. Thanks for letting me be your muse, buddy!

All in all, it's been a good day for blog post reading! Sometimes I forget why I added certain blogs, and then it all comes back to me when they post lovely pictures and stories.

But I have gone through all the way from the top to the bottom and read everyone's most recent blog posts. Bravo, all! Bravo.

Some people. . .

2008-06-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Are just ridiculous.

[WARNING: This is a side of me you really only see if you live with me. This is a side of me I let out when I see something ridiculous in the world that just isn't right. If you want to continue seeing me as the happy-go-lucky young woman that I usually am, please don't read any further.]

Other warning: I get sidetracked for a minute in the middle, I just realized. So I've marked that bit so that you can see where I got distracted from the story. It is an on-topic rant, but I tend to get wordy and long winded on these sorts of things.

I watched this on youtube.com this morning. It's a few weeks old, but that doesn't change the fact that it is just plain sad.

Let me give you the low-down before you actually watch it, though. Apparently, this man had accidentally hit a small girl with his car. Accidentally. He didn't drive away, which says to me that this is neither a hit and run nor a malicious act of violence. Instead, he got out of his car to see to the little girl and maybe to get someone to help.

That is a pretty sad story.

But wait- that's not all. That isn't the really sad part. That's coming up.

The little girl's family was having a get together of some kind (this is what I've gathered, at least, from the story) and there just happened to be alot of people there who saw what happened.

These people, for whatever reason, decided that they'd attack this man. In mob-form. These people actually formed a mob and attacked this man who accidentally hit a toddler with his car.

BEGINNING OF SIDETRACKED RANT- - -

Where would the toddler be if they had been responsible grown ups? It wouldn't have been playing in the street at that time of night, that's for sure. My guess is that "this-get" together involved alcohol.

There is a growing trend that I've noticed as of late. Instead of people waiting until their children are asleep to invite friends over for a few drinks, they let the kids stay up! I've seen them in my cul-du-sac, their lawn chairs out, in the middle of the night with their kids running around in the street while they drink the night away.

I've seen them around town in their driveways, keeping their kids up until one in the morning because they didn't feel like putting them to bed. Or maybe it's because they thought that that would make them the "cool parents", I don't know. But I know one thing, it's irresponsible. Get your kids to bed at a decent hour, will you? And stop drinking alcohol in front of them, it'll give them the opportunity to sneak one of your cups and try your "mommy and daddy drink".

- - - END OF SIDETRACKED RANT

Anyway, on with the story. These terribly irresponsible parents and their friends went after the man, and started beating him. The man saw a firetruck that had come to help, and ran to the protection of the firefighters. Once safely inside the truck, the man was in no more danger. However, the firefighters who went to help the little girl were not spared by the mob. Yes, that's right. These people- these ADULT people- started beating up a fireman who had come to save a girl that had been hit by a car.

That is the really sad part, by the way.

Luckily, the girl is now in a hospital, being taken care of. No thanks to these ridiculous people. The firefighter needs surgery, and the man who accidentally ran her over is too scared of the mob to come forth and identify his attackers.

The End

Now, what I'd like to know is- how in the world can they get off that easy?? They need to feel as stupid as they acted. They need to be sat down, and be shown exactly how ridiculous they were. They should be ashamed of themselves and their actions.

"Look at this man, Mr Mob guy. Do you see what you did? Do you see the harm you have caused him?? Do you realize, do you, that you have just beaten up two innocent men? Wonderful vigilante work, really, ganging up on a defenseless man who is a victim of circumstance, and a fireman trying to help your little friend. Bravo. How proud of yourself are you, really? Do you want a medal for your bravery? How about a parade in your honor? Oh, and next time you try to teach your kids that violence isn't the answer, please don't think yourself a hippocrite, no. Think of yourself as a weak minded idiot who fell victim to a mob mentality situation. Two thumbs up, really."

Something like that. To each individual who participated in that mob. There is no reason they shouldn't be charged with assault and battery, either. Why can't the firefighter identify them instead? Is he scared as well?

Sorry for those of you who didn't realize I had it in me. But some things just make me angry. Ignorant people who should know better are at the top of the list.

HEY DOC A!!!

2008-06-13T17:52:00.001-07:00

Yup, that is a clearly photoshopped Picture of me and Doctor A!! Hahahaha Can't you tell we're best buddies?? LOL!!!! This brilliant idea came to me at the dance party when dr a had the balloon guy right behind him in such a way that it looked like he was wearing the balloon guy's hat. I'm pretty sure this is something that Scanman will especially enjoy.

So here's me and the Doc hangin out at the apple store!!!! 8D hahahahahahahahaha.

putting on the "weirdoes" tag because I clearly need help.

Just Doodling.

2008-06-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

I drew this for a friend of mine from Romania. We're rooting for them to get far in Euro 08 this year. So I drew this out of sheer boredom.

Finished product. I hope my buddy likes it. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.

Yet another day at the Beach

2008-06-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

So I spent the day yesterday in Charleston, SC. I was at the beach for about 8 hours. It was nice. I got totally burnt, though. Lots and lots of sunscreen went nowhere. So I'm hurtin' bad. Thanks for Ramona's advice, though! I'm going go around tommorrow and try to find the . . aquaphor? that she suggested for the sunscreen.

I had a pretty fun trip there with the group I went with. It was about 5 hours to get there. So it had the potential to be very boring. But we passed the time joking around, playing high stakes Farkle, and playing some weird but hilarious game where we passed around a paper alternating drawing a picture or describing in one sentance a picture that has been drawn.

This game is hilarious, and I would like to share it with you! I loved playing it and would've played it over and over agian. I think I was the only one who saved my bit of paper that we played it on, though.

So here is to. . . Paper Telephone

(I totally just made that name up)

Step One: Write a Sentance. Any sentance you want, as long as there's a verb and a noun, it doesn't matter what it says.

Step Two: Pass the paper to the person on your left, and receive a paper from the person on your right.

Step Three: On the sheet of paper you've been passed (by the person on your right, of course!) there will be a sentance. Draw a picture to match the sentance that has been written.

Step Four: Fold over the original sentance to hide it from the next person.

Repeat step two: Pass and Receive again.

Step Five: On the paper you have received, there will be a picture! Describe it in one sentance!

Step Six: Fold over the picture so that the next person will only see the sentance you have written.

Repeat Steps 2-6 again until you get back the paper with your original sentance on it.

Step Seven: Read them out loud and enjoy!!

Here is the paper that I started. My sentance was: "Stabbing a tennis player so your favorite player wins." This was inspired by listening to This Awkward Ballad by Hugh Laurie on my Zune. Don't worry, I'm not crazy.

As you can see, there were six people who played. The first three were: Me, Big Brother, and Best Buddy. Best buddy drew a beautiful picture to match my sentance, and Big Brother wrote a very creative explanation for her drawing.

And one last thing: Thanks to those of you who have been stopping by! I really appreciate all of your comments! I'm especially glad my favorite uncle ever has found my blog.

(for those of you who don't know- I'm not just saying that he's my favorite uncle because he reads this. He really is the one I like best. He visits most often, he's more fun, and he's the only one that I actually know and feel comfortable around. He's the reason I'm looking at medical schools in California, too! It'd be so much fun to be that close to him!)

Thanks Uncle Pete! I love you!

A little cultural education

2008-06-07T03:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a little fun with AFRICA.

Enjoy this little treat while I'm away at the beach today. I thought of Bongi when I saw this. I thought he might enjoy it.

And if you're asking how in the world did I come across this little comedy gem, it's something a friend showed me last night.

Maps and Water

2008-06-06T08:16:00.001-07:00

So this week has been eventfull. I had an amazing time last night talking to everyone at Dr. A's show. That was a pretty cool one. I enjoyed the guest Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe very much. Check out Dr. A's blog about that, because he has some very nice links and even a video that will show you how amazing she is.

Before that, I had been able to go to the local waterpark. It was pretty fun, and I think I'm now addicted to water slides. It was a fun-filled day and I loved getting to hang out there, but it was kind of small-time stuff. Only two slides and the water didn't get deeper than about 3 1/2 feet. I scraped my foot up on the bottom of the pool at one point, so that hurts pretty bad when I brush against something.

Saturday is another beach day!!! I'm excited about it. It'll be the second time I've been to the beach this summer! How neat! This time, I'll be going to a different beach. But I think I'm going to end up having a very nice tan before this summer is over! I'll be loookin soo good!

On the map front, I found a good one, and immediately looked for Dr. A's state and Ramona's state.

So now I can find Ohio and Arkansas. I can also find South Africa on a map, Bongi. I don't have any trouble with that one. I actually think I'm better with world geography than I am with American geography. I can find several different countries that usually, people wouldn't even know existed. Like Estonia. I know where that is. But I think my list of countries would be bigger than my list of states.

So I got the map, and have been mounting it on cork boarding that I got off of my old ruined bulletin board. I was able to detatch the cork from the board, and now I'm attatching it to the map. Next, I'll attatch that to some thin cardboard and then frame it in a frame I have lying around. Actually, the frame belonged to the bulletin board that I took apart.

So it's turning into a really cute project so far! I'm hoping to be able to map the locations of the different medical schools that I've been looking at. With luck, I'll be on my way to medical school in just a couple of years! I've already applied to a bigger school that I hope has a good pre-medical program. So I'll be on my way to bigger and better in no time!

Grand Rounds 4:37 !!

2008-06-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey. . .

Hey you. Yeah, you.

. . Check this out.

That's right, I actually submitted something to Grand Rounds this time around. And it made the cut, too! Thanks to Happy Hospitalist for including my post!

Mine was number 23 in the lineup.

For those of you who don't know what Grand Rounds is, it's a weekly presentation of medical blog posts. Every week, someone is assigned to host GR. This week's host was The Happy Hospitalist. Then, they announce on their blog that they are hosting and ask for submissions to be sent in. So then, medical bloggers respond to the call by sending in their most creative and inspiring medical posts. The host then puts them all together using a creative presentation method, such as using a theme. Thus, we end up with a collection of the medical blogosphere's best posts, and a very interesting read!

I submitted this post to Grand Rounds this week. I'm surprised it was included among the best of the best. Thanks again to Happy Hospitalist!

United States Geography

2008-06-02T08:19:00.001-07:00

Is apparently my weak point. Who knew that Delaware was not just a river, but a state as well?? Obviously not me.

States I can find on a map:

Georgia- Because it's where I was born.

Tennessee- Because I moved there after GA.

South Carolina- Because it's where I live now.

North Carolina- Because it's right above South Carolina.

Texas- It's huge.

Idaho- Solely because it's where I hope to be going to college soon.

Utah- That's where the hq is.

California- Also huge.

Alaska- It's the only one beside Canada.

Hawaii- It's the only island state.

Florida- Because of it's unique shape and location.

Maine- It's the one at the very top of the East Coast.

Oklahoma- Because of the musical.

Washington- It's in the corner!

I can't name all of them, and I won't even try. But the reason I'm going through this sudden realization of ignorance is because I've been looking at medical schools. I have a book that I've been looking through trying to at least eliminate some of the possibilities.

But I have to consider all sorts of things. Tuition, room and board, all sorts of different percentages, and LOCATION. Now, how am I supposed to figure out if I want to go to medical school in, say, Oregon if I don't even know where it is?? I should be able to visualize these things! I should be able to say "oh, I have family in Southern California, that's close to *looks on a map* Nevada." without the whole "looking at a map" part. It would be awefully nice.

So I've decided to buy a map and get creative. Maybe a color coded index based on the location and maybe even arranged alphabetically?

But I know that as soon as I get that map, I'll be looking at it and trying to memorize where the states are. I used to know all 13 original colonies back when I was in 3rd or 4th grade. But now I can't even name five.

But come on- I was such a nerd back then. . can't you tell?
Look at that sweater.

.
.
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She's almost laughing at me for not knowing. I can see it.
.
.
.

But that definetly looks like doctor material to me. Definetly.

Another Great Show!

2008-05-29T20:39:00.001-07:00

Although I was a tad bit late to this one, tonight's show was a very fine one! Doctor Anonymous was interviewing Dr. Bruce Campbell, and I enjoyed that very much!

I laughed when, near the middle of the show, Dr. Val called in and kind of took over the interrogation for awhile. Dr. A and Dr. Val make a very nice tag-team.

I called into the show near the end using the convenient "click to talk" button that Vijay had tried and pronounced as deficient. I was very nervous, but it was fun, and talking to Doc. A. was pretty exciting! I was glad that I did it, and maybe next time I try, I won't feel so awkward doing it.

So all in all, it was a pretty fun show, and there were more people than I've seen in the chatroom! I'm pretty sure those of you who know me in real life (mom) might be interested to hear what happened when I called in. Just click play on the player to the right of this post if you wanna check it out. I don't call in for awhile, but the rest of the show is amazing!

I thought it was funny when the chatroom started saying how I sounded like I was from California. I don't think I've ever even been to California! But (and no offense to you hillbillies and hicks out there) I have to say THANK GOODNESS I don't sound like I'm from the south. I'm glad I've been able to avoid sounding like a Jeff Foxworthy redneck.

My A&P Champion

2008-05-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I thought I’d take the time to look back at The Champ.

The Champ was my nickname for my Anatomy and Physiology professor last semester. He was one of the more amazing teachers I have ever had. Mostly because he would go off on tangents about random things and we would learn all about how something he did “Back in ‘Nam” relates perfectly with the numbering of the Cranial Nerves.

But at least it helped us remember to some degree.

So I had, throughout the semester, written down quotes from The Champ that were memorable in some way or another. The reasoning behind this, initially, was so that I could show them to one person or the other sometime later for a couple laughs.
But as I gathered quote after quote, I realized that I had a pretty good number of them, and that I could compile a list of them all.

So here is the finished product. The original quotes, and what they meant or referred to, so that you all can enjoy a little humor courtesy The Champ.

1. Bottom Line- Whenever The Champ asks you what this is, you must respond with “Money!”.

2. Criminently!- An expression of frustration used when The Champ finds yet another mistake in the textbook.

3. Hogwash- The word you hear when The Champ has just read something out of the book that is ridiculous to him. Ex: They’re not Electrical Impulses, they’re Action Potentials!

4. Malarkey- This word is used when there is some fantastic claim in the news or popular media that The Champ knows to be false, and wants us all to know it.

5. Folks- This is used when he addresses the class as a whole.

6. Kiddies- This is the word he uses to address that one group of kids in the back who are making noise when he is trying to start the class.

7. Ylo- Apparently, this is how The Champ spells yellow.

8. “I have no morals after final exams”- The Champ on how he doesn’t take any phone calls after the finals are done.

9. “Just like poker, ya plays yer money and ya takes yer chances”- Apparently, this is how The Champ explains the risks and benefits of being out in the sun.

10. “When I got to Vietnam, I was blowing up everything I could get my hands on”- The Champ on Explosives. This is story was somehow connected to the Organ of Corti.

11. “We all start out as little girls. Go home and tell that to Fang, it’ll get him right in the Macho!”- This is The Champ’s explanation of genetics and chromosomes.

12. “If you have motion sickness, even one fluid movin’ is enough to make you blow your tubes. Lookin’ for Ralph. Huey.” – The Champ’s vast vomiting vocabulary. This was in relation to the semicircular canals and how they affect your equilibrium.

13. “That’s real whiz-bang stuff right there” This is The Champ’s way of explaining that something is complicated.

14. “Don’t look at the clock now! I wanna spend another 10 minutes telling interesting Navy Stories!” – About everybody checking the time near the end of class.

15. “Who? Your feet don’t fit no limb”- Used when someone was stuttering in the process of asking about someone else.

16. Turnin’ and Burnin’- This is apparently what happens when a muscle is at peak levels of activity.

17. That's as cool as all get out- This was an exclaimation used to express The Champ’s feelings of amazement.

18. “If some guy in a pickup truck pulls out in front of you on the highway, what happens to your heart rate/blood pressure?”- A question that is frequently heard when talking about the cardiovascular system. The answers (for those with no common sense) are that your heart rate goes up and your blood pressure increases.

19. Packaging Peanuts- How The Champ describes loose areolar connective tissue.

20. “Why do we have butts? I’ll tell ya why. No, they’re not for sittin’, they’re for walkin’!”- During our lab discussion about the pelvic girdle.

21. Yer Sideburns- The masseter muscles.

22. Yer Smilers- The risorius muscles.

23. Yer Spitter- The buccinator muscles.

24. Yer Frowner- The depressor angulis oris.

25. Thingamabig- Word used to describe something large when The Champ can’t think of the word.

26. “When you’re out at night sneaking around at night being sneaky”- The Champ on when the rod-shaped photoreceptors in the eye come in handy.

27. “See?? It looks like a bird!!”- Apparently, this is how The Champ sees the saggital cross section of the Diencephalon. The hypothalamus is the beak, the intermediate mass is the eye, and the choroid plexus is the eyebrow.

This is also an attempt to get this pre-med blog back on it's pre-med topic. I've been slacking lately. So here's to The Champ. And to my pre-med Anatomy and Physiology class. It was a good one.

My very eventful day.

2008-05-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

I had a very full day today. I slept in until about 10:45. Which was fun. I wish I could do it more often. Anyway, we went to pick up a friend who lived 15 minutes away because she had directions to the park and we didn't. She apparently made arrangements with someone else to pick them up as well, so we drove another 15 minutes to go meet up with him. It took us a half hour to get to the park, and we kept getting lost, but we made it.

But we got there, and there were four people there already. So we doubled the numbers just by arriving! And by the time we finished off our turkey burgers and cheesy chips, we had gone from eight to thirteen, and were ready for some games. So we walk over to the adjacent field, and get out some water balloons and towels for a round of "no one knows what this game is called". So we play that and then empty the rest of the balloons by having a water balloon fight, and then get together to decide what to do next.

We decided on Ultimate Frisbee, and my team totally won. We took break for awhile and sat around just hanging out talking. Once we were fully energized, we ran headfirst into a very active game of volleyball. My team lost, but not horribly. Just by a bit.

So after all that, we headed back home and dropped one guy off at his car, and then went to go pick ours up at our friend's apartment. But the battery was dead. There wasn't even any "chugga chugga" when we turned the key! How ridiculous was that? So we sit there and wait for our dad to come and give us a jump start.

On the way back home our dad, who was driving behind us, noticed that our break lights were on. We tried everything we could to turn them off, but there they were, sucking the life out of our battery, even when the car was off.

So I let my brother and dad deal with it while I went to a neighborhood get-together with my Mom. It was pretty fun, and there were lots of people there who were happy to see me, so that was nice. I played with some of the kiddies and pushed them on the swings, and I let my little brother's buddy chill with my zune for a while. Surprisingly, he seemed to enjoy the music!

So all in all, it was a very eventful day, and I had fun making new friends and joking around with some of the old ones. I really do wish the car would stop messing up, but I guess that's life.