Let it begin

Hey all. How are things out there in radio land? Just plugging along down here. I'm feeling very blech and tired today, so this is going to be another not-so-exciting post. But I wanted to make sure my faithful few readers out there don't desert me! I will be back!

Even though it was sunny and lovely and warm today, I've been feeling a little:

(lolcats, duh)

Not quite sure why. Maybe it's all the booze and going to bed way past my bedtime (10:30), or the kittens waking up at 5am to play hopscotch on my face, or running out of hot water in the shower once I finally dragged my ass out of bed. But I've been sleepy and grumpy all day. I did take a very long and restful nap, but I had an AWFUL dream. Like, tortured-by-inner-demons awful. I won't go into detail because it would probably be TMI for a public blog, even though I love you guys to pieces and would trust you with all of my secrets (I swear!). But it involved a headless baby and it was NOT PRETTY.

But I can't stay salty for long, because it's Mardi Gras! Parades have been going on for like two weeks, but this weekend is when the true debauchery begins. Not that the parades are scandalous--they're actually wholesome family fun, for the most part. But I plan on maintaining a healthy buzz for four solid days, so it should be a good time. Best of all, one of my all time favorite people is coming into town--Sierra, I can't wait to see you!

Next week is Spring/Mardi Gras break, but classes are pretty light this week so that we can all start easing ourselves into the festivities (or hurtling headlong into them and forgetting about this silly med school thang). Ah, life is good. Why would anyone go to med school anywhere else?

Ok, off to bed. Yes yes, I know it's only 10, but like I said, I'm bushed. Ta ta!

Complexity

I discovered David Horvitz's idea subscription page a while back and forgot about it, only to rediscover it tonight while I'm trying (not) to study for Monday's biochem exam. It was the perfect inspirational break. David Horvitz posts or sends out a set of instructions almost every day. They're usually very simple but inspiring and surprising, and definitely worth a look. He'll even snail-mail them to you for a small fee.

I wasn't really struck by this one until I got to the last purpose: "To reject a person's written name as merely information, and to recognize it as a life being lived." I've actually been thinking about that idea a lot lately for some reason. The complexity of the world sneaks up on my every now and then, especially when I'm exploring an unfamiliar place with people that I've never met before. It's staggering to think that the earth is filled with almost 7 billion people, each with their own complete life full of problems and connections to everyone else in the world. We spend our entire lives weaving a web of connections, friendships, hurdles and solutions, loves, hatreds, and every single other person in the world does the exact same thing while they occupy the earth. You'd think that the time-space continuum would get saturated with all of the feelings and just explode.

The thought came back to me yesterday when I was reading an article in The New Yorker (by Jonathan Harr--"Lives of the Saints") about aid workers in Chad. It was a heartbreaking account (as they all are) of refugee camps and the constant struggle to keep them safe and functional. At one point the coordinator of a relief organization said, "People tend to treat them as a group, one more camp of twenty thousand refugees. But they have names, hopes, lives, loves. You have to see them as individuals." Even in a war-ravaged country such as Chad, where people have to live six to a tent and have few to no possesions and precious little freedom, every single person has a head full of thoughts and dreams just as complex as the ones that occupy my selfish little brain each day. Each life is different and unique and precious, and that's just amazing.

I guess it's easy to forget that sometimes, especially when you spend your day looking at diseases, symptoms, and statistics in place of patients' names and identities. The first two years of medical school are usually full of book learning and facts and very little actual patient interaction. But someday, our offices will be filled with all of those people out there, each one with their own journey that got them this far. I feel so lucky to be going into a field where I can meet so many different lives.

Anyway, check out the blog. It's full of neat things like that. And he invites you to take them and spread them through the world, because ideas are free and should be shared. Pretty super guy.

House hunting

Two of my friends are buying a cute little house down here in New Orleans (congrats Nick and Lauren!), and while I love my little rented shotgun, it's so much fun to imagine buying my own place someday. The New York Times real estate section does this series on what properties are available for certain prices--properties for $440,000 (this house is my favorite), properties for $600, 000, etc. Kind of a bang for your buck thing. Their latest, and my personal favorite, is properties for $300,000. I'm smitten! And I've decided that I want to live in this houseboat on a lake in Seattle:



How great is that? It's two stories and has a cute little kitchen, as well as a view of the harbor.



It also has a loft bedroom, and even though I'm one of the clumsiest people I know and would probably fall out, I love loft bedrooms!



I'm taking a day off today (sort of), because this week's exams kind of wore me out. As did celebrating the end of them last night. Thank goodness for recording software, so I can listen to the lectures in pjs, with two sleeping kittens on my lap and a cup of coffee in my hand. Happy Wednesday folks!

Vote for me

One of my dear dear friends just informed me that everyone who's anyone has seen that Mario video before and I'm just SOOOOOO behind the times. Where am I when all of these hilarious internet phenomena are passed around? Why am I always out of the loop?

Anyway, I'm taking a poll. Am I really the only one who's never seen it before?

That was my bad, Mario

I had an effing WONDERFUL weekend. Andrew and I decided that trying to go two months without visiting each other was just a silly idea (who thought of that anyway?), so he flew down Friday night. Instead of studying for the physiology test I have tomorrow, I spent two days lounging about on the lawn in the sun, eating and drinking more than I have in two weeks, and just being generally euphoric about the world. And what did YOU do?

On a less pleasant note, did you know that kittens can reach sexual maturity at only 4 months old? Nah, I didn't know that either, until Stevie starting tarting it up around the yard and twitching her little ass at absolutely everything that moved (human, feline, neutered, didn't matter). Another pleasant thing that cats in heat do is yowl. All. Night. Long. Guess who gets a trip to the vet this week!

Instead of studying for my test, I'm watching silly videos, and you really have to check this one out. Ok, I know it's 23:00 minutes long or whatever, but really, my stomach hurts from laughing so hard, and you only have to watch the first thirty seconds to appreciate the hilarity. But you'll want to keep going. Trust me.



PS: It's a little profane.