Things I'm addicted to (Procrastination edition)

To help prove that I am a better and more dedicated procrastinator than Mallory. I have assembled a list of the multitude of things that occupy my every day and are mostly a complete waste of time.

1. TV shows- I spend multiple hours a day watching tv shows. Usually I do this on the internet so I can watch during lunch or dinner or other periods of time when I would not otherwise be doing anything useful. However, it must be said that due to the number of tv shows that I watch, I definitely spend time when I should be being productive catching up on tv. Let's see, every week I watch Samantha Who, Jon and Kate plus 8, How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, House, Bones, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Top Chef, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, and The Office. The advantage of watching these shows on the internet is the lack of commercials so the shows are 20 minutes or 40 minutes instead of 30min and 1hr. But still, lots of time wasted.

2. Jezebel.com- Jezebel is a website which is an interesting mix of celebrity news, politics, science, history, and random weird stuff . It is a feminist website, so it is written by women for women. They write tons of articles and post videos every day so it can take a fair amount of time to look at everything and read all the articles. There are also often interesting discussions in the comments so then it takes time to look at those too. Basically it is just a place where all the news of the day be it serious or silly is assembled, critiqued, analyzed, and probably made fun of. I love it and it is a complete waste of my time.

3. Cute Things- Cuteoverload.com, Winston the cat (seen here dressed as ET for halloween), and Capucine. Capucine is the cutest little french girl ever. There are many videos of her on the internet and I have watched all of them.

This is Capucine's letter to Santa as dictated to her mother:

“Père Noël,
I would like a nice gift, and I would like to see you.
Because I have been very good throughout the year. I have listened well, I have cleaned up my room by myself and I had fun at school, and I have played with my friends.
Also, I am going to move, I will have a nice house and a mezzanine.
I eat everything, but sometimes, I don’t.
Then I would like to see you for Christmas and Halloween and talk to you. I would like to sing you a song-poem. When is winter coming ?
Also I would like to talk to you, but if you leave and go far away, I would like to see you in your house.
If I hug you, your beard will not sting, it will only tickle.
And I would like to go into your sleigh. How will I do that ? Do I have to climb up the trees ?
Kisses,
Capucine.”


4. The Rachel Maddow Show- To quote Jon Stewart, "Who is this complex, articulate, even-tempered lady?" She is clearly not your typical host of a political show on a news network. I watch her show every day. Mostly because she has made every episode available by podcast so it automatically downloads to my computer. She is funny, smart, and a self-professed "policy geek." I especially enjoy her segment: "Lame Duck Watch: Quackitude" which keeps an eye on our extremely lame president as he continues to try to do sneaky things while no one is watching. At least watching this show keeps me up to date on the news right? Right???


5. Brotherhood 2.0- I blame Mallory for this one. She introduced me to John and Hank Green, two brothers who made a video blog a day for a year to communicate with eachother. John Green is an author of YA novels which are extremely good! I just finished his book Paper Towns. But obviously the bad thing here is that there are over 300 videos on youtube that I must now watch because the Greens are extremely nerdy and funny. They do happy dances, put things on their heads, make up songs and get punished for not following the rules of their video blog.

This is one of the best punishments that John Green had to do involved a blenderized happy meal and leg waxing. You can find the video here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIA5x4tuuO8


6. Reading- This is one thing that I refuse to feel bad about even though I spend an hour or more a day doing it. I have never understood people who say they don't have time to read non-school books. I've read about 20 books since school started in September and it was time well-spent.

Weeeeee books!

I believe I've made my point.

Look! An update!

Well hello again. I'm not so good at the whole writing blogs thing when I get busy. As you all know I was home for Thanksgiving last week after a tough period involving Psychology, Neurology, Ear Nose Throat, and the usual Pharmacology and Pathology. I did well on my finals considering they were hard. Sometimes I look at the class average to measure my performance but often that makes me depressed and annoyed that my classmates are too smart. I got As and Bs on my tests which feels good and I was above the average , exactly at the average and also below the average on the various tests. Mostly it was just nice to do nothing for a week at home and recover a little.

So now I am in the midst of period 3 involving the exciting bones, joints and connective tissue (yes that is a class), skin, and pharmacology and pathology. This period is 2 weeks long followed by 1 week of finals. So I am already halfway done with the period and really should be studying for finals right now. Unfortunately I find bones joints connective tissue and skin veerrrry boring. But I suppose I must learn. At least I'll be done and on my way home for christmas break shortly.

Though this period should be relatively easy, they have decided to throw a bunch of other stuff at us also. So I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. For one, I started the Internal Medicine rotation of Physician and Patient this past Wednesday. It was my first time in a real hospital with real sick people. They put 2 of us with one patient for the morning where we interview and then examine them. The exam part is a little awkward because they are in a hospital bed and we aren't used to that. Also they don't seem to like being put through an entire exam when it doesn't seem to have any relevance to their condition and takes a long time. Anyway, then we spend a lot of time writing a note on the history and physical that we completed. Then we meet in small groups with a doctor preceptor and do long or short oral presentations on the patient. This is to prepare us for what we will be doing the next 2 years in the hospitals presenting patients to residents and attendings. It is a little scary since it seems they like the presentations to be formal and structured in a particular way and they don't want us to look at our notes. As if we should be able to recite the 10 or more drugs the patient is on including dosage and route off the top of our heads. Perhaps we will be able to do that more when we actually know what the drugs are. I will be on the internal med rotation for the next 3 weeks so I will have more of a chance to get comfortable with the whole thing before next year when I will be thrown into the hospital with little guidance.

Another exciting thing I get to do this next Tuesday is learn how to do a male genital and rectal exam. yippee! Okay I'm not so much looking forward to this but I guess it is something I will have to learn. I get to wait to learn the female one in January at least.

Oh I almost forgot. We also had a field trip this past week where we went to a local college that teaches chiropractics, massage therapy, and other alternative medicines. They are trying to open our minds I think. Mostly it is kind of funny because all the med students listen to them talk about energy and qi and how the person can feel skull bones moving and use that to diagnose problems with their arms crossed and a skeptical look on their face. I think the alternative medicine people speak a different language than us. If they would only speak in terms of physiology and scientific studies we would all understand. One thing they thoroughly convinced me of is the benefits of massage therapy. They gave us all foot massages for 20 minutes and it was wondrous. I certainly wasn't about to let the chiropractors do a neck manipulation on me since we learned that that can cause carotid dissection. Not cool!

Anyway, it will be a busy couple weeks then home for christmas so I'm sure I won't update till January at least. See you all soon!

Yay for no more finals!

So I've been MIA for a few weeks because we had our first finals week of 2nd year. It was intense. Unlike first year, where we had a number of tests throughout the semester that determined our grade, we now have one test per class that is the entirety of our grade. That is scary considering all the tests are lined up in one week and are very difficult. But I actually did pretty well on my tests last week so I am happy. I did surprisingly well on Cardio which is fun. I like when I actually do better than the average because too often I get a decent B and then the average score is even higher. Lame! Oh well, as long as I feel like I understand what is going on I am fine with my grades. It is pass/fail after all.

The plus side of finals week is the weekend after finals with no commitments or obligations! I went out with my friends on Friday which was fun. Then I spent the rest of the weekend catching up on sleep and TV. One show that I am absolutely in love with is Mad Men!

It is on AMC of all networks and follows an Ad agency in New York in the 1960s. The show is really complex and doesn't sugarcoat the racism, misogyny, and various other non-PC issues that were widespread at the time. The show is actually funny too and just really interesting. I love it so much! Everyone should rent the first season, seriously!

I'm looking forward to coming home this weekend. For one, I need to get my warmer clothes and jackets to prepare for colder weather. But I also will get to see Elliott play soccer so that should be exciting. I think Mallory and I will also fit in Nick and Norah's infinite playlist so that should be good too. Well, perhaps I should do work or something. Hope to see everyone this weekend!

Goodbye gross bugs!

Okay I needed to update so I didn't have to look at that gross bug picture anymore. After killing many more of those centipedes, I finally made time to invest in bug killer spray. I am happy to say that I am now encountering bug carcasses rather than live scary scurrying bugs. Thank god! It was hard to sleep imagining those things crawling into my mouth at night. Now I just have to worry about getting cancer from the bug spray! Yay medical school for making me so positive! Anyway, here is a stupid quiz I took which I feel is pretty accurate:

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

5 - the Observer

Thanks for taking the test !

you chose BZ - your Enneagram type is FIVE (aka "The Thinker").

"I need to understand the world"

Observers have a need for knowledge and are introverted, curious, analytical,and insightful.

How to Get Along with Me

• Be independent, not clingy.


• Speak in a straightforward and brief manner.


• I need time alone to process my feelings and thoughts.


• Remember that If I seem aloof, distant, or arrogant, it may be thatI am feeling uncomfortable.


• Make me feel welcome, but not too intensely, or I might doubt yoursincerity.


• If I become irritated when I have to repeat things, it may be becauseit was such an effort to get my thoughts out in the first place.


• don't come on like a bulldozer.


• Help me to avoid my pet peeves: big parties, other people's loud music,overdone emotions, and intrusions on my privacy.

What I Like About Being a FIVE

• standing back and viewing life objectively


• coming to a thorough understanding; perceiving causes and effects


• my sense of integrity: doing what I think is right and not being influenced by social pressure


• not being caught up in material possessions and status


• being calm in a crisis

What's Hard About Being a FIVE

• being slow to put my knowledge and insights out in the world


• feeling bad when I act defensive or like a know-it-all


• being pressured to be with people when I don't want to be


• watching others with better social skills, but less intelligence ortechnical skill, do better professionally

FIVEs as Children Often

• spend a lot of time alone reading, making collections, and so on


• have a few special friends rather than many


• are very bright and curious and do well in school


• have independent minds and often question their parents and teachers


• watch events from a detached point of view, gathering information


• assume a poker face in order not to look afraid


• are sensitive; avoid interpersonal conflict


• feel intruded upon and controlled and/or ignored and neglected

FIVEs as Parents

• are often kind, perceptive, and devoted


• are sometimes authoritarian and demanding


• may expect more intellectual achievement than is developmentally appropriate


• may be intolerant of their children expressing strong emotions

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People
Harper SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages

You liked the test?
so S P R E A D I T ! tell everyone!!!(use Quick-Paste below)

you wanna know MORE?
so check out, what Wikipedia says about your type...

...even more you'll find in Google

or do you prefer to

---

You are not completely happy with the result?!
You chose BZ

Would you rather have chosen:

AZ (THREE)

CZ (ONE)

BX (NINE)

BY

Not Cool

So I was reading in bed last night and this crawled on me:

These are the things infesting my house which I called millipedes but apparently they are house centipedes. Regardless, they are disgusting. Somehow I was able to compose myself enough to actually sleep. Then this morning I got up early to go to small group and there were four, let me repeat that FOUR of these on the walls in my bathroom. There was also a tiny spider but after these things I was sooo not even concerned about that little guy. I keep thinking I see them scurrying around the living room out of the corner of my eye. aaah!

I'm baaaack

I know everyone was waiting with bated breath for my return, but the truth is I spent all of summer avoiding the fact that school started again in September. Alas, with the first week of school down, I have begun to accept my fate which this year appears to be 6 weeks of class from 8-5 then a finals week over and over again. At the end of the year we get the special privilege of a cumulative final of all the drugs we learn over the year which will be around 1,000. Yippee! Mostly I've been trying to take it one day at a time so I don't look ahead and freak out about all the crap I have to do.

Thus far, we have learned how to read EKGs, about heart murmurs, asthma, emphysema, pulmonary function tests, and about the drugs used to treat asthma as well as blood thinners. We are also learning about teamwork which is taking up a surprising amount of time and I am not happy about it. We got thrown back into clinic with a fake patient who we had to interview and then do a physical exam on. I definitely did not feel ready for that yet but I guess I need to get used to not feeling ready and just performing.

Other than school, I've been settling into my apartment where I live alone! At the moment I have one chair that I get to sit in and no other seating so no one can come over. I bought a couch at home and then realized that it was way too big to fit in the door so I had to get a different one which will be delivered next week. Then hopefully my apartment will be pretty and finished. The only problem I am having now is that I have killed at least one spider or scary millipede each day since I moved in. It is so gross! Especially when those super fast millipedes scurry across my floor unexpectedly. ick.

I've also become accustomed to experiencing daily rage when I read more new exciting facts about that "pitbull with lipstick" who is running for VP. Usually I am a huge fan of strong successful women but in this case that is definitely not true. I think this is because she seems to me to have gotten to where she is by downplaying everything about herself that actually qualifies her as a candidate. Excuse me but it must take incredible political savvy to go from mayor of a tiny town to governor to VP candidate in a matter of years, don't tell me you just fell into politics. Acknowledge your accomplishments because I would much rather hear about real qualifications than the fact that you are a hockey mom, and a hot lady who isn't afraid to wear skirts (These things do NOT qualify your for anything except you know being a hot hockey mom.) I guess I feel like she is reducing herself in order to be nonthreatening to the exact people who nominated her, conservative old white men, and that is missing the entire point of the movement toward gender equality which by the way her running mate does not support. So even ignoring her political views which are the definition of extreme, she makes me want to scream. a lot. alot alot alot.

Anyway, I have lots of homework already which I have to fit around Mad Men and Gossip Girl. So I'll check back later!

WOOOOOO!

I'm done with my first year of medical school!!!!!! You tried your hardest to deny my hard work and make me fail! But I prevailed! I own you medical school! You are my bitch! WOOOOOOO!