Studying all day today. Saturday. It's beautiful outside, but that's fine. I had enough free time this summer. (Does anyone buy that? I'm trying to console myself here). I did get to spend time with my sister this week, which is why I'm so screwed school-wise; so I guess that was worth it.

It's 11:03 and I've studied for about 90 minutes. Only about 370 left to go!!

Update: It's 3:25 and I'm kinda sick of this. I'm not sure what I'm doing anymore. I'm on the verge of falling into an internet vortex which would severely fuck up my studying. I'm trying to finish reviewing yesterday's lectures, but this last one just seems like review. But then again it's reviewing so much shit I don't want to think about (like all the different cells of the immune system and the chemical signals they send to each other) that my mind is going blank and I just want to go flop myself in front of the tv. Or read news articles online. Ugh. Okay. One last push to finish Friday.

 

I just found out someone I know is getting a divorce after 30+ years of marriage.

The wife told me. What am I supposed to say in response? I thought about sending flowers, but that seemed kind of funereal.

Drew jokingly (I assume) suggested today that he and I go to Hawaii this weekend and get married. "What would you do if I picked up the phone and called my mom screaming 'DREW PROPOSED!!!'?" He laughed and said something about being delirious and not knowing what he's saying.

I realize Hawaii doesn't allow gay marriage, but I'd take elopement to Maui over "official and legal" any day.

I wonder if that couple would have gotten married if they'd know it would end in their early 60s.

It's 4:14 and I haven't started studying yet. Grrrrr.....

 

Today in doctoring we went over exam maneuvers for the head, eyes, ears, nose & throat.

It was me and two classmates working with a patient instructor.

The first thing she asked us to do was to palpate and inspect her scalp. "Divide it into quadrants so you're sure not to miss anything."

We all took turns massaging and inspecting her scalp. Afterwards she said "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

Blank stares.

Nice Patient Instructor Lady: "Did you notice this scar?"

She points to a huge scar on the back of her head. Her hair was buzzed short, so it was pretty damn obvious.

Us: "Ohhhhh...."

Nice Patient Instructor Lady: "Did you see that there's a bald spot?"

Okay, now her hair was buzzed so I'm cutting us some slack here. But the idea that I'm supposed to mention to a woman in her 40s that she's going bald is just not something I'm comfortable with. She told us we should ask if that is a recent development. How awkward!

 

School started yesterday.

It was a great summer. I loved working with the city's homeless outreach center. I feel rested and ready to get back into school stuff.

I'm trying to contain my drive at the moment, since I fear it might alienate me from some of my classmates. Today I suggested to a couple of them that we make an announcement to the rest of the class about a project we're working on. So we got up in front of the class before lecture started and I totally hogged the spotlight -- did all the talking, made a little joke, soaked up the laughter and got back to my seat feeling very important. And wondering how I would feel if I were one of the two people I basically used as props for my grandstanding. It's something to work on (my ego). Or, rather, something to blog about and consider working on but then just accept as one of my little quirks and move on and assume, when I'm not reelected to student government, that people hate me for it.

My little sister is here with her boyfriend. They're very relaxed guests, which is nice. Totally self-sufficient. I haven't seen her since Christmas 2006, so it's great having her here. And for once I actually like her boyfriend! That's not totally fair; we both really liked her last boyfriend as a person, he was just a crap boyfriend for her. This guy seems like a good match. Plus, I can have an actual conversation with him.

Drew and I are sharing a desk in his office now. It's a huge desk, so I'm on one side and he's on the other. It's much nicer than being in the library. I guess I should get back to microbiology.