Whoa.

Why in the world didn't anyone tell me about Noe Venable before?

Damn, I think I'm in love.

Such a ditz

Sometimes I wish I could focus on just *one* thing, rather than just stumbling around, trying to juggle competing responsibilities. There are two tracks in medical school - basic sciences and clinical care. They try to tie everything together, but the truth is, they don't mesh well. Our last summative exam covered over 650 pages of material - in detail. Which doesn't leave much time for other interests, really.

I mean, I get it - I know all this stuff is somewhat important. But...I still feel like it is distracting from the primary goal of being a clinical practitioner. And I'm always in such a rush - got to see someone, got to get home, got to run, got studystudystudy, got to blahblahblah. Can't we just focus on one thing and do it well, instead of trying to balance four classes and work and research and social stuff and doing none of them well? This rant isn't really going to go anywhere - it just means that a tiny little piece of me is actually looking forward to boards and the end of this basic science nonsense. Of course, then I'll probably babble on about how frightened I am of doing clinical stuff.

In other news, my cat got a package today. From Fancy Feast. Man, I want someone to send me free food in the mail.

Actually....maybe that wouldn't be such a hot idea.

Darn

Sometimes, it's a little alarming to be at a party full of upperclassmen, and have one of them tell you that a good portion of the class goes nuts as medical school progresses. And apparently, sometimes, they literally go insane (apparently, this person had an unfortunate roommate experience).

How depressing. Now I'm going to be watching the class for signs of imminent loony-ness.

Mini Hand Desanitizers!

Sometimes I really love what I do. There are a lot of bad days - when I get stressed thinking about school and the future - but there are so many fun things to do in the future.

Yesterday I met with my future research mentor - I left the meeting feeling really positive. I think this project is going to be perfect. We need to organize all the data, and then analyze it. I can do this without much supervision, so for the first month I should be able to make my own hours. Hopefully by the time I'm done this, I'll be familiar enough with the department and work to do some meaningful analysis. She said if I do a molecular component, we should be able to publish it. Even without the molecular part, I should have enough to finish my Scholarly Project. I met a bunch of the staff - nurses and research coordinators - and I think it went well. I think this can be a long term relationship, so hopefully I can stay there for the next three years.

I still feel bad about quitting babysitting - but I'm excited about this project. Besides, I am here to learn - not babysit.

Less than twenty-four hours until my second block of medical school is over. Only two more basic science blocks to go. Huzzah!

Review: Drinking, A Love Story

Reading books about alcoholism is something of a theme with me. Drinking, A Love Story is an excellent book. It's a book that opens your eyes to a different facet of the world and does it without a shred of self-pity. The author, Caroline Knapp, died of lung cancer in 2002, and it added a sense of poignancy to the book. After I finished it, I tried to google her to see what happened. Did she stay sober? Did she move on in her life? How did her sister do? I suppose she did, she wrote a series of books on dogs after her memoir. I liked her a lot as a person, and it makes me so sad to know that she died at 42. I hope she lived well.

Ouch

The only problem with Sundays is that they lead to Mondays.

I think I've come to a conclusion about babysitting. I only have two more weeks before I am done for the semester and I think that'll be it. E. was talking about taking another evening class (so they would need a babysitter again), but I don't think I'll do it. I have found a good lab and I would like to get started with that, especially since I'll be using the summer for a pair of clinical rotations, instead of lab stuff. I really don't want to hit third year and not have my Scholarly Project started.

Also, ouch. I returned to running on Friday, on a treadmill. Those stupid things always hurt the next day. I think I run on my toes too much to avoid making noise. Then I ran about 80 minutes on Saturday and did another 45 today. I hadn't meant to run that far today, but I was led astray by M.

Coming Soon: Baking contest and Knitting 101 for Group 14.