Four things:

1. I wish you could all see the intensive playlist infrastructure that exists on my iTunes.  Not only am I obsessed with making the darn things, I'm the worst playlist packrat ever - I'm like, why delete it?  I'll just put it in a folder inside a folder inside another folder so in case I ever wonder just what I was in the mood for at four in the afternoon on some random day in 2006, it'll be right at my fingertips.  

2. One thing I absolutely love about Mobile: the radio.  Seriously, it's amazing.  I've started listening to this one station (92.1, if anyone's interested) that I swear has never played a song I don't like, with the exception of the occasional John Mayer.  Which I can totally deal with.  Just as an example, here are songs that all played on the RADIO on one day last week:

Spoon - The Underdog (I made a "soundtrack to my life" CD last year.  This is track #1.) 

The Beatles - All You Need Is Love (everyone I know that plays the trumpet: please stand up at my wedding and surprise me with this song.  See Love Actually for inspiration.)

Weezer - Mrs. Robinson (okay, so it's a weak imitation of the original, but it always makes me laugh.  A lot.)

Ryan Adams - New York, New York (I about hyperventilated.  I LOVE THIS SONG.)

Needtobreathe - Washed by the Water

3. WHY hasn't my Elle magazine come yet?  I subscribed over a month ago.  Lest you think me shallow for subscribing to a fashion magazine - think again.  It's phenomenal.  And the articles are amazing.  I feel ten times smarter every time I pick one up.  You think I'm kidding... but I'm not.  

4.  Med school schmed school.  

political rant

Sorry, but I have to.

I feel like if someone says "I am a Republican" these days, it is assumed that they are one of these two things:

1. a gun-toting, uneducated, war-loving Baptist farmer.

2. the head of a multimillion dollar corporation who hates people and only cares about money.

Just for the record, I consider myself to be a Republican, and I fall into neither of the above categories.  I will never own a gun.  I don't think the war in Iraq was a good idea.  I am not Baptist.  I am intelligent and educated.  I buy fair-trade coffee.  I am pro-life because I think that life is a sacred thing and should be preserved whenever possible -- which means that not only do I oppose the practice of unnecessary abortion, but I also disagree with the death penalty and I think that sending soldiers into combat should be a last resort and only done when in a case of extreme necessity.

I vote Republican because I value patriotism, capitalism, and the efficiency of the free market.  I think the government tends to waste more time and money than is necessary, and I'd like that to change.  As a future healthcare professional, I know that the current health insurance system is in dire need of improvement and I think going to a socialized medicine system would be a step in the wrong direction.  We need an alternate solution.  I think that as a country we need to work towards becoming not only energy-independent, but finding alternative sources of sustainable energy, and that imposing huge taxes on the oil corporations is not going to solve any of our problems.  I believe that the President of the United States is one of the most powerful positions in the world, and I want the person who takes that office to have plenty of experience in government. 

I have a lot of friends that are much more liberal than me, and I have a lot of respect for them.  As a group, the Democrats have an idealism that never fails to impress me.  Just because I don't agree with their political ideals doesn't make me respect them as people any less.  However, when I hear people ridiculing myself and my political party by calling them Fascist, incompetent, greedy, or any other such label, it makes me wonder why so many liberals seem to have inherited the superiority complex that allows them to feel good about degrading the beliefs that are held by half the country.  

Thoughts?

MY LIFE'S GOAL...

is to be as witty as this man.

also, two things:

1. The use of proper spelling and punctuation is absolutely crucial to the cohesiveness of anything.  And it annoys me to no end when people don't take the time to check these things before they publish something - whether it be a book, a magazine, a blog entry, or a PowerPoint for a class lecture.  If someone else is reading it, they are going to be making judgments about you.  The portrayal of yourself as intelligent and collected is well worth the few seconds it takes to check over a sentence.  

2. Test block numero uno is now completed.  I came out alright (is it "all right" or "alright?" I'll never know.  Also, I wish I were British so that I could place the previous question mark outside the quotation marks.  But alas, I was born in America, where our punctuation methods make no sense.)  Anyway, I came out with B's all around.  Not horrible, but definitely in the lower range of the class.  I'll have to work on that.  My goal is to make an A on the next gross anatomy test.  We'll see...

More later.  It's my bedtime.  

Someone asked me this evening...

... what my favorite Beatles song was.

A fairly straightforward question, but the implications are incredibly far-reaching. My first reaction when an inquiry such as this comes my way is a wave of excitement.  Because I love making lists, and ranking things, and having favorites, and I get happy when I find someone to share with.  

At the same time, though, there's a gnawing anxiety.  What is their ulterior motive for asking?  Are they going to (silently or out loud) ridicule my tastes for being too obvious, or for being too obscure?    Do they want a top five list or just one?  A top five list would probably be going overboard, but how on earth can you pick just one?  And what if my favorite Beatles song is the one they can't stand?  

Then I start to worry about my own memory.  What if I just say the first song that comes to my mind, but it's really not my favorite and it won't hit me until tomorrow what my actual favorite is?  At that point I'd have to update the person.  And what if I discover a new gem in the next few days that replaces the top spot?  I would probably mention it, but does this mean I'm obligated to keep this person updated on Beatles song status for the next twenty years as I acquire new music and as my tastes change?  And then there's the issue of once I've said out loud that "this is my favorite song," is it going to influence my listening patterns?  I don't want to feel guilt-tripped into liking something forever just because I liked it one day in September when someone happened to ask me about it.

I think my brain works too hard sometimes.  That said, I still love these conversations.  And I absolutely adore making top five lists.  (hello, High Fidelity!)

Also, in case you were wondering - my favorite Beatles song is a tie between "Revolution 1" and "Hey Jude."  These have stayed fairly constant for the past few years, so I'm probably safe to put it in writing, don't you think?