it wasn't me

i find it hard to believe...

... that anyone could listen to this song and not be stopped in their tracks by its beauty.

http://www.fuelfriendsblog.com/2009/08/19/your-shoulderblade-and-spine-were-shorelines-in-the-moonlight/

I had a dream last night, and when I opened my eyes
your shoulderblade and spine were shorelines in the moonlight
new worlds for the weary, new lands for the living
I couldn’t make it if I tried
I closed my eyes, I kept on swimming
time, love
time, love
time, love
it’s only a change of time, love

(thank you Heather at Fuel/Friends for this)

a note about the "reactions" section

So, Blogger is going all Facebook on us and has a new feature entitled "Reactions." I enabled it as a sort of experiment. On an average day, I have not a clue how many people read my blog, and I know most of you don't comment, but maybe some people want to check a box instead. Or something. I don't really know. You can pick what you want the check boxes to say. The pre-determined options were "funny," "interesting," and "cool." It seems as if it would be rather narcissistic of me to assume that my hundreds of readers MUST think that every blog entry of mine falls into one of those categories. I thought about making a lot of different options, like "fascinating," "hilarious," "made me want to pull my hair out," "incredibly boring," "not your best work," et cetera, but I don't think my already-bruised ego (thank you, medical school) could take it. So as of the writing of this post, you're left with two options: you can either like it or dislike it. Like Facebook, but more fair and balanced. If your opinion of my post is more complicated, leave a comment. Or pick up the telephone. Or just don't click anything at all.

"God as my witness, I will quit if this is not fixed!"

This morning, I rolled into the school parking lot at 8:48, with a healthy twelve minutes to spare before class. Plenty of time to leisurely start up my computer, eat some of Liz's healthy cupcakes and Anna's cocoa roasted almonds she brought for me (SERIOUSLY. GO BUY THEM NOW. SAM'S CLUB). However, little did I know that a cruel twist of fate meant that four things were going to put a stop to my morning schedule:

• a) The undergraduates at USA started school today.
• b) Last year, the university constructed a ginormous Health Sciences building that is located right next to our Medical School building.
• c) In the process of constructing this building, not only did they create a need for about eight thousand new parking spaces, but they actually REMOVED some of the parking spaces that were already in place for the medical students.
• d) Undergrad classes start at 8. First year medical classes start at 8:30. Second year classes start at 9.

As a result, there was literally not a single parking space to be found in the entire complex surrounding our school building. After circling around for ten minutes or so, I found out that we were expected to park at the Student Health building. This is not even close. It's at least a 10-15 minute walk. And there is not even a sidewalk to get there -- you have to trudge through sand and grass and construction dirt for a good chunk of the way.

Instead of venting my frustrations, I would like to invite the rest of you who find yourself with similar amounts of bottled-up anger to consider when this happened to the good people of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Due to construction happening at W.B. Jones, their parking spaces were all taken up and they had to park down the street.

They didn't take it well either. Oscar struggles with seniority, while Andy has footwear issues:

"I've been here nine years, now all of a sudden I'm supposed to park half a mile away?"

"I lost a penny out of my loafers, Oscar."

Jim and Pam, meanwhile, have plenty of time to enjoy the wonders of the natural world.

"Tell them what we saw today, Jim."

"Today we saw a junkyard dog attacking the bones of a rotisserie chicken."

"Nature."

But friends, let us not be discouraged by this minor setback. If paper salesmen can solve the problem, so can medical students. Let us all look to Andrew Bernard as our guide as we work towards our goal.

"Did I do this for me? No. I did this, for the little guy. For Joe six pack. The guy who wakes up every morning in his four hundred dollar a month apartment, wonders how he's gonna pay his mortgage that month. Wonders how he's gonna fill his car up with oil. Wonders, how am I gonna pay my kids' orphanage bills. That guy shouldn't have to wonder where he's gonna park."

this is why i love america

I'm going to preface this story by saying that I discovered today that McDonald's is a mere three-minute walk from my front door. There's even a direct sidewalk leading there. While this does not appear to bode well for my future health, I'd like to argue that at least I got six minutes of exercise in the process of hunting and gathering my lunch today. Also, I forgot to eat breakfast so I was EXTRA hungry. Anyways, at around 12:15 I arrived at McDonald's for lunch. There were about five people in line ahead of me so I joined the crowd. After I had been standing for a couple minutes, my attention was drawn up to the counter by a lady who, having cut to the front of the line, was barking angrily at the very nice, mild-mannered older woman behind the register. I missed the first part of their exchange, but this is where I tuned in:

customer: (at the decibel level of perhaps a sports announcer, and the annoyance level of someone dealing with a particularly stubborn small child) "All I'm asking is if those salads have fresh chicken on them or if it's just been sitting there cold on the salad!"

manager: "No, ma'am, the chicken is fresh."

customer: (Seemingly dumbfounded and disoriented by the realization that there might not be anything left to complain about, she turns around and notices the line of customers waiting as if for the first time.) "Is THAT the line to order?!?"

manager: "Yes, the line ends with that lady right there."

customer: (horrified expression on her face, as if the manager had just informed her that the chicken for the salads was obtained from the dumpster out back) Goodness, I'm not THAT hungry! (shaking head, she turns around and marches back out the door.)

I'd like to point out that the line contained exactly four people. Had Mrs. Fresh-Chicken-Only skipped the interrogation process and simply joined the line, at least two of us probably could have placed our orders by that time.

All I can say is that it least it gave the rest of us in line a good chuckle, and at least one of us something to blog about.

715: my new home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ the living room

 

 

^ the dining area (the bulletin board is only temporarily leaning there until i get a chance to put it up in the kitchen).

 

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^ the kitchen.  it’s very beige.

 

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^ the bedroom. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ the bathroom (shower/toilet are off to the right but it was difficult to get them in a photograph.)