Jambo!

I'm here! And I'm online! Huzzah!

My travels yesterday - well, actually the day before that, too - went just fine. Portland to Detroit to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. Then we took a van to Moshi where we are staying at a nice bed and breakfast. There is electricity and running water (though not very hot) and, most importantly, there was coffee at breakfast.

It was so unbelievably dark flying into Kilimanjaro. As we were descending in the plane, I could not see ANY lights. All of a sudden, we hit the ground. It was one of the more shocking experiences of my life. Apparently, there was a big ol' gust of wind as we were landing that blew us off course, so we landed right next to the runway. Yeah. Adventurous!

The town of Moshi is hot and bustling. Apparently everyone is home for the holiday season. There are so many things to look at. My eyes are full, but my camera is not yet! There are some very pushy gentlemen trying to sell us things on the street. Children, too. It is hard, because the stuff they have is actually quite beautiful, but I'm not buying anything until I have seen more. One girl in our group had this one guy selling batiks follow her for almost an hour. Crazy.

There will be 11 people total in our group, but only 6 of us are here so far. My classmate, Rebecca, and I are the oldest - everyone else is pre-med. Haha! It's like we are wise sages or something. Not really, but...

We are celebrating the new year with a dinner tonight. I hope everyone else is planning on having some fun, too. Drink a glass of champagne for me, everyone (except Ari).

I don't think I'll always have internet access, but keep checking! I'll post when I can. And when I get home... pictures!!

Swahili lesson:
Jambo = hello
Asante = thank you
Asante san = thank you very much
Hapano = No thank you

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The Big Trip

I was really planning on doing a lot more posting before my trip, but that obviously didn't happen. You know how things manage to pile up and before you know it, you find yourself up until the middle of the night just tying together those little details? Well, I don't think I'll be up all night. I'm actually pretty well packed now. But I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I was on a roll this afternoon until the power went out. (Thank goodness it was only out for an hour!)

So, as promised, here is my itinerary (it is a bit messy, but I'm too tired to try to fix it much):

FRIDAY 30th December, 2005
Students Arrivals JRO / DAR
B/B MOSHI
LION HOTEL/DAR

SATURDAY 31st December , 2005
Hiking day for JRO arrivals. Travel day to Moshi for Dar arrivals. New years Dinner at Sal Salnero Hotel /Optional..
B/B Moshi

SUNDAY 1st January, 2006
Worship/rest/get organized; Program orientation at B/B House
B/B House

MONDAY 2nd January, 2006
Travel day to Bumbuli. Stop over at Soni Falls
BUMBULI G/HOUSE

TUESDAY 3rd January, 2006
Village Triage day One
BUMBULI G/HOUSE

WEDNESDAY 4th January, 2006
Village Clinic
BUMBULI G/HOUSE

THURSDAY 5th January, 2006
Village Triage Day Two
BUMBULI G/HOUSE

FRIDAY 6th January, 2006
Half Day Village Clinic, Late afternoon Travel to IRENTE
IRENTE CLIFF LODGE

SATURDAY 7th January, 2006
Travel to Moshi
B/B HOUSE SHANTY TOWN MOSHI

SUNDAY 9th January, 2006
Worship / travel Day to Rombo/Stop over at Marangu Waterfalls.
ROMBO LUTHERAN HOSTEL

MONDAY 9th January, 2006
Village Triage Full day
UHURU HOSTEL ROMBO

TUESDAY 10th January, 2006
Village triage Full Day
UHURU HOSTEL ROMBO

WEDNESDAY 11th January, 2006
Clinic Day at Church Dispensary
UHURU HOSTEL ROMBO

THURSDAY 12th January, 2006
Travel Day to Moshi
Evening to Faraja
FARAJA DIACONIC CENTRE

FRIDAY 13th January, 2006
Maasai Vilage
Triage full day
FARAJA DIACONIC CENTRE

SATURDAY 14th January, 2006
Masai Clinic at the Local Lutheran Church.
Full day/ Return To Moshi
B/B House Shanty Town Moshi

SUNDAY 15th January, 2006
Safari Day one Lake Manyara National Park, Game Drive. at Lake Manyara N/Park
TWIGA LODGE

MONDAY 16th January, 2006
Safari Day Two (Travel to Ngorongoro Crater for Crater Tour
KARATU LUTHERAN HOSTEL

TUESDAY 17th January, 2006
Safari Day Three Return back to Moshi- Masai shopping Centers On the way.
B/B HOUSE SHANTY TOWN MOSHI

WEDNESDAY 18th January, 2006
Travel Day to Dar es Salaam
LION HOTEL/OPTIONAL

19th January, 2006
Flights To U.S.A. BRITISH AIRWAY/KLM.

I don't really know much about any of the places on the itinerary. I can't wait to learn all about them!

Everyone keeps asking me if I am excited. Am I? Of course I am, sillies! At this point, I'm still worried that I'm forgetting something major. But in, oh about twelve or so hours, I'll be horribly excited - that's when my flight leave. (Of course, the first flight is to Detroit, so maybe I should wait until my second flight, for Amsterdam, leaves...)

FYI Tanzania is 11 hours ahead of Oregon, 8 hours ahead of North Carolina.

And now, I'll sign off. I don't expect that I'll have the opportunity to get online while I'm there, but if I do, I will surely update here. Take care everyone, and stay safe until I get home. Stay safe after that, too, of course... All the time, really....

Not Dead... Just....

...Boring.

Seriously. I've gotten to the point of vacation where I need a vacation from my vacation. And on that vacation vacation, I'd have lots of responsibilities and duties and I'd have to do lots of thinking and get stressed out. In other words: I'm ready for vacation to be over. I need a meaning in life!

For those of you counting: that's about 6 weeks of sitting around doing absolutely nothing before it gets mind-numbingly boring. I'm actually surprised that I lasted that long! If you factor in a month of traveling for interviews, I guess I didn't really sit around doing nothing for six full weeks. In fact, it has only been two weeks since my last interview. So. Two weeks of absolutely no responsibility is enough for me.

BUT! Now. NOW things begin. Oh, yes. Tomorrow morning, my mother and my youngest sister and I are going to be in the studio audience of a local morning talk show. We're hoping that they give free stuff to the audience. And then Friday... well, I might bake or something. Then Saturday is all Christmas Eve and stuff. And Sunday is Christmas! And Monday is day-after-Christmas shopping (though I'm actually almost _bored_ of shopping). And Tuesday and Wednesday are prep days for Thursday when I LEAVE FOR AFRICA.

I recently got my itinerary - I shall post it here before I go, so you all can be jeal... I mean, so you can see what I'm up to.

Last week I got a manicure, and ended up with Barbie Doll pink nail polish on (it was called "First Class"). I didn't remove it until today. That's how bored/boring I've been.

But no more!

I have a travel pack, and a day pack, and a compression sack, patty whack, give the dog a bone!!

If anyone has any advice as far as what I should pack for three weeks in Tanzania, I would be oh-so-happy for the tips.

Here is a tip from Brenna:
Scan your passport into a file and e-mail it to yourself as well as carrying along extra copies of it on your person.

Iron Chef Brenna?

For the past month or so, we have had several pomegranates sitting on our counter. Have you ever had a pomegranate? They're really quite good. They're also freaking hard to eat, which I think is part of the reason (if not the main reason) that they've been sitting peacefully on the kitchen counter.

I enjoy eating pomegranates by themselves, but I kept seeing cook-y type people on TV morning shows (did I mention that I'm on vacation...? With very little to do?) talk about how good pomegranates were to cook with.

Well, me being me, and not willing to let sitting pomegranates lie, I decided that I needed to cook something... pomegranate-y.

(The word pomegranate sounds funny after you say it five or so times in a row. Pomegranate, pomegranate, pomegranate...)

I told my mom that I would cook dinner today so that she could have one day off from feeding us hungry masses, and I did some internet searches for 'pomegranate recipe.' I looked for a long time. Not being what one would call a 'cook' normally, I don't really know what constitutes a 'good' recipe. A recipe could include 'arsenic' and I'd be, like, 'I wonder what aisle the arsenic is in at the grocery store?'

Finally I settled on "Roasted Pomegranate Chicken," which looked relatively easy-ish. Then I had a whole huge debate - mostly in my head, with the occasional verbal exclamation - about what sides to have with Roasted Pomegranate Chicken. Potatoes? Cous cous? Corn?

Somehow, I setted on salad, wild rice, and (another recipe!) "Green Beans Amandine."

I was... less than confident in my actual ability to cook, so I gave myself lots of time to get things organized. Then I was all mincing garlic, and juicing pomegranates and lemons (hard, hard, hard) and... boiling water and stuff.

And, in the end, after about two hours of work... it was all edible! Good, even! I think the recipes I picked were pretty fool-proof, so that was good. I am pleased to know that I can cook. And that I don't hate it! I wouldn't say that I love it (no Iron Chef Brenna), but there is a certain sense of accomplishment in preparing a whole menu.

I would rather stick to knitting and crocheting, though, in terms of the domestic arts. They're more portable!

Brenna's Menu:
Mixed Green Salad with dried cranberries, sliced almonds and Raspberry Vinaigrette
Roasted Pomegranate Chicken
Wild Rice
Green Beans Amandine

(I didn't do dessert - that was beyond my mad organizational cooking skillz.)

Ding-Dang

Done!

No, not with Christmas shopping (thanks for reminding me of that... geez!) NO! I am done - D. O. N. E. - with the freaking residency interviews. I had my seventh, and last, interview on Tuesday. I feel like I should maybe interview at more. But then I also feel that seven is a nice, biblical number so I should just leave it at that. So I'm gonna.

Highlights of the whole process:

- Getting nine of my ten interview offers before the dean's letter went out
- Seeing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Broadway the night before one interview because they didn't have the obligatory evening before (though I guess not obligatory, since they didn't have it) 'meet and greet' with the residents
- Feeling like an honorary "Man in Black" as I toured many facilities with like-dressed applicants. All with our clicky shoes
- Having a hard time suppressing my laughter every time our footsteps became synchronized during those tours (we'd go Clickety-clicket-click-Click-CLICK-CLICK)
- Finding three "I'd love to go there" programs, three "I think that would be sorta fun" to go there programs and one "I only really need to rank six programs, right?" program.
- Getting up at 4:45 am, driving two hours, dropping off rental car, catching shuttle to airport, waiting at gate, boarding plane, hearing 'this plane is broken,' de-boarding plane, waiting two hours for new plane, boarding new plane, watching two grown men almost come to fisticuffs while stowing luggage ('you think you can take me, fatso!?'), flying, riding train 1 hour home, leaving again sixty-two hours later
- Fresno newspaper headline: "Fresno Cow Count Rising"
- Chatty Sacramento shuttle driver who got lost and found the street with the MOST SPEED-BUMPS EVER CREATED
- And, finally, coming home to a Christmas-filled house, knowing that I have a full three plus weeks to recover.

And, by the by... I have an announcement (no, I'm not pregnant. Or engaged.):
I'm a-goin' to Africa!

Seriously! Real-life Africa - not Animal Kingdom or the zoo
or a really realistic non-fiction/fiction book that takes me there in my imagination. Actual Africa with the actual Lions and Witches and... no, wait. With actual Lions and Tigers and... no, that's not it either. Well, there will be lions anyway. And other animals. Deadly animals. And deadly mosquitoes (for which I've been armed with gajillions of shots and pills).

I'm going with a group called The Center for International Service Learning. I'm so terribly excited! I am going with a classmate - though we won't actually see each other again until we meet up in Amsterdam! We'll be doing some sort of rural triage clinic. What that entails, I'm not quite certain. I leave in three weeks!! Which means that I will be in Africa for New Year's. How awesome is that? For the rest of my life, I will not have to worry about making New Year's a big occasion, because no matter what I end up doing, nothing will beat being in Africa when the year changes.

Unless, maybe some year I'm on the moon...

Arizona...

Does anything rhyme with Arizona? Or any state, really, for that matter. Though, now that I think about it, Oregon is a homonym. Few Pork. Pain. Schebraska.

Alrighty, then. Arizona as a state is not inspiring me to great heights of creative genius. Though it is good on the hair.

Interview number four is tomorrow, followed by number five on Wednesday! Already, the programs are starting to blend into one giant massive program. With a huge commute.

For the sake of brevity, and sparing you the boredom of reading any more drivel...

Black Friday

What better way to follow up a day of total gustatory over-indulgence than with a day of total consumerism?

My lovely sisters joined me at the mall this morning at 5:00. That's am. Morning. Ante merdiem. All three of us made it there, too. Aren't we cool?

Well. Maybe not so much. Part of me feels a little guilty for buying into the whole frenzy of "Black Friday." But that part of me is also a little lazy, so I left it behind in bed this morning.

Seriously, though - is there anything quite like the feeling of getting a really good deal? I saved over $100 with my first purchase today! Of course, as my dad pointed out, he saved even more money since he didn't buy anything. (I'd like to direct you all to a few posts ago when I mentioned all the rocks we have here... And the shop... Yeah. 'Nuf said.)

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the Crack 'O Dawn shopping experience. In the end, though - more specifically around 9 am when we were leaving the mall parking lot - early is the way to go on Black Friday.

Except... not at Wal-Mart. People apparently go loopy at Wal-Mart. Well. More loopy. There was no 'rush' at JC Penney.

Now I have to go look at my purchases. And sleep. If that pesky guilty-feeling part of me lets me - it's better rested.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I'm not positive, but I think this is a fairly accurate re-creation of the first Thanksgiving.

Now, go eat turkey!!!

Welcome to My Casa

I promised pictures, so here you are: a photographic tour of the new Casa de Mi Familia.


Here is the road that leads to our new home. Actually, this is taken from an angle that would lead away from our home, seeing as I took it from our driveway. So... Just imagine the same thing in reverse. I was too lazy to walk to the end.


And here is one of the first things you'll see as you approach our house. Past the trailer thing is one leg of the driveway. I'm standing in the other leg. (Do you call them legs when the driveway is shaped like a U?) The building there is some mysterious building. I think they used to build trophies there. Seriously. Now it is filled with my dad's stuff. And the hot water heater.


Now, how do you know for sure that you reached the correct house? You'll know because there will be rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.


And sometimes a flower or two. But always rocks.


Here is the pride of the whole farm. The SHOP. I keep accidentally calling it the 'shed.' My dad quickly corrects me. It is a SHOP...


...filled with things like LARGE amounts of GRANITE...


...and TRACTORS... (Doesn't this tractor look a little evil here? Like it is in a Disney short or Thomas the Tank Engine episode and it is going to go do something evil that the cute little house or train protagonist will have to overcome or defeat or something. And then little kids will have nightmares about the scary red-eyed scary machine. Evil tractor.)...


I think this is my dad's unofficial throne of the SHED. Oops. Shop. I meant SHOP, there. Not Shed. SHOPPE.


Here is another view from the driveway. It isn't really that the driveway is huge (though it kind of is) it is just that the grass is kind of new, and I don't want to kill the fledgling...grasslets by stomping all over them. Plus, it is kind of muddy.


And, finally, here is the front door. Won't you all come in?

Actually, let me check with my mom first...

Call Me Mrs. Darcy

...because I am INCANDESCENTLY happy.

I got to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels last night. (btw Norbert Leo Butz is a genious)

I had a great interview today.

I just got another interview invitation.

At UC Davis.

AND!!!

I'm in New York City on a Friday night.

Gotta love it.

Glutton for Punishment?

I've always liked to count things by fives. Five, ten, fifteen, etc. It is just a nice, complete number. And whenever I make tally marks, I hate ending on a straight up-and-down line, preferring instead to close the group of lines with a fifth, angled slash across them.

Yes, five is a good number.

Except when it is the number of times you've been rejected from someplace. And by 'somplace' I mean OHSU. That is Oregon Health & Science University, for those of you not familiar with it. And here is a chronological list of the times they've rejected me:

Spring 2000: Rejected from joining the med school Class of 2004
December 2001: Rejected from joining the Class of 2005
Spring 2002: Rejected from joining the Class of 2006
Spring 2005: Rejected from doing a fourth year rotation at OHSU
and, finally, November 16, 2005: Rejected from their pediatrics residency program

Finito.

Thankfully, with the magic number 5, I've reached the end of things that OHSU can reject me from! Woo-hoo!

But, let's take a moment to feel horrifically sorry for me as my dreams are shattered, yet again...

[moment]

Okay, now that's over.

Interestingly, in the last week, I have been systematically rejected from three of the top ten most overpriced cities in the US. I should be thanking them for saving me the trouble. Of course, I'm flying to another of those top ten cities tomorrow. And... I'm still waiting to hear from another of the ten.

Did I mention that I applied to schools in 6 of the top 10 most overpriced cities? Hmm. Maybe those schools knew something when they rejected me - I'm kind of stupid to do that, after all.

So, no Portland for me. It's funny how OHSU consistently makes me lose sight of one of my own personal, over-arching philosophies of life: that Everything Turns Out All Right in the End.

I maintain faith that I will end up at a place that is good for me. (And hopefully a place where I'll actually meet some interesting and single men!) Obviously, that place is not Portland.

I'm five-times convinced of that!

Scam!

In this era of internet and e-mail scams, I'm ever vigilant for things that look too good to be true, or things that just don't look right. I think I'm relatively good at staying away from people or products that are going to waste my time or money.

Online, anyway.



I just got this postcard thingy in the mail. It looks official - like a card that you send with registered mail. And it was forwarded to me here at my parents house from my apartment. I was half-way convinced that I should call the number - I won an auction on eBay a while ago, and thought it might have something to do with that.

Being the savvy person that I am, though, I went online (I heart the internet) and found this info. It was exactly the same thing I received!

Anyway. I feel pretty stupid for almost getting schnookered. Beware, everyone! They still use snail mail for scams!!! And even *gasp* the telephone!!!

Shocking, I know.

Here's To Healthy Chompers!

My dreaded dentist appointment was this morning. And as it turns out, my teeth are just fine!

In other news, I'm apparently a wimp now, and can't handle a little pain.

Actually, my sore tooth (the one that I thought I'd need a root canal in) was feeling better today. I almost didn't go to the dentist, but I didn't want to risk my periodontal health.

To celebrate healthy teeth everywhere, I got some little gifts for the welfare of our family pets' teeth:


Murphy and Lexi enjoy chewing on bones to keep their teeth healthy. But actually, what they enjoy even more than that, is trying to get whatever the other one has.


I don't know what cats use to keep their teeth healthy, so I just got Slater a catnip tennis ball. I think I only succeeded in scaring the poor cat. Oh, well. I don't think tennis balls are great for teeth anyway.

I Live!

So, it seems that every time I come home to Oregon, I tend to go into temporary hiding. I don't know what exactly I am hiding from, but Oregon seems to be a good place to do it. Seeing as I'm going to be here through Christmas, I figured I should force myself out of my seclusion, otherwise people may think I've disappeared for good. Not true!

How about some brief updates? Sounds good to me!

Well, I've had two interviews now. Also, I've had two rejections. Fortunately, the rejections don't match up to the interviews! That is one nice thing about the match process - we don't necessarily get outright rejected. Except for Seattle. Darn Seattle. And San Diego. Which is funny, but I'm not going to bother going there, except to say that I've learned enough since I applied to San Diego to know that I wouldn't have interviewed there even if they'd invited me!

My first interview was at my home school. Good program, great people, horrible city. I just don't think I can stay there. Being away is so good for my soul. My second interview was at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I applied mostly just because I like Charleston. And I interviewed mostly because I was going to be there with my sister anyway. Several residents I'd talked to in the days before my first interviews had said they didn't like MUSC's hospital at all. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling terribly enthusiastic about the program before I interviewed there. But I really liked it! I can already tell that making a rank list is going to be very, very hard for me.

My next interview will be this coming Friday in New York City. Yes, I have this month off for interviews, and yes I came home to be closer to my "West Coast interviews" and yes, I am turning around to fly to NY a mere week after I came home. Deal with it.

By the way, "West Coast interviews" is in quotes because they are pretty much non-existent at this point.

I did send a "Please pick me!" begging e-mail to OHSU though. We'll see if it has any effect.

Did I mention that I came home a week earlier than my mom expected to surprise her for her birthday? 'Twas much fun. She was totally astounded. Definitely astounded.

In the interim from the last time I was home, my parents moved from our old house to the new farm! How exciting. I'll tell you all about it later. I may even post pictures.

I am going to go to bed now. Because I have to get up early. To go to the dentist. Because I might need a root canal. Yes, you heard me: Root. Canal. I hate teeth.

Oh, and PS. Pride and Prejudice is worth seeing, but after the scene where Lizzie convinces her dad that she really does like Darcy, do yourself a favor and close your eyes, plug your ears and go "la-la-la" for the next few minutes. Or just go see the movie in England or Australia where they are kind enough to save you the trouble of enduring the last scene, which RUINS the ENTIRE movie. If you're smart enough to do that, and you happen to be in my neck of the woods, my sisters and I will re-create the scene for you. I know CPR.

Meine Schwester

is 24 years old today!

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!!!!!

Faux Pas

Alright. I would be the last person to claim to be a fashion guru, and my 'work' clothes are not always the most impeccable and/or wrinkle free. But. I do have a sense of what is right and what is wrong, especially when I am at the bottom of the totem pole and can't pull of the 'eccentric attending' look and wear Hawaiian shirts or raggedy looking pants.

There is this third year student that I think could learn a few things from me. My first lesson would be short - one word even: smile. I've never seen this girl not scowl.

Beyond the smile paucity, though, there is the matter of her wardrobe. Last Friday, I noticed that she was wearing black jeans. The cut of the jeans was fine - not tapered, and they were long enough. But, did I mention that they were JEANS? I cut her some slack that day - hey, people do wear dark jeans as a dressed up evening look, and it was Friday, after all - maybe she was just confused and thought that third years qualified for 'casual day.'

Then on Monday, she was wearing what I can only describe as track pants. They were black and had a dark green running stripe down the side. The material was kind of flocked, so it wasn't shiny or anything. But there was elastic around the ankles.

I justified THAT by noting that she was on call, and the pants actually looked more dressy than scrub pants. From a distance anyway.

But then, today? She was wearing blue jeans. BLUE jeans. With the cuffs folded up a good three inches. Blue jeans with folded up cuffs and her white coat. Good grief.

I'd take this poor young misguided thing aside to tell her that her clothes are inappropriate, but her scowliness scares me.

In less than a year, I will be grading medical students. Rest assured - if you wear jeans around me, your grade will suffer.

End of Day Report

Number of interviews received today: 1
Number of interviews total: 8
Number of schools yet to hear from: 11

Total word count for Nano 2005: 757
Words left for Nano: 49,243

So... Not a terrible day, really. Boo-yaw.

Distressing

AhhhghhhGHHHGHhhhh!

My e-mail box has yet to deliver any new interviews today. Grr.

Today was the busiest day ever on Peds ID. And my 'busiest' I mean that I got no free time - only an hour for lunch. And by 'not getting any free time' I mean that I had to sit around listening to everyone and their neighbor talking about all these patients that WEREN'T ON MY SERVICE. And by 'sit around' I mean that I had to STAND for HOURS in a freaking work-room filled with six over-worked interns, several disgruntled upper levels and TWENTY THOUSAND THIRD YEARS. Seriously. They're everywhere. I swear they're multiplying. Like rabbits. Like sitting-in-a-chair-that-should-rightfully-be-mine-because-I-am-a-fourth-year-and-I-stood-all-thru-MY-third-year rabbits.

AND - horror of horrors - I saw a woman today - MY age, mind you - who had her jeans PEGGED. PEGGED JEANS. On a twenty-something year old.

I think my head is going to explode.

And I still have to start Nano!!!!

Atwitter!

Happy Halloween!

I don't have a costume, and you can just shut up about that. I am wearing bat earrings, though. And if you're not careful, they might fly off my ears and into your face. Ha!

Tomorrow, besides being the day after Halloweed, is also November 1. Two very big and important things are happening (and I am all atwitter):

1. Dean's Letters go out to residency programs. Actually, they are no longer known as 'dean's letters,' but rather "Medical Student Performance Evaluation." Whatever. It is a letter. The dean wrote it. 'Nuf said. ANYway, many residency programs (claim to) wait until the MSPE goes out to offer interviews. Most programs claim to wait, while actually giving interviews to the more 'desirable' candidates, but whatever. TOMORROW IS THE DAY. I expect an e-mail box FULL of interviews tomorrow by 7am. Never mind that it is only west coast schools that I have to hear from and my seven is their four. I don't care. I WANT A BOX FULL.

2. National Novel Writing Month begins!!! I have two plot ideas floating around in my head. Tomorrow I'll have to pin one down and wrestle 50,000+ words out of it. One plot would involve a 16-ish year old girl in high school, the other a 12-ish year old boy on an adventure. Any suggestions?

Wish me (and my compatriates) luck!

Wikipedia Friday

Last Friday, I decided to institute "Wikipedia Friday"* on my blog. Here is installment numero two.

*"Wikipedia Friday": where I go on to Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia!) click the "Random Article" link, and then comment on the resulting topic here on my blog.

Today's topic: "Dorotea Municipality."

What I learned: Well, I can honestly say that my knowledge of Dorotea Municipality was pretty much non-existent before this afternoon. Turns out that it is a municipality in Sweden. And one of the least populated municipalities in Sweden to boot! About half the population of Dorotea Municipality live in the town of... you guessed it... Dorotea. It was named after Queen Frederica Dorotea Wilhelmina of Sweden. (inspiring me to question why Dorotea and not Frederica?)

Personal anecdote involving "Dorotea Municipality": This one time, I don't remember when, I went to the official website of the Dorotea Municipality, but I couldn't understand anything that was written there. Because it was all in Swedish. Actually, you know what? That was today.

Thoughts on Wikipedia's "Dorotea Municipality" article: While it is nice to see one of the least populated municipalities of Sweden represented in Wikipedia, I am a little distraught at the lack of depth of information. Most of the article is devoted to talking about a church that was built, burned down, and then built again. I feel the people of Dorotea deserve a more fleshed out description of their home.

Notes From Peds ID

I don't think I ever posted anything about the new rotation I'm on. See how low key fourth year is? I cannot believe how the stress level relating to school plummeted! I think I don't notice it so much, because the stress level for residency applications is all-consuming. Sigh.

Anyway. It crossed my mind this morning, as we rounded on our one patient, that perhaps the cruelest thing you can to do an 11 year old boy is to wake him up at 9:30, rip his sheets off and do a physical exam. The adolescent male inside me (who knew I had an adolescent male in there, too???) dies a thousand deaths for him. The adolescent girl in me (aka the source of most of my actions) kind of does an evil little laugh.

I decided to do the Peds ID rotation not as a way to torture young boys, but rather to painfully expose and hopefully treat my serious lack of infectious disease knowledge. And it is working! I love this rotation. The attendings are so fantastic, especially the one we've had on service this month. I have not only learned a lot, I have also learned that I knew more than I thought I did! Fantastic.

Actually, a secondary reason for me doing this rotation was that one of the Peds ID faculty people was one of my interviewers back in ought-two when I was applying here. I thought it would be cool to actually work with him. He comes on to service next Tuesday. AND, next Friday, incidentally, is my Residency interview here. There is some sort of synchronisity going on there with this attending and interviews. I like it.

I AM the Coolest Person You Know

Remember how I took a spinning class a while back? Ooh - in fact, here is a picture so you can remember:


Well. I did really enjoy the spinning and even toyed around with the idea of purchasing a wheel on eBay. The cost is a tad bit out of my price range for now, but it is on the list of "Things Brenna Wants to Buy Someday." It fits somewhere after 'digital piano' and somewhere before 'the collective works of Dostoevsky.'

My friend who took the class with me, however, has been swept away in a spinning fury! She has joined a spinning circle and is borrowing a wheel from a fellow teacher to keep practicing. She is actively searching for a good deal on a wheel - and she convinced me to go to the Southeast Animal Fiber Fair yesterday.

That's right: Animal Fiber Fair.

And you know what? It was the most fun I've had since... the Dixie County Classic Fair! I think the Farm-Girl blood in me is making more of an appearance in me lately - there was a reason all my ancestors settled in the Midwest.

Heather and I drove two-plus hours to Asheville, NC to attend this animal fiber fair. I didn't really know what to expect... Here are some pictures so you know what to expect in the event you find yourself at a similar event some day:


Obviously, the first thing you need are tickets to the Agricultural Center. Obviously.


Here is Heather at the entrance to the Fair. It was in a stadium-type thing. There were two tiers of vendors selling things from roving (what you use to spin yarn from) to spinning wheels to spun yarn to yarn dye. There were even angora rabbits for sale inside, and sheep, goats and alpaca in the outside buildings.


One thing I certainly did not expect to see was all the men at the spinning wheels. There were probably about 20 people there just sittin' and spinnin'. Plus countless others at their booths working on a knit or crochet project. There were also felters and weavers and hookers and dyers. Everything that you could do with animal fiber was being done.


Since I'm not currently in the market for a wheel, I focused mainly on the yarn. The pretty, pretty, pretty yarn. So much yarn. So pretty. I did really well, though - I only bought enough yarn for two projects. I wanted so much more.


My favorite yarn was at this lady's booth - Brooks Farm. I wanted to buy absolutely everything she had. But I didn't - I only bought one, though I thought my head would explode from trying to choose just one color of the wool/silk blend. Ahhh.... so pretty. The lady who sells the yarn is married to the great-nephew of the man who designed the Buffalo-head nickel. No, they don't use that as a selling point.


After glutting ourselves with yarn, Heather and I made it out to the barns to visit some animals. We were admiring these alpaca when their owner came up and brought one out for us to feel the wool. Nifty! Alpaca wool yarn is SO cool and soft.

So, that was our day at the Animal Fiber Fair. Heather and I looked and looked, but saw few (if any) other people in our age range. We're the new trendsetters, though - I'm telling you. All the stars are knitting now, right? I bet you that it is just a matter of time before you see Julia Roberts manning a spinning wheel or Madonna dragging little Lourdes around an Animal Fiber Fair.

You heard it here first!

Wikipedia Friday

I'm bored.

So! I've decided to institute "Wikipedia Friday" where I go on to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia click the "Random Article" link, and then comment on the resulting topic here on my blog. I plan to make this a weekly installment for at least one week.

Can you taste the excitement??? Please, feel free to join in the fun by finding your own random article.

Today's topic: "Crocodile clip." aka "alligator clip" or "roach clip"

What I learned: the plastic part used to cover the metal part of the clip when it is being used for electricity-type stuff is called a 'boot.' Also, there is something called a 'beige box' that involves crocodile clips. A 'beige box' is involved in something called 'phone phreaking.' I don't know what that is.

Personal anecdote involving "crocodile clip": Well. The other day, I went to the dentist to get some fillings and they clipped that blue paper towel thing around my neck, and the hygienist clipped a little bit of my hair in the crocodile clip so my hair was being tugged on the whole time I was getting my fillings. That was kind of annoying.

Thoughts on Wikipedia's "Crocodile clip" article: It left me wanting more. Though the 'beige box-phone phreaking tangent' was intriguing.

Don't Forget to Remember

I'm fairly certain that most students at small liberal arts colleges (like my own alma mater) have (or will( at some point, referred to their campus as a 'bubble.' As in "College" is such a bubble. Good explanation, no? Actually, what people seem to generally be referring to is the complete and total lack of awareness of what is going on in the outside world. It was true at St. Olaf, as I'm sure it is true at other colleges and universities.

As it is true in medical school as well.

Which makes me think - do I carry my bubble around with me? Perhaps I am living in my own little Brenna-bubble that only lets in certain information, while being completely and totally oblivious to other things.

For instance - things the bubble lets in: 1. Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn making out. 2. Hurricanes 3. Residency applications - specifically who in my class is applying to what field/programs. 4. Chocolate and coffee.

Things the bubble deflects: (beyond the general category of 'everything else'): Earthquakes. Did you KNOW that there was a gigantic earthquake in Pakistan? I kind of sort of did. I remember hearing about it at some point. But did you know that over 51,000 people are dead? That's a lot of people. A big ol' "disturbance in the force."

But... somehow that did not penetrate my little bubble until this very moment. I feel kind of ashamed. At the same time, though... I need to focus on school and applications, etc. so that I can hopefully someday provide some actual, tangible help instead of a piddly donation. So maybe the bubble is a good thing? Probably not, but I guess that's just the way it is going to be for the time being. I'll just try to turn down the deflection shield a little bit at a time.

Interview Frenzy...!

...okay. So, not an interview frenzy, per se. Not even really an interview hubbub, actually. Maybe a tad bit of interview commotion, though.

For those of you new to... me and my ramblings: I am going into pediatrics. And for those of you not familiar with the direct realtionship between monetary remuneration and the popularity of medical specialties (and/or the inverse relationship to level of difficulty): peds is not hard to get into. (presuming, of course, that you are sensible enough to apply to a school or two outside of the top ten - or smart enough to get away with it)

Originally, I wanted to apply to 10 schools. Ten is a nice, round number. Plus it is how many we get 'free' with the first lump payment of the application. Every school above ten costs an additional amount. Ten made a lot of sense.

I tried moderately hard, but couldn't narrow it down to ten. So... 15. Fifteen is also a good number. A strong number. Fifteen. Very nice.

In the end, I applied to 16 schools. Maybe not as sexy a number as 15, but still very elegant in its own square-of-four fashion. I like square numbers.

After submitting my application, I got three interviews relatively quickly. One of those three was quite persistent, too (making me believe it is a 'lesser' school - I'm that desirable??) My own school rounded my interviews out to four.

Then the silence.

No interviews. Which was all good and fine until someone introduced me to the forums at studentdoctor.net. Every time I open that freaking site, my whole body goes into panic mode. Panicpanicpanic. It was from those forums that I discovered that two of my top four choices were already offering interviews - and I hadn't gotten one! Horrors! Panicky-panicky horrors!

So... Nineteen. Nineteen schools is a great number of schools to apply to, don't you think? I mean, nineteen may not be as elegant as 16, but 19 is a prime number. That means it is special, and therefore luckier, right? Of course, right.

It especially helps when the three schools you add are ones that you know are offering interviews. I'm up to six interview offers now. I'm not a fan of the number six, though... too smug.

Talking to the peds residents who have been through all of this before - they say that 5-8 interviews was about all they could take. One I talked to this morning had done 11 interviews and said it was way too many. I need to start making decisions, I guess. But at the moment - it is SO addictive getting the interview offers. It helps ease the panicky panic. I just want more! More more more!!!

23 is a prime number, too, right...?

And 25 is a square....

Premature Maturity

There are times in my life where I walk around the hospital all day composing my next blog entry in my head. Those are the days where I consider faking a bathroom break to skip out of rounds to go capture my witticisms before they escape my head. I actually do carry around a notecard where I jot down funny things to blog about. These are the times where I refer to blogging as being 'addictive.'

Lately... eh. I seem to have kicked the habit. It isn't that my life has suddenly grown so exciting that I have no time to blog, or that it has grown so boring that I don't have anything to blog about. Really, it seems to be that I've found the right amount of business/laziness to actually get me out of my own head for the time being.

Because really, honestly? What is blogging if not the ultimate expression of self-centeredness and self-obsession? Here I am, writing about my piddly little life, and expecting others to not only read, but to actually care about it. And I do! I expect people to care and to appreciate me and my life and what I have to say! I'm not too proud to admit how self-centered I am.

I've actually been thinking about this for a while - the selfishness of blogging. It is a craze that has seemed to have swept the younger generations more so than the older ones. This is partially due to the fact that most of the 'older' generation don't spend hours on end in front of the computer. And, I believe, it is partially due to less selfishness in general in the older generations.

Right now I am 27 years old, single, and childless. The most important thing in my life is me. I'm always there, I know my every thought and I always try to make myself happy. The perfect relationship! Why not be selfish and self-centered? I'm gosh-darn good at it - as are most other people in my situation. Why shouldn't we blog about our lives? Children and teenagers are by their very nature completely self-centered. It is only as we age that we begin to comprehend the world around us. Until then, the entire world is just "I." We live inside our heads and within our desires.

Though I am no longer a teenager, I do still live inside my head a lot. Not as much, but enough. I don't know for sure, but I feel pretty certain that I'll stay this way until I have children of my own. I don't think you can really move outside yourself completely until there is someone else completely dependent upon you.

That said, the fact that I haven't been blogging most definitely does not mean I'm pregnant. (Though this would be a really funny way to announce it... I'll have to remember that for the future...) I think I'm just suffering from a bout of maturity.

Don't worry. It won't last long!

Fair Time!

Susan and I actually went to the fair on Monday. I've been too lazy to actually post anything yet. Here are some pictures for your visual pleasure:


This is Susan feeding an alpaca. Doesn't it make you just want to shear it and wash and card the wool and then spin it into yarn and knit a fuzzy scarf so that you too can look like that?? The alpaca, not Susan.


Me and a yak. Don't talk back!


This is evidence of how Susan and I share one brain some times. Note the same brown Danskos, the same Gap Long and Lean jeans. We're also both wearing gray shirts. Not quite the same shirt, but I came this close to wearing the same one she did.


We went on some rides, but I actually have a lot more pictures of the animals at the petting zoo area than of any of the rides. I think I was too annoyed because someone spit on my head from the ferris wheel. Ick. Still, gotta love a fair!

Marathon Wo-MAN

My dear sister is in a marathon today. Marathon. MAR-athon. That's 26.2 miles. Wowie-wow-wow. GO Melissa GO!!!!

How awesome is she? Totally.

This brings the marathon participation rate of our family up to 40%. (Melissa and Dad) That may be as high as it gets.

Half-Way...

...done with my last year of medical school. ::nervous laughter::

In less than a year, people will be calling me 'Doctor.' ::uncontrollable, nervous laughter::

Of course, I have to stop all this nervous laughing, or people may start to think that I'm a "Doctor." You know... Like... I made it up... or something... like... I'm not really a doctor... but say I am... and laugh... you know... haha...

There are some inflections that are just hard to get across in type.

Things That Make Life Worth Living

If you've noted the title of my blog, you might be aware of my appreciation for words - big or otherwise. (There is also the reference to medical school intended in the title, as well - the 'big words' of medical academia... like armamentarium, or gastroenterology or... polyhydramnios)

Well, we are at that special time of year again when Webster's dictionary announces the new words that they are going to add to the dictionary. I'm always fascinated to see what makes the cut. Apparently it takes about ten years for a word or phrase to actually make it in. I guess they need to make sure the word has staying power. Which explains why 'bikini wax' is just now making it in. And 'hospitalist' and (joy of joys) 'chick flick.'

It does not explain how I have made it through my life without ever hearing the phrase amuse-bouche (noun): a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants. Or, my new favorite - retronym (noun): a term consisting of a noun and a modifier which specifies the original meaning of the noun. ("Film camera," for instance).

Mmmm. Isn't it great?

I will say that Webster's is way behind Wikipedia in sheer volume of new concepts and words and, well, just everything. But still, Webster's is an institution. And, I don't see Wikipedia putting anything out in print form! Egads!, that would be hu-normous!

Productive Uses of Time

When I was in AmeriCorps, I had a job that kept me busy for maybe 10-20 hours a week. But I was at work for about 40 hours a week. During that year, I got really good at wasting time. Mostly on the internet, and generally not in a productive helping-humanity-or-even-learning-anything-useful way. Basically, I had a list of websites that I'd visit every day, and a few online games (Scrabble, a crossword, etc.) that I'd play. After a few months of that, I felt like my brain was turning to mush. I was quite happy to leave that job to start medical school.

Well. I'm back to that brain-mushifying state of doing nothing. I'm on a surgical rotation right now, but my attending only does surgeries on Tuesday-Thursday - and even then, not always. I'm left with a lot of 'reading time.' If I was a better and wiser person, I'd use this time to, say... read. Alas, I am neither better nor wiser. So I end up watching television, playing computer games (Snood and Spider Solitaire mostly) and regularly checking my e-mail, people's blogs, and entertainment news sites. What an exciting life.

I've known for a long time that the busier I am, the more productive I am. Give my any free time, and I turn into a slug. I'm looking forward to residency because of that - I love feeling productive and busy, and this fourth year of med school thing really isn't doing it for me.

Words I will surely be eating a year from now.

In slightly more interesting news, I do have three interviews set up now. Three of the 16 programs to which I applied. A couple of the programs don't even start looking at applications until November 1. Slightly annoying. Only slightly, though.

I am so bored.

Theme Day

You know how some days there is some topic or person or word that just keeps popping up over and over seemingly randomly? Something like the word 'egregious' (which no one ever really uses) being used in a book, a newscast and by your sister-in-law all in the same day. I think of these as 'theme days.'

Today was a theme day.

And the theme was not egregious - neither the word or the meaning. Whatever could the theme be, you ask? Ex-boyfriends. Bizarre, no? No less bizarre from the fact that I was not the only person taken into this particular theme.

Susan and I (mostly Susan) had a Yard Sale today. In in, I sold the guitar given to me by an ex-boyfriend, and Susan sold a bracelet and Waterford crystal make-up brush (seriously) given to her by an ex. Then there was a new post made by an ex-boyfriend. And finally, to top it all off, I got a call from an old friend to tell me that she ran into one of my old boyfriends last night at a party and that he was asking about me.

Okay, so maybe that really doesn't count as a theme. But I'm taking it. AND, I'm taking the opportunity to discuss here, on my blog, my less-than-extensive dating history. To save for posterity as the 'before' as I await my exciting, date-filled 'after.'

My first boyfriend was named Joe. We started dating in Germany while on an exchange program. I was 16, he was 15. I think we started officially dating a few days before we left Germany - he asked me out as we were getting back on the bus after visiting a bunch of really beautiful churches and fountains. One might say that a beautiful German church or fountain would be a better setting for one's first 'wanna date' talk than the exhausty back of a bus. One would be right. Joe was a good first boyfriend, though. We dated through band camp (yes, I said band camp). He played the bass drum, and therefore had the coolness factor that made it okay for me to date a sophomore during my junior year. Eventually, Joe dumped me for a girl on the color guard named Jamie. My being a junior didn't make up for the distinctive un-coolness of being a clarinet player, I guess.

A few months later, I asked a guy named Aaron to the girl-ask-guy dance at our school (which, for some reason still unknown to me was called Bali Hai). I had had an on-again, off-again crush on him during our sophomore year. We ended up dating for about three weeks, I think. Not very long, but it was high school, so three weeks is a long time! Even if one of those weeks we missed several days due to snow. Aaron and I parted relatively amicably. I think there was just a little too much ego to split between two people there.... During our senior year, Aaron started dating a mystery girl from another high school. Apparently, they are married now! That makes me officially the Last Girl He Dated Before He Got Married. Weird.

After high school there was a looooong stretch of un-boyfriendedness marked by several close misses of disastrous relationships - notably during my junior year of college where I nipped a semi-budding flirtation in the bud. Mostly it was because he was two years my junior and I was on res life staff in the dorm he lived in. Also, it was partly due to the fact that his name was Bert.

When I was 24, I started dating a great guy in Alaska named T. I never knew how to spell T's name for sure. T? Tee? He didn't seem to care. I generally just avoided writing it, so that worked fine. T was a wonderful boyfriend. For my birthday, he threw me a party, gave me a guitar, painted me a picture, AND had two Dairy Queen ice cream cakes packed in frozen ice and flown up from Seattle. (seeing as there was no DQ in Sitka, and that is 'my' traditional birthday cake) I was not a very good girlfriend to T. I knew when I started dating him that I'd dump him when I left for med school. Yeah. I felt too guilty to do it at first, so I waited about a month before I crushed him. He is married now too, marking the second time I'm the Last Girl He Dated Before He Got Married. I heard he proposed on top of a mountain (literally) - I did do better at finding boys who have a better sense of setting by that time, I guess.

After T was.... well... No one really. I've had a couple of disastrous and/or spark-less dates during med school, but no official 'boyfriend.' Which REALLY makes it weird that I could have an ex-boyfriend themed day, don't you think? Hmm.

Oh, well. I made some money at the yard sale AND I got a suit yesterday. FANtastic.

Make Checks Payable to...

...the Save Brenna's Teeth Fund

I went to the dentist today. I'm not really a fan of the dentist. Not really. As a child, I'd do my bi-yearly duty and go to the dentist for my cleanings. I don't recall ever being terrified (my mom would have to verify that for me), but I DO remember exactly what the dentist's offices looked like. Including the one I went to in Minnesota in first and second grade. And I don't have the best memory from when I was that young. (In my memory, I don't really exist until about fifth grade and the advent of abstract thinking).

Actually, all I really remember about that dentist of yore was a really tall staircase on the outside of a brick building. It may have been tan brick.

The point of that memory is, that it was memorable enough for me to... well, remember. Meaning that it made an impression on me. Leading me to think that, despite my relative calm, I have never actually enjoyed going to the dentist, and, in fact, think it somewhat scary. And painful.

This realization hit me today as I noticed that I was white-knuckling it in the chair as I got my teeth cleaned. My fingers were sore from clenching them so hard!

And, yeah. I have five cavities that need to be filled.

I guess better now than waiting until I need a root canal again. That wasn't fun either. I knew that I was on the verge of some cavities - eleven, to be exact, based on last visit's estimation, which came with the encouragement to floss 'more' (more being relative when you floss...oh, once a month). I guess I did okay in that I only need 5 and not... 10 or something. I did start using mouthwash.

To celebrate the news, I went and donated blood. There, I was told that I have an irregular heartbeat (I had just chugged some Starbucks, though, so that didn't worry me) and just barely squeaked by on the 'iron' test. She actually checked it three times before I passed. And even then, just barely.

Now I feel a bit woozy, though... Oops. I guess they check our hematocrit for a reason!

Alright. I'm off to brainstorm on ways to raise some tooth-fund money. I am reviewing a book for Blackwell (for $100) and am participating in a yard sale this weekend, which will help. Unfortunately, I can't sell my blood now!

I Don't Like Labels

...but I was a bit under-whelmed with these results:

You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness. Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Wisdom of the Ages

Reset

Right now, it is 1:30 in the morning. I'm tired, and I'm bored, and I should just go to bed... but I don't feel like it. I'm doing absolutely nothing of consequence. I am house sitting, and have access to both cable television and internet which keeps me marginally entertained. (Hmmm. That makes it sound like I'm accessing all sorts of porn. I'm not.) (Hmmm, again. Now people searching for 'porn' and 'Brenna' will find my page. Because a lot of people search for that, I'm sure.)

I think maybe I am resetting my body clock. I haven't been on call for a while, so my poor little body doesn't know what to do with all this sleep I've had access to lately. I shall have to sit my body down and have a good talking-to, reminding it that in a few short months it will be living the life of an intern, and will have all the sleep deprivation it wants.

Susan and I went to see Just Like Heaven tonight. It was pretty dang good, which was a refreshing change from the theater's fare for the last couple of months (aka bad movies involving scariness and... well, that was it) The most distressing thing about the movie was the portrayal of a young, single, female doctor. Good grief, the girl had to die to find a man! That ain't so much something you'd find on my five-year plan. I'm wondering if the school administration would let me take a year off for an official 'husband hunt.' Ha! That would be so cool. But it is very likely that I'm only saying this 'cause it's late. I'll rescind it all tomorrow, and staunchly maintain that I can do it all.

I did make an important decision recently, though. It is something that I've pondered for a while, and now that I've actually made a choice, I feel that I made the right one. I decided that my first dog will be a small dog. I grew up with a small dog, and didn't live with a big dog (huge) until later in life. Well, as late as you can get in life when you're 27. Most of my friends here in med school that have dogs have big ones. And while I do love the big dogs, I just think it is a little easier to live with a dog that won't knock you over when it is happy. I fall easily enough on my own - I don't need the dog helping me get there. Now, I just need to pick a name. Oh, yeah, and get into a residency program, move to a new city, get a house and actually get a dog. Someday. Someday.

Alright. I guess I'll be getting off to bed now. How boring. In the meantime, ponder this. Keira Knightley? Really? And... how will they get what A&E took five hours to do into a mere two hour big screen fiasco? I said it. Fiasco. Colin Firth IS Mr. Darcy. There can be no other. Of course I'll go see it. I do like Miss Knightley, and I love Jane Austen. But I know I'll spend the whole movie whispering the bits of lines they had to cut out to make it shorter. I know because I already did that during the preview.

Games

My last post bored even me, so here are some fun baby shower pictures to make up for it!

This is a game I call "Paper Plate on Head, Draw Baby" as I don't have a better name for it, and I like giving things descriptive titles. Basically, you put a paper plate on your head and... draw a baby. Then the mom voted for the best looking baby. Which was hard, as they all looked like fancy blobs.


This game still makes me laugh. I took six different varieties of candy bar and melted them into six diapers. Then we passed them around the circle and people had to identify them by smell and appearance. This is the Mom-to-be looking thoroughly disgusted. Just wait a few months, dear. You'll be begging for the chocolate filled diapers.


Here are the dirty diapers. The Snickers looked the best, I thought. Warning if you ever decide to play this game on your own: don't make the diapers yourself or you will eat all the parts of the candy bars you don't melt and then you will feel sick. I can't - I mean you can't eat as much candy in one sitting as you could when you were eight. Ahhh... Halloween...


Here is Ari opening baby presents. Baby presents are SO much fun. In fact, from now on, all I want are baby presents. I don't care that I'm not pregnant, and probably won't be for the forseeable future. I want cute baby things, darn it!


This was my gift to the future baby. It's a blanket! This is the first and only white thing that I've ever crocheted. That was some white-white yarn.

Carpal Tunnel

One important aspect of a yearbook (that I rarely put much thought into) is people's names. I guess it makes sense that we'd want to know the names of who we're looking at. We don't put any captions in our yearbook, trusting that people who care will know who is in the shot. We do, however, have names by everyone's 'mug shot.' 'Portrait' or 'head shot' whatever you want to call it. Here, for example, is mine from orientation first week of med school back in '02 (That's said ought-two, by the way. I'm being quaint girl today.)

Doo-de-dooo. I lost my train of thought. Did you know that Mark Twain had a son? Yeah, they called him Choo-Choo. Choo-Choo Twain.

Okay! There it is. Train of thought. Names. In my mind, the names and pictures just magically appear as if placed there by lucky little leprechauns. (What else does that Lucky Charms guy do in his spare time if not putting name/picture combos into yearbooks. It just makes good sense.)

Alas, I learned differently a while ago. No little leprechauns. Which, in a way is good, as leprechauns are frightening little nasties.

Good grief, this is a boring story.

Short version: I have to type in the first and last name of every med student, grad student, PA student, house officer and faculty member at this institution. There are a lot of names. A lot. So many names.

It is interesting to see the trends, though. For instance, there are at least two people named "Mandeep" here. Who'd of thunk it? And the name "Michael" appears to be one of the most popular names around for guys. There are a lot of really kind of fun names, too. Like... well. I can't actually tell you any of them, as I'm sure that would be breaking some sort of privacy act. There are some good ones, though.

I don't mind doing this sort of task. It is always a little refreshing to have a mindless, repetitive thing to do for a few hours. Like resetting the brain or something.

But now my wrist hurts! I'm sure it is partly due to the fact that I don't type correctly. I'm okay at hitting the keys with my correct fingers, but for some reason, I've only ever used the "Shift" key on the left side of the keyboard. It doesn't matter much for little things, but this is not too little. Go ahead - try typing a capital "A" using the left shift key. See? Awkward, isn't it? You just shouldn't do it that way! I'm trying to break myself of the habit now. Heaven knows, I've got enough typing to do to practice!!!

Names, names, names.

Eek!

I was just about to leave when I got it: my first interview invitation! And it isn't even from here (aka the 'pity' interview)!! It is from Phoenix... not my top choice, but definitely in the running...

Look:

We have reviewed your application and would welcome the chance to meet you at
one of our program's interview dates.

Okay, not terribly exciting sounding, but still...Yippee!! I feel much relieved. I've been feeling like a second-hand applicant lately. Mostly due to feeling that way when I applied to med school for the third time. Remnants of that feeling of mediocrity have made it hard to get excited about this round of applications. But now I am!

Baby Showers and Bat Caves and Deans

Oh my!

Yesterday I attended (and co-hosted) my first ever baby shower! This is not my first friend to have a baby, but it is the first friend I've seen pregnant. Well. That's actually a lie, too, as I've been marginal friends with a couple people that I've seen pregnant, but now we're just getting into semantics.

That is my new favorite argument, by the way. The next time you find yourself arguing with someone (which I heard you do a lot, you smarmy monkey), don't end it by saying "Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree" or some such inflammatory nonsense. That particular statement annoys me SO much, that I actually feel my hackles raise. (rise?) It is a visceral annoyance. No. Much better is the statement, "Well, now we're just getting into semantics." That way, you're allowing each person to be correct in their own fashion without leaving a level of conflict behind. (It doesn't help that a peron who I never, ever got along with said "we'll just have to agree..." to me a lot. A lot.)

ANYway. First baby shower. Can't disagree with the semantics of that one. It was a lot of fun. At least, I had fun. I can't really speak for anyone else, but no one left in a huff or broke into tears, so that at least is a good sign, no? I'll try to post some pics of some of the games. Heh. Baby shower games can be funny.

For anyone who follows my life as obsessively I do, you may remember that today was my first day back at the hospital after what was pretty much a surprise week-long vacation. I doubted my ability to completely blow off an entire week doing only some yearbook things. Never shall I doubt myself again. Turns out that I am a very accomplished slacker when the opportunity presents itself.

I arrived at the hospital this morning before 8 am, marginally bright eyed and clumpy-tailed (Versus, you know, bushy tailed? Oh, shut up) I paged my attending, and I waited. And waited. And waited. During my waiting, several other fourth years - each waiting for someone else - came in and out of the Bat Cave (the third and fourth year student lounge area - aka Bat Cave, because We Are Batman.)

But then these guys broke into our secret Bat Lair because they wanted to paint. Pshaw. We're students! We don't need quality or health codes in our lounge!

We collectively decided to go invade the first and second years' student lounge (aka...student lounge - hey they're too busy studying to be clever) On my way out, I ran into my attending, who informed me that there are two procedures tomorrow and that he'll page me if something happens. I guess that is my job today then: wait to see if something happens.

Have you seen a trend for fourth year? Cause I certainly have: Wait. Everyone said fourth year was easy, but I thought they meant it was because we were smarter. I didn't realize it was because no one makes us do anything!

I only stuck around school for the promise of some amusement and a free lunch at the "Town Hall" meeting with the school's deans. They do this twice a year - the deans put themselves on the chopping block and let the students ask them whatever they want to about school policy or finances or curriculum or whatever. There are reliably two questions asked: why can't we use the gym at the undergrad, and some sort of complaint about curriculum. As a senior student, I know how little these things matter in the brief time that we are here, so it is funny to see the youngsters get all inflamed. Today was actually kind of boring, though. I guess we're all marginally satisfied for once.

Now, I guess I go wait some more. This time, I shall be waiting at home, though. And possibly watching some more Lord of the Rings.

On Being Sleeping Beauty and My Age

Continuing on a theme of things I'm addicted to... Hi, my name is Brenna, and I'm addicted to yarn. I've actually managed this particular addiction fairly well. Though, if you were to enter my apartment, you would be hard-pressed to not note the signs. (I can't hide it! - my apartment has less built in storage space than a dog house, thus forcing me to have everything I own on display.) I did move up to storing the yarn in baskets now, though, which makes it at least appear more... dignified.

I love the yarn so much not just for itself, but for the promise of what it can me. Well, some yarn I just love for itself - the really soft ones. Mmmm. I so love soft yarn. My mother taught me how to crochet when I was a youngster - twelve or so. At that time, I started making a 'scarf' which quickly turned into a 'Barbie blanket' as I gave up when it got about six inches long. When I got my wisdom teeth pulled before senior year of college, it seemed like a good time to try my hand at it again. And I've never looked back. Since 1999, I have had at least one crochet project going on at all times. (I don't count the ones that I'm 'working on,' including a few that I probably started in 1999...) So the yarn is obviously very important in crocheting.

I remember my first trip to a specialty yarn store. I thought my head was going to explode. It was beautiful. Here in this town, which possesses so many things that I don't like, there is a beautiful AC Moore that almost makes up for the bad things with its fantastic yarn department. If I could build my dream house, it would include a huge DVD room, an expansive library (a la Beauty and the Beast) and the yarn department from AC Moore.

So what could be the ultimate pleasure, in the world of a yarn-lover? Taking the next step from appreciating yarn to making yarn. Control over something I love? How fantastic. Oh, and I'd have a chocolate room in my house, too. Next door to the coffee cabana.

Thus I found myself this morning in the first of my three spinning classes. Not bicycle spinning, but spinning in the ancient sense of the word - with spinning wheels and spindles and wool and all. In the 'olden' days this was a task delegated to the children of a household. In the 'new-en' days (aka now) watching grown adults (aka me) learn how to spin is somewhat comical. It was actually not all that bad. I got a pretty good looking (small) skein of wool yarn after a few hours. And the instructor was kind enough to tell me that some people actually 'go for' that thick-thin look.

Spinning today was pretty cool. The jury is out on what my final response will be. I'm scared to start really liking it. My apartment is full enough of yarn as it is... I don't know that I could fit a spinning wheel in there (not to mention the fact that they cost several hundred dollars). I think, though, that I'll really enjoy spinning. Sigh... Yarn.

Okay, moving on from feeling like a five year old trying to learn how to spin to feeling like a 27 year old griping about the 'younger' generation. I was watching My Super Sweet 16 on MTV. Good grief! I'm all for having a memorable 16th birthday. For instance, when I turned 16, there was a festival of bands and a parade. Seriously. Of course, I was wearing a wool and polyester uniform (complete with shako) and toting my clarinet. But memorable, indeed. This MTV show is showcasing little teeny-boppers who have nothing better to do than spend their parent's money in ridiculously lavish shin-digs that serve to ever-widen the gap of the 'cool' kids versus the 'kids who wear shakos on their 16th birthday.' Eh. Whatever floats your boat. I shouldn't worry myself with these wee kids-ies who have VIP rooms at their birthday parties (VIP rooms! Good grief)

What really set me off about it was seeing the glee with which these girls presented the 'select' people with their engraved silver medallion invitations at school (the better to let others know they weren't invited), and then later designated the ultimately select crew their in to the VIP room. That bothered me almost as much as seeing the kids who bought into the hype enough to try to manufacture fake invitations to sneak their way in.

Why waste time on things like that when you can play with yarn and eat chocolate. Ahhh... perfection.

By the way, I didn’t use a spindle today, nor do I really know what one is. So, I wasn’t really acting like Sleeping Beauty at all. I am tired, though.

St.Olaf: Too Liberal?

I have never talked much about my alma mater on this site before - despite the fact that my Five Year reunion is rapidly approaching - a fact I am vehemently denying and very much NOT attending. The denial is based much more on the unwillingness to admit that time actually progresses in a forward manner than my feelings towards St. Olaf itself. Thoughts of my college days really warm the cockles of my heart. Ahh, those heart-cockle warming memories...

Okay, sorry - enough reminiscing. Because of my loyalty, I get happy when I see stories that praise St. Olaf and get annoyed when I see stories that ridicule... wait! There aren't any stories that ridicule it (outside of the whole Golden Girls thing, which I'm not even going to address right now) I mean, really, what harm is St. Olaf doing - sitting perched up on its little hill in a little town in Minnesota?

Until now... [cue the ominous music]. It seems that St. Olaf's new focus on 'Sustainability' is a little too liberal for some people.

Come again? Sustainability? Liberal?

See, it seems that there is a new website, called Intellectual Takeout, that is being aimed towards 'conservative' college students with the intention to "support free exchange of ideas on campus" and "expose students to points of view not readily available in the classroom." In their debut editorial section, the piece focuses on St. Olaf's sustainability project (which includes such things as a composter, a wind turbine and community bikes) labeling the whole thing as tantamount to 'liberal presumption.' The main point of contention appears to be this essay that the school is requiring First Years to read. I must admit, I haven't read all 20-some pages, but the basic gist of the paper appears to be 'think about what you're doing and how it will affect the world and resources available to us and future generations.'

Intellectual Takout's beef is that the paper is only addressing one side of the issue, and doesn't give 'opportunity for dialogue' about the good things involved in just doing what you want to do without thinking about the consequences. They support themselves with such statements as (referring to a project involving biodegradable tableware): "As for the biodegradable tableware, it only has value if you believe we’re running out of landfill space, which we are not." Hmm. How is a statement made with such finality (without any evidence) supposed to leave an 'opportunity for dialogue.'

I'm going to come back to the fact that this is St. Olaf they are talking about. St. Olaf, where you can major in Norwegian or Organ Performance but can't drink on campus (it is a 'dry' campus). St. Olaf, where everyone is required to take two religion classes, and there are 20 minute chapel services every day. This was the school they chose to attack in their DEBUT editorial. Now, if you wanted to attack my school for not giving 'opportunity for dialogue' there are certainly some areas where I would support you, but sustainability is NOT one of them.

I can't help but think that someone at this web site heard 'liberal college' and 'Northfield, MN' and confused St. Olaf with our extremely liberal neighbors from across the river - Carleton College. (Oles had to go somewhere to drink!)

Okay. Diatribe over.

I'd Have Guessed Higher...

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Overachievers Anonymous

Seeing as the attending I'm supposed to be working with is gone for the rest of the week, one would think this would be a perfect opportunity to sit back, relax and enjoy what is left of the summer. While that is true to a certain extent, I'm also thankful for this time for a more practical reason: I have stuff to do! I have this teeny-tiny little problem. I participate. Initially, I think of it as 'getting involved,' but without fail that turns into 'helping plan' and sometimes progresses all the way to 'being in charge.' This would not be a bad thing at all, except when everything starts to happen all at once and I'm left with too much to humanly finish in my allotted time.

My name is Brenna, and I'm an over-achiever.

I've had this problem since high school. I thought that medical school would cure me of it. I tried to convince myself that I was like the other pre-meds in college - only participating to pad my resume. I tried to deny the fact that I just love, love, love organizing and planning and being in charge (read: having an excuse to be bossy). Alas, I ended up in med school with all of those resume-padding participators, who wanted nothing to do with responsibility as soon as they got that hot little acceptance letter in their hand. Thus, I found myself... planner... treasurer... secretary... skit actor... slide-show-putter-togetherer... editor in chief of the yearbook... and now Student Chair of the Health and Effectiveness Committee. [Note: there are a few select other people that I include with me in my little club of OCD overachievers - Susan, of course being one of them]

What it comes down to is this: I have a week free to get as much of the yearbook and the new HEC member orientation done as I can.

Which may explain some of my annoyance right now. See, I had a meeting at noon, after which I was going to work on the yearbook, but I had cramps, so I had to go home to take copious amounts of Advil, but then when I got back to school the yearbook computer wouldn't go online, inducing me to bring it to Academic Computing where they took it hostage to install Windows XP, and I had to find a different computer to log onto to work on the yearbook, and right when I was in the middle of a very time-consuming part, a classmate came up and basically kicked me off because that was the ONLY place in the WORLD where she'd saved her CV and she just had to have it right then, so I had to move to a different computer (this one) that has a really annoying keyboard, forcing me to hit the backspace key at least forty time while typing this post.

At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that my CV has a lot more worthy stuff on it than that girl's. Here's to over-achieving!!!

Hostage!

Ahh... The first day of a new rotation is always so dreadful and exciting all at once. Just when you get lulled into the security of actually knowing what is going on during rounds, and knowing exactly what your responsibilities are, and what depth of knowledge you need to have on various topics... you move on. Not that I am complaining, mind you. Change is good, especially when it involves change away from the ICU.

The rotation I am starting today is different than any I have done up to this point. It is my second of two required "Acting Internships" (also known as Sub-Internship at some schools). At the end of third year, I was a little saddened at the prospect of never doing anything else in the OR. I actually really enjoy scrubbing in and seeing things that happen during surgeries. Not that I could commit myself to that kind of life - specifically that kind of residency. I (personally) firmly ascribe to the 'girls made of sugar and spice' view of life. Surgery requires a more 'puppy-dog tails' view. [This is by no way meant to be sexist - I'm just saying that I personally don't have what it takes to do surgery. Some of the best girls in my class are doing surgery.]

Ah, anyway. I digress. Because of my lack of enthusiasm about abandoning the OR forever, I decided that my second AI should be a surgery one. And, since we all know I love kids, I determined that I should do the "Congenital Heart Surgery" one. Awesome. So, I find myself in a rotation where I will be working one-on-one with the pediatrics cardiothoracic surgeon. It is quite exciting, really, as he is supposed to be a wonderful person.

I say 'supposed to be' because I have yet to meet him. See... he's going on vacation. Today. For a week. Which means... I don't know! I guess... I guess I get a week off? A week to study?

He is actually at the hospital today, and I did talk to him briefly. He had some meetings, after which he promised he'd page me. That was two and a half hours ago. Thus, I find myself stymied. I'm just wandering around the hospital, waiting for a page. Like waiting for ransom...

Still, it is much better than the ICU!

Oh, Yeah: Monday

Haha! You all thought that I was just going to totally skip telling you all about Monday, didn't you? Yeah, I kind of did, too. Last week went and got all... busy on me. But I feel like I left the story hanging (much like last year's Nano novel), so I shall finish it! Briefly.

Monday was check-out day, so we had to leave our magical room in the sky. Sigh... I was so tired by that time, that I am afraid I didn't do terribly good justice to the whole Manhattan experience. Though, I did come up with a name for our trip (I told you it would happen!): the Discover Manhattan trip. Oh, yeah.

Okay, I'm being brief. Brief, brief, brief. We left our bags with the concierge (I just had to point out that we used a concierge... just because) and headed towards Fifth Avenue. Did some shopping. Ate breakfast at Cafe Metro with all the guys that sell fake handbags on the street. I'm not sure why they were all there... but they were. And surprisingly, they CAN say things other than "Gucci, Gucci, Gucci. Five bucks! Ladies! Purses!" At least, I presume they can, as I didn't see any of them eating a handbag...

Um. We ended up wandering around Central Park for a long time. I knew Central Park was big, but MAN. It is HUGE. And there were people EVERYwhere. Susan and I rode on the Carousel. Becase we do things like that. And it was only a buck twenty-five!

Central Park, Central Park, Central Park. Then, we decided that what we wanted more than anything else in the world was... rice pudding!!! So we (finally, after some... drama) got on a subway and were back in Little Italy. We had a FANTASTIC dinner at a restaurant called... I don't know. But it was some of the best Italian food I've ever had. Then... rice pudding. So good.

Finally, we did have to go to the airport. Not having enough energy to try to tackle the subway all the way to JFK, we took a cab.

And that was that! Discover Manhattan trip was done. I am proud of the amount of stuff we crammed into those three days! Especially that we spent so much time out of Times Square! Go us!