Second term thus far has been fab. It is so much better than first term by leaps and bounds. We have morning classes and small groups twice a week starting in three weeks, so I have so much more free time than last term. I have already developed a nasty nap habit where I take a minimum two hour nap. Daily.

Yet on the flipside, I have established a good gym routine where I get up early in the morning before class to work out. So far I've been able to make it four times a week, and I feel so much better physically, more than anything. It's not about vanity, it's about being healthy. And it's such a great stress reliever and way to start the day.

I am scared of Neuro this term, that I'm going to have a hard time with it. I am excited about everything else though - even Community and Preventative Medicine. I love learning about disease epidemiology and public health. 

Hopefully by the time I am established and practicing, this country will be offering universal health care. That would pretty much make my entire life. A healthy nation is a successful nation. The nation can't be healthy as a whole if its people are not going to the doctor because they can't pay for it. If there is anything the government should spend money on, it's that. Or at least once we get all of our problems fixed and we're out of the shithole Bush left us in. 

I didn't cry when Obama won, I didn't cry during his inauguration speech, but I cried when I saw Obama and his wife dance their first dance to Beyonce singing "At Last." True story.

I have decided that I am going to make the valiant effort of updating this thing more often. To talk about my experiences here at school. I brought an actual journal with me, but who am I kidding - I am a child of the LiveJournal generation, why bother writing the old fashioned way when you can have such luxuries as the backspace key. 

So I got here (here being Grenada, West Indies) in August of 2008: scared shitless, shy as always, and not looking forward to having a room mate for the first time in my life. Orientation week was like being in some sort of surreal universe; I couldn't believe that this was where I would be living for two years. I soon came to love it - love it! - and am now probably the happiest I've been, ever. I have made amazing friends, am studying material that I love and gives me a drive to study, and I get to do it on this peaceful, laid-back, beautiful little island. Every day I sent up a Thank You to whoever is up there that deemed me worthy enough of such an honor. I really mean that.

I don't miss my old job one bit. I was home for three weeks for Christmas and I saw seven shows in those three weeks. I am so impressed with myself. There are of course some things I didn't get to do (melissa, this means you, darling), and I regret it, but I will be home soon and will put said things at the top of my list.

We are doing parasitology now, as a brief 8-day one credit course, and all of the disgusting shit I learned from Para in undergrad is rearing its ugly head, this time with pictures way more graphic and detailed. All of you non-medically orientated folk should thank their lucky stars that they'll never have to see a prolapsed rectum in their life. Or what an Ascaris infection looks like coming out of the anus of an eight year old boy. And then of course they follow that slide up with a picture of the same organism coming out of his nostrils. 

There is a Thailand Selective that I am wrestling with - to go or not to go. Pros: It's in Thailand. It's working with Thai doctors and getting a small taste of international medicine and how it is administered in their country. Have I mentioned its in Thailand? Cons: It's only a measly eleven days long. And I won't be on my own time. And there's some sort of instability right now with their airports, horror stories of people getting plucked on their way out and murdered.

More cons than pros means I probably shouldn't go, eh? 

Blame my Canadian room mate for rubbing off on me and instilling "eh" into my vocabulary. I am doing the same, making her pronounce pasta the right way: "Pah-stah." 

That's it for now. I have two finals next week and I took a four hour nap today (shame on me), so I better get the books cracking.

I've recently gotten into the Twilight series for the simple reason that I am just a sucker when it comes to all things silly and romantic, but holy hell! Some of these people are batshit crazy! The comments on the YouTube videos ("Rape me Edward!" "ZOMG I AM HAVING AN ORGASM!" "I am dazzled beyond dazzled!") alone make me embarrassed to admit that I read these books.

These books are so good, yet so dumb at the same time. For whatever reason, they're addictive. And hello, Robert Pattinson, who I loved way back in Goblet of Fire.

But still...people need to chill.

Not to go all Matt Doyle on everybody, but Jason Mraz's new album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things is love. An unyeilding, blinding ray of pure, pure love. I cannot get enough. This is my new obsession, people.

Where do I even begin. I'm Yours, the updated version. Lucky, which is Eric and I in a nutshell. If It Kills Me, reminiscent of Jim and Pam circa Season 2 of The Office. And A Beautiful Mess, which is perfect for the Twilight movie which is coming out on December. It should be Edward and Bella's theme.

That's not even counting Butterfly, in which he has creatively thought of yet another way to reference female genitalia that I'm sure nobody has ever heard of. Vultures, with a children's choir. And Hold Your Own, where he sings with James Morrison. Two of the hottest male voices on the same track. HELLO. My lady parts just woke up.

From start to finish, I can listen to this album over and over and over. Again, I. am. obsessed. This is a fever of like, Middle of Nowhere proportions, for those who knew me way back when.

Live high, live mighty, live righteously.

I am at work and I had a beer on my lunch break at the BrewHouse down the street. Whenever I do this, I always wind up kicking myself because alcohol makes me sleepy. Any alcohol, doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter what time of day it is. All I want to do right now is curl up in my bed in my air conditioned room with my dogs and take a long, much-needed nap. But no, I am stuck here, having to do DNA extractions and reading electrophoresis gels.

I am so busy lately that I feel like I don't have time to just be. I can't remember the day where I woke up in the morning and was like, "I have nothing planned for today." Must have been months ago.

I saw Passing Strange and it was just as fabulous as everyone says it is and as I hoped it would be. Student rush is amazing and I can't believe I've never tried it before. And then I saw Patti Lupone in Gypsy, and I have to say her Mama Rose kicks the living shit out of Berndatte Peter's.

You know what I hate? When people chat during Broadway shows. Feel free to add their own commentary. Leave their phones on. Text. You know what I hate even more? When said people are the people that you came with and you become embarrassed to be sitting next to them.

Melissa, I'm sticking with you for shows from now on. That's a promise.

I really want to see Hair. But there's no way in hell I am sleeping on a sidewalk, and if I buy a ticket, it will seriously break the bank. I just sent in a huge check to school for tuition. It sucks to see your entire life savings go from an amount you can be proud of to an amount you had three years ago.

I am taking two vacations this summer before I leave because who the hell knows when I am going to be able to take an actual vacation again. Miami with Eric for four nights. Then I come home, work for two days (I don't have enough time off to take those days off, too), re-pack, and then I'm off to Cancun for six nights with Gabby and my aunt. All inclusive. I am just going to sit by the pool and drink and sleep in the sun. I cannot wait.

The day I come back is The Little Mermaid for Gabby's birthday.

The new David Sedaris is sitting on my night table, waiting for me when I get home. I can't wait to run home and read it. I loved The Road, sobbed like a little bitch at the end. It was my first McCarthy book, and from reading it, you could see why No Country for Old Men was shot the way that it was. The droll, dragging narrative and simplistic sentence structure. It was brilliant. His masterpeice, no doubt.

I have been researching Grenada and all that their is to do there. Snorkeling on the weekends sounds amazing. I want to get certified in scuba while I'm there. Parasailing? Yes, please. I love the water, have always been a water baby.

I want to write more but I'm so tired.

I've watched this twice, the first time out of curiosity and the second out of sheer awe. This is hands down the most moving and heart-wrenching documentary I've ever seen. It is on HBO On Demand and I'm sure it is coming to DVD soon. I urge you all to please watch it.

Autism is such an enigma in this world. Nobody has any real answers, and it's scary.

Stand out moment: Upon hearing one of his peers tell him that they think he is "very smart" little Henry replies, "I've always wanted to hear somebody say that."

Cue the formation of an Alex puddle.

I never say this, but God bless these children and the wonderful woman who put this all together. What an extraordinary human being. Truly.

Eat organic food, everybody. Stop putting poison into yourself.

So says this fabulous book, Skinny Bitch. And although I am not going to follow the vegan lifestyle that is staunchly preaches (I don't think I could do it. The thought of a cheeseburger would be just too much for me to handle, and I could never stick with it. Plus, have you met my family? Carnivores galore.), I am am going to adopt certain guidelines. Like, eating three peices of organic fruit for breakfast, every morning. Eating them slowly, leaving time in between each. Buying as much organic food products as possible. Whole grains, whole grains, whole grains. You can never get enough. Exercising, the stuff that everyone knows is good for you, and all that jazz.

I am going to Austin, Texas next week. I went to Atlantic City last weekend and it was fabulous. I am going to see Young Frankenstein tomorrow with Eric, then we're going to Magnolia Bakery where I can finally try one of their red velvet cupcakes (which totally defeats the purpose of everything I just wrote, but hey, I gotta live). Maybe a walk through Central Park if it's not too rainy.

Life is good.

Before I commence writing my first legitimate post since blowing the dust off of this thing and resurrecting it in all of it's self-absorbed, self-serving glory, let me first state that this blog is a work in progress. There are no links at the side of the page, and it kills me. I don't even know if I like this template.

But I digress, so here we go!

For my first post, there is no other subject as worthy as the new makeup that I bought over this past weekend. My friend Marianna, who always looks so effortlessly and maddeningly gorgeous no matter what, came with me to the mall to the Bare Escentuals store. Because I am pretty much mesmerized by the look of her makeup whenever I see her, of course I would want to try to emulate it. Well. Apparently, they make this shit out of crushed minerals from the earth. And apparently, it has changed my life thus far, within a mere past three days.

It's a powder that goes on like a liquid foundation. Only, it doesn't feel like a liquid. With liquid, it sometimes felt too thick. By the end of the day, it would wear thin and the blemishes on my face from my wonderful bout with early-teen acne would rear their ugly, purple, blotchy heads. Not now. At the end of the day, when taking my makeup off, my skin felt like it always did...like skin. Now, like silk (and it's clear, too!). Whatever they are putting in those little powder pots is like a miracle dust. Fairy dust. It is awesome. I can't wait to go back and try their blushes, eyeshadows, and lipsticks.

I would urge any female to go investigate. The genius can be found here: http://bareescentuals.com

If there is no BE store near you, Sephora sells it. I would advise that you start off buying The Starter Kit (which I did). The sales reps at the actuals BE stores will show you how to put the makeup on. Forget anything you've learned in the past, it is a whole new process (though its not hard, it just takes practice). However, if you are rendered to buy it at a Sephora, the Starter Kit comes with an instructional DVD (crazy, right?)

Run, don't walk. You will thank me. I know you will.

This is for Melissa.

I'm re-starting up this blog again partly because Melissa begged me to and partly because...I kinda want to! When she started hers, I was considering starting this back up again because I generally just like the idea. So here we are.

First post is to come. I am at work and I have to make it look like I'm actually doing something.

Which HP Kid Are You?

TIME FOR A RANT!

I've been exercising on a pretty regular basis for the past few weeks (except over spring break) and when I weighed myself today, the scale told me that I've only lost one measly pound. One. Now, I know that this has everything to do with me going home a lot as of late and not exercising while I'm there, but its just so frustrating!!! After this Easter weekend, I need to seriously start amping it up. I don't know what I'm doing wrong while I'm here at school...hopefully nothing...

I don't want to do a fad diet because I feel like losing weight is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. I've done quick fixes before and they haven't worked...the only one that worked for a quite a while was the two-bowls-of-cereal-a-day diet. Should I go back on that again? I have no idea. I won't be getting as many nutrients as I would need to exercise five days a week, but it did teach me to feel full on little food and it did shrink my stomach. When I went back on regular foods afterward, I couldn't eat as much as I previously could.

i hate how slow my metabolism is. i hate how long is takes me lose weight when it takes me no time to gain it. i hate how i was born with wide hips and a flat butt. i hate how i have to work at my body when other people dont need to do shit. i hate the fact that i would even CONSIDER taking diet pills.

but most of all, i just hate trying and trying and trying and not getting anywhere. hopefully after this easter weekend, when i'm at school till the end of the year, things will get better for me. there will be no more weekends at home where the food is actually GOOD, no more lazy days sitting on the couch watching HBO, no more limited food choices. at least not for a while, anyways...

i hope everything gets better after Easter weekend. otherwise i'm gonna kill myself.

Sprout - Herbology


Harry Potter: Which Hogwarts professor would you be?
brought to you by Quizilla

Read this and freaked out:
http://users.hanson.net/inthemoe/hansondetailsarticle.jpg

Saw this and nearly fainted:


I can't tell you how much this excites me. To see Hanson give the big finger back to every last one of their critics. I don't care how rash or ballsy the article is: its fucking amazing and its about damn time.

That picture. My God...

Alleluia: No longer will we ever hear the term "Bennifer".

Going to Atlantic City in 36 hours and I can't wait. I need to get out of this dreadful, boring, monotonous house. And this dreadful, boring, monotonous neighborhood...even if its only for one night.

My hero: Happy Birthday, Oprah!

Je Prefere
I like my pasta al dente and my bananas slightly brown. I like my tea strong and my music happy. Movies, I take long, dramatic, and sad, and I don't like coffee I find much too sweet. I like pears to be soft, and peas to be raw. Walks and summers should be long and unhurried. I like my paperbacks fat, my orange juice without pulp, and my days to be leisurely, yet busy, if that makes any sense at all


Angels in America:

I am obsessed crazy in love. I am sad I never saw it on the stage and dazzled by it on the screen. I am in love with everyone. Even Al Pacino. Especially Al Pacino.

Patrick Wilson with no clothes on. Now there's something to see.

I have no words, really. I have none. I can not articulate its greatness. Every scene, every minute. I could not stop watching. I could not get up to go to the bathroom. I could not breathe properly, for most of those six hours.

What happens between Louis and Joe is one of the hottest love scenes I have ever seen on screen. They are fully-clothed. There is no actual sex depicted. It is a miracle.

There is that wonderful moment that's in the trailer, when Joe touches Louis's face, and he says, "I'm going to go to hell for this." And what you don't see is the line that comes next, which is the best line in the whole six hours. Louis shrugs and says, "Are you kidding? It couldn't be any worse than New York."

All hail Tony Kushner. And the white cracker who wrote the National Anthem and put the note on freedom so high that no one could reach it...


Theatre geek, I am: Check off Gypsy and thoroughly Modern Millie off my list. Saw both, each equally brilliant.

Bernadette Peters brings this air of femininity and sexuality to Mama Rose, a femininity that I've never seen any other actress bring to that character. She is dainty and elegant and poised as she is daunting and spirited. That voice is just the icing on the cake. Any woman who could pull off that role and pull it off well gets brownie points from me for sure.

Millie was so adorable and so so so enchanting. Much funnier and wittier than I expected it to be. I would recommend it to anyone.

Still on my list:
-Wicked
- Hairspray
- The Producers
- Avenue Q
- Little Shops of Horrors
- Phantom of the Opera
- The Boy from Oz

Who wants to go? I have coupons!

On a more random note, there is no telling of the amount of joy an iPod can bring. this i learned over this winter vacation.

more later...