Random Stuff

The Office is one of the best shows ever. One of my all-time favorites, for shizzle. Yes. I watched every episode, EVER, during the Holiday break. That translates into: I was a lazy fat ass during the whole break.
Anyway, the show is good comedy, with a little bit of romance here and there. Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott, is so obnoxious that he's loveable. He constantly makes pop culture references in an attempt to be funny and cool. He's really really really abrasive sometimes. It's too funny. Dwight is my absolute favorite, though! He's an Uber-Dork. I could go on and on and on about this show, but I shouldn't. Just watch it!!!

During the Holiday Break, I went to the BODIES exhibition (second time) with my buddies Monica and Randi. It is incredible!!! Super cool! Totally Rad! (there you go, Joe!) There's a lot of controversy surrounding the exhibit because the bodies are those of Chinese prisoners and it is questionable whether or not the individuals on display consented to have their bodies preserved and put out there for the world to see. Yada yada yada, it's a really cool exhibition! You get to see lots of bodies with different sections cut, giving a very good idea of the orientation of the organs, etc. Also there are glass cases with clinical examples, such as a smoker's lung and the brain of a stroke patient. Very interesting!!! The pic on the right is an example of what we saw. Disclaimer: This exhibit, though tastefully done, is not for the squeamish or easily freaked out.

Moving right along, today was day 2 of the new semester. Yikes! We are currently only taking one class, Neuroanatomy. It is just a preparation course for the real deal: Neurophysiology. We will be tested on the material, but the class is pass/fail which takes a lot of the motivation out of it (but makes me a little happy). This is my first pass/fail class. Oh, how I hope to end up at a medical school which uses the pass/fail system!!!
Anyway, the neuroanatomy professor is pretty silly sometimes which makes the class slightly more bearable. We are in there for 3 hours each day, looking at images of the brain and spinal cord and learning about every freaking nerve ever! (Trochlear, hypoglossal, accessory, oh my!)
I like it but I am easily distracted. I zone out once every fifteen minutes. That's 12 times a day! This semester is gonna be tough! But a life with no challenges is no fun, I must say.

Speaking of challenging myself, my newest "thing" is to walk. A lot. Today I walked from school to Chipotle to Dupont Metro station to my house. Total distance: 5.4 miles. The weather is absolutely sexy and I need the exercise. Yesterday I walked a total of about 4 miles (not all at once). Why spend money on metro fares and bus fares when I have my Chevrolegs? Plus, like I said, I need the exercise. Really.

Back to the weather, it's unusually warm! In Miami the weather was reminiscent of a normal day in June. Here in DC, the weather is like a normal cool winter day in Miami should be. Global warming is breathing down our necks. But heyyyy, let's keep buying SUVs. Let's keep contributing to the hole in the ozone layer. Why the hell not?!?!?

Grrr.

Enough environmentalism.

Today I went to a Mexican restaurant, Lauriol Plaza, with my buddies Jose and Arjun. We then proceeded to a Hookah bar, where we enjoyed wonderful, delicious apple-flavored shisha. Yummmm. Smoking Hookah (aka "arguileh" in arabic) always reminds me of my spectacularrific summer in Lebanon. *sigh* It was my first time going out since getting back to DC (I've only been here since Wednesday, give me a break!!!) I guess I'm kind of glad to be back. Sort of. Maybe. Ok not really!!! Maybe it's the fact that classes started and I'm still recovering from last semester. Maybe it's the fact that I miss my homies in Miami. Whatever it is, I've got to just suck it up and deal with it!!! Walking around DC for an hour today at least helped me remember that I'm in a pretty nice place, with lots of stuff to do. My next adventure: the National Zoo.

Okay, time to hit the hay!

Christmas in Miami : Pictures

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree...Yes, that's our tree. It's fake. I know, I know...a fake tree seems tacky, but it's actually a lot easier to manage. Plus it's environment-friendly. HAH!



Said Fake Chimney from last post. No one really has a real chimney in Miami. For crying out loud, the temperature was like 90 degrees today. Anyway, I think this is so dorky, but my mother enjoys putting it up so whatever. It's kinda cute I guess...



Baby Jesus and his whole crew.


***it's nice to be home for Christmas***

Christmas and stuff.

And so, this is Christmas.

Psychotic shopping. Traffic. Decisions. Jingling Bells and Decked Halls. Wrapping paper. Decorations. Credit Card swiping. Holiday parties. Nice lights. Neighbors one-upping neighbors with bigger, more ridiculous inflatable lawn ornaments (it's quite amusing, actually). Wrapping paper. Traffic.

Christmas seems to lose its luster a little more each year. I didn't even bother reading the labels on the presents in front of the fake chimney my mother puts up (it's quite cheesy, really). In my youth, I used to spend hours searching the house for presents. When they were wrapped and placed under the tree, or, in front of the fake chimney, I would carefully peel off one specific piece of tape which would allow for just enough lifting of the wrapping paper to see what I was getting. I somehow got caught and the maternal unit adapted through several different strategies:

-wrapping the presents such that pulling off one piece of tape wouldn't reveal their contents

-no more labels on the presents (meaning that peeking would just give me a 1 in 4 chance, at best, at figuring out what was going on in there)

-mislabelling the presents and/or claiming that my presents belong to another individual

-extremely careful hiding of presents (ie aunt's house or somewhere we couldn't reach)

That mom of mine, she's sneaky. Despite her measures to keep things a surprise, I still found ways to figure out what my presents would be. One year she got really crappy wrapping paper that was see-through. HA! Victory!

...and now? I'm not even excited. My mom still gets us lots of stuff. Nowadays, it's usually stuff we need (ie socks) and lots of clothing, which is great.

Although the excitement for presents on Christmas morning has subsided, I still appreciate Christmas. It's a nice time of year and it's all family lovey-dovey and the decorations and lights are always pleasing.

I must say, although we didn't have much money when I was growing up, my mom always got us tons of stuff on Christmas. Nice memories.

One more irrelevant thing: I cried when I found out Santa wasn't for real. I dread breaking this news to my child one day, although it'll probably be easier on the wallet.

So yes, Christmas is great and all. But the holiday season is really hectic. It's what America's all about. Buy stuff buy stuff buy stuff! Work your ass off all year, and spend your hard-earned money on stuff! Your credit sucks! But you have awesome designer sunglasses! RUN RUN RUN SHOP SHOP SHOP.

This rant. It's going nowhere.

I haven't blogged in a while.... I've been too busy doing... oh, NOTHING AT ALL! I kept the present giving simple this year. 3 people. 3 gift certificates. DONE. My love is all they should need.

Anyway, this break has proven to be quite unproductive. I've watched nearly every episode of The Office. What a great show!!! I heart it!

Speaking of which, I want to watch an episode or two before I go to sleep. It's 3 AM. December 24, 2006. 3 AM.

Oh!

Happy Birthday to my brother Christopher (codename: Christina). He is 20. Born on Christmas Eve. He is a victim of the gift-and-a-half phenomenon, where someone buys you something slightly better and claims it is "for both your birthday and Christmas." I've always felt as though it is like getting 1.5 gifts instead of 2. He makes me appreciate having an August birthday. There aren't even any major holidays in August. Except my birthday, of course.

Irrelevant Sidenote: A lot of people say that they "don't believe in blogs." Ummm... I don't know how to break this to you, buddy, but.... blogs do actually exist.

No, no. They usually mean that they think blogging is dumb and they'd never do it (the number one reason: "why should I write about myself and put that stuff out there for anyone to see?").

Maybe these people aren't blogging cause they have not mastered the English language such that they can tell the difference between saying "I don't agree with blogging" versus "I don't believe in blogs." Hmmm??? Ok, I'm being nitpicky cause I get a little defensive.

It makes me think.... "Why do I blog? Do I think I'm so interesting? Do I totally put myself out there?" and after thinking a little I get kind of tired and take a break, have a little snack... then I start thinking again. I blog cause I like to blog. I don't think I really get very personal in the posts. One on one, in real life, I'm usually a pretty candid person. I'm an oversharer.... and it makes people uncomfortable sometimes. Pretty amusing, I must say. ANYWAY, back to the point.

I blog cause I like it. I don't think I'm particularly interesting, but it's a way of sharing stuff with friends, like embarassing stories and my latest theory on something unimportant.

I should hit the sack.

Maybe watch an episode or two of The Office, first!!!!

"The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor!
Such wonderful things around you, what more is you looking for?"

-Sebastian the Crab, Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid.

*Special thanks to Eyna for getting the song stuck in my head.*

Hi there.

Haven't been frequenting the blogging world as often as I used to, reflecting the ridiculous level of business I've been experiencing. Not business like a corporation, but the state of being busy. Busyness, if you will. I'm starting to think "business" cannot be used that way. Whateva, I do what I want!

Last week, Lourdes, my childhood best friend, left sunny Puerto Rico to come visit me. She and I became friends in sixth grade, and she moved away at the end of ninth grade. We've managed to stay close although we suck at keeping in touch. She's like family.

We had lots of fun! I somehow managed to take her out every night despite it being the coldest weather I've ever lived through and having a massive cold. That's noble, if I must say so myself.

The first night she got here we went to a massively overcrowded club in a not so great neighborhood to see DJ Tiesto. It was a night of crowdedness, waiting in long lines for coat check, and crazy people, but it was definitely fun. The rest of her stay was all bar hopping and pistol popping.

Just kiddin' about the pistol popping, I just get a little tingle when stuff rhymes.

Moving right along, it was a much needed trip for her, to escape her routine and the stress surrounding her. It was also theraputic for me to have a good pal around (she washed the dishes too!)

We visited some monuments, as well as the National Gallery of Art (nice!) and the Holocaust Musuem (sad).

This is the last week of the semester. There is an exam on Thursday. After that, it's off to Miami for two weeks of sloth and gluttony, warm weather and having a car, friends and family. I intend to be slightly productive and complete my application to Georgetown medical school, do some tutoring, and maybe even look over some of the material I'll be learning in the spring.... big maybe there.

My mind is exhausted from last week's exam and my body is exhausted from the virus and nonstop partying. I'm trying to muster up the energy to study for this exam. Instead I'm blogging. It's okay. This exam should be ridiculously easy.

Besides studying, this week's activities include: Tutoring and girl's night (tomorrow), making food and care packages for the homeless and distributing them (Wednesday), taking the exam then working hard to forget everything I learned (Thursday), packing my bags and partying a little more (Friday) and finally, flying to Miami and getting pampered by mommy (Saturday).

I am excited about doing the homeless thing on Wednesday because I think it will be a great learning experience.

I am pretty much excited about everything on the list minus studying. The test will be exciting because it will signal the end. Speaking of signals, there are signal transduction pathways waiting for me to learn about them.

Love, peace, and little geece.

I have class at 1:00 pm today.

It's WAY TOO EARLY FOR ME TO BE AWAKE! (6:40)

I'm having some major insomnia. It's been this way all week, but today's has been, by far, the worst.

We had a ginormous exam in Microscopic Anatomy (histology). This was followed by an evening of partying and actively blocking everything school related through the use of alcohol.

There was a nice holiday potluck tonight at school. There was food, there was wine. It was fun except for the part where I perhaps had more boxed wine than I should have. This SHOULD have allowed me to sleep soundly through the night, but nooooooooooo.

Instead, I had dreams- nightmares, actually- about histology. I'm taking the exam again, not getting all those answers wrong that I got wrong in real life (I know I did miserably on the lab portion). I woke up at 3, 4, and 5. At 5 my body rejected falling asleep and so I watched the last episode of Heroes, which proved to be pretty darn good.

It's interesting, we learned that the Pineal Gland, a tiny part of the brain, is involved in circadian rhythms and the conversion of serotonin to melatonin at night. So, my Pineal Gland is to blame for this!

On Thursday, my sister from another mother is coming to visit me from Puerto Rico. Why she would leave a tropical climate to come to this cold hell hole is beyond me. Just kidding! I'm worth the cold!

It's a therapy trip for her. Sometimes, you just need a vacation, you know? And who better to visit than little ol' me?

Ok although it's been a while since I've blogged, I still don't much to say. I'm gonna try that "sleep" thing one more time. If I can't do it, I guess maybe I can start studying for my next exam. WHOOP-DEE-FREAKING-DOO.

My Thanksgiving Break...

Was great.

Spent time with family and friends and even managed to get a tiny bit of studying done. A TINY BIT. A smidgen. A pinch, if you will. A hint of studying.

I feel as though I have lots of stuff to blog about (nothing remotely interesting, of course) but I mustn't slack!

I should be reading tomorrow's lectures and getting to bed early.

Fun, huh?

I know it would be cliche to blog about what I am thankful for.

But I'll do it anyway.

I'm thankful for the love in my life, from family and friends. I'm thankful for everything that I have that others do not, and I'm even thankful for stuff I don't have that others do (what fun would life be if everything was handed to me?)

I'm thankful for the sexy meal I'm gonna have at my aunt's house tonight.

I'm thankful to be in Miami.

What a much needed break!!!

I swung by the old university yesterday to print out a whole bunch of stuff for free. I hopped on the metro to visit my old workplace, the Diabetes Research Institute. I miss that place! I got to see a few old coworkers, but a lot of people that I wanted to see were missing (Lane!).

At night 5 of us went to eat at Los Ranchos. First good steak I've had in a while! There is no churrasco in DC, and that, my friends, is a travesty.

We ate, drank, and were merry. We then hit up Chilis. We drank and were merry. Next we went to a get together at some guy's house. We drank some more, and got a little merrier. We went to Aldo's house after that. We were drunk and merry.

Moving right along... the night was absolutely spectacular for me. I missed my friends a lot. I'm thankful for those fuckers. There was some mega awkwardness for Mirma, and it provided some great entertainment for the night. I cannot share the craziness of the evening, for your head would explode immediately upon reading it. I'm also way too lazy and hungover.

And so, I'm thankful to be home with these silly friends of mine. I've missed them very mucho.

Sigh...

SO...

When my parents came to visit back in October my dad was sitting there in my living room when he decided to purchase my ticket for Thanksgiving. He asked me when I could leave by, when I wanted to return, and, after about an hour of discussion, he purchased a ticket for me to leave Monday, November 20 @ 9:00 pm.

When I woke up today I felt it. I felt that something was going to go wrong. I ignored the feeling and went about my day as usual. Come 7:30 I was arriving at the airport. I walked into the American Airlines section, to find it disturbingly empty and quiet.

To make a long story short, my father bought a ticket FROM MIAMI TO DC by mistake. YEAH. Not so cool.

Luckily the woman at the counter was nice enough to not charge me the usual extra 100 bucks to re-route a flight, and she let me know that I could come in early Tuesday morning, do "standby," and hop on a flight.

Had I committed this error, my dad would never have let me hear the end of it. He still somehow partially blamed me for this one. The conversation was something like:

Dad: I thought I told you to check the online information for your ticket!

Me: I did check it. Several times.

Dad: *exasperated* How did you not notice????

Me: Well, DAD, when I checked it, I was looking at flight time, flight number, and airport. You know, the stuff that people mess up on most often. It did not occur to me that it would be possible that my father, in all his wisdom, would commit such an error.

Dad: >something fatherly to keep on blaming me somehow<

Me: Fine, it's all my fault. I'm sorry. I REALLLLLY messed up this time.

I know he's just frustrated on my behalf. In this situation he'd be a huge sour puss. Well, I say, all's well that ends well. Hopefully it'll end well, though!

Time to hit the sack and stop talking smack.

quick sidenote: the pic bears no relevance to the topic of this post. I just think it's pretty : )

All Hail the Chipotle Burrito!

What you're lookin' at, folks, are the nutrition facts for the specific burrito I consumed today after a "Help the Homeless" walk-a-thon, which, by the way, happened to be at 9 am, way too early for my liking.

So, yeah. Look at them nutrition facts. Honestly, they use all-natural ingredients, and pride themselves on the fact that thie cows aren't pumped with antibiotics and hormones. That's super cool. What is not so cool is the whopping caloric content of one of these burritos. I mean, 1245 calories?!?!? That's c-r-a-z-y!

But oh man, that cilantro rice, the black beans.... the sour cream and salsa, the spicy meat. Sigh. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that Chiptole uses some sort of addictive substance in their food.

This is not a post of guilt, by the way. I refuse to feel guilty for enjoying the sexiness that is a Chipotle burrito.

I need to feed my new big muscles, anyway. Okay, I don't have big muscles, but I'm definitely seeing results from my weight lifting. Yee-haw. I would be seeing better weight loss results had I not injured my knee like the big fat spaz that I am.

Also, the walk-a-thon was probably a 300 calorie ordeal. Furthermore, my lack of breakfast allows for an extra heavy lunch. I'm usually not a breakfast-skipper. I believe in the value of a hefty breakfast, to start your day properly, but I woke up really really really late. We were supposed to meet with a group from Georgetown and have donuts but we got there too late :(

Back to rationalizing my sinful lunch.... I will hit up the gym after this post and further make up for the burrito. I would work out for 3 hours if I had to, just for one burrito. That's power!

Sexy, delightful burrito, I give myself to thee, body and soul. Yum.

^sexy

SLIM

Today, the volunteer comittee sponsored the viewing of a 30 minute documentary, "SLIM," about children in Africa with AIDS.

I attended, and I am glad I did, despite the tears and heavy uncomfortable feeling it left me with. It was extremely moving. It scares me to think about how this huge population of people is in need of help (ie health education, anti-retroviral drugs) while in countries such as this one, people drive Hummers and carry thousand dollar handbags. Cellphones with video cameras, blackberry pagers, diamond rings, etc etc.....Of course, I'd be an asshole blind hypocrite if I said I didn't spend money on stuff that is not necessary. I am by NO MEANS a bling-bling brand name ho, but I do spend money on things for the sheer joy they bring me.

My issue is that I don't understand how a world like ours can exist while a world like the one in Africa simultaneously exists. How can some people have so little, and others so much? How is that fair?

What made the documentary extra profound is just seeing these children, so young, telling their stories. Seeing a child, in all of his or her innocence, suffering this way is just awful. They get treated badly by peers, teachers, and even family for having HIV. All of the children in the documentary were born with HIV.

The video defintely left most of us with a sense of obligation. A feeling of "what can I do to help?" As aspriring physicians, most students in this program already have motivation to help others, a sense of compassion, an inherent need to contribute to something meaningful. I know that I was not alone today in feeling the responsibility to try to remedy the injustice in this world.

It's things like this that make me count my blessings. I'm glad to be alive, glad to be healthy, well off, educated. Things like this make me forget about the unfortunate grade I got in whatever stupid class. Makes me forget about not getting into medical school last year, and just pushes me to work hard as hell to get in this year.

Thank you world, for everything.

I am a friggin dummy.

So far, the most embarassing moment of my Georgetown existence (which is slightly over 3 months old) occured yesterday. During a break between biochemistry lectures (we get two in a row-oh the inhumanity!) some friends and I went on a coffee run. On the way back, I did my usual: touch-the-door-before-touching-the-handle-in-order-to-avoid-getting-shocked-by-the-handle move. You know what I'm talking about, right? It happens more often in dry weather... you're walking along on a nice carpet, and you reach over and touch something made of metal, and zzzzz you get zapped. I HATE THAT SHIT! When I worked for my dad, it used to happen to me with the big metal file cabinet, and my dad taught me that if I touched the wall (or something nonmetallic) before touching the file cabinet, I wouldn't get shocked. Well, I've gotten myself into the habit of doing it on every door lately, since DC is kind of getting dry and I've been zapped a couple of times.

Where was I? OH YEAH... so upon returning from the coffee break, I was walking briskly and therefore well ahead of my friends, putting me in the position to open the classroom door for them. I did my usual touch something nonmetal before touching the handle, and one friend, who always makes fun of me for this move, let out a little giggle. This, for some reason, made me blurt out "I HATE YOU" in my booming voice just as we were entering the classroom (population: approximately 150 students). Unfortunately for me, lecture had already begun, and was being given by, of all people, THE HEAD OF OUR PROGRAM WHO IS SUPER IMPORTANT! Everyone heard it, and lots of people turned around. The lecturer didn't so much as flinch, but I am sure he noticed and he probably made the mental note of "do NOT let that girl into Georgetown medical school." We were told in the beginning of the year to treat this year as if it were a "year-long interview." WELL THEN. I sure messed that one up!

Moral of the story: don't tell people you hate them in a loud, booming voice as you are entering a classroom in which class has potentially begun (and is being taught by someone extra important).

So that was yesterday. Today we got free pizza and so we were all up there on the terrace, hanging out. Lots of people made it a point to remind me how hilarious it was that I yelled "I HATE YOU" during Dr. Myer's lecture. Yeah. Super funny.

Honestly though, I can't help but laugh at myself.

I must say, this is not the first time I've embarassed myself this way. Once in highschool, during physics lecture, I wrote in huge letters "I WILL KILL YOU" on a paper and held it up for my friend to see. The teacher saw it, thought it was directed toward HIM, and freaked out a bit. Sigh. Such is my fate... to look like a complete ass in front of important people.

Signing off,
The spaz.

Yesterday...

All my troubles seemed so far away?

No no...

Yesterday, 4 fellow classmates and I volunteered at the Maryland vs Miami game to raise money for our class. We donned yellow jackets and were part of the "CSC event staff" that you see all over the place at football games.

When I heard about this volunteering opportuinity, I was so excited. I love sporting events. The energy of the crowd, the people you see, and the sheer stupidity and craziness just do something for me. When I found out the Canes would be playing, I was even more excited.

At first, I was put as a ticket-taker. This proved to be lots of fun and very tiring. I got a couple of "I love you" and "Hey baby" ticket holders. I also got to be a huge disgrace to the Maryland stadium by saying "Go Canes" to all the UM fans that came in. Too bad we lost : (

After the first quarter, there isn't such a high demand for ticket takers, and so we were instructed to go to the field. Some people are placed on the field and required to face the crowd, make sure no one's getting too rowdy. I was lucky enough to be placed on the field with another girl, standing on either side of the ESPN camera man, making sure people didn't pass in front of his camera. This translated into: I could watch the game from an endzone- the endzone where Miami should've scored that touchdown but kicked the last fieldgoal instead. (sigh).

Seriously, it was awesome to be on the field! And the best part about it, it was free for me and it went to help raise money for my class to have kickass parties. I am surprised more fellow students didn't come out.

After the game we had to stand around the tunnel for the Terp football players. They came out after a while and greeted family and girlfriends. It was interesting to watch this, but I was tired as hell.

Although it is extremely tiring, I will probably do this volunteer thing every time the opportunity presents itself. In the spring we will probably do this at concerts, which is even better than sports for me!

Despite the fact that I'm super duper mega behind on studying, I just wasted a sizeable amount of time on myspace and the facebook.

I AM A SLACKER

Borat: Ignorant Garbage or Brilliant Social Commentary?

So YEAH. We got Friday off for a nice 3 day weekend. I was supposed to take advantage of this and study for the biochemistry exam I have on Friday. What did I do instead? Did laundry and went to the movies on Friday (watched Borat and Saw III). Saturday I read ONE LECTURE. ONE friggin lecture. Out of 19. That's about 5.3% of what I need to study. I went to the gym for a while, too. I should've stayed home last night, but I've been so effing bored and I got invited to go out so I did. Nice bar called Fab Lounge. Not exactly my favorite music in the world, but I had a lot of fun nonetheless. I believe the music is trance or maybe it's called house music. I'm so bad with those genres. I like the bars here more than those in Miami. Much more laid back, much cheaper drinks too, although this one had a 10 dollar cover. I didn't mind the cover charge cause the money goes to kids who are suffering in Thailand or something like that. Hooray for good causes!

I've been a little miss poopie pants lately. The novelty of this new life has worn off a bit, and waiting for medical schools to invite me for an interview is promoting the sproutage of white hair on my noggin. Is sproutage a word? Who cares. It's a word now.

Right now, this post, in all its pointlessness, is just another way in which I am putting off the studying. BAD MARIANA! OK, let me give this post a "point." How 'bout a movie review of Borat?

"FUCKIN' HILARIOUS!" -The Mariana Post
"Sasha Baron Cohen is a genius." -Mariana & Ebert
"Delightfully naughty!" -MK
"This movie is tight like anus of 7 year old boy." -The DC loserface times

Although I kinda feel bad for the people of Kazakhstan, I think this movie was great. That about wraps up the movie review. Now I'm gonna study for real.

Randomness...

Gotta workout more. Side articles on websites are conveniently reminding me over and over again that the only way to burn fat is through cardiovascular exercise. But I hate cardio : (

whateverrrrrrrrrrrr.

On this fine evening, I watched yet another riveting, tasteless episode of Nip/Tuck. Watching it made me think of all the mean boys I know, and all the not so mean boys I know. This train of thought somehow led me to remember a theory that I've always believed is true:

It is often possible to anticipate how a guy/man will treat his girlfriend/wife based on how he treats his own mother.

This is pretty self explanatory. Now, this can backfire, as you wouldn't want to marry a guy who constantly compares your casserole to mom's, or the way you clean, etc.

BUT...there's a definite red flag that goes up when you see a guy who is harsh to his mommy, or even one who doesn't talk to her. Of course, there are boys with mommies who are crazy or unbearable but even then, you can tell a lot by how the guy deals with the psychobitch. It's oh so pleasant to see a boy who is thoughtful toward the maternal half of his parental unit: ie buying her gifts that she actually likes, taking the time to call her and talk to her, etc. I think boys who do this are more likely to have a nice *sigh* sensitive side, ya know? BUT OF COURSE...no one wants a momma's boy! It's nice to see a boy who is like that to a mom who didn't spoil him; a mom who raised him right and a boy who shows his appreciation of that, merely by giving her the time of day.

It kind of ties into the next theory, which is:

It is difficult to have a good relationship with someone who does not have good relationships with his/her family/friends.

Obvious. Of course, every family has its problems and its weird tendencies, but if you see that someone communicates with his/her parents and siblings, then chances are they'll be good at communicating in the romantic relationship setting.

Another one:

Boys who have sisters are more likely to be more respectful and kind, even sensitive *sigh.*

This needs some specifications. I run out of fingers counting the dudes I know who are mega dirtbags and are exceedingly overprotective of their sisters, even controlling. They act as though their sisters should never ever make any mistakes, never date any douchebags, without ever taking some introspective time to see that they are the douchebags who set the example for the douchebags that they're protecting their sisters from. Oh the hypocrisy.

No no, those aren't the guys I'm referring to. I mean the ones who talk to their sisters, who treat them like equals maybe? I don't know.

To make a more general point, boys who grow up around a lot of female influences who they respect and talk to will be great catches.

Speaking of siblings,

People who grew up as "the only child" or "the baby of the family" will generally have some annoying personality traits: greediness, whininess, and the inability to compromise, just to name a few.

Again, this is pure generalization. And I'm neither the first nor the only person to say it. Monica and I call this "only child syndrome" and have both experienced it first-hand.

Some other "diseases" plaguing many individuals around us:

Firefighter Syndrome and Short Complex. I'm still ironing out the symptoms and causes of Firefighter Syndrome,. Short Complex is a common one, also known as Napoleon Complex, I believe. Short Complex only afflicts males. 1 in every 3 height challenged males shows clinical symptoms of Short Complex. Despite the fact that there are tons of cute petite girls to go around, individuals suffering from Short Complex generally exhibit unbearable personality traits (insecurity, aggressiveness) and ridiculous compensation via material things. 1 in every 4 will drive an SUV/HUMMER in an effort to prove to the world that their height in no way represents the size of their member.

Time for bed. Join us next time when we discuss how you can tell a man's penis size (or penis-size insecurities) by observing his behavior.

SINFULLY DELIGHTFUL DELIGHT OF THE DAY:

Delicious!

Before revving up the engines for a full day of studying, I went to the market near my house just to get some lemons. This place is called "Marvelous Market" and it's a really expensive gourmet tiny little marketplace. They have some fruits, lots of bakery stuff and brownies and good bread, as well as tiny little overpriced meals (4 spoonfuls of chicken salad: $5.79). I just needed some lemons or limes, to use on the avocados that are waiting to be eaten. But of course, temptation in the form of mille feuilles presented itself. Not just any mille feuilles, but my favorite: The Napoleon (picture). So sexy.

Mille Feuilles is bascially a pastry with thin sheets of filo dough and layers of custard or cream or something else, then a glaze on top (or powdered sugar). The Napoleon is the one with black and white stripes on top.

"Mille feuilles," means "a thousand leaves" in French. The French may be tight asses, but they sure have some great stuff (kisses, fries, toast. Love em all!)

Speaking of a thousand leaves, during my walk to the market, I saw that more and more leaves are turning yellow and red. It's so firey and awesome! There are leaves all over the ground. The only time we saw so many leaves on the gound in Miami was after a hurricane. : (

Speaking of Hurricanes, the canes play Georgia Tech today. They'd better win and not get into any fights. GO CANES!

Speaking of fights, I'm constantly fighting the urge to slack off, and losing frequently. I've blogged twice today. My tendency to blog is inversely proportional to the time I have left to study.

The REALLY sad part is that what I'm blogging about, isn't even remotely important, deep, or interesting. It's like, "Hey, this is my boring life. Oooh I ate something good. Whoopie!" And then I just go on and on and on, getting on silly tangents (speaking of...) and going on a neverending pointless rant.

Brevity really is not one of my strong points.

Having said that...

In Conclusion, the point of this blog was just to give shout out to the delicious Napoleon that I just inhaled, completely cancelling out the time spent on the treadmill yesterday.

Speaking of treadmills....

just kiddin'.

To bee, or not to bee... irresponsible

I was invited to go out tonight by my pal Jackie. She's in law school @ Catholic U and I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a Histology Exam/Lab Practical on Monday to worry about.

It's a halloween thing and she and all her friends are dressing up and I wanna go! *stomps feet*

I bought a bee costume online. It ended up being a little... er, how you say? Tacky and tasteless. I will have balls for once in my life and just wear it. On Tuesday. Not tonight, cause tonight I'm staying home and studying. Whoop-dee-freaking-doo!

Maybe.

We DO get an extra hour this weekend. Fall back, baby!

An extra hour to look at slides and try to figure out what the difference between connective tissue and nervous tissue is.

If I go out tonight, chances are that my costume will represent the best grade I can hope to get on Monday's exam. Unacceptable!

That settles it. For sure, I'm not going. Yes, I just blogged the decision making process. Why? This program is slowly chipping away at my already worn down sanity.

: (

..........and now for something completely random:
That new "Fergalicious" song, though it has incredibly stupid lyrics and a ripped off beat, is quite catchy. I'm addicted to that song like Fergie was to Crystal Meth. OH!

^how i feel right now.

(scary monster mouth w/ teeth = Histology exam)

"A challenging goal is good for the soul?"

Despite the stress, despite the white hairs sprouting from my head, and despite the insomnia, I can't say I'm unhappy. I am lucky to have something to work for, lucky to be in this crazy program, lucky to be healthy...(yada yada yada)

I'm energized (more than usual) this morning. I actually woke up the first time my alarm rang, at 7:32 am; first time that happens in a while! This success should set the tone for the rest of the day; I'm in a good mood, ready to take on the world, ready to really not worry and just be a good student and not stress.... hopefully : )

Probably by 12 pm I will have forgotten everything I just wrote and be all antsy and stuff... but at least this was a nice break from it.

Signing off,
The Worrisome Woman aka the Nailbiting Nincompoop

El stresso.

I am unable to express how I have been feeling lately in words. Instead, I present to you a schematic drawing of what my life has been like:



As you can see, in the above diagram the subject (little old me) is upside down, the helpless victim of a roller coaster. I'm not talking six-flags roller coaster here. No, no, this is a much less cool roller coaster. At least there wasn't any long line to wait in, though.

I digress.

This is where Mariana has been lately. No she is not depressed. She is high strung and anxious, at the mercy of medical school admissions committees across the country, and at the mercy of this ridiculously ridiculous masters program she got herself into. She is wondering how she began speaking of herself in the third person all of a sudden, and realizes she should just go to sleep, and wake up to yet another loop-de-loop day.

Random thoughts for today:

-Random thought numero uno: Lunges are EVIL. As part of my new workout regime, I do upper body 2-3 times a week, lower body 2-3 times per week, and cardio 2-3 times per week. It's really supposed to be like: Monday, upper body; Tuesday, lower body; Wed, cardio; Thurs, upper body; Fri, lower body; Sat, cardio; and on the Lord's day, rest. I'm not exactly following this, and so I decided to do lower body today. Lower body has proven to be the toughest.

I digress...

Part of the lower body workout is the terrible, disgusting, evil exercise: Lunges. I can't do many leg things at the lovely gym at my apartment complex, because there aren't that many machines. Lunges are, therefore, a crucial exercise, with no possible replacement (you see how sneaky they are??!?!). They are hard. Like, painfully hard. I HATE the fact that I can't do the amount of reps I'm supposed to do. It sucks ass, and it insults my manly pride (yes, I have manly pride). This manly pride also surfaces when I lose at scrabble and Halo.

-random thought #2: I talk so much! This was supposed to be like, a list of short, random thoughts, and the whole lunges thing spun out of control. And that's what I left in there- there was a good paragraph or two that I deleted. Sheesh! I'll try for the next one.

-random thought #3: The leaves are turning red. This is the first time I witness this marvelous event. It's so damn nice. I should take some pictures.

-random thought #4: Lately, the horoscope has been right on the money. I got an online one that includes sun sign (the sign most people know), moon sign, and rising sign. I love astrology. Is that weird? I don't care. Maybe my Leo sun, Libra rising, and Scorpio moon somehow make me not care. Maybe not.

-random thought #5: I'm so happy being happy.

-random thought #6: By far, the one thing I would miss the most if I were vegan: eggs. My goodness. Mercy me. Fried eggs in the morning, sunny side up, the yellow still liquid and runny, sprinkled with all-spice and salt, scooped up with pita bread, with a sexy mug of coffee = perfection.

-random thought #6b: On several occasions, it has been pointed out that I talk about food passionately. After re-reading random thought 6a, I understand.

random thought #6c: speaking of eggs, I just remembered something I read in an email. It said that when a guy gives you the pickup line "So, how do you like your eggs in the morning," a good reply is "Unfertilized." (tee-hee!)

Speaking of morning, it's 12 am and I should be dreaming already!

one more random thought:

-random thought #7: Lunges are the enemy. I thought I was tough, but I see that I am putty, at the mercy of this silly genuflecting exercise. DAMN YOU LUNGES! DAMN YOU! The lunges must be defeated!

Ok, that's it.

Sleeping Beauty, that lucky bitch. (No, not because of the dumb prince).
Insomnia

This is ridiculous. I drank some wine last night in hopes of falling asleep more quickly (and just cause I have a huge bottle and I felt like drinking). Yeah. I fell asleep at around 2 am, woke up a billion times between then and now (6:00 am). I can't get back to sleep. What is going on here??? I didn't drink more coffee than usual yesterday. I did, however, sleep till 1:45 pm. Maybe that's it.

I have been losing a battle with insomnia at least once or twice a week ever since moving to lovely DC. Maybe, my bed is not firm enough. Maybe, I'm at my nervousest state ever. Is nervousest a word? Highly unlikely, but I enjoy butchering the language.

When I was in undergrad, I always got home after midnight, even on days when I had class at 8 am the next day (and a one hour commute to school). My father, a health nut for whom sleep is the most sacred thing in the world, absolutely hated this. He constantly reminded me that not getting enoug sleep has been linked to weight gain, along with a bunch of other crappy things. His favorite cheesy dad line for this issue was/is "there is no waking up beauty." This is supposed to be funny. An allusion to "Sleeping Beauty," if you will. His lameness is funny sometimes, but this particulat phrase has always irritated me, beacuse it doesn't make much sense. Maybe if he said that there's no "sleepless beauty." At any rate, he'll keep saying it even if I offer a better alternative.

I feel like crapola. : (

Maybe I'll hit up the gym. Class isn't till 10. I just began a new workout plan (it's not Kanye's workout plan, though). Boy, are my legs/arms/chest/back/glutes sore as hell! Maybe that's why I can't sleep!

Whatever the cause, I would like a one way ticket out of somnia, cause I'm tired of being in it.
Woah there. That was bad. Lame city. I'm worse than my dad. I'm gonna leave it in here, as a testament to HOW BADLY I NEED MORE SLEEP.

Yada yada yada, I have nothing interesting at all to say (in case you didn't notice from the pointless banter above).

I am extra worthless when I haven't gotten enough sleep. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Top 10 Alcoholic Drinks (in no particular order, except number 1)

Below: vodka of choice

(when I don't have to pay, of course).

1) Dirty, dirty martini. I mean nasty. my number one absolute favorite drink ever.

2) Red red wine (it makes me feel so fine). Other wine is good too.

3) Good beer. ie, Newcastle Brown Ale, Yuengling, Sam Adams Hefewiezen (it's great!), Guiness, Presidente. None of that Amstel Light shit (I'll drink it if that's all there is, though)

4) Whiskey/Scotch. Straight up, on the rocks. Maybe some water or something.

5) Shots of Yager

6) Shots of Tequila

7) Shots of SoCo (w/ lime it's good too)

8) stuff that's lit on fire (fun!)

9) intense shots (ie liquid cocaine, surfer on acid).

10) Vodka-tonics (cheap and simple)

I'm not big on fruity or sweet mixed drinks, but I'll take 'em if that's all there is.

I have no inspiration to blog about my mundane life or my thoughts/opinions. This list is the extent of my efforts.

Onward to a new week of classes and fretting about medical school. *sigh*

drunk. tired. alone. sleepy.

it's damn late. need to sleep.

goodnight, world. thanks for all you've given me.

<---The Washington Monument (one location where slacking took place); camera has "night" setting, which, more often than not, makes pics come out blurry = (


EXAM TODAY... Surprise suprise, I have an exam today. Did I study? Of course I did. Am I freaking out a little? Of course I am. I had a long weekend to study...Friday off, Monday off. But do you think I studied? NO! I don't care, it was an awesome weekend. The very special mister Aldo came to visit. We did touristy stuff, we went to a bar/club, we wined and dined. It was like a mini-vacation for me.
And I'll pay for it today. I know my shit. I think. Who cares, it'll be over soon enough...................... Moving on, I leave you with a quote I read in an away message: "Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug." Deep. I like.

Things
are
piling
up
.
I
have
a
lot
of
stuff
to
do!

And.... I have a stupid cold!

Hello world.

It's 9 am. Daddy's gonna drop my happy ass off at school and then they're gone. It's been fun, and I'm gonna miss them!

Unfortunately, I have a nasty cold, with complimentary sinus pressure and pain. I've got one of those long days of class ahead of me, and then some extra-cirricular stuff. What's super duper exciting is: I GET TO SEE CADAVERS TODAY!!!!

All first year medical students dissect cadavers for gross anatomy, and some of the med school students who did my program last year decided to give us a tour. I'm so excited, because I know this will give me a better sneak-peak into med school.

Well, time to drug myself with sinus meds and get ready for class.

MAJOR insomnia leading to my thoughts on an angry God.

There's no hope that I'm falling asleep anytime soon.

So... The parental unit is visiting as well as a partial sibling unit. They got here last night. It's been... interesting. Besides the expected criticism of the messiness/uncleanliness, there were other annoying things that I knew were bound to happen.

The expected cleaning and organizing rampage took place. My mother started at 7:30 am this morning. Since I have given my parents my bedroom, I was situated on the sofa, in dream land, when the ear shattering sound of the coffee grinder being pressed on repeatedly gave me no choice but to wake up. 7:30 am. I don't even wake up that early for class. My mother is not used to using a coffee grinder, so she thought she needed to press the damn button, oh, I don't know, about 35 times in order to grind the coffee. 7:30 am!!! RIDICULOUS!

The rest of the day was Extreme Makeover- Apartment Edition. I was just fine with things the way they were but the control freak mom couldn't help herself. I must say, she has a magic touch. Everything's so neat and organized!

We went to the supermarket and I stocked up on tons of stuff. We had lunch and wine, and all of us passed out (which is probably why I can't sleep right now).

At night, they left me alone for a while to go see the city and walk around or something like that. I stayed behind to catch up on some reading and because, quite frankly, I'm not used to having 3 extra people in here. I got used to my lonely life all alone and lonely, you know? Being in a one bedroom apartment with your parents and little brother, no matter how much you missed them, can be quite nerve-wracking.

And now it's 3 am. I wouldn't mind being up at this time if it weren't for the fact that I am expected to wake up and go to church tomorrow. I actually want to go, believe it or not. Despite my not-so-great thoughts on Catholicism and the church, I think it's good to spend time being spiritual. Also, this happens to be a Maronite Church (Lebanese), which means there'll be coffee and snacks and mingling with Lebanese people, which keeps me in touch with my roots and gives me people to identify with. Furthermore, I am sure we will go out to lunch. Yes, I realize I should just stick with looking righteous and say "I'm going to church tomorrow" without explaining my motives, but I'm not a faker. I want to meet people and I want to eat. There. I said it. But I meant the thing about being spiritual... Really.

I may sound like a terrible person, a terrible Christian, but I'm not worried. First of all, the only way in which I can say I'm Christian is because I do follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Besides that, not so much. I neither deserve nor desire the title. If there is a God as the Christians see Him, I know He's not gonna be mad at me for being this way. Fearing God is not my style. I don't think he's a punisher or that He even can be. I don't think there's a final judgement. I don't believe in heaven and hell. I don't have an explanation for who made us and why are we here, but I sure as heck don't like many of the ones that are available. Maybe it's beyond the scope of our understanding, and we should just live. Enjoy life. If there is a creator, a God, do you think he wanted us to sit around and lament our sins, live in endless guilt? No-sir-ee bob. I am not a hedonistic self centered person. I believe in good and bad/evil. But I don't believe in suffering for sins. I admire the man who sinned once and learned from it more than the man who lives in sin and guilt for his sins. More important than acknowledging a sin and regretting it is learning from a sin and understanding why it is a sin.

Hypothetical situation: If the Bible says whacking off is a sin (I don't know for sure if it does, but I'd say probably). You're a dude, and you wake up with enough wood to build a log cabin. You ain't no pimp so you aren't really getting laid left and right. So you whack it (naughty boy!) You're a sinner! So do you honestly think it's better to feel guilty after you do it everytime than to just accept that the Bible is just a book written by PEOPLE? I mean, science says it's good to jerk it (prevents prostate cancer), and getting erections in public can be quite embarassing (so I've heard). So poor dude, he whacks off, it feels great, but he's gotta sit around hating himself, feeling like a bad person. Unworthy of God. Have you ever felt guilty? Do you know what GUILT can do to a person? It sucks. It's a crappy feeling.

Ok, I kinda went off there. I lost my point. Oh, ok...I think God wants boys to whack off.

Just kidding.

Maybe a better example is needed. I'm too tired to think of a better one.

I guess the point is, next time you do something bad, next time you "sin," instead of feeling guilty, just try to understand why you did what you did. Knowing is half the battle. The rest of the battle, the harder part, is to not do it again. Guilt is a waste of time, it is negative, it only makes things worse. I think maybe people invented the idea of Heaven and Hell cause they thought that fear tactics would be a good way to get people to comply. That's how this country works too, isn't it?

ANYWAY, back to God:

I really think God wants people to be happy, as long as their pursuit of happiness does not involve hurting others directly. My old pal, Bertrand Russell says:

"The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good."

I've put this quote in another post. I like it. I believe it.

I need to try to sleep again. I know I'll come back to this post tomorrow and find that it barely makes sense, but for now I'll just throw it out there. I am not trying to criticize any belief system or anyone. I am just stating my point of view.

Before I go:

God is super happy. He is happiness itself. Do you think someone so happy could be an angry, punishing entity? I don't think so. I think if there's a specific being that is "God," he/she/it sits back and watches the show.

But there is an issue that comes up for me. I find a conflict in believing that there is a God and that he's happy all the time. I cannot deny that there are inexplicable things that happen, (ie coincidences, destiny, and more). You can't help but feel that you have a "guardian angel" or that "God is watching over you" sometimes. So, if I believe in that stuff then I can't really believe in a "sits back and watches the show" kind of God, because then how would I explain the bad stuff that happens without admitting that he may be angry? (do I make sense at all right now?) The point of this point is that I can't really believe in a "God" that is a single being; I can't believe in an anthropomorphic God, who judges, makes decisions, and "sees" things. My idea of God is more like, a life force, or something way too abstract for our little human minds to even begin to comprehend. This is not a Mariana original belief, I've read about stuff like this before but I can't give it the appropriate title. I like it without a title.

But, for all of those who believe in One God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and Earth, of all that is seen and unseen.... just know, he's happy. He's not mad atcha! He wants you to learn, never stop learning. He wants you to be happy. What makes me the authority on this? The same thing that makes the Church the authority on how you should live: someone's damn opinion!

Ok, now I'm really going to bed.

Brief study break.

It's not a break if I didn't start yet, though.

ANYWAY... to all them peeps bitching about the banning of articifial trans-fats, chew on this:

If you're all pissed off that this ban is like, taking away a right, why don't you think of it like trans fats are like drugs. Cocaine is illegal, is it not? LSD, PCP, Ketamine, MDMA, opium, heroin, the list goes on. Marijuana, too. Yes, I agree, drugs are bad (mmkay). BUT, many of these things, particularly marijuana, could never possibly lead to the amount of damage that is caused by these fats and other crap that's in our food. In the article on MSN, it says: "Doctors agree that trans fats are unhealthy in nearly any amount." DID YOU HEAR THAT?? UNHEALTHY IN ANY AMOUNT!!! Why in the WORLD should this shit exist??? It should also be illegal to pump cows full of hormones and genetically engineer fruits and veggies without knowing the potential threats....but that's a whole other can of worms. And so, if you think it's okay for Marijuana to be illegal, then you should be just fine and dandy with the ban. Deal with it, fatty. Alcohol should be illegal too. And smoking cigarettes.

Of course I don't really believe that. But I think that people shouldn't be sooooo outraged about this if they're the same people who think Marijuana should be illegal. I honestly do think that the government has WAY too much control over stuff. I'm a live-and-let-live kinda gal.

There's too much messed up stuff going on in this country, in this world, etc. Greed and obsession with money has led to a nation whose businesses will put their customers in danger just because it makes money. McDonald's, Pharmaceutical companies, etc. and so we have a bunch of fat-ass, addicted to pills, television humping consumers walking around with shitty health care. Sorry, am I ranting?

I should note that I am grateful for the good stuff this country has given my family and others. I always try to keep the negativity down... I haven't been doing a great job of that lately, but I blame the lack of sleep.

SO anyway, while I'm not a huge fan of "the man" I actually think this ban is a good thing. Yeah yeah, all the chefs have to change their recipes, and it's gonna lead to a lot of fines and stuff, but it'll be interesting to see how this all unfolds (if the ban is passed).

All this makes me think about how much healthier my lifestyle has become since moving from Miami. Life in DC, I like it. Compared to Miami, this place is so much more active. You can survive without a car here. FORGET ABOUT THAT in Miami. Nine months out of twelve, It's way too hot to get around on foot. Also, public transportation is shit, and stuff is not close.

I must say I miss the beach and the Cuban food (where can I get a pastelito and some Iron Beer in DC??). Oh and I miss my family and friends too, duh.

I kind of also miss the shitty radio stations and the one good radio station, a classic rock station with a hilarious morning show.

Ahhh, memories. I'm forgetting all my Spanish here. Pero estoy tratando de practicar con mi amigo Jose. El es de Peru, y esta en mi programa. Nosotros hablamos en espanol, usualmente para hablar de otras personas. Que malo!

Well, enough of that. There is an exam on Friday. After the embryology torture exam, I haven't had much motivation to give a crap. But really, I should study. This "brief" study break ended up being not-so-brief. Oh well. It happens.

Yeah.

I can't sleep.

I don't know why.

There's another exam this Friday (it never ends, I'm telling you).

It's been hard to get into study mode for this exam. It's biochem, one of three exams, and quite frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn,

I'm kidding. Of course I give a damn,

I just remembered a bad joke:

What did the fish say when he bumped his head?
Damn!

Here's another one... this one's a 10 out of 10 in cheesiness.

So, two antennae (that's plural for antenna) who have been dating for a while decide to get married. The wedding was last week. The ceremony was a bit boring but the reception was great!

*crickets*

ROFLMFAO!!!

(for those of you who are not in touch with the IM acronyms, ROFL= rolling on the floor laughing, and LMAO= laughing my ass of, and so ROFLMAO is.... you can figure it out).

I'm not literally in hysterics, but I really do like the joke. I think it's hi-frickin-larious. I don't care how cheesy it is.

I noticed more and more that very often in online conversations, I'll write "LOL" and there's not even a smile on my face. The whole LOL thing is abused. It's like when you say "that's funny" instead of laughing.
(just in case, LOL = laughing out loud... if you don't know that one you're living under a rock)

Ah the pointless banter. When will it end?

So I'm sippin on my sleepytime tea, hoping it doesn't work too well and make me oversleep.

I don't have much to say. Studying is wack. (wiggity-wiggity wack)

Oh yeah!

So...
My parents are coming to visit with my little brother this Friday. I'm excited and scared. I know that my father (obsessed with cleanliness) and my mother (obsessed with organization and cleanliness), will deem me unfit to live on my own due to the fact that my apartment is what you would call a "pig sty." The easy solution would be to pick up and clean but I have more important things to do, i.e. write pointless blogs that no one really reads and do hard sudoku puzzles from 2 week old newspapers. Oh yeah and studying also is slightly more appealing than cleaning.

I guess I'll tidy up a little bit, for mom. More for me, cause if the apartment's a mess she'll waste time and energy cleaning it for me, and I can't have that happen. Don't be fooled-it's not because I'm a sweet daughter who doesn't want to make her mommy work; it's actually because I want that woman to cook me some nice meals that I can freeze for later use. I'm a kind of sweet daughter, somewhere beyond my hefty appetite, I promise. MMMMM... mom's cookin. Can't wait! (She'd better cook, damnit)

So I'm looking forward to the visitors, particularly the little bro Danny, who is actually turning twelve years old tomorrow (actually, today). It feels like only yesterday he was a little baby whose poopie diapers I used to change.

So yeah... I'm going to attempt that whole "sleeping" thing one more time.

Good night. Buenas Noches. Bonne Nuit. Oodgay Ightnay.

I woke up this morning confused, directionless, with nothing to guide me (ie a "list of embryology lectures to learn").

THE EXAM IS OVER AND DONE WITH! And, at this point, I really don't give a crap about how I did. Quite frankly, the relief of finishing it outweighed any worries or thoughts about anything else.

After the exam was the after party; there was pizza and beer. The whole shabang was outdoors, and the weather has been sexy lately (sunny but cool). It resembles the "winter" in Miami. After ingesting oh, I don't know, 6 or 7 beers, my drunk ass came home and took a monster nap. I love napping. I woke up confused and drunk.

Then for the evening activities we all went to a bar, and hung out on the outdoor terrace (I guess it's called a terrace). I got me two dirty martinis, the freaking greatest drink of all time. Some beers followed. My liver hates me. The evening had it's usual, everyone's-extra-friendly-cause-they're-all-drunk overtone. I was wrong about this program. I expected to meet a large group of uptight, stiff, obnoxious pre-meds. So far, the people I've met have been pretty cool; many have a keen appreciation for alcohol.

So all in all, September 21, 2006 was a good day for me. It marked the end of a class. It was a day of booze and martinis and more booze, a day of being outdoors in gorgeous weather. A day when a nap was possible.

Today won't be so much of a great day. Today marks the beginning of a new cycle, for there is yet another exam rearing its ugly head. In exactly one week, we have our first of three biochemistry exams.

So, although I woke up slightly directionless, I know that there's a nice long list of things to do, including laundry =(