Eenie Meme Mimmy Moe

Over the weekend, India found the time to "meme" me. As to what is meant by Meme, I dont exactly know, but from context clues I have decided its a blog-chain letter of sorts. You know those annoying e-mails that have you fill out your favorite color and movie and all that crap and then forward it on to 200 friends and then your magical wish about a crush will come true. Except this is shorter, themed, no magical wish and you pass it on only to three people. In India's wisdom, she meme'd me in a challenging sort of way, knowing that if someone says "Michael you cannot...." I then go and at least try. So here goes:

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
No one knows what the hell this means. Jay and India said they were following precedent by going with books that they hated, and I'm okay with that too. At this juncture, any of my textbooks from this past year would be wonderful. I am currently enjoying my last summer from school and/or work.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Not really, if we're talking about fictional characters that live in books. Now Disney characters in movies when I was younger? Heck yeah I did..

The last book you bought is:
Not counting the endless amount of textbooks I have purchased, this would have to be Stiff by Mary Roach. It is "an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem." In other words, she dives into the mysterious lives of cadavers, and what happens to bodies after they are donated to science. I saw this book over Christmas and had to get it, as I had just finished my gross anatomy class. Joel, since I know you are really big into organ donation and giving blood, (as am I, I just never will be allowed to donate) you are more than welcome to borrow the book if you'd like. I can bring it in July.

The last book you read is:
As the new Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, (I believe) is coming out this summer, I am re-reading the first five books in the series. I have just finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and have progressed onto Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

What are you currently reading?
See Above.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

1. Jurassic Park - Possibly my favorite book of all times. The science behind it is just fascinating, and I am a nerd like that.

2. Chicken Soup for the Survivoring Soul - So that I might keep those stories close to my heart

3. The Hobbit - Tolkein is just an absolute genius!

4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - While some will argue that this is really three books (and rightfully so) and the argument can also be made that they are six books, they together form one elaborate and imaginatively amazing story

5. There is a Monster at the End of this Book - My absolute favorite book as a child, this story features Grover trying to encourage the reader to not continue to read the book as he has heard that there is a monster at the end of the book. (Hence the title.) Of course, the only monster at the end of the book, is sweet, cuddly Grover.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons), and why? (1) Adam/Leslie as we now know that they have a blog. I am not sure if they read this or not though.... (2)Anne because I know that she is done with law school for the year and I'd like to see what she has been reading (and I know that she has visited here) And (3)Alan as I'd be curious as to what he is currently reading. Note: Joel was spared as he has recently been discussing his summer reading list.

So it's been a while....

.... and it's early in the morning, so excuse the post. After talking with a friend earlier in the week, I realized that I had become one of those people that I was impatient with while only reading blogs. You know, the person that only randomly posts and doesn't have anything to entertain my day with. For this I apologize. I shall try to do better. My days have been relatively uneventful recently. Ever since I finished exams over a week ago, I have accomplished only a couple of things, which include (but are not limited to) going out, drinking, taking (and passing) a defensive driving course, paying bills, drinking, reading the first Harry Potter book, drinking, and buying stamps.

Tonight, I went to a 4th year medical student graduation party, where I knew exactly four people. One was a first year and 3 were second years. The way medical school is set up, you dont really get to interact with the 3rd and 4th years, so I will get to know the year above me and the year below me fairly well, but other than that, I will have no clue who you are. I had a few drinks, rode a mechanical bull (where I did fairly well, thank you) and had some of the best bbq in Texas. I decided to call it an early night and came back here. I was tempted; however, to stop by my favorite bar on the way back, but decided against it. I miss my Lubbock friends, as they are all out of town. I also miss all my Vandy friends, and I cannot wait until July to get to see everyone. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to post more regularly.

Ooops!

So I had a nationally administered final exam this morning at 9 a.m. My little behind woke up at about 9:05. I definitely threw on some clothes and dashed out the door, hopped the curb in my car, and flew off down the street. Luckily I live close to the school, because I made it there at 9:10. I feel like I was the opening credits on Saved By The Bell. Well, I made it on time, just after they called my name in the attendance log. Unfortunately, in my haste I had forgot to grab my glasses and had to squint through the entire exam. It's ok though, the test was so difficult that I was probably better off not being able to see the questions and just bubbling in answer choices. Four exams down, one to go! And please give me a wake up call on Wednesday to make sure I am up for the 9 o'clock test then! Thanks.

Two down, Three to go.

So I have finished two of my exams, with three more to go. The one tomorrow (now technically today) is in Biostatistics. I haven't studied for it, well, maybe for 2 hours. Fear not, we are dealing with mean, median and mode. Some standard deviation and what not, but we are allowed to have graphing calculators AND we are going to be given all of the equations that we need. Could a test POSSIBLY be any easier? Oh yes, make it Pass/Fail. And multiple choice. Who said medical school wasn't easy? And then there's my other tests.... so I am definitely enjoying my little break during this week and a half of exams. The eye of my hurricane. A brief respite on my Everest.

So I finally started one...

This is going to be my blog. Blog blog blog. Nothing too exciting, I am just avoiding studying for my Neurosciences exam which is tomorrow at 9 am. I have already decided that I am not going to be able to study all of the material for the exam. In medical school, there is always more that you can study, always another source to review, or another book to read. I have just learned to deal with it, and I know that I am ok with mediocrity.

Some of you might scream and yell that today's doctors shouldn't be okay with being average (or slightly below) as the balance of life and death will be in our hands. To this I say that you need to understand that anyone who gets through their undergraduate courses, does well enough on the MCAT, survives medical school and all of the national licensing exams will be a fine doctor. I am just saying that I value my quality of life over studying a little more. I have probably studied more this week than I did all through high school, and definitely more than I ever did during an entire semester in college. I just don't feel like studying for 5 more hours to get maybe 5 more points on an exam is going to be worth it. Besides, all of the classroom material that we are forced to study will be forgotten by ANY doctor once they have spent 5 years in their specialty. I guarantee it.