Four jobs I have had in my life:

Pizza Guy
Video Store Guy
Science Museum Guy
Transcriber

Four movies I've watched more than once:

5th Element
Jackie Brown
Half-Baked
Swingers

Four places I have lived:

Reno
Irvine
Edinburgh
San Francisco

Four Favorite TV Shows:

Simpsons (old episodes, thanks)
Iron Chef (japanese version, thanks)
BBC News
Square One TV


Four favorite pastime activities:

Ski/Snowboard
Take Photogs
Eat
Sleep

Four places I have been:

Fmr. Yugoslav Republics
Shetland
Portland
Washington DC

Four people who e-mail me (regularly):

Wes
Christina
Mom
Surf Buddies

Four of my favorite foods:

Pizza
Burritos
Curry
Buttermilk Doughnuts

Four of my favorite books:

Hey Nostradamus!
Life After God
Catch 22
Flatland

Four places I would rather be right now:

Portland
Edinburgh
Anywhere snowy and steep
San Francisco (wait! i'm here already!)

Four people I think will respond to this email

Naomi
???
???
???


Four Things I am looking forward to this year

Applying to medschool.
Making friends with the crusties.
Absess care.
Surf!

Wow.

Amazing how three numbers and a letter can take a major weight off your shoulders.

Love the public transport. Love the packed buses. Love the crazy lite-rail. Love BART.

Muni is the rocks!

damn it.

wednesday.
clinic was cancelled - no notice given to mateo. ugh. would have liked those extra hours for sleep/relaxing/making a good breakfast/moving slower early in the morning

lunch conference cancelled? let's find out. run inside, find clinic is canceled, fill out some paperwork, run outside, have a brief moment of 'i could have sworn i parked (locked) my bike here', see my lock still swinging on the bike rack, sans bike.

GRAAAAAAAVY!!!!

Noooooo!

My bike. Gone. God damn it. Seriously, 15 minutes. Lock, not broken, not picked, sawed right through. Bastards.

I raged (in my head) around SOMA for a few hours looking for my bike eventually tricked myself into thinking i'd appropriately mourned my loss. i was 'over it' for a day and a half until my boss asked 'how could i be so nonchalant about the loss, what with my bike all alone with no one who cares for it, possibly being cut apart or tortured?"

AAAAARGH! My baby. Alone, in the cold, with no one to care for it or keep it warm, inside and dry.

SOB.

RIP Gravy.
We had some good rides.

after surfing yesterday i turned on the tv to see RENO (!) and katey sagal (!) in a movie.

so great. not really, it was so awful, but the whole movie revolved around katey sagal going all over the west (idaho, utah, nevada), but the whole thing clearly took place around the truckee meadows and surrounding area.

lake tahoe!
pyramid lake!

terrible movie, but i do love reno and i do love katey sagal...

Lesson of the day:

DON'T RUN YELLOW LIGHTS UNLESS YOU'RE SURE YOU'LL MAKE IT.

I nearly got swept away by a wave of pedestrians who got the walk signal when i was just about to enter the crosswalk (on the farther side of the intersection). I still can't believe that I didn't kill anyone.

Further proof that pedestrians are the most dangerous thing in any touristy city.

Crrrraaaazy.

feeding my font madness today.

fonts i actually like: georgia, helvetica (sometimes), optima, times (most variations), veranda

fonts i want to hate, but hold a special place in my heart: chicago

fonts i hate:
comic sans (ugh!), impact (although i'll admit that i do use it on occassion), papyrus (why why why do healthfood stores and asian restaraunts ALWAYS have to use this!?), arial (only in small doses is it okay)

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free clinic madness.

yowza!

highlights from the last few days:

*trying to figure how to help a guy PROVE that he's homeless so he can qualify for (measely) benefits.

*met the homeless guy i hope to be like if i ever end up homeless

*figured out a surefire way to tell if someone is transgendered: they're usually the best looking folks at the clinic...

*the system is pretty fucked

*there are some really amazing nurses/doctors/people working out there

*socially inept people make bad nurses, but less bad doctors

*wonder why only women and gay guys work in public health

*realize again and again that SF is amazing

*schizophrenia with violence & rape-based psychosis - yikes.

*charting charting charting

*pens are golden

Whirlwind.

NMR numerical spectroscopy WTF? Nickel Nickel. Pizza/Beer/Beer/Beer. Meat. Parents. Drivey Drivey. SF. Orientation. Record avalanche. Tax forms. Insurance forms. Forms for more forms. Learn names. Forget names. Learn names? Dustin! Wes! Christina! Cliff! Useful training. I can get stoned? Useless training. Highlighter attack. Bikes in the city FTW! Unpack, finally. Zeitgiest.

Sleep? In this city? yeah right!

Needle exchange.
Transgender clinic.
Shelter TB exposure/screening.

My calling? Dunno yet, but this is awesome.

oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

this has got to be a joke.

seriously, what happened to me?!

nerves = bad.

How is it possible that i've lived in southern california for six long years and only just started surfing 3 weeks ago?

So awesome.

And of course I'm leaving in 2 weeks...

Surfing FTW!

Who knew the beach/ocean could actually be more than the annoyance that is sand/salty water. I think i might even buy a wetsuit and board for some frigid surfing up in the bay area. yeah!

14 days to go.

i did really well on my last practice tests, so I decided to reward myself with some mildly excessive drinking. maybe not the best idea if you're planning on studying the next day, but sometimes some self-destructive behavior is in order. not to mention the previous day's shite workday. ugh. although i'm not entirely ready yet, i almost feel like i would take it a week early just to get the damn thing over with. and the extra week would be much better spent doing just about anything BUT mcat stuff.

says the over-confident mat.

i need another kaplan style raping to knock the fear back in.

gravy's back in service. i've gotten pretty good with the bike fixing stuff. next up is learning how to work on brakes/gears and doing a chain clean.

this is so fucking hot:

"Defense Department discrimination in ROTC programs on the basis of sexual orientation conflicts with this university policy. The university continues its ROTC program, but encourages a change in the Defense Department policy. Questions regarding Title IV, Title IX and Section 504 should be referred to the affirmative action officer, N710 Wyman Park Building, 410-516-8075, TTY 410-516-6227."

From the MPP page at Johns Hopkins.

backing up my hard drive for the first time ever. somehow i've made it through almost 10 years of computer usage to never have a hard drive shit out on me. pretty lucky i guess. and just why did i pick now, rather than continue praying that the clicky, whirring sounds from my laptop were, er, normal, you ask? nothing like having so little space on your computer that you can't even upload any more photos because you're hard drive is so loaded with crap - by crap of course i refer to my undeletable collection of music (half of which i've listened to maybe once), lame college papers, piles of shitty phographs (of course there are a few good ones here or there), decent college papers, piles of resumes/cover letters/failed attempts at getting gainful employment, a recipe storing program that i've used once, when i downloaded it (it now has 5 recipes that i already know inside and out), dreamweaver (still don't know how to use), illustrator (barely know how to use), final cut pro (love to use, never do), sample midterms for my students and all sorts of other shite i'll never use again.

why are we so married to our data?

now the astute reader would have noticed that my above list omitted the one crucial item present in every internet connected male's hard drive, that is of course, pornography.

i refuse to believe any guy who claims otherwise. even if it hasn't been actively saved by yourself (keep believing those lies kiddo), just by being connected your computer practically has porn. it is there. it has to be. but me? no. of all my shitty data that i'm leaving to the HD gods, i have no porn! impossible you say? it is true. how's that? i backed that up ages ago.

::smirk::

christ, what's that say about me?

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one month to go.

stuff to learn from scratch:
CNS Gross Anatomy
Fetus/Mother Circulation/Anatomy

stuff to relearn:
constant boiling azeotropes/raoult's law
methods of ochem seperations

stuff to gain confidence in:
every-fucking-thing

i've lost the fear. this is good. no fear = confidence.

Got kicked out of Less than Jake/Reel Big Fish show last night.

For jumping on stage and skaning (shortly) with LTJ during their last song.

Should have jumped into the crowd but allowed myself to get strongarmed backstage and eventually outside.

"And stay out"

Yeah right. A short fence hop later I was back.

Security there is weaksauce.

So i get the following email today:

Following a national search, I am delighted to announce the
appointment of Michael Chennault as University Ombuds, effective
August 1.

A wide range of essential skills is required of this unique position,
and Michael brings them all to the table.   With over twenty years at
UCI, including seven years of experience with mediation and ombudsing
specifically, he combines an in-depth knowledge of our campus, two
Masters degrees in counseling and educational psychology, and a
thorough understanding of the professional field of ombudsing.   Since
joining the UCI Ombuds Office in 2000, Michael has become an
invaluable resource to those in our campus community seeking informal
and confidential means to discuss complaints or concerns.   Through
his coordination of the campus mediation program, he has enlightened
hundreds of faculty, staff and students regarding methods of informal
conflict resolution.   He is also an active member of the
International Ombudsman Association and the California Caucus of
College and University Ombuds.   Prior to serving as an ombuds,
Michael was a Student Affairs Officer with the School of Biological
Sciences for 13 years, becoming well-versed in the requirements and
realities of UCI student life.

As University Ombuds, Michael will oversee an office of seven,
including three associate ombuds.   UCIs Ombuds Office, with its many
strengths and wide-ranging scope, is distinct among university ombuds
operations.   I am confident that Michael will excel in this new
capacity and continue to be successful not only as an ombuds, but in
maximizing the potential of this important campus resource.

For more information about the Ombuds Office, please visit:

http://www.ombuds.uci.edu/


-----------------

Pretty normal email, right?

Ombuds!

Did anyone else know that osbudsing(!) is a word?

jeez. i wonder how some people make i through college. seriously. then i wonder why people do it in the first place. the uselessness of a bachelor's degree (not just the inability to find a job with it, but the actual uselessness of it tall) has become clearer than ever. i already knew this, figured it out during my last year at UCI, but it is now clearer than ever...

ugh.

having one of those days.

flat tire.
lab shit.
lost volleyball game.
more lab shit.
hungry.

as much as i love science (and i do, i really do) this lab stuff is trying.

in other news, i'm taking my last class ever at UCI on thursday. see ya suckas!

one point at a time. one point at a time.

gotta keep remembering why i'm doing this.

N/A's MCAT Mantras:

READ EVERY WORD
IN EVERY PASSAGE
EVERY TIME

it is just a test. it is just a test. it is just a test.

jeebus. been out of touch for a while. i blame the MCAT and my stupid obession with the exam. urgh. it is kind of twisted, i complain about the bastard, but little ole masochistic me is kind. of in love with it. i'm learning all sorts of interesting stuff that i never learned in college as well as all sorts of stuff that i DID learn (how i did well in some of these classes however is a mystery).

not many good stories to tell at the moment.

i don't mind living in socal without a car. really i don't. my bike is great and it never rains, so that is pretty smooth, but this bus strike is killing me. sometimes you just don't want to ride home.

for the first time in a while i'm feeling sorted. life is good again.

sorry for all the cryptic one liner posts. i recently signed up for gmail and since google and blogger has merged i'm constantly logged into my new account rather than this. now of course when i signed up it asked me if i wanted to combine this blog with the new account. not realizing what exactly i was doing, i declined. now i'm never signed into blogger.

lame. excuses, i know. whatever.

anyways. after fucking up one interview and nervously coasting through another, i managed to get selected for an Americorps program in San Francisco. I'm still in disbelief about it. I have had a spat of rejections in the last three months, so it is good to feel wanted again - if you've ever done job hunting you know the feeling. starting september 10 (3 days post MCAT) i'll be moving north. i'm thinking the 7th-9th weekend will be the stuff legends are made of.

I'M.
MOVING.
TO.
SAN.
FRANCISCO.

Sorry, i had to type it out again, until i'm there i won't believe it is actually going to happen. I'll be working in a free clinic in the tenderloin near(ish) to city hall. Apparently once a week i get to go out in a van-based homeless clinic on wheels. This sort of stuff is exactly what i want to be doing. I am (not-so) secretly hoping that this experience helps me find something that isn't being a doctor (i've been hanging out with the jaded medkids too much lately) that lets me contribute in some equally meaningful way. I've been terrified that I might go through life not contributing to the things i believe in (fun as it is, bartending and coffee slinging doesn't exactly change the world). Now i'm especially glad as this now doesn't have to happen after several years of med school.

Held a aldrich park based 'drive-in movie on the lawn' on friday. super success. escape from new york while under the stars. classic. hope to make it a more regular thing - will be testing the sprinkers timing - got a little wet at about 1:30.

aaaaaargh! i can't fucking do phone interviews to save my life. what the hell am i thinking?!?!

yes!

::grin::