the two F's

Dr. Essani:

"You see, there are two things that every cell in the human body enjoys like heck. One is food, and the other..well, the other." *interruption of class gasping, cackling, and massive blushing* "It is simply the only purpose of life."

I think about my dreams sometimes, about what I want to do with my life. How I'll spend all that gorgeous and precious time expanding my knowledge about anything and everything in life...and then I think about the two F's. *woops* I guess I should spend my time giving pleasure to every cell in my body.

But then not only would I become obese, but a whore. (both of which are greatly not selectively preferable in achieving the reproductive ends life is defined by) *what irony*

;) Don't worry..I'm still me. Still tiny, and not even CLOSE to the 'w' word. :D :D :D Yea, so don't worry. I still suck at life. :D :D :D :D

*peaces*

a galaxy far, far away

I played this game with a computer, and it spat out this story:

"As I was dramatizing at the ties, I wondered what life would be like on another world. Would people have wheels on their yucky xylem to help them move about more politely? Would each person have a turmeric to help them do their work? For a moment, I admonished I could travel to a troublesome world like this to raking what life would be like. Then I realized that with two teenaged plumes, life here was confusing enough.

Now THAT'S comedy."

Apparently, it's called a 'manicdote.' :D

I also realized, that I suck on weekends. I basically just mope joyously around not doing anything, but pretending to do something at the same time, not succeeding at all at any of it, getting yelled at by the rents for not doing chores *boo*, then pretending to do chores, then pretending to do homework as an excuse to not do chores, then pretending to flail when the rents discover i was pretending all along. The mahvelous ending: I sit up till 47463.970 a.m. monday morning frantically pretending to actually do some homework. *whew*

Apart from all of that..I miss my bestest friend tremendously. :( I wish she were here so that we could take trips through the galaxy, kill savage microbes with bunsen burners, and um, swoon uncontrollably for no particular reason. :) *giggles*

And for those of you who've been enjoying the BEAUTIFUL FLUFFY SNOW so much (like me)...a word of caution..or rather, a video of caution:

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/507/

;) *warmth*

*wishes*

If I had three wishes, one of them would be this:

To be able to look up at the sky when gorgeous fluffy snow is falling! Why on planet earth do my eyes have to get retarded, bothered, and twitchy by those beautiful things floating around me?! Why on Zarquon can't I have the ability to see them falling from the sky?!

(Just some additional info: I'd also wish for more wishes, and wish that they come true) ;)

Life thus far has been...surprisingly busy. Seriously, I think the Spaghetti Monster's Noodly Appendage has graced my presence...meaning, I think it recognized all that white space and decided to scribble a bunch of random happenstances within it (excluding those which I most want). Translation: Even though I have 11 credit hours ONLY, I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep (more than 4 hours per night) because I've been extremely busy. (I guess wishes do come true in their own evil coniving ways) I really need to get a move on in terms of my research at Dr. Stapletons. O boy. DO I. I have no clue what I'm doing anymore and recently found out that probably the past 2 months of intense work at her lab have ended up as absolutely futile, because some RETARDED FUCKING ASSHOLE maintainance idiot decided to change the protocol I used for my assay. And what's better, it's been the SAME guy maintaining that machine for 24 years, and this is the FIRST time he's decided to change the machine's protocol, and what's even better, there's normally a flag that tells the machine what protocol to use (mine was 6, and it got changed to 8)...and THERE's NO FLAG FOR PROTOCOL 8!!!!!!!!! So, not only is my data invalid, but I can't even GET more data because the machine won't know what the heck it's doing.

*passes out*

Apart from that, there's other massive reading/study loads. Dr. Essani said yesterday that "the moment you think you know everything, you stop learning." And I think that happened to me. I got a 2.2/5 on my first Virology quiz. Yea, wow. (btw, EVERY point in that class is 1% of our grade) I just assumed that it was too easy for me and decided not to try. Peoples, it does not work that way. *woops* And my spanish class is kicking my butt because for the first time it's really difficult reading, but for the first time, I can actually handle it on my own without ANY dictionary! I just 'forget' to read the material though, which could be a problem I need to address pretty soon. My computer science class..well..*pft* What's left? *Aha* And I love pchem. Truly. I'm starting to like my professor, and I think it's because he's just as quirky, nerdy, unstoppingly conversational, and goofy as me. Did I mention smart? Yes, he's brilliant...like me. :)

And guess what that leaves me with? Othello. I've been reading Othello instead of nerdy science papers. *looks nerdily away* But these studies do also bring to mind something important:

"Iago: Tis in ourselves that we are thus, or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many - either to have it sterile with idleness or manured with industry - why the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills." -Othello, Act I, Shakespeare

If my wish for more wishes came true, and if I made the said 'more wishes,' I would wish that each of us realize our will, and where we want to lead it (not where it chooses to lead us).

*bling bling*

So, what Dr. Essani established as the "4 things in life:"

1. Things are what they appear to be.
2. Things are not what they appear to be.
And the two following are relatively "dangerous,"
3. Things are, and do not appear to be.
4. Things are not, and do appear to be.

*hmmm* *deep contemplation*

I am really happy right now. My buddy Steve went to Nicaragua and not only SAW but actually TOUCHED AND SUTURED in a few of about 34 surgeries in 4 days!!!! HOLY CRAP! THAT'S FRIGGIN' AWESOME! *bows down before him* I'm so excited that atleast one of my friends can understand why I like surgery so much. When I witnessed surgeries in India, I was overjoyed. I NEVER expected it to be the way it really was. It was absolutely incredible, and wonderfully rewarding. The truth of the matter is that you really can't judge all that blood and tearing apart people's body (or seemingly so) until you're actually there, and witness someone's heart pumping, or watch blood flowing through a person's carotid, and think about the fact that you are actually PHYSICALLY helping somebody; you are helping them heal. And all these years of preparation could not have been enough to get you to that point of appreciating how much you have learned until you are there and applying it. It is that simple. Experience is gold.

*boy o boys* ;)

Yeehaw! Yo, so one of the coolest experiences thus far is to be back in Dr. Essani's class...what a truly joyous experience!

We were discussing how the importance of viral studies have affected discoveries today, and somehow ended up at the issue about stem cell research. *WARNING THIS INCLUDES R-RATED MATERIAL. THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE ASSASINATIONS SHOULD CONSULT THIS SITE AFTER THEY ARE MORE MATURE. (as I now am)* ;)
Dr. Essani (from what I remember): "See, the issue isn't really pro-life or pro-abortion because life was already there! The sperm had to still be alive and bouncing around like hell and the egg was still alive too! So there is no such thing as life beginning at any particular stage because there was life all along!! If you really want to call the isolation of stem cells the death of a human at any particular stage of development that might be considered as 'alive' or a part of 'life' then every time a boy takes his Playboy magazine to the closet he is committing MASS MURDER!!!!!!"

Needless to say, I was massively blushing, gasping, having my mouth widely open and covered with both hands, and laughing uncontrollably ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!! *hahaha*

Some wonderful cool facts though: from "Fundamentals of Molecular Biology" -Acheson
"There are 10-50 million bacteriophages on average per ml of seawater, and even more in many soils. Given the enormous volume of the oceans, scientists have calculated that there may be as many as 10^31 bacteriophages in the world. This is about 10-fold greater than the estimated number of bacteria. In terms of mass, this many phages would weigh about 100 million tons, or the equivalent of 1 million blue whales (the largest animal on Earth). More astonishing, these 10^31 phages, if lined up head-to-tail, would stretch some 200 million light years into space-that is, far into the universe beyond many of our known neighboring galaxies (Milky Way measure about 150 light years edge to edge, and the furthest visible galaxies in the universe are approximately 10^9 light years away). Ecologically, more than 95-98% of the biomass in oceans is microbial the rest of which is made up of all other forms of life, fish, marine mammals, birds, and plants, and about half the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere is generated by photosynthetic activity of marine microbes. It's been estimated that 20% of the microbes in the Earth's oceans are destroyed each day by virus infections. Therefore, viruses play a major role in the carbon and oxygen cycles regulating our atmosphere and feeding the world's population."

*wicked* eh?

*woot*

WOW! School's started!

It's so strange, I had a MAHVELOUS vacation, but honestly, being the gorgeous *bats lashes* nerd that I am, I was ever so slightly tingling with joy at the prospect of more knowledge! *eee* Unfortunately, I only have 11 credit hours *GASPS & FLAILS* ..compared to the 20 I have been taking over the past three years at Western. :o I just look at my schedule and blink. *blinks emptily* THERE'S SOOO MUCH BLANK SPACE! Just pure white, no class names, no shock at seeing a "0" behind the previously three digit class numbers, no catalog numbers, or professor names. Just 4 classes: (in order of interest) Virology, Pchem lab, Spanish Short Stories of the 19th century, and Family and Computer Science..actually the last class is (assumingly) so stupid that I don't even know it's official name. (FCS is just the department) *evil giggle* If my prof were by the non-grace of some noodly appendage reading this I bet he/she is thinking "hmm..let's see how you do." *oops*

In fact, I have so little that I'm actually sitting in Dr. Stapleton's Biochem 2 class (which kicks awesome biochem butt!) ..no, no, I'm not even registered, and don't get ANY credit/grades! Now, THAT is commitment to science babae. ;) (btw..I love science)

Ofcourse, I am teaching a microbiology class, and I was flipping through my old micro lab book and ran across my marvelously separated/tattered, battered with stains page about how to do a gram stain. *o, the memories* *swoons over hot John* *swoons over thoughts of a certain slutty barnacle that inhabited the seat beside me* *swoons over beautiful pink and blue cocci and rods under the microscope* *absolutely fails to swoon over those horrendous creations called bunsen burners*

That was some massive swoonage there. All in all, I'm very excited! And OMG..the new chem building, in which I will have my Pchem lab, Biochem 2 sit-in, and Micro TA is GORGEOUS!!!! It's soooooo beautiful! The organic labs have hoods for EVERY two students! Everything is so beautiful and well organized and neat, clean, and not falling apart due to the effects of gravity into some hideous underground dungeon! (p.s. If anyone wants dibbs into seeing the new building...I'm the go-to person for that. The 'tour' includes an all access pass to the Micro room, and staring through hallway sessions of all other labs and lecture rooms, as well as a marvelous cruise through the bridge connecting Wood hall and what is the new building, the Chemistry Annex) :D

Mis amigos from the lab are going to stop by for dinner hopefully on Friday. *eee* *pees pants* I'm SO excited! :D :D :D

reality wrote me a check

Yo! Peoples of de' world!

So a wonderful, or not-so-wonderful update on the happenstances of my life:
Med School Rejections:
Mayo Medical School
Case Western Reserve University
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Science Internship Rejection:
ProNAi labs
Any if not at all acceptances:
Microbiology teaching assistant position

I feel so incredibly transparent and worthless. Yea I'm smart...but what the HECK does that mean in the context of it all? Nobody seems to want me! I'm just lost as to how I can finally go about and start making something of myself. And it's hard. You know what I most want? I want to be able to do all of the following:
1. successfully have classes @ WMU
2. work @ S2 lab
3. TA
4. Work at a mahvelous pharmaceutical company
5. Get accepted to a gorgeous med school

None of the last two have occured yet. *hmm* *wonders why*

L O S E R
*that is all* :(

The Universe = WSOGMM

..The Whole Sort Of General Mish Mash. ;D

O dear Zarquon! It's been a good break..a much needed break. I have come to reevaluate my life from so many perspectives that I think I am kind of insane, for those of you who thought I already was, kindly add a 'little more' to that. :)

I worked my butt off at the lab in the beginning, got some results, and then confused the heck out of myself there on out. Currently, I'm still deep in confusion bliss as to what on planet..um, for a change, not Zarquon or Earth..Pluto! ..um..what on Pluto has been happening to my protein and thereby my results. So I gave up and yelled at myself a ton, and then my family decided to kidnap me and take me to Chicago for New Years! *awesome giggles* It was wicked cool..we did some indian grocery shopping, and I got to see fireworks TWICE!!!! Once at 12 and the second time at 7 the next day at Navy Pier. And the best part..I got to go to Shedds Aquarium!!!!!! *pees pants* OMG..I read this one natal birth chart thing-a-ma-jig doo-daah once that said I would be one who would be enraptured/fascinated with water and sea voyages. I swear, its true. I absolutely am fascinated by how wonderful life under water is. We know SO little about it! I can't imagine that we know even 15% about the oceans or their inhabitants yet. Goodness me...my family was really really excited to see the dolphins dance, but what was even better...was to see the Beluga whales wave their tails, spit at us, and play with basketballs and frizbee's! I LOVE WHALES!!!! If I were to ever be any organism but human, I would be a blue whale, and my trip to Shedds has definitely profoundly expanded my perspective on how much capacity to learn whales have too! They do just as much as dolphins, if not more! When the trainers were feeding them the would chatter and chirp really loud..I mean they have to to communicate over long distances right? And there was a baby Beluga only 6 months old, who had never before been trained and was playing with the basketball that was meant for the adult whales to play with. *smacks self for ending in preposition* But it was so incredible that even the trainers were surprised! And just the sheer size, of watching this huge beautiful white creature elegantly swim past you, or sometimes come right up against the rail where you're standing and spout water was breathtaking. I think I spent like 3 hours overally at the Beluga whale exhibit.

Apart from that, we saw otters ..um, doing it. At first they were just twirling around together, and everyone around us including us were pretty mesmerized by what was happening, and trying to guess why these two otters were so enraptured with each other. Well, big surprise. During some 'readjustment' the male otter's penis bobbed out for about 10 seconds for all of us to burst out laughing, blushing, and whatever else people do when they see an otter's penis, and then it bobbed back in. There on out, all of us who knew told newcomers of our new-found knowledge, and they'd giggle and gasp as if to say "really?!"...and we'd say.."yup, truly, and we promise." But when the male and female weren't actually 'attached' it was really pretty, because they would grasp eachother as if kissing and twirl around for a few minutes, up and down in the column of water totally oblivious to the other otter in the tank. It really was pretty cool.

And the humongous sea turtle in the reef exhibit had a HUGE crack on its shell, and we assumed that it was an injury. So everytime it tried to swim through the water it would only use its front two fins, whereas the two behind would just lag behind like a huge burden or unnecessary weight to carry around. All other turtles we saw used all four fins to swim.

Ofcourse, it was a beautiful day, and the Chicago skyline could not have been more perfect or more beautiful. It was only my mom, dad, and I that day, and wow..it was one of the best times of my entire life. I did wonder and dream about what would happen if I happened to fall into the Beluga whale tank..like would they attack? But that shall be solved by some wiki'ing.

:D O, and A MARVELOUS HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 to all of you!!!!!! I hope it's grandiose and magnanimously fun! *mwa*

*submits to conforming* ;*

10 Favourites
1. Favourite Colour- Blue and white
2. Favourite Food- Pav bhaji
3. Favourite Song- You're so damn hot, OkGo ;)
4. Favourite Movie- um...i love a bucketload, current favorite Pursuit of Happiness
5. Favourite Sport- Basketball, Hockey, and Football (the british kind)
6. Favourite Season- Monsoon
7. Favourite Day Of The Week- Thursday, me loves!
8. Favourite ice-cream flavour- Chocolate chip raspberry! *salivates bountifully*
9. Favourite book- O dear spaghetti monster...Catch 22, Don Quixote
10.Favourite stuff toys- um, i had this white teddy bear when i was little -.-

Currents
1. Current Mood- *exhileratingly confused about life*
2. Current Clothes- Grey sweat pants and grey tank
3. Current Desktop- uh, dad's blue abstract art doo-dah
4. Current Toenail- uh..wtf?
5. Current Time- 11.22.13pm, Friday (i know...its sad)
6. Current Annoyance- o there's one for sure, as always
7. Current Thought- Do something with your life!
8. Current Boy/Girlfriend- I thought a dude would be nice, but I think I shall pause for a while.
9. Current Book You're Reading- Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy (also one of my favs.)

First
1. First Best Friend- Payol
2. First Crush- *huh* *thinks thru multitude of crushes* *picks them all*
3. First Movie- Hum!!! (i think)
4. First Piercing- 2 mo's old, both ears (its a coming of age in India)
5. First Lie- wow...I don't remember much before 2nd grade, so maybe then-ish.
6. First Music- Hum..again ;)
7. First Car- dude, Toyota Tercel, but we had a scooter in India, a Bajaj, and my mom's dad owned a bus, but that's not technically ours, and my mom's side of the family owned a Maruti. O well. Now i'm stuck with the stick gear Tercel, which I have no clue how to drive! *hah* Anybody want to buy?! *winks*

Lasts
1. Last Cigraette- Not even when the Universe is ending! *blech*
2. Last Drink- *is afraid parents might read* *trembles*
3. Last Car Ride- Back home from the lab 4 hours ago *heh*
4. Last Crush- *still crushing* *tries to get over it* *can't* *does it* *returns* *SUPER-confused*
5. Last Movie Seen- The Thomas Crown Affair
6. Last Phone Call- my mom calling @ lab to tell me she made gulab jamun!!! *yum*
7. Last CD Played- Christina Aguilera (i know, but she has a great voice eh?)

Things You Are Wearing
1. Grey sweats
2. Underwear =-=
3. My silver bracelet which I never/can't ever take off

4 Things You Have Done Today
1. Wake Up
2. Ran to lab
3. Commended by superiors on hard-ass work
4. Got my feet wet in the rain! (yucky, but my fav)

4 Things That You Can Hear Now
1. My heater
2. Clock ticking
3. Some sound I often liken to be a major highway behind my house
4. *i should turn some music on* ;)

3 Things You Can't Live Without
1. Friends & Family
2. Laughter
3. Science, Art, Literature, ...challenge!

1 Thing You Regret Now...
1. No regrets, I learn from my mistakes.

*peace & luvs to all* *MWA*

*uf* homo sapiens

I just realized, that each human has different religious, moral, ethical beliefs, different faiths, different modes of survival and action. But when you think about it, its really all just survival of the fittest eh? Could it be that humans are thusly different simply because they have 'adapted' to their individual physical and spiritual environments, and that these 'adaptations' will eventually lead to the survival of the human specie as a whole?

It's kind of sad. Sometimes I don't think humans deserve to survive because of how much damage we inflict upon everything around us, but at the same time am amazed and inspired by our intellectual capabilities and respect humans that much more. But I'm constantly told that humans are not a different entity from nature itself...so we are essentially only creatures that speed up the process of entropy (the part I hate), but that we're not really 'bad' because we're also a part of nature (the part I love).

O, and I'm 21. *massive bout of giggles* ;)

I'm 21!!!!!!!! :D :D :D *massive giggles*

"Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they want to tell you you can't do it. You want something, go get it. Period."

..that is the GREATEST movie EVER!!!

*tip-sae*

...not really ;)
But, O my dearest goodness!

I am FINALLY DONE! The last few months have been SO trying! I felt like the ENTIRE time my feet walked around automatically, my hand scribbled notes furiously, and my brain fell off planet earth! *looks at it squished on planet Zarquon* (and its a mess)

I'm going to be 21 on Sunday!!! *eee* also, *pees pants*
I'm soooo excited, but kind of totally freaked out about this..I mean, it means i've got to grow up....pretty soon! *damn* All that responsibility in my hands! And I have NO CLUE what's going to happen on that day! *contemplates* *trembles*

O man, it has been so marvelous to NOT have school for a change. I got SO bored that I actually had a conversation with my labmate Dave Ruff about his and my definition of God. I think I confused him real well. :) But seriously, I haven't thought about stuff like that since man was created! *pun intended* And then, as if some Noodly Appendage blessed my phone...AMANDA CALLED!!! I had a massively huge bout of salivation. O man. It was soo good to hear her voice! That seemed like it hadn't happened since man was created either. *pun intended, again* And the next day, today, I woke my 'mature' butt up, dropped dad for a wicked load of meetings, and got my drivers license renewed. But o dear goodness, they just HAD to not tell me that it required taking the picture again, so my face looks like it's been mobbed by five thugs 1000lbs each, and my hair as if I rubbed it on a balloon, and my neck...well, the picture is so messed up its just my face. Damn those Secretary of State license controllers...I LIKED my old picture! *frowns* But I HAVE been called 'hot' TWICE this week! :) *heh* (I guess that's pretty uplifting..not) :) And THEN my gorgeous labmates signed this really cute card for me, saying how I should get drunk or that I should try a 'real' Piña Colada. (except for Dave Ruff, he went all "don't get drunk" on me) *haha* And they had a candle holder for me! *ee* And Jean got me the most ADORABLE little koala-bear adornment doo-dah for my car! I've been in love with those also since man was created, and am glad that one was finally created for me. :D

*wow..* That was quite a 'when man was created' rampage.

I'm SO happy. I am so happy to have the friends that I do. I love each and every one of them, and I thank he/she/it who created man to have blessed me with these wierdo's and nerds, because without them, I wouldn't be one myself. ;D

I LOVE YOU GUYS LIKE...um, LIKE A PROTON LOVES AN ELECTRON ?!

:(

Methinks I'm depressed. I don't know what it is, just in general. Life is crap.

11! *AA* *dies..i mean..*is born*

Ok ok..I know 10's more exciting than 11, but my birthday is officially 11 days away! *pees pants*

I'm so confused. SO CONFUSED! It's been amazing. I'm at some strange point at my life where i'm experiencing every possible feeling I can feel, all within the last semester. I've felt happy, sad, funky, mad, confident, totally depressed, crazy (but thats natural), and sane, and...um, if i listed them all I'd be dead..and wouldn't get to celebrate my birthday. ;)

I'm so proud of who I am, because I know I'm smart, funny, and not too ugly, and a lot more sane that other girls my age. I'm cultured, perhaps what I'm MOST proud of, because that way I'm open to so many different points of view, but can still defend my own. I also really like that I'm curious, and even that I don't know who I am or what I want to do in the future. If I did, I'd have nothing to live for. I have double-handedly (yes, people have TWO hands) made it through this ridiculous semester (almost over), and hopefully I'll grow a third arm this weekend to help me on the finals. *prays to the God of Arms*

I've also fallen in love, with the SAME dude, OVER AND OVER AND OVER again! *AA* I hate him one day, and love him the next. *eesh* But I'm glad to be experiencing it, otherwise I'll never know what love feels like! :D (On a similar note, I'm really confused about when dudes flirt with you and you don't really know how to react..any suggestions would be HIGHLY appreciated!)

Um, what else? O ..ofcourse, *drones* I love my friends and my family. This has been the first time that I've experienced SOME form of 'tension' or 'argument' with each and every one of my friends (and mom and dad), and I'm glad for it, otherwise our friendship would never know how to withhold itself in tough times and how to forgive and forget.

I have no clue what awaits me next (hopefully, a more 'mature' sounding voice would help). I can't wait to get done with college, to get DONE WITH WESTERN! *ugh* Done with my gazillion degrees, my research project and see it PUBLISHED somewhere! Leave to go to med school and start all over again! Except there's like this HUMONGOUS gap between when I graduate and when med school starts, and I have NO CLUE WHAT TO DO!!! *aa* *waits patiently to be touched by the Speghetti Monster's noodly appendage and enlighten me*

*EEEE* Can't wait for it all to begin! Actually..*epiphany* it already has! :D *skips away joyously*

SIDENOTE: For those of you who know me, know this: NEVER, EVER take my chocolate deserts! I am in love with chocolate, and get immensely jealous to see it give pleasure to someone else but me.

a few thangs' bout life...

"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with
your left hand and "lollipop" with your right.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes). (Yep, I knew you were going to "do" this one.)

There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious." (Yes, admit it, you are going to say ...... a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue. (but who really cares?)

A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. (Some days that's about what my memory span is)

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years. (I know some people that could do this too.)

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.


February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket. (Good thing he did that)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.

;) ..useless, but entertaining nevertheless. *blu-ha-ha*

wit

I highly recommend, that anyone, absolutely anyone who loves either literature, science, or medicine watch the movie Wit. I just watched it, and yes, it's one of those 'slow' ones, but incredibly powerful it is. It's about an english professor, an absolutely astounding scholar of the poetry of Donne, who has ovarian cancer and decides to take a trial drug for 8 months that might cure her. It's powerful I say, because so far, nothing has this clearly showed me the reality about health care. Nothing.


Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
-Donne (Wit)

...move along

I had my first 'death' experience today..don't worry, you probably won't think its that serious by the end of this. But it was a pretty big deal for me. I was going to the lab to get something I had forgotten, and forgot to take my usual Rambling to Stadium to Howard route, so I travelled down Wincell to Oakland and Howard instead. Well, right about where I turn INTO my neighborhood, by Waite, I see like four cop cars, flashing lights and all *bling bling.* And I slow down, turn the music off, and see a cop flashing his torch for me to stop, and I do. But I found my mouth gaping wide...cause I saw a deer flailing around on the road ahead of me, and then I heard a *bang* The deer was out for 10 seconds, then flailed some more, after which it stopped. It died. My mouth was still open.

I have never in my life, EVER been to any funeral. Nor have I watched a living creature actually die. That may be a lie because I'm sure sometime I actually have seen an earthworm squirm to death or something, but I don't think my memory at this time permits me access to any form of death I've actually observed....o wait, there WAS this tiny bird that fell out of its nest when I was in second grade. I buried it. But that was a long time ago...and since I'm about to turn 21 in less than a month, I view this second experience of 'death' as an awakening. It was so strange. So many people have probably experienced something a lot worse, but I am truly affected by something this 'small,' this 'simple,' this 'unimportant incident' in the context of our entire lives. I also heard, for the first time in my life, a gunshot. An actual gunshot, and it wasn't at all the BIG bang I expected..just a small bang. To think it inflicts such damage, to think it inflicts death. I am glad I experienced this tonight.

This has been a really really tough semester for me. I have 20 credit hours, which for a lot of college students is worth fainting over. Plus, I'm teaching a lab/lecture biology course, and even though its tough, my students have most definitely made it worth while. I squeeze research in here and there, and then there's the biggest doozie of them all...my med school applications. *uf* So much stuff to do..constantly. On top of that, I feel bad, but kind of enlightened, that I'm distanced from a lot of my friends right now. Amanda is far away, so its just a distance barrier. But I fought with my friend Steve, and am currently in the process of doing the same with Sandhya. Its true, sometimes I hate life. And life encompasses such conflicts. But I need to grow up. I need to realize that friends are friends, and the truth of the matter is, someday we will all move along. It is simply a truth I have to face. If I don't, I will perish in foolishness of not recognizing reality.

On my way back home, I took Howard, and the deer was gone. I think there was some blood on the road. But the greatest lesson I've learned is that of moving on. That's all you've got to do...move along. But it still saddens me.

Tis natural. :)

i'm cheezing! :D

Me: i know..it's shruti language
Me: shrutish
Levoska: Haha.
Levoska: Awesome.
Me: british and shruti combiined
Me: HAHA
Me: WHERE do i come up with this stuff?
Me: there's like this secret part of my brain that i'm completely oblivious of ....i swear!
Levoska: All the better. Keeps you entertained as you discover it.
You're like Columbus in your own mind.
Me: true dat
Me: O..i think i found america
Levoska: You have an American lobe?
Me: HAHAH
*checks* *consults with brain*
Levoska: Lobe.. sounds like a cheese.
Levoska: American lobe.
Me: WHAT?
me: HOW ON EARTH?!
Levoska: Swiss lobe.

gobbledygook

We had a pretty intense discussion about advertisements in my political science class. It went something like this...

Some dudette: "Well, just like Phillip Morris tricked people into thinking that light cigarette's are bad for people, I think Mc Donalds and Burger King do the same with burgers."
Class: "WTF?!!"
Counterdude: (He probably thought: YOU IDIOT!, first) then went: "Think about how someone can die from second hand smoke. I don't think one can die from sitting next to someone eating a bigmac."

Walking out of class:

Karen: "I think I'm wearing too much clothes."
Me: "Yea, you should take them off. But then you'd be naked."
Karen: "Yea, and by the 'slippery slope' you're next to me so your clothes would automatically fall off of you too!"


:o

Just a sidenote: This is a translation of a mantra in sanskrit called the Gayatri Mantra:
"If the Sun is the source of Light to the Earth,
What is the source of power to the Sun?
Verily, a Flame, and the Flame that is greater than the Universe.
Can that Flame illumine my mind?
Why not, let me try and find!"

Viagra

Jeremy: "Can the penis explode?!"