Reincarnated grandmothers as a protein source (you'll understand in a bit, trust me)

My part-time gig at the bakery has now turned into an over-time gig. Hmmm...funny how that happens. Pays the rent, yo. I feel like I should be doing something more related to medicine or my biology degree, but then again...why not just live life for awhile? Oh, cheers to trying to figure things out. (bangs head against the wall repeatedly)

I got to spend some time with my oldest brother and his two kids this past weekend. I love them oodles and oodles. Jillian is almost 5 months (holy majoly!) and Steven is 3. And he's gonna be Spiderman for Halloween. :D

I was talking on the phone on Saturday night, playing around with my nose piercing...and it came out. Now this wouldn't be too much of a problem, except that mine is curled on the end and is apparently a big B to get back in. After many unsuccessful and painful attempts to right the wrong myself, I finally went to a piercing place to have them do it. Sweet, sweet professionals. My guy had horns embedded in his scalp. Awesome....wonder what my Papa would think about that??

I've been reading a lot lately (as to escape from the real world, or "educate" myself), just got done with "La Doctora: The Journal of an American Doctor Practicing Medicine on the Amazon". Fantastic! Definitely an amazing way to look at life and medicine in a very secluded and simple area. I got a kick out of one particular story, thought I'd share it:

"One of my favorite illustrations of the unpredictability of cultural differences comes from a story told by a Peruvian ecological worker. She and her associates were from Lima, but had been working with the people native to the high Peruvian jungle. This was more or less analogous, in U.S. terms, to a group of well-meaning and well-heeled Manhattanites setting out to help in Appalachia. The ecologists, at any rate, found that these particular people suffered from a diet severely deficient in protein.
The ecologists worked out a solution of which they felt they were justifiably proud: a method of raising capybaras, which are a sort of tailless giant beaver that weighs up to 120 pounds and provides a highly edible meat. The plan used simple corrals and locally available foodstuffs. It was a very ecologically sound idea, and easily within the technological and logistical grasp of the group it was to benefit. They then presented their proposal to the intended beneficiaries, only to be met with noncommittal stares. They explained, I imagine earnestly and with great enthusiasm, the many advantages of their system, but the response did not liven up at all.
It took a while for them to unearth the fact that these people believed that when their highly revered grandmothers died, they were promptly reincarnated as capybaras.
Oops."

Heh heh heh...okay, not really that funny as it is interesting. And a 120-lb beaver?!? Wouldn't wanna meet one of those in a dark alley, that's for sure. Wowza.

To hold myself accountable, I'll now put my to-do list on the 'net, for all to see. aaahhhem...
...design a tattoo and get inked. Yeeeessss...
...pull my head out of my rear.
...crack down on the organic chemistry, as to get my brain into shape for a next semester class. Yeah, carbon!!
...find a date/location to take the MCAT. Again. Yeah, MCAT?
...get myself in good enough shape to run a marathon. Or maybe I'll just keep thinking about that for awhile longer...

Do I have a time frame in which to do these things? No, of course not. Do I seem that organized to you? Pssh, please. :P

Currently reading: Human Trials: Scientists, Investors, and Patients in the Quest for a Cure Oooh. Aaah.

I'm a neglector

That's right, I neglect. My blog, that is. I think I'm ready to go to Africa now. Who's in?

I'm getting more interested in politics/political issues and it's quite frightening. Remember those days when ignorance was bliss? Wait...were there ever any of those days? Maybe when I was 5.

Finally did the AIDS Walk yesterday, which went pretty well. I walked with my friend, Linda, and we had a rowdy good time. Except for when it rained. And when BD Wong, our "celebrity walker" (you'll remember him well from "Father of the Bride" fame...no??), decided he needed to talk about all things under the sun and half of the crowd got up to leave and start walking without him (put a cork in it!).

I work part-time at a sweet little Italian bakery in Mil., and there's this guy who comes in every morning, not to buy cookies or pastries, but to get some Chiclets out of this little vending machine we have in the front of the store. Odd. I wonder if he's addicted to them. Perhaps he goes into convulsions w/o his daily Chiclet fix. If you're out there, Mr. Chiclet Man, rock on. You're keeping the dream alive.

Now I must go watch football. DA Bears.