So. Finally I have some time to post. And I'm on my way to being healthy again, thank God. I hate being sick. A lot.

I've made it through the first month of med school, which is exciting, I suppose. It's rather overwhelming. Actually, I think the overwhelmingness comes from med school in combination with moving to Newfoundland, trying to get everything set up here, living on my own for the first time, and a number of other things that keep piling themselves on top. It's not too bad though, of you don't think about it all at once. Classes themselves are ok, if not a bit icky at times. Especially gross anatomy. I must admit, I'm not a huge fan. I'd much rather learn about molecular type things than memorize which nerve sticks into which muscle. I am rather enamoured with embryology though, and we have an excellent instructor. More to follow on this.

Social-wise, there's always lots on the go here. Of course, most of you know me well enough to know that I'm always right in the middle of all the hugest parties, loving every minute of it. Right. At any rate, my class seems like a pretty good group even if I'm a little slow at getting to know them well. I get to see lots of Shawn now, which is nice. Actually, he's amazing. I seriously don't know what I would have done here without him. Hopefully lots more to follow on this.

Off to bed for now, I think. Will post more over the weekend. I promise.

So I'm pretty sure my house has some sort of time warp in it or something. Not 5 minutes ago, my clock was saying 9.40pm, and I was going to watch the House episode that Abhi burned, and now it's 10.52. I know I didn't fall asleep or anything because my Neocitran is still hot. Weird.

Which brings me to my next point. I am sick (hence the Neocitran). My poor body isn't used to these freaky Newfoundland germs. I will attempt to fill you in on life in the Rock whilst I finish off my Neocitran, and slip into a lovely drug-induced sleep. Hopefully I'll have pictures for you in the next few days.

First off, Aliant sucks. I was here a MONTH before they got my high speed straightened out. They screwed it up BIG time at least three times. And they only got it right in the end because I spent a total of close to 4 hours on the phone with them (cumulative). Could you imagine being cut off from Internet for a whole MONTH?! It was insane.

School has been in for a bunch of weeks now, so I suppose I'm officially settled. It's not too bad. There's a lot of studying to do (4 tests already!) and in true form, I have done very little work. I really have to pull up my proverbial socks though, because although everything is technically pass/fail, I don't like being a slacker. Procrastinator extraordinare, oui, but slacker, non. Other than that, things are pretty good.

Despite my diseased state, I was dragged off to a Mustache and Cleavage party last night. Moderately entertaining, but I wasn't brave enough to mix ethanol with pseudoephedrine, so it was a relatively early night for me.

Lastly, the fluffy mammal that terrorizes my apartment. When Mum was here, we made a trip to the animal shelter, and I somehow ended up with a new kitten. Right now she is very adorable, and curled up on my chest, purring while I blog. Had I written this 10 minutes ago, she wouldn't have been cute, as she was tearing through my apartment destroying things. She is totally mental. At any rate, I have exerted my procrastination skills to the best of my abilities, and she still has no name. SUGGESTIONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME. Please. I will post a picture as soon as I can find the cable that hooks my camera to my laptop. Until then, you'll have to make due with a description. She's a girl-cat, and totally black, except for about 6 white hairs under her chin. Likes to get into anything she can, particularly if it has any possibility of being edible.

I think those are the important points so far. I'm off to bed for now, but I look forward to hearing your name suggestions. And for those of you who might be so inclined, Shit-arse is NOT an option.

I am still alive...

Hey all!

I have finally returned from the netherworld that is Aliant's waiting list. I have internet at home. My life is fulfilled.

So I have been running around like a mad thing since my plane landed. The next installment will have a bunch of photos to update you all, but today will be somewhat brief. I have a bunch of stuff to do this afternoon, and blogger is telling me it will have a scheduled outage in half an hour or so. Fun.

More stories of med school, living in St. John's, plotting the demise of Aliant, and going insane will follow.

T-minus two days...

This is I guess my first post in a new chapter of life and blog. In two days I am venturing off to Newfoundland to start my schooling as a doctor. My brain still hasn't managed to accept that. I hope to provide my friends and family with semi-regular posts about life and the trials and tribulations of med school, so in my usual form, I am posting (and procrastinating) instead of packing. Go me.

Last Friday night, Shannon arranged a small gathering of close friends for a 'going away' party. What fun! Here's a few pictures for you all.












Shannon and me, being awesome as usual.













Tout le gang (Jonas, moi, Shawn, Emily, Heather and Abhi). Shannon must have been picture-taking, and HH had to leave early. :(












Shawn (new boy) and me; he gets A++ for putting up with me and my crazy (but equally amazing) friends.













Abhi and Shannon. Abhi must be a pirate in his secret life. And judging by Shannon's reaction, he also smells funny.

Back to packing, but I will hopefully be better with blogging than I have been of late. I miss you all already!

Forough makes me happy

I just had to post this, even though I'm at work. Forough told me, and I love it.

Q: How do you tell the sex of a chromosome?



A: You pull down its genes!

Tuesday what feels like Monday

I love long weekends. I love the Friday before a long weekend, when you're all excited about THREE DAYS OFF. I love the first Saturday, because you realize that you have two days to go. You can party your ass off (read: 3 hours of sleep in Moncton) and still have 2 days to get back into the groove. I love the Sunday, which is a nice, relaxed day, usually gearing up to go back to work when you realize in the evening that you don't have to drag your ass out of bed the next day. And really, who doesn't love the Monday. When you're supposed to be at work, but you can sleep, go plant shopping, garden, or do whatever you want. Even Tuesday going back to work isn't so bad, because you only have a four day week ahead of you. Long weekends are really the best, with little surprises and pleasantries all the way through. Mmm...

Needless to say, I enjoyed my long weekend. I love my friends. Even if they're from the future. With an invisible van. ♥

I also watched a movie over the weekend, and a THUNDERSTORM. The movie (A Good Woman, based on Oscar Wilde's Mrs. Windemere's Fan) was thoroughly enjoyable. And I think most of you know how I feel about weather. Mmmm. Nice to get out and relax and eat too many chocolate chip cookies.

I think that's enough semi-coherent rambling for now. More later.

Question

What do you guys think of this background/font business? I really like it on my laptop at home, but I have seen it on other computers and the font isn't very contrasty against the black. But my computer has the purple and teal as very bright and easy to see. Is it too dark?

MOC, God and Canada Day

Before I get started on what will likely be a lengthy chat, I want to appologize for my absense the last month. Until this week, I was teaching on a course in Gagetown, and blogger was somewhat discouraged on the computers there. That and I was busy as hell. But it was fun. I will post more later on the MOC, but it was very awesome. Definitely the best job ever. So here we go:

A quick warning to my readers: This post is likely to be somewhat controversial as far as religion is concerned. I don't mean to offend anyone. (But honestly, it's my blog so I can post whatever the hell I want.) It's also probably going to be sad, and pensive. Just so you know.

So I went to Mitchell Emms's funeral this evening. Mitchell and I went through cadets together, and we did the flying schol. course the same summer in Moncton. We weren't close or anything at all, but I knew his mother fairly well. Usually I am ok at funerals. I've been to 4 in the past year, and it's sad, but not enough to make me cry really. Even ones for family. I think the big difference is that all the others were older people, who had lived their lives. Sure they had family (including me) who would miss them, but that didn't include their mother crying in the front row. I think that is the most terrible thing anyone should have to do. One of Mitchell's cousins or something read a letter that his mum had written, and it was devestating. I didn't feel sad so much for losing Mitchell, but for his mum. Her grief was almost unbearable, but I felt it was the least I could do for her. She talked about how 21 years ago she was pregnant with Mitchell, her firstborn, and how she and her husband had so much hope for him, and how he exceeded every dream they ever had for him. Very intense. I wish there was something more I could do for her, but everything I could possible offer seems so superficial and unimportant in the face of what she is dealing with.

Maybe it's just my uterus talking to me again. Then again, I ran into several old fellow air cadets at the funeral, several of whom have children, and it quieted down again. It's very practical at the very least.

So during the service, in a Roman Catholic Church, I started reflecting on death and God and their roles in our society. For those of you who don't know me that well, I am not very religiously inclined, and I was never baptized. Seeing all those people there, grieving for Mitchell almost made me jealous. Not because I wasn't baptized, but because of their faith. It would be so comforting to be able to believe, to have that strength when you're faced with something like death. I don't know if I'd say I don't believe in God, but I definitely don't believe in creation, or Heaven or Hell, or even the divinity of Christ and God. Maybe Christ did live, and inspired a great many people, and had overwhelming faith in mankind; maybe he did change the world and die for everyone's sins, but is he sitting up there on a puffy cloud watching over us? Are all our ancestors hanging out with him peaking down through the clouds? I personally don't think so, but I can appreciate the comfort it would give. Being sure that you will be reunited with everyone you ever loved; knowing that there is a power greater than you, who loves you unconditionally; believing that we can't control everything, but even if we mess up, it'll all work out in the end.

It's not just Christianity, although that has been the most prominent religion in my life to date. I may not believe in religion, but it fascinates me. I can see the benefits, and understand how passionate some people feel about it; but to look back in history and see everything that has been done in the name of religion. It's rather overwhelming. I won't even go there on this post. Looking at it from the outside though, offers a very different view. Maybe it's the analytical scientist in me, but I just can't have faith in the supernatural trappings of organized religion. Transsubstantiation, consubstantiation, or plain old bread? The Bible, the Qur'an, the Torah all have valid teachings and stories, but for me they just aren't anything more than that.

So all this is what was going through my head as I am standing in a too-hot church, listening to Roman Catholic mass. Sure there was lots more but a.) I don't remember it all and b.) I don't want to bore you to death. Suffice to say, it was a tragedy what happened to Mitchell. It still doesn't feel real, whether that's because it doesn't seem possible that someone my age can die, or if I can't come to terms with how his mother must feel. Maybe that's strange, but Kit seems to be at the forefront of all my thoughts on this topic.

I think I've had enough of this soul-searching business for tonight. I think I am going to Moncton tomorrow avec le gang. Depending on my TB. (I don't really have tuberculosis, but I have a crappy cough what won't go away. And I don't want to keep everyone up all night.) I miss cadets and the CSTC, but I am really glad I stayed home this summer. Happy Canada Day everyone!