Forget Me Not

I always come up with a good post while on the treadmill. However, by the time I step off, stretch (not so much stretch as turn down the volume on the television or let my iPod play out the last song I was listening to or down a glass of water), I forget that I was thinking of a post/topic. In fact, the whole thought has been forgotten by the time my shower water has flowed into the drain. I don't remember that I had thought of a post until I come back to blogger and I start to type out a new post. And then I'm thinking, what was that great post suppose to be about?

And these posts are good. They are about my innermost thoughts, or about a quarrel I've had with someone. They are about what I expect to accomplish in the future, or the hurdles I've jumped in the past. The post reveal something about me that even I had thought didn't exist. In them, I let down my guard or remove a brick from that wall that shields me from the world. Not only do I remove a brick in them, but create a doorway so that anyone can go beyond that wall. But then I look down, see that I've gone either 3 or 5 miles (depending on my mood), and turn the treadmill off. As it slows, other thoughts enter my mind--what am I having for dinner (not really something I should be thinking about right? After all I just exercised to remove some fat, not so that I can make room for more), checking my email or organizing my study notes. Thus the thought gets pushed back to a recess in my mind that I can't even get to.

I guess I will just have to wait till that next treadmill run to think up a new and yet undiscovered post.

You Cannot Sell Ice to A Desert Hermit

A few days ago I got a call from some saleslady. I shouldn't say I got a call because the call came on my father's cell phone. He left the phone with me because he wanted me to answer all the phone calls that he got--and then to relay the message to him. He and my mother went to the Philippines to participate in a medical mission (a Doctors Without Borders type thing). Anyway, his cell phone rang and I of course answered it. It was the weirdest conversation I've had.

Me: "Hello".
Strange person: "Hi, may I speak with Angel?"
Me: "Speaking" (it's a reflex-I'm a junior)
Strange person: "Hi, I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to extend the warranty on your
recently purchased electronic toy"
Me: "Ummm, it still works."--I don't feel comfortable giving credit card information on the
phone.
Strange person: "I see that the warranty runs on Feb 4th"
Me: "What? I bought the thing in June" (Flash of light---I remember the person was looking for
my father). "You know, you will want to speak to my father. He's out of the country right
now. I can give him the message".
Strange person: "We need him to reply before such and such a time. Is he away on business?"
Me: "Sort of. He's on a medical mission, doing free medical clinics and such in the Philippines"
Strange person: "Like in the forest?"

The strange person lost me at that very moment. The rest of the conversation is a blur. It's an island not a forest. When I hear the word forest, I think of Hansel and Gretel. And why would anyone associate free medical help with the forest? Does the word Philippines conjur up images of a "forest"? For most people at the very least, it conjurs up images of a ousted president, his wife and her shoes!!!!

I wonder how many extended warranties this person has managed to sell. And I wonder why I gave out so much personal information on the phone.

Surfing The Cable Waves

One of my best friends and I spend a lot of time on the phone together. We study together on the phone--well her more than me. I can't seem to juggle a phone conversation and pathology flash cards at the same time (I don't really have to juggle the phone since my razr has blue-tooth capability). And than later after quizzing one another, we "watch" television while chatting. She flips through the channels and tells me of the interesting shows she happens upon. Mulan (as I so affectionately call her--it's a nickname I made up for her because of her flowy dark hair and maybe two or three generations ago, she was of Chinese lineage) then urges me to check out whatever she is watching. Unlucky for me, she doesn't ever check to see what Cinemax is playing after 10 p.m. It goes something like this....

Mulan: "Oh God, what is going with Bravo?"
Me: "Hold on a second, I'll tell you." I then fumble for the remote and switch it to Bravo
Me: "Those metrosexual guys are plucking that hairy guy's unibrow."
Mulan: "Oh, okay."
A few minutes of silence
Mulan: "Why is Meredith Baxter Birney crying again?"
Me: "What channel?"
Mulan: "W.E., err...um....Women's Entertainment channel. It's a branch of Lifetime".
Me: "Hold on, I gotta have sometime to find it on my cable."
Mulan: "Holding,! Luckily she's having an emotional convulsion. It looks like she's going to cry awhile"
Me: "The info bar says her lawyer husband is having an affair with her best friend's daughter Didn't she have a lawyer husband who had an affair in the movie 'Betty Broderick:A Woman Scorned?"
Mulan: "Probably? Hey, look on HBO, is that the Kevin Connolly that is dating Nikki Hilton".
Me: "Yeah".

Okay, if we roll back a few minutes through the conversation, why do I know that Meredith Baxter Birney played another scorned lawyer's wife? I don't watch "Lifetime" all that much, except for when Mulan and I do the let's watch television together. If a chick can get me to watch that channel, I think it means we've crossed the line between friendship. It also may mean we've crossed way over the line of being more than friends--once you've squeezed my testicles with a vice, you don't ever get a chance to play with them again. So I'm not sure where you would file our relationship.

She's been my friend forever--well it feels that way because that is how long medical school lasts. She saved me from being homesick. She rolled her eyes when I told her I was fat. She rolled her eyes when I told her that I would rather be Draco Malfoy, rather than Harry Potter. And she rolled her eyes when I told her that I was going to wear my graduation cap for a week. She rolled her eyes when I would devour that mixed bag of candy comprised of gummi bears, sour patch kids and jelly beans that we would buy in one of those shops that charge $2.49 per pound. She actually likes my six pairs of overalls (but laughs that most of them had to be name brands). When we go out to eat, she can tell the waiter what I'll be having even if I haven't told her what I wanted. And although it sounds like I might be falling for her, like I said you can't date someone you've watched "Lifetime" with. It's more embarassing than seeing "it' shriveled from being in the pool too long.

So aside from surfing channels, you can also say that we've surfed through the waves of life as well. And I would like to thank her for helping me keep balance.

I'm It, Yet Again

I've been tagged again. I really don't mind being tagged because it gives me something to write about...
The rules of this was to find the fifth sentence in the book I was reading and to post it along with the next three sentences . The sentence had to come from page 123.
I'm currently at this very moment reading an anatomy review book. Aren't you guys glad I wasn't reading biochemistry with all those formulas and chemical structures?

While getting ready to post the sentence and it's following three sentences, I turned to the front page to give credit to the author of this nice tidbit of information. It happened to be a professor who gave one of my favorite anatomy lectures. Scanning down the rest of the page, I happened upon this sentence:

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission.....

So out of respect for these fantastic authors, I decided not to print exact sentences. But I can tell you that it was of useful information concerning the spinal cord and it's structure. I thank you, Sweet Tea for having me reread that passage! It helped me to figure out something in the neurological section of my book.

Sweet Tea put a twist on the game. The original game was to post the fifth sentence of our own blog. So that I will give you, since it doesn't infringe on any copyrights:
My 23rd post was about my parents getting Direct TV and signing up for foreign channels--like the Filipino channel. I was criticizing their television show line up. Here goes:

"Oh yes, 90210 is also popular there. While going to medical school there, I saw a poster advertising some shop using a poster of Brandon, Brenda, Dillon, Kelly--the early years. Brandon still had the Farrah Fawcet wave going in his bangs).I also find it hard to believe that my mother is hooked on one of the soap operas. It's so obvious how it will turn out. Their soap operas, unlike ours, do have an ending."

There is a clip from my 23rd post.
I'm not going to tag anyone, since I'm too tired to chase people today. But I have no qualms about being tagged.

Weird Things About Me

I can't remember who told me to do this, or why I would confess something like this. I am suppose to list five weird things about me. I'm not sure if they are weird, gross or even ordinary.
A friend of mine and I were talking (we always talk) and we discovered that some of the things we converse about are comedic, and we've come to the conclusion that ordinary people don't talk about such things. What I've discovered was that other friends of mine also discuss those "strange" topics. I was hanging out with one of my cousins and he told me that his recent phone bill statement showed that he used 6000 minutes and how he was glad that 90 percent of it was free mobile to mobile and nights/weekends minutes. My thought was, what on earth could possibly cause you to use that many minutes. He then told me that most of it was used to speak to his girlfriend. Again, I asked what on earth could you guys discuss for that long. Most married couples who live together don't spend that much time talking in person. He then mentioned some of their topics of conversation--okay, so mine and my friend's conversations weren't so extra-ordinary anymore. Someone else also discusses those odd topics--like masturbation, high school stunts/parites/parental groundings, not wanting to get married but having surrogate babies--topics which are really about nothing but keep us on the phone for hours.
Where was I suppose to go with this blog? I'm not sure. I know that it started out with weird things about me..so I guess one of them could be the topics of phone conversation.
Another weird thing about me is I have to clean my ears on a daily basis. And I like the feeling of the q-tip swabbing around in my ear canal. I also have to remove some of the cotton before I actually swab, so that I can get the q-tip all the way into my ear canal.
I have an obsession with Birkenstock sandals. I own six pairs of them already--and I still want to buy more. And not the generic copied sandals. They have to be Birkenstock. My sister has told me that they aren't regulation dress shoes for wearing once I have to be in the hospital all the time. But to me they are the most comfortable sandal EVER!
Finally, I have to read the blogs that I frequent. I feel like I'm somehow missing out if I don't. And I'll make the time to read them sometime during the day. Is it weird that I don't know any of the people personally, and yet I actually "miss" them if I don't read their blogs?
I think I was suppose to come up with five weird things. The only other thing I can think of is my lack of tolerance for "smells". I burn scented candles daily--to either get rid of/cover up whatever smells may linger in my home. I also have to use those clorox disinfectant wipes to clean up any spills or messes anywhere (this rids the place of 99 percent of the germs--according to the box anyway). Getting rid of the germs may also rid the place of any funky smells.
That's it. I think I played by the rules of the last tag.

Play That Funky Music

After reading other posts (the Duck) concerning music, I decided to confess about some of my music oddities. For one, I have a bizzare range in taste. For instance, one of my favorite all time CDs ever is Billy Currington's "Doin' Somethin' Right"--which just came out this year. Prior to that CD, I loved John Legend's "Get Lifted". So both of those two spectrums are on my iPod. Not only do I have some of CMT's favorites, but I also have 50 cent and Nelly on my selection list.

The Duck talked about putting his iPod setting on random play. I did that once on mine and it induced a schizophrenic hallucination. I put the setting on shuffle--first it played Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life" and then Eminem's "Ass Like That" played next. Following Eminem's rap, Destiny's Child belted "Emotions" and then Michael Buble crooned" Home". My taste in music matches the bi-polar personality bestowed on me by my Gemini sign. I have such a diverse taste in music that a trip to F.Y.E. can last hours.

This doesn't only go for music but for my taste in food---I love eating healthy. I have to have vegetables with every meal. But yet I also love funyuns and skittles (I eat skittles almost every day). I'm trying to cut down on the Funyuns and so far I've been funyun free for almost a week. It's part of my losing weight and getting healthy for 2006. But if you were to see me eat dinner, you would think I was a health freak. I like the salad rather than fries, cook my steak well, and serve it with steamed broccoli or asparagus. Watch a DVD with me and I'm the epitome of junk food junkie--I actually dip my Funyuns in Lay's Cheddar cheese dip.

There are more extremes which I can't think of at the moment. But I know that I live up to my astrological sign--the Gemini twins. It might explain why many of my friends have yet to figure me out.

Light At The End of The Tunnel

My cousin Bill and I decided that we would check on his vacationing sister's home this weekend. His sister Irene and her family are in the Philippines participating in a medical mission out there. Since Bill's girlfriend lives in New York, she decided to take the train (a two hour ride) from Manhattan to Baltimore. She's a great person, so I was excited to hang out with them both. We surfed Yahoo Maps, printed these instructions and then at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, we loaded up the minivan and headed north and then east to Maryland.

What I thought would be an easy trip, was not. First of all, Bill only printed out instructions to Irene's house. And then he printed up the maps from Irene's house to an Imax theatre in downtown Baltimore. I was thinking, by my guestimations we would make it to downtown Baltimore by 5:30. Bill's girlfriend Gladys would get in by train at about 5:55. This gave us a 20 minute edge. Everytime we have promised to pick her up at the station, we've been late--or should I say, he's been late, since he's usually the driver or at least the reason that we're late. I was relieved that we'd finally be getting to the station before her.

Did we make it on time? Nope. Somehow, Bill said he knew his way to the station. Since I don't usually drive while I'm there--one of my cousins always does the driving, I could only discern familiar landmarks. Not this time. For some reason Bill thought we had to go by Inner Harbor to get to the train station. I don't ever remember that route. Next while turing and twisting through downtown Baltimore, we ended up at some tunnel. I've never seen this tunnel before and I was hoping that the orange light it was emitting would somehow get us back on track. No such luck, when the orange light ran out, we were in some unrecognizable town--and it cost two dollars to get there. It cost us another two dollars to leave.

We finally got to the station because of some kind college student that worked at a gas station. He gave us step by step directions which led us to the station's front door. We were two hours late and Gladys just smiled saying, "men never admit when they are lost".

I can now say that I've been through every nook and cranny of Baltimore city.

How Real is Reality?

Last night, at the prompting of my buddy Bob and friend Amee, I watched "Beauty and the Geek". Bob said he couldn't believe I missed the first season and said it was a pretty funny show. Amee told me that her brother was going to be one of the Geeks.

I tuned in and was a little amazed at some of the Geeks and some of the beauties. Some of the people seemed rather stereo-typical of their label. I'm not saying that there is a stereo-type. I certainly consider myself a geek in many ways. I sympathized with many of these guys, because I did have certain similar social anxieties while growing up.

But I'm wondering how much of it is "real" and how much of it is edited to seem more sensational than it really is. For instance, one of the beauties, couldn't even recognize John Kerry's picture. One of the Geeks couldn't name Kevin Federline as the father of Brittany Spear's baby. Although his comeback was "Brandon" (which was his own name). When the host said "That is incorrect", without skipping a beat he replied "You don't know" (implying that he could have fathered Brittainy's child.

I am going to watch the show till the end, just to see what happens to my friend's brother.

Another Tagging

I got tagged once again, so in order to avoid the bad luck or whatever misfortune awaits those who break the chain, I' m answering the questions.....
I got this from Ang. Suprisingly we had quite a bit in common (besides the first three letters of our names).
2005, Year in Review

Two Parts of Your Heritage
1. Filipino
2. German

Two things that scare you
1. sharks
2. long term relationships

Two fears you overcame
1. Test taking
2. Long distance driving (alone)

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1. Exercise
2. vitamins

Two things you are Wearing Right Now
1.sweats
2. Birkenstock sandals (I've seen the boots that Ang wore, at least one style of them)

Two things you wore too much this year
1. t-shirts
2. jeans

This year's Favorite Bands or Musical Artists
1. John Legend
2. Billy Currington

Two Things You Want in a Relationship
1. Passion
2. Loyalty

Two of your favorite Movies of the Year
1. Wedding Crashers
2. Harry Potter

Best movies of all time
1. Harry Potter
2. Hoosiers

Two things You hate
1. hatred
2. ignorance

Two Physical Things that Appeal to You
1. a person's smile (gleaming white teeth)
2. eyes

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies
1. reading
2. I need to find another hobby

Two things you learned this year
1. how to successfully read an ECG
2. friendships created during stress last forever

Two Accomplishments You are Proud of
1. Surviving in medical school
2. getting two undergrad degrees

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1. To pass the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Exam)
2. To become a better person

Two place you went this year
1.Florida
2. Illinois

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. Greece
2. Italy

Two Things You Want to Do Before You Die
1. To have a family
2. To travel extensively

Two Ways that you are a Stereotypical Example of your Gender
1. Laughing when someone speaks of genitalia
2. Scratching my crotch and forgetting that I'm in public when I do it.

Two things that make you stand out.
1. My loud voice
2. People have me that I'm extremely friendly.

Two Things You Normally Wouldn't Admit
1. I q-tips to clean my ears on a daily basis.
2. I am sometimes afraid of the dark.

Two Goals for the New Year
1. To complete all the steps of the USMLE
2. To get involved in a charity.

and I've got to add this since Eric tagged anyone reading his latest post....
FIVE THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY:
1. Being tagged.
2. People counting out their change in the grocery line.
3. Racism
4. People in convertibles who blare their music
5. The media's coverage of any Hollywood break-up

More horrifying then getting neutered....

Shopping at Victoria's Secret with mom...
I had written a post about my parent's going to the Philippines to help out with a medical mission over there. I had thought they had finished sending gifts over there--recall the two boxes filled with things like spam, Vienna sausage, candy and coffee products. In preparation for their upcoming trip, they then started buying gifts that made sense. CDs, cologne, perfume and clothes. And on the very last day, my mother asked me to go to the mall with her. She said she had to buy some presents for my cousin Amy.

To my horror, I found out that Amy wanted Victoria Secret stuff. When we entered the store, my mother held something up and said outloud, "Do you think Amy would like this?". My left arm started tingling and suddenly became numb. I could feel the crushing feeling in my chest and became light-headed and then nauseated. Eyeing the Gap across the hall, I made my excuses and exited the store.

What was my mother thinking. I know that I have a little hillbilly in me, but I try not to imagine my cousin in silk teddies and bikini underwear. My cousin may be quite attractive to some--she is a successful obstetrician (I was told she was quite skillfull in performing cesarean sections because of her surgical skills), just completed the South Beach diet, and is still under fifty. But I she also looks a lot like my father's sister, has four grown children and is RELATED to me! I don't ever want to see her Victoria Secret's collection. My mother thought I was being ridiculous.

I can now successfully describe the feeling one gets right before a heart attack or stoke.

Lines, Lines, Lines, Those Damn Lines

I was watching "Entertainment Tonight" not because I like that sort of stuff. Well I sort of do, but I don't make it a point to watch it on television--I read it while waiting to pay for groceries at Krogers. Again, I digress--one of the stories was about Tom Selleck. He was described as sexy even at the age of 60 (don't quote me on his age, I was not really listening). When they showed this sunbeaten hairy man, he didn't seem sexy to me. He can never beat the week of the Hoff presented by Mr. Shife. The thing that struck me was all the age lines on this actor's face. They were creased like a sheet of loose leaf made into a paper airplane by a first-grade boy. He had this one gaping line perpedicular to his eyebrows that could mimic the grand canyon. The make-up department from his new movie couldn't even hide the gash. In the clip of his new movie, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I couldn't even tell you who else was in the clip (I know he was asking out a blonde chick because they first focused on her) or what the clip was about.

As for me, I don't ever want to have creases in my face. I will inject botox into it before I have that weather worn, ,beef jerky look that horrified me into looking up from the Harry Potter novel I was reading during the E.T. interview with the former Magnum P.I. celebrity/dried cow hide/dog chew toy.

This was suppose to be posted the morning after the great Texas-USC game. But in all the excitement, I couldn't sleep till 4 a.m. I didn't wake up till about noon. AWESOME GAME!

The Love of a 7th Grader

My sister-in-law gave birth to a baby boy on December 19th. Since my brother was convinced that he was going to have another girl, he had no boy's names picked out. So when baby popped out with a penis, he was taken aback.
For four days, baby boy had no name. I think they just called him "hey you". One of my brother's buddies (an OB who was on duty when baby boy was born) suggested Quincy because he was the fifth grandchild (and also because my father is a pathologist--the physician form of what Quincy M.E. did on television). So on the 23rd of December, my brother and his wife decided the baby should be named Quincy.
Since this name came late in the game, many of his presents were labeled "Baby boy". And then slowly but surely, everyone started to call this child Quincy.
On December 31st, my sister-in-law decided that the baby should be named Angelo (after my father and grandfather). So now Quincy is Angelo. But to me, I'm just going to call him Baby Boy. Just in case they decide on a new name.
Anyway, the night that my sister-in-law was admitted to the hospital my brother called me and said he had a "very, important, monumental" task for me to do. Yes he used the word monumental! I thought, get the nursery ready, or sweep up some dust (their home was getting remodeled), buy some diapers, milk something like that. The task? Make a mixed CD that his wife could listen to in the birthing room. I was like--"Your wife is giving birth to your child, strethcing out her body, pushing something the size of the bowling ball thru an orifice the size of a nonstril and you are making her a mixed CD". My thoughts? This man's idea of romance is still in the halls of junior high.
I hope they enjoyed the CD--it had music like Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life", Boyz to Me "A Song for Mama" and Billy Joel's "Your My Home" among others. iTunes got a good 15 dollars worth of downloads.
What gift do you think a birthing woman should receive?