A Journal to Procrastinate

It's been a while

2006-07-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since I've last posted.
2nd year was freakin' crazy and I just forgot about my blogging.
Now that I've finished taking my Boards, I thought I might start up again.

So keep checking the site out for any updates.

In the meantime, check out this new website that's about to launch. It's super useful for those who buy books often:
booksmoothie.com

2005-08-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

That's a picture of all the cousins on my dad's side for Michelle's (the girl in white standing next to Greg in the military uniform) wedding banquet in SF

2005-08-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

That's the future Reed Hall 6B at bennigans...Christine has her hair done cuz she was a bridesmaid for a friend back at home the day before

2005-08-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

There's Sonali, Peggy and Alan passing out at the club in Houston...

2005-08-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

There's Alan, Justin, Catherine and Peggy at Catherine's wedding...obviously!! Isn't she a doll??!

2005-08-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

That's my brother's Lizzy Pooh on Lombard Street in SF...she's in Sri Lanka right now, working at an orphanage

2005-08-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

That's me pretending I can fly...Bet you can't guess what bridge is behind me :)

2005-08-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

That's my brother thinking near the Golden Gate Bridge...I think his head hurts and that's why he's upset

2005-08-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

That's me having my first In and Out Meal in SF...it was quite yummy

summer update

2005-08-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've last posted...i remembered when I used to post like everyday when I first signed up for this thing...

Summer's been good...really busy...been working at lab and shadowing clinicians and doing all the extracurricular stuff:
Monday: Bible study--we're reading the gospel of Mark and it's been really interesting. I really love our bible study group...we went out for crabs and maggie moo's one night and saw charlie and the chocolate factory another night...
Tuesday: Tap dancing with Leilani and Nicole...been going well...I usually catch on to dance pretty fast
Wednesday: Voice Lessons at the Peabody...they're over now but they were really good...I'm looking to find the money to pay for lessons for the upcoming year and the time to practice.
Thursday: Fresh Start Tutoring and Men's clinic...the tutoring was Roberto's idea and it's been really great teaching the students basic math...the only bad thing is that i broke the front wheel of my bike on my second trip over there...Men's Clinic is good...been getting better at using the blood pressure cuff thingie ( i forget the medical term) and i've started listening to the lungs and stuff

My Weekends have been amazing: I've only been in Baltimore for one weekend all summer. I've been to DC twice, NY twice, california and houston. This weekend I'm off to Boston.

I've also been helping plan Orientation, MD/PhD retreat and stuff...Orientation has been fun planning cuz all these first years email me and they're so excited...they add like 10 exclamation points at the end of each sentence...i just say, wait until they burn out :)

Being busy has been really good for me because I don't miss my friends so much...but I get tired really easily and some nights I just wish I could pass out for 12 hours...

Well, I'm gonna post some pictures now...

Laters

my fear of hugging

2005-06-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks, a bunch of my med school friends have left for the summer and the issue of hugging and physical contact came up. I often have issues when it comes to hugging people (to say goodbye) because I get uncomfortable with being touched. Peggy tells me that I don't hug like I mean it and my ex told me I didn't hug as tightly as other girls. Catherine also faces similar issues and we both pinned the problem as being a result of something from the past. I think I wasn't hugged enough growing up and hugging wasn't a big thing in my family. But it doesn't mean that I don't enjoy a meaningful hug from my friends...it just takes time for me to feel comfortable doing it with each person.

I bring this up because I had this conversation with some guy and he wrote, "Its ironic how the "lack" of what you needed as a child has resulted in your basically giving that same behavior to others". At first, I blew off his comments as his just probably wanting sex , but then as I kept rereading that statement, it really started worrying me. Do my friends get offended when I don't hug them as much as others do or when I retract whenever I get touched? Am I not going to hug my kids enough when they grow up and make them have the same problem? I'd like to think that I'll hug my kids all the time because I love hugging kids now...they're so innocent. I just get shy when it comes to adults because the media and my parents have poisoned my mind about physical contact...well, hopefully I'll get over this soon, because apparently my lack of open affection have turned potentials away....

2005-06-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

June #2: Here's the last picture that our suite took together: From the top clockwise: Sonali, Peggy, Caitlin and Me. And yah, that's a new hairstyle for me.

2005-06-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

June #1: Here's one of the last pictures taken as first years. Well actually, we were no longer first years in this picture. We had just finished our exam 12 hours ago in this picture. Here you'll see Daraspreet, Cyrus and Kenny

2005-06-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

May #2: Here are the MudPhuds after the White Coat Ceremony...it's the second biggest event (next to graduation) in our medical school career.

2005-06-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

May #1: That's a few of us at Catherine's HOT Bachelorette party. I would post more scandalous pictures but what would happen if Justin found them...hehe. Say Hi to some of the finest ladies of our class: Sonali, Nancy, Catherine, me, Christine and Heidi

2005-06-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

April #2: This picture brings me a lot of joy and grief to look at. It's the 12 of us at the triathlon finish line. Don't want to say much more about it...you can read it in my May blog

2005-06-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

April #1: This is a picture of something I am most proud of achieving my first year at medical school. You'll notice it has nothing to do with academics...well mostly. I am most proud of having gotten 17 of my classmates, one faculty member and myself to put on a medical school rendtion of the Cell Block Tango. It took a lot of persuading to get some of the guys to do it, but I'm so glad they said yes becuase they did an absolutely phenomenal job. Obviously you can't see everyone clearly in this picture, but I have to say my thanks to everyone: Front row (L to R) Allen, Me (lyricist and lead), Tricia, Roger (choreographer), Tiffany (Lead), Megan (choreographer), Matt, Heidi (choreographer and lead), Amy
Back row: Jon (Lead), Nancy, Peggy , Christine (choreographer), Geoff (lead), Catherine (lyricist), Nicole, Steve (lead), Sonali

We put this is on for the First Year Show to show the prospies that Hopkins was more than academics. I was stage manager with my girl, Alice, and I must say it was a big pain in the ass. But somehow, Bushey, Alice and me all somehow pulled it together at the very last minute.

2005-06-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

March #2: This is also one of my most favorite pictures. Honestly, did you ever think you would see two of the most handsome and masculine guys in our class (Brian and Tai-Li) wear Care Bear hats for a birthday party? This was at my birthday party, one of the best ever. I was so happy with what Peggy and Sonali planned that I wanted to cry. Best Suitemates Ever.

2005-06-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

March #1: This is a picture of Amit and Frank advertising for the East Baltimore Community Talent Show. It was Shantanu's idea to feature the talent of members of the local community. It was a huge success and of course the food was great ;P

2005-06-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

February #2: I really wanted to post a picture of the time we went snowboarding because at least I'm in them, but this one is so much better...This is us (well I'm taking the picture) in the elevator after a massive snowball fight...We look like a mess but that's cuz things got a little crazy out there...Daraspreet is holding a garbage can that was full of water before he dumped it on Chris and Brian. From left to right: Daraspreet, Chris, Brian, Nancy, Giannina, and Annie

2005-06-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

February #1: That's our anatomy group at a post anatomy party...yah, i'm really red from drinking a quarter of a "sex on the beach." Despite our quarreling every single day, I'm really glad we stuck together as a group because they became some of my closest friends here....I mean, who wouldn't expect four asian girls to hit it off :) Right, Phil?

2005-06-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

January #2: Another rock climbing picture...that's cuz I didn't get out too much in January because Anatomy decided it wanted to take over my life...But this is Steve and my attempt to make him look like he was climbing really high up...didn't work out too well, but the face makes it all worth it.

2005-06-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

January #1: That's our group going rock climbing...I dunno what's up with the spots...But, it was our last attempt at the Alternative Sports BYOB. I had a blast!

2005-06-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

December, #2: I've already posted this picture before but it has to be one of my all time favorites. It shows the awesome friendship my suite had with all the suites on the floor, especially the boys' suite. This picture was just the beginning to all the pranks we played on each other...from stealing chairs, to turning furniture upside down, to posting tampon ads all over the boys' room and to being "peeped" by the boys. I'm going to truly miss being down the hall from some of the greatest guys in our class. But next year, some really great guys are still going to be staying in Reed and hopefully the tradition of pranking will continue

2005-06-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

December, #1: In my spare time as a medical student, I threw a holiday party, to which 25+ people came. Our suite was a little cramped, but overall I think it was an awesome party

2005-06-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

November, #2: Here's us at Karaoke and a random Korean lounge...We went out to celebrate Sonali's and Catherine's Birthday. You'll find some of my closest friends here. From left to right: Sonali, Fay, Catherine, Christine, Jen and Peggy

2005-06-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

November, #1: Here's a picture of Sonali's and Catherine's Birthday party...Sorry the quality sucks, but it shows how close our floor and friends are

2005-06-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

October #2: This is one of my favorite pictures...Look at all those fine looking guys :) This is a picture of us after playing paintball..I sucked at it and it was a pain to organize, but I'm glad everyone had a great time

2005-06-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

October's a hard month to pick two pictures from...there were so many events: paintball, lasertag, orioles game, masquerade ball..but here are my two favorite pictures

October, #1: This picture has been posted everywhere...it was in all the slide shows at the end of the year. My three closest friends are here with me at Camden Yards. From Left to Right are: Sonali, Peggy, Me, Catherine

2005-06-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

September #2: Our first attempt at the Alternative Sports BYOB: Minigolf.

2005-06-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

September, #1: Who could every forget the infamous 12th floor party? The one that set the bar for all future parties. Here's a bunch of us at our toast...a little prepartying

Hopkins First Year told by Pictures

2005-06-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

First year has finally ended! It didn't exactly end on a great note...the Histology Slide Exam and the Physiology final exam sucked ...And I didn't get a chance to really hang out with my friends before they left...Sonali, Peggy and I spent our last nite in the living room watching movies on Thursday and Rabia, Roberto and I spent Friday talking until 5:30. I moved this past week and now I've been really lonely...no one's really here for the summer.
I've been so desperate to find people to hang out with that I actually filled out a profile on eHarmony.com and Yahoo Personals! ::GASP:: I doubt anything will happen but it's interesting to see who I match with.
Anyways, I realized it's been a really long time since I've posted pictures online. I was going to post pictures to go along with that really long update I had in May but now I've decided to pick two pictures from every month of my first year to show you my amazing friends and what a good time I had...Enjoy!

That makes a lot of sense....more than CV physiology at least

2005-05-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Alarming Effect E-Mail Has on Your Brain
We have no idea what you're supposed to do about this, but a British study by TNS Research commissioned by Hewlett Packard concludes that workers who are distracted by frequent phone calls, e-mails, and text messages actually suffer a greater loss of IQ than someone who smokes marijuana, report The Guardian and UK's Press Association.
The problem isn't the e-mail itself. The problem is the constant interruptions in your work day that reduce productivity and leave you feeling tired, lethargic, and unable to focus.
In 80 clinical trials, the IQ of 1,100 British workers was monitored throughout the day by Dr. Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College in London. What he found is that when people tried to juggle e-mail, phone calls, and text messages along with their work, their IQs dropped by a full 10 points. That's the equivalent of missing an entire night's sleep and more than the four-point decline seen after someone smokes pot.

"This is a very real and widespread phenomenon," Wilson told The Guardian. "We have found that this obsession with looking at messages, if unchecked, will damage a worker's performance by reducing their mental sharpness. Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of working."
The Guardian describes it like this: "E-mails in particular have an addictive, drug-like grip." A big part of the problem is what Wilson calls an almost complete lack of discipline in handing e-mail. Most of us feel compelled to reply to each new message, and this leads to a relentless change in our mental direction.
Alarming facts about how we use e-mail:
Fully two-thirds of workers check their e-mail when they aren't working, including on vacation.
50 percent respond to an e-mail within an hour of receiving it.
20 percent will interrupt a business or social engagement to respond to an e-mail.
90 percent said anyone who answers e-mail during face-to-face meetings is rude, but 30 percent admitted it's also a sign of diligence and efficiency.

No wonder I'm getting dumber and dumber

Finally, an update

2005-05-02T03:35:00.000-07:00

After several requests to update my blog, here it is....I probably should go to bed or study for my exam on Wednesday but I need to let all my thoughts out...

I guess I'll update you on all that's happened since my last post....

Week of 3/7:
Probably one of the more stressful weeks at school...had a psych midterm, neuro quiz, PAS presentation and the East Baltimore Community Talent Show...there was definitely a lack of sleep that week...as I look back on that week, it wasn't too horrible, only because things were going to get a lot worse in April...

Spring Break:
One of the most hectic spring breaks ever...I was in 6 different cities on two different coasts, in two different countries in only 6 days...
I left immediately after my psych class on Friday to go to Boston to see Caitlin's final vocal recital...but I ended up missing the first 45 minutes of it because the plane was delayed by snow and I hit traffic on the way over to Killian from the airport...but it was still worth it to hear her sing for 15 minutes....
After dinner with Caitlin, Dan and Caitlin's family, I went to the Hong Kong with Caitlin, Dana, Graham, Albert, Caitlin's cousin and Caitlin's brother....I had my very first shot given to me by Caitlin and Dana...(they were nice to me and gave me just a Lemon Drop)...it was really nasty...I have a video and pictures of it and the picture of my face is definitely worth keeping...I turned red and got all itchy but I at least held it in...
After 2 hours of sleep, I left Boston to go back to Baltimore to do a show at the Children's theater...Jyoti visited me afterwards and we went shopping at Arundel Mills...it's definitely the best mall in the Baltimore area...I was definitely exhausted so I didn't enjoy it as much but I had fun...We came back and drank some of the wine she got me for my birthday...
On Sunday, after brunch with Jyoti and my brother, I had another show and left for San Diego, where my dad was giving a talk at the American Chemical Society Meeting. I spent the rest of the week in California and Mexico and it was really being in the sun. I went to the San Diego Zoo, Hollywood, Universal Studios, Berkeley and Stanford to visit Pam and Maria and Ensenada, Mexico. The vacation was really amazing except for the part where I fought with my Dad and his friends with China because I was being a selfish brat. Looking back on the incident, I was such a horrible daughter for telling my dad that I would always be closer to my mom than to him.
I came back on Friday night for another show on Saturday and spent all of Sunday cleaning my room and suite. We finally took down the christmas/birthday tree....

Week of 3/21:
I can't really remember much from that week, except that I got to interview my first psych patient and that was really cool. Oh yah, and we had the anatomy memorial service, where I sang "Think of Me" with Peggy playing the piano and Catherine playing the violin (and Phil flipped the pages). It was definitely a new experience for me, since I've never sang a solo in a recital format...only in musical theater/opera. People said I looked really confident and did really well, which is funny, because I was shaking all over and had to stare at certain people to keep calm. I'm glad it worked out so well and I really enjoyed working on the piece with Peggy and Catherine. I also got to sing in a small choir that day, which was a good break too.
The weekend was awesome. My roommates are the best, ever. We were planning on having a slumber party to celebrate my birthday, but little did I know that they invited 20+ people to go out for dinner. It was such a pleasant surprise to see so many people come out for my birthday. But what was the most amazing part was that my roommates decorated our suite with Care Bear decorations (hats, blowhorns, plates, streamers) while I was on my way to the restaurant. They even got me an ice cream cake with a cat on the top...I almost cried when I saw how much effort they put into it...We spent the rest of the nite playing Mafia and Taboo...it was one of the best nights ever

Week of 3/28: I can't really remember much for that week, other than training for the triathlon, rehearsing for the Cell Block Tango and Indian Dance for the first year show and cramming for the neuro/psych final. Oh yah, and I frantically tried to organize a 12th floor party with Chris to celebrate 8 people's birthdays and organize a dinner with Fay for Christine's birthday...and I saw Harold and Kumar go to White Castle...funniest movie ever.

Week of 4/4: After the neuro test, things started getting hectic. The first year show was less than two weeks away and we were totally not ready. For Cell Block Tango, we had to increase the number of rehearsals because trying to sing, tango and act was such a hard task for all of us. Some of us had never been in a musical number before, let alone dance, so we had to bust some ass. But everyone in the number was so amazing and so gracious in giving up their time to put it together. I was so proud of everyone.
I was also in the Indian Dance, which was a new experience for me. I was supposed to be in only one minute of the number but a girl dropped out of it, so I ended up doing the whole thing. It was definitely really hard for me because I've never done any of the moves before and had to be so coordinated...but it was certainly worth it.
On top of rehearsing for two dances, I was also working on stage managing stuff for the first year show. I needed to get people's powerpoint slides, music and all sorts of stuff, as well as deal with the lack of funding by the Admissions office.
I got a new bike that Friday too for the triathlon...I ended up spending over $850 on a bike, helmet, locks and other random stuff....I'm not sure if it was worth it because I didn't actually end up using it in the triathlon (see below), but I really like the bike and the helmet was pretty.

My mom came to visit me that weekend to see the Cherry Blossoms...They were really beautiful...I was really glad to spend the weekend with my mom, Sewell, Liz and my aunts and uncle, especially since my mom brought down all this food for me and I got to do laundry for free....Sewell, Liz and I went clubbing at Dream in D.C. that weekend and met up with a bunch of people from Hopkins...It was definitely a lot of fun, except for the part where I passed out for 2 hours after having a "Four Horseman" shot and puking five times...but the dancing was good :P

Week of 4/11:
Probably the most stressful week ever...all I have to say is Thank God, we were doing epidemiology because there is no way I could have gotten through everything with any other class. The week started with me pulling an all nighter to study for the quiz...even though the quiz wouldn't count if we did poorly, I knew I would haven't time to study for the final exam because of Revisit weekend, so I stayed up all night studying for that... I also had to do my stupid taxes for 3 different states and the Federal Government...they took away a lot of my money
For the rest of the week, all hell broke loose. I was frantically trying to put together all the powerpoint slides and videos for the first year show...People kept changing their slides and videos and it really drove me nuts...but mostly because I'm anal and uptight and like to get things done early (this does not apply to studying)...I was also trying to get the props together for the show, which included my sewing buttons on break away scrubs, making styrofoam tomatoes, decorating sheets of fabric...

The venue of the First Year Show changed the last minute which was so damn frustrating...trying to put on a show in Turner without ever rehearsing in there was such a scary thought...

Dress Rehearsal in the first year lecture hall was a disaster...The big dance numbers had such a problem being in such a tight space and the AV and sound quality really sucked...people were on each other's nerves and I ended up yelling at my friends, which I felt horrible about....

But despite all the stress, the first year show was a huge success...Bushey, Alice and I really pulled through and got everything really organized so that being in Turner worked out well...the students in our class really enjoyed the show and the prospectives totally appreciated all our work and were really entertained....I was so proud of everyone in the Cell Block Tango...they did a phenomenal job in Turner and it just looked so amazing...I got so many compliments for it, but honestly, I had little to do with how well it turned out...Heidi, Roger and Christine did an amazing job choreographing it, Catherine was absolutely brilliant in writing the lyrics and every single dancer and singer was so talented and dedicated in putting on a fantastic act...I gave everyone flowers and cried as I expressed my gratitude because they were just amazing people...
The rest of revisit weekend went well...I really like a lot of the prospies and had a fun time at the party after the show, dinner on Saturday and the bar party on Saturday night...
I slept most of Sunday and didn't start studying for the Epi final until 11 and pulled yet another all nighter...

Week of 4/18:
Not much happened that week except that I went to Patterson Park with my classmates and played 2 downs of football until Cyrus quit on me. I also did a half ass job in training for the triathlon...oh, and I went on a Baskin robbins/Wendy's trip on thursday night after a stupid Renal problem set with Roger, Nancy and Steve....and we spent Friday night at Phil's watching Kung Pow, Enter the Fist, which is the dumbest movie of all time, but really damn funny...AND the best part was watching Chris freak out as i was teaching him how to cook cuz he was worried he wasn't going to be able to cook by himself for Pushpa...

Weekend of Triathlon:
This weekend had to have been the most demoralizing weekends of all time...I wasn't nervous at all on Saturday, and I think it was because I was planning on bailing before the Triathlon started on Sunday because it was going to be only 43 degrees and I was afraid of getting an asthma attack...We got to Fredericksburg, VA around 4:30 pm on Saturday and looked around at the site...it was such a beautiful park...afterwards, we picked up our packets, checked in the hotel and had dinner...dinner was a really lonely experience...I sat at a table of 7 and felt like the odd person out...everyone kinda broke off into pairs in terms of conversation and I just kinda sat there poking at my food...but dinner ended pretty quickly and we went back to the hotel...we got all our clothes and bikes ready for the next day and I was getting pretty excited...I guess I was so excited that I barley slept that nite...I definitely remember seeing the alarm clock at midnite, 2, 3 and then right before it went off at 5:30...
I decided to do the triathlon that morning because my asthma didn't act up despite the cold....

(all right, I'm going to go study now, but I will continue this post on Wednesday after my exam)
(okay, after an "8 hour nap" after the exam, I will continue my post")

It was really hectic that morning getting ready for the tri. We had to pick up our wetsuits, get numbers drawn on our arms and legs, set up the transition area and all sorts of random stuff. The entire time, I wasn't really nervous and I wasn't sure why. I think, deep down, I kinda knew I was going to give up partway during the triathlon. Little did I know that partway meant only 10 minutes....

The start of the race was broken into waves and of course, I got left behind in the last wave while all the girls were in the wave before me and the guys were in the first few waves....once again, I was feeling like the odd one out. After the girls' wave left, Brian (the organizer of the Hopkins "team") had already finished the swim and I was feeling really good, seeing that he came back. But then, a minute later, Emily, one of the girls from our group, was walking out of the water towards the start line because it was really hard for her to breathe...I ran over to her to calm her down and tried to encourage her to start again with me...I was gettin really worried to have seen her stop swimming because swimming was her strongest event...but I figured, I'd be okay, now that I had a partner....

About 15 seconds before my wave started, Nancy Takenaga, Ryan T's wife, also walked out of the water, complaining about how hard it was to breathe...and you can guess I started getting really worried but I left with Emily when the horn blew....I kept my head above water to try to talk to Emily to encourage her to keep going but about 5 minutes in, she decided to stop and turn back and told me to keep going...When I looked around me, I realized I was like the last of 10 people, so I tried to start swimming...but I couldn't...every time I dunked my head underwater, I flipped out because it was scary not to be able to see anything....on top of that, the waves were really erratic and air was freezing cold, making it hard to breathe...I've had my share of swimming in the ocean, but usually in 80 degree weather AND with regular waves....I think this was my first time swimming in a lake, on top of it being windy and cold....After 5 minutes of just breast stroking with my head above water, I got really tired and wanted to hold on to a kayak. I tried to call one over but the guy was busy helping out someone else and ended up calling the big boat that pulls you out of the water. I was really upset by this because I wasn't planning on giving up...but then after he did that, I thought about whether or not it was worth continuing...I questioned what it meant if I finished or didn't the triathlon and what I would gain out of finishing it...and frankly, during those few minutes treading water in the cold, I realized it wasn't worth enough, and I let myself be pulled out of the water........BIG MISTAKE.

While on the boat, I looked ahead and saw Catherine struggling in the water and called over to her to see if she was okay, since she was worried about the swim portion. As I look back now, I kinda wish I didn't call her over, because if she hadn't seen me quit, she might have continued and finished...but I think, having seen me on the boat, she ended up quitting too....

For the rest of the triathlon, I just spent my time cheering everyone on...sorta glad that I quit because people were in pain.....It was really exciting to see Brian win his category and everyone else finish....Even though Emily and Nancy didn't do the swim, they did the bike and run portions and Catherine did the run portion to keep Christine going...and that's when it hit...I was the only one who didn't do any portion and didn't cross that finish line...

While repacking our stuff and loading my things in the car, I definitely felt this huge guilt trip and was regretful for giving up so early...when we got back at the hotel, I couldn't take it anymore and tried calling people to talk...the first person that picked up was Caitlin from MIT and I just started hysterically crying...I wasn't so much mad that I didn't finish, but angry that I even bothered training for the triathlon...I was furious that I even thought I could do a triathlon, since I had never worked out previous to the training....Things got worse when I watched everyone who did finish, talk about wearing their Tri shirts on Monday and planning a celebratory luncheon...I didn't want to wear the shirt so people wouldn't ask me about it and I didn't want to go to lunch with them, since I felt like I didn't belong for not having finished...I was just so mad at myself and stopped talking to anyone for the rest of the day....I ended up blowing off Catherine a few times, which really upset her...she ended up coming to our suite that nite to confront me and I apologized and the whole conversation turned in to a crying session, during which Chris walked in...you can guess he pretty much walked right back out when he saw us...Catherine and I were really upset because we had never worked so hard for something and fail...and what's worse, we think that had I just swam a little further and caught up to her, we could have encouraged each other to keep going...

I called my mom that night really upset, but she ended up being happy that I didn't do it (b/c of asthma) and was yelling at me for being upset...she said that she thought I was over the whole peer pressure stage and showing off stage...I ended up yelling at her for being so insensitive so she started to be more comforting...

my brother wasn't that helpful either....he just laughed in disbelief that I spent so much on my bike and didn't use it.

I wore my shirt the next day but covered it with a zip up sweater and avoided talking about it, but it was so hard since the people who did finish were talking about it everywhere....everytime I heard the word "triathlon", I just wanted to burst into tears...and when stupid people, who heard I didn't finish, made remarks about how they couldn't believe that I gave up so easily, I just wanted to punch their living daylights out of them and yell at them for not even trying...

I ended up avoiding Brian for the next few days because every time I looked at him, I felt like such a failure...I felt like I let him down because I bothered him so much for the past 2 months about my asthma and getting a new bike and I was the person who finished the least of it...there were times where I deliberately put my head down as I walked past him to avoid any eye contact and I felt really bad about it, but I didn't want to start crying in front of him and the rest of the class, when speaking to him....I ended up writing a card on Thursday to him to explain what was going on and apologizing for avoiding him...he came to my room that night to talk and it was really therapeutic, even though I kept crying and babbled nonsensically...he told me that i shouldn't feel like a failure and that he was proud I was even tried and that perhaps I need to find better reasons that will motivate me to continue during race day....

So, I'm a lot better now, with regards to the triathlon...I went swimimng last week at Homewood, but ended up fooling around in the water because I didn't have some agenda to finish...I'm thinking about trying another one in the summer with Catherine but I need to find the motivation and the right reasons....

The one good thing that happened that weekend...Chris did a most excellent job cooking, with minimal help from me...I was so proud to see him cook for so many people...

Week of 4/25:
The disappointment of the triathlon was apparently the beginning of a cascade of bad events to come...

The week before, an old neighbor of mine, got in touch with my brother after trying to contact him for years...Sewell gave me his email address since he asked about me and we started writing really long emails to each other to catch up and he even called a couple of times to chat...Everything seemed to be going really well for him until he started opening up more...I found out that he's a heroin addict, just started methadone, and attempted suicide last year....it was so horrible to find out that a friend was going through such hard times...especially since he was a childhood friend, who along with my brother and other neighborhood boys, turned me into such a TomBoy....what was worst, was that I'm almost confident that had his mother not died suddenly, he may not have turned out this way since his mom was the disciplinarian of the family....I started getting really upset about why innocent people die while others go on to live and even commit horrendous crimes. His mom was such a sweet person and developed a brain tumor that caused her to collapse one day while mowing the lawn...at the time she passed away, I was only 10 and was simply shocked, since she was the first person I ever knew to have died...but now, I just think it's unfair that God takes away people's lives like that in a flash...a friend of mine in high school, who did so much community service and was so altruistic, developed leukemia and died during my freshman year in high school...and another girl from college recently developed thyroid cancer, which metastasized and now she's battling for her life...

I was also struggling in class last week...I was completely lost in the pulmonary section of the organ systems course plus i got yelled at by the "god of physiology" at hopkins for apparently saying something that was right...i was so mad after being yelled at that I totally lost focus for the rest of discussion, especially since he droned on about the same concept and confused us more...i bitched the rest of the day until Steve told me that I just had to let go...at the time, I was offended to hear him say that because he didn't go through what I did, but as I look back now, he was right...it's funny because I used to think, when I first met him at the beginning of the year, as being easily arousable but since he started going to church and dated his girlfriend, he's been putting me in check, which has definitely been good for me...

We also had our revisit weekend wrap-up meeting last week with the admissions committee people...it was probably the worst meeting i've ever had with supposedly professional people...basically, every time the blame was put on to us, they remembered every single detail of what was said at a prior meeting, but every time they were to blame, the admissions committee selectively forgot what happened and claimed innocence...it was so infuriating...and what was worst was that despite the success of the first year show, they still won't recognize it as the first year show...and when we asked dean white why the first year show didn't meet the goal of revisit weekend, he said "because i said so, and that's my decision..." hello!!??!? are we five year olds here? I'm really upset because I feel like I put so much hard work and sacrificed so much for the first year show to entertain the prospectives and the admissions committee won't recognize our efforts...plus, I'm mad because I feel like we keep getting punished for the second year's mistakes...like our funding for the summer has been severely restricted and the reason the first year show was originally removed from revisit was because it got too rowdy last year and some prospectives didn't come because people got so drunk...and talking about drinking, it was so annoying that the admissions committee brought up every single evaluation that commented on drinking...i'm like, you can't tell me that you didn't drink when you were back in college/grad school...give up the crusade on banning drinking....

4/30-now

This weekend was pretty bad...I completely reversed my schedule becuase I kept sleeping all day and studying late at night while talking to Phil...I pulled a few all nighters and it's only Wednesday...

While I'm annoyed withe admissions committee, they haven't ruined my life...but they've been such an ass to Phil and his fiancee...I won't say much more, since it's not my life, but I felt horrible about what happened to him all weekend, which is why I spent so much time talking to him...I hope things will work out for him, even if he doesn't stay at Hopkins...

Oh, and I finally realized that it wasn't going to work out between some guy I had a thing for...what is that, like 15 strikeouts out of 15??

Okay...I think that's it...if you've read up to here, man you must really desperate for info on my life :)...but since you're down here, I just wanted to thank the people in my lives who made the past 2 months bearable...my suitemates, Peggy and Sonali, never fail to put a smile in my face and distract me for hours at a time, even in the most stressful of times...Catherine's been really great since she's been through a lot of the same things as I plus all the extra stuff she's dealing with....all my friends from MIT (Jyoti, Caitlin, Mishy) have been always there for me, whether on IM or phone...and my parents and brother have been really awesome...THANKS ALL!

All right, now I'm done...
Pictures to come.

Only in Baltimore

2005-03-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

My mom ordered flowers online to be delivered this past Saturday for my birthday. But they never showed up. My mom calls on Sunday to cancel the order because she didn't think they would mean as much if they came after my birthday and she said she'd give me $50 instead....

But, alas, the flowers show up on Monday, despite the cancellation. I call my mom to tell her that she better check that she doesn't get charged since she cancelled the order. Most companies would give the flowers for free since they failed to deliver the flowers on time and because they made the mistake of delivering the flowers after the cancellation. But no, after having the flowers in my room for 3 hours, I got a call from the security guard that the florist delivery guy was downstairs and that I had to return the flowers...WHAT?!??!?! Hello, are they going to resell those same flowers?!?! I was so devastated...

Only in BALTIMORE!!!

Birthday

2005-03-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Birthday this year was nice and quiet...

At midnite, Sonali, Peggy and Catherine surprised me with a birthday brownie. Catherine had to keep me from coming back to my room until midnite. We were at the first year show recording session and I was severely traumatized because some guy stripped down to his speedos and wore a girl's tube top as a skirt. Then he proceeded to sing with a guitar covering his bottoms to look like he was naked.

After the brownies, Sonali, Peggy and I started working on our midterm and realized that we were all still up at 4. After talking until 5, we decided to make birthday breakfast and stayed up until 7:30, gossiping and watching Alias.

I hauled my butt up at 10:45 to go to church, which was fun. It's definitely different from the Park Street Church in Boston and I felt a little uncomfortable but the people were really friendly.

I got phone calls from family and friends thruout the day...Found out that the flowers my mom sent never got here in time, so she cancelled them :(

I slept the rest of the afternoon then went to choir rehearsal, where I sucked really bad as a tenor. Then, I was surprised at social to find that they had a huge birthday cake for Wonha and my birthdays. It was really nice. And they gave me the best cat card ever...and Sonali gave me the cutest "FurReal" new born kitten doll...THANKS EVERYONE!

I also got the scariest gift from Brian: the triathlon training schedule...it was truly frightening...

And then I had to do work...

But it was a nice birthday after all...

I was a little sad that we all had too much work to find the time to go out for a meal, but I've been given a raincheck for after spring break...

This week is gonna suck real bad...Psych midterm, PAS presentation, Neuro quiz, community talent show, triathlon training, preceptor....but at least i'm going to boston on friday for Caitlin's recital (hopefully, the snow won't cause any problems because I need to be back by Sat. morning or my director's gonna kill me), Jyoti's visiting for the weekend and then i'm off to the west coast on sunday night...

good nite all
~S

weekend update

2005-02-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

Had a really nice weekend...

Didn't start off so great cuz I slept too much on Friday afternoon/evening that I missed liver rounds and ice skating....but I woke up at midnite and did cardio striptease, cardio kickboxing and jazz for my workout....then I watched Alias from two weeks ago...

Woke up on Saturday and frantically cleaned my room cuz my parents were coming into town...They came to see the show and they enjoyed it and were happy that I was finding something to do that was med school related...I didn't tell them about the show until Thursday...

Then, we went to Lexington market for lunch and grocery shopping for social. After trying to cram everything in the fridge, we went to DC to see my brother. We tried going to Cheesecake factory for dinner but the wait was too long, so we went to Bertucci's instead. While we were waiting, Liz, my stepmom and I went to Lord and Taylor's and bought clothes that were 50-80% off plus 20% with a coupon. I finally got my tux jacket (like the one Sydney Bristow wears at the end of Season 1 in Alias) and a short miniskirt. We went back to my brother's place for the nite and watched iron chef.

On Sunday, I woke up to my brother and Liz doing my laundry (hehe)...we watched "My Big Fat Greet Wedding" and left to eat Pho for lunch and to shop at Target. And sadly, I came home to Baltimore (at least we had an awesome fondue social). I felt kinda bad that I was stressed out this morning about not having studied and complaining that I wouldn't get home 'til late...

Nothing else exciting happened this weekend...did have a lot on my mind about stuff that I learned this past week about people...also been thinking about a triathlon that Brian from down the hall has been trying to organize for the first years, but i don't think i'll be ready in two months to do it...

So now it's Sunday night/Monday morning at 2 AM and I am further procrastinating...I've only read one neuro lecture since it started 2 weeks ago, so I've got a lot of catching up to do...but it should be manageable.

Cheers,
S

A new study says...

2005-02-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

if you're plain-looking, short and overweight, you're going to make less money than other people. Apparently, "Good-looking men and women are generally judged to be more talented, kind, honest and intelligent than their less attractive counterparts." Umm, aren't these the good looking people the ones that end up having affairs and stupid stuff like that??

My conclusion: people in this world are dumb

http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/CareerBytes/1104dolooksmatter.htm?lr=cbns&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=ee1eae10e546479d818d052b7cb91a6d-161644134-rf-1

My New Secret Diet

2005-02-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

So, this Wednesday is the beginning of the Chinese New Year. This year, it's the Rooster. There have been all these internet links to tell you your horoscope for the upcoming year. I came to this one website that gives you your horoscope based on the animal zodiac sign you are. So, I'm a pig and apparently, I have the potential to lose a lot of weight.

Prissy Pigs
This is a year of rest and respite for Pigs. The Rooster's spartan policies don't satisfy your lusty appetites. You are a voracious consumer of "luxe". But you are also wise. You know that tightening your belt will help diminish your spreading waistline. Okay. So you won't be able to buy that Antique diamond or eat foie gras for breakfast every day. But the Rooster's enforced thrift suits your sense of what is right. Distract yourself. Take up with a graceful Goat or seduce a lithe Rabbit. Luxuriate in passion. Sex is about the only thing that can keep a Pig's mind off dessert.

Hmmm...shall I try this new diet? I guess if my mom asks how I lost the weight, I'll say, "lots of exercising at night"

I'm old

2005-02-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

I've always known that my body was older than it should be, given all my health problems. Apparently I'm a 21.9 year old, trapped in a 29.3 year old's body. This means, I get to die 8.4 years earlier than I should.

Check this site out: www.realage.com

I love finding random websites while studying for anatomy. At least, anatomy is over on Tuesday.

Lessons I learned today

2005-02-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

A long time

2005-01-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, I've been avoiding writing in my blog for a while because I've been going thru some rough times. I've been wanting to write about it in my journal and I did, but now I've erased it because apparently it's made people uncomfortable.

Anyways, enough about that. Catherine told me to update my blog about happier things.

As you might know from reading my previous blogs, I'm in a production of Snowwhite. It's not what I've imagined because they don't focus on music at all. I joined the group cuz I thought I'd have a chance to practice singing but sadly no. But even without the true singing, it's been sorta fun. It's a time sink for such a small part, but the kids are absolutely adorable and a lot of fun. We had a luau fundraiser today, which didn't bring in a lot of people, but we got to sing Disney songs and learn how to Hula, so that was fun.

Besides Snowwhite, I'm working on a bunch of other productions and musical numbers. I'm helping out with the Community Talent Show and trying to get donations from companies but it hasn't been working out too well.

I'm also helping to organize and in the first year show and I'm having a lot of fun with that...
We're changing the lyrics of Cell Block Tango to poke fun of medical school. We were originally going to write about funny stories that happened to specific people in class, but Catherine came up with the better idea of writing about classes. So, today, while I was supposed to be studying, I was listening to the song and came up with some great lyrics...here's a preview of one...

[LIZ (Spoken)]
You know how computer programs
have these little habits
That get you down. Like AMCAS.
MCAS liked to freeze up. No, not freeze.
CRASH. So I came home this one day,
And I am really irritated,
and looking to finish my app
and there's AMCAS with my essay
ominously flashin’
The mouse button was frozen
And the keyboard wasn’t working
So, I said to it,
"You CRASH my computer
one more time..."
and it did.
So I took the shotgun off the wall
and I fired two warning shots...
...into the screen.

I'm also trying to convince the committee to do a spoof fashion show to the song "My Strongest Suit" from Aida, because I really really wanna sing it. And someone suggested getting the class to do the "Thriller" dance, like in 13 going on 30. I think it would be awesome but i don't have the time or talent to organize that one.

I'm also preparing a song for the memorial service for our cadavers in anatomy. I'm trying to get a piano-violin-voice trio with Peggy and Catherine. We're choosing between "Time to Say Goodbye" and "Amazing Grace". What do you think?

Yah, and I might be singing at Catherine's wedding, if she still wants me to. But that's not until July.

So with all these things going on in my life, you wouldn't really think that I was in med school, would you? ::Sigh::, I think i'm too artistic and creative for my own good. Maybe, I should have discovered this part of me early in high school and went on to music school or something.

Anyways, here's all the stuff I'm involved with.
feb.12-end of march: snowwhite
march 2 or 3: singing for anatomy memorial service (time to say goodbye or amazing grace?)march 10: community talent show
april 15: first year show

Thanks for reading.

S

2005-01-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Me snowboarding on my very first green circle hill...AHHH!

2005-01-09T22:25:00.004-08:00

My brother falling on his ass...j/k..he's just getting up to start

2005-01-09T22:25:00.003-08:00

Me and my mom waiting for my brother to finish snowwboarding

2005-01-09T22:25:00.002-08:00

Big Apple Circus on New Year's eve at Lincoln Center

2005-01-09T22:25:00.001-08:00

Big Apple Circus on New Year's eve at Lincoln Center

2005-01-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

Big Apple Circus on New Year's eve at Lincoln Center

2005-01-09T22:24:00.002-08:00

Dan's lovely thighs

2005-01-09T22:24:00.001-08:00

Look how high Steve can climb in jeans!

2005-01-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

Me struggling to get my ass up on the wall

2005-01-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

All of us:

Just an update

2005-01-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

The past week was pretty stressful.....I had a presentation on Friday and was speaking at lightning speed. I slept only one hour on Wednesday night because I was going to go rock climbing on Thursday which was pretty fun. But apparently, I was one of the lucky few who got to sleep on Thursday night. A bunch of people were in anatomy lab throughout the night working on their presentation. I just stayed in my room and practiced over and over and then did a quick review of the structures in lab before I actually presented.

The presentation totally made me break my new year's resolutions, which are:
1) Stay on top of school work--broken
2) Go to sleep by 1 am every night -- broken
3) Work out 3 x a week
4) Lose weight
5) Be nicer to my family

I spoke to Dean Koenig on Friday. I just vented about how I can't seem to find the motivation to study and some social issues I'm facing here because I'm still kind of immature. He didn't really say anything that makes me think that things will get better, but it was nice to tell someone high up on chain about my problems.

This weekend was pretty productive. I did a lot of errands and extracurricular stuff. I realized I'm in way too many shows--3!! I'm the huntsman in a Baltimore Children's Theater Production of Snowwhite, I'm on the committee that's planning the East Baltimore Community Talent Show and I'm directing an act for the first year show! I've never been so swamped with theater before.

Didn't get that much studying done but luckily we're out of class every day at 1 this week so hopefully, I can catch up.

Above are some pictures from the holidays and rockclimbing. Enjoy!

New Year's

2005-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Had a really good new year's...

Went to Minado's in Midtown NYC for dinner...all you can eat sushi/japanese buffet...really good food for an awesome price
Went to the Big Apple Circus for a show and they gave out all sorts of stuff for the midnite countdown: champagne, cider, glasses, hats, horns, noisemakers...Had a dance for an hour afterwards...

Saw Meet The Fockers on Saturday nite at midnite...pretty funny...

Sad to be back at school but determined to start off on the right foot

typical holiday break

2004-12-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

typical holiday break at home: arguments with mom everyday, which culminate into one big fight-->get kicked out of house; brother decides to butt in and yell at me for standing up to mom; retreat to dad's house and watch cable tv.

today: had the huge fight about my weight, i said F*** really loud and well that was the end of that. am off to dad's place in a few hours.

my favorite holiday break: not at home

question of the day

2004-12-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

question: You ever watch those commercials about the sealy posturpedic/craftmatic beds where you adjust the shape of the bed to the way you like to sleep. What position do people put them in when they're having sex? I'm watching way too much TV :)

Apparently my gluteus maximus isn't fatty enough...

2004-12-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

to absorb the shock to my head when I kept falling on my butt while snowboarding.

My family went on a ski trip for the Christmas weekend. I went snowboarding on Saturday and dude, it hurt. My coccyx hurts like crazy (yah, you heard me, my coccyx) and so do my knees. I also did something stupid and now my right knee hurts whenever I walk up and down the stairs. Now what was that stupid something? My brother told me to say that I slammed into a tree but if you want to know the truth, you need to ask me.
I got pretty good by the end of the day, but my legs kept cramping because I kept leaning forward cuz I was too scared to lean back. So I had to stop every 30 seconds just to sit down..pathetic. But despite it all, I'm ready to go back and hit the slopes in the near future. Maybe, skiing tho. Much better at that.
(I'll post pictures when I get back to Hopkins).

I just found out my brother stole the JHED account stang11 from me. I don't understand how he got the account before me because he didn't decide to go to Hopkins until after I did. Stupid part time continuing educating students. Ugh, why did my mom give us the same initials?

Second thoughts about medical school

2004-12-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

I shouldn't really be spending the time to write in this journal, considering I have a major exam on Wednesday, which I haven't prepared for. But I need to just write this down.

I've been having thoughts throughout the semester about whether or not I belong at medical school. Usually, these thoughts have peaked every other week, before an exam, and go away after the exam.

But lately, I've been really worried that I shouldn't have come to medical school. All the first years were asked to meet with the deans to chat. After making my appointment, I started to think about if I were happy. Whenever people have been asking me, I've been telling that medical school is going well. But now that I really think about it, it's been pretty horrible. The material we're learning has been interesting but nothing's excited me enough to want to go home and study it and learn more about it. I've been studying only so I can pass the exams, not because I want to learn it. And thus, I constantly fall behind in studying and cram at last minute, and still do well on the exams. I fear that because I don't want to learn more about the material means that I shouldn't be a doctor. Someone told me it's because I haven't applied any of the material outside of class; perhaps, if I went to do more free clinics or followed other preceptors and realize how useful the material I'm learning is, I will get more excited about it. I just don't know how to find time for that. I'm already constantly behind on my work and I don't know how adding more things are going to help me.

We watched a video of prostatic surgery and at first it was really interesting. But then, when I couldn't see the structures that we were supposed to clearly see, I just lost interest and realized I never wanted to do surgery... :(

I'm going to definitely do a brain dump on Dean Koenig.

back to studying

Why Baltimore Sucks

2004-12-14T18:29:00.000-08:00

Baltimore Transporation Blows:

I lost my metro ticket for the ride home and had to buy a new ticket. I only had a 10 so I went to the ticket booth to buy a ticket, thinking that the machine wouldn't give me change. The ticket booth person saw my 10 and gave me this look like I was crazy. She's like "What's that?" I'm like, "A 10". She's like, "you can't buy a ticket with $10. It's only $1.60." I'm like, "I know. Can't you just give me a change?" She and the police officer standing next to me both said, "we can't give change. you need to go exchange bills at the store." WTF. Why the hell would I wander around Lexington market (a ghetto area known for drug dealing at 9 pm) to find a store who will give me a change. I mean, I'm basically asking to be harrassed and robbed.
So I decided to walk towards the inner harbor to find a taxi and it took me like 30 minutes before I got one. And the stupid taxi driver gives me attitude about slamming the door shut when I got in because it hurts his ears after working all day. I'm like, how the hell does driving cause your ears to get sensitive to door slamming?
STUPID BALTIMORE!!!

And I'm having doubts about this production I'm doing. I have the smallest part in the show AND I'm the only one without even one solo singing line. HELLO!??!!?? I'm a singer not an actor. I mean I have to admit that the person that casted as the Evil Queen is an amazing actress and that she totally deserves the part but either give me a part that uses my talent or don't give me a part at all (I mean even the person who was casted as the Evil Queen said that when she heard me sing, she was afraid to lose the part to me. So obviously, I lost the part because of my acting, not my singing. So give me a singing role!). I can't believe they gave me the Huntsman part over a guy who actually auditioned for it. I'm begging all of you to not come because it's not worth your money or time to see me.

I hate Mondays

2004-12-14T01:44:00.000-08:00

Today had to be one of the worst Mondays in a while:

It started off with my ex-boyfriend contacting me through the facebook website for colleges around the US. He requested me to confirm him as a friend. We haven't spoken for almost 2 years and the last time we did, he stood me up in NYC. So, I sent him a brief message to express my bitterness. Haven't heard back...what a shame.
Anatomy lab was horrible. Within the first 5 minutes, I snapped at one lab partner and completely offended another lab partner. Things got pretty shitty throughout the rest of the four hours and eventually, we ended up splitting up and walking away from each other. Three of us ended up talking it out later in the night and it was such an emotional catharsis. Crying does the soul good.

The good thing about today is that I took 2 naps for a total of 5 hours. It was amazing.

Check out these cards (Thanks Alice!) http://gbehh.com/cards/index_cards.html

Holiday Party Weekend

2004-12-13T01:10:00.000-08:00

So, I've wanted to keep a journal for the longest time and have been using my AIM profile as a temp one. But finally, my brother told me about blogger.com and now I have a journal of procrastination (like, I need any other reason to procrastinate)

Cooking for 25+ people was an experience of a lifetime. Seriously, it was like a 20+ hour process.
Friday nite:
Grocery shopping at 5 pm: I went to this awesome Korean market, Han Ah Reum, and it was amazing. I almost cried when I walked it. I also almost peed in my pants cuz I was so happy. There was such an awesome selection that I ended up getting more food then I expected for the party: even a 2 pound red snapper. I had to also go to Giant and Walmart for random things and went to the movie theater to pick up Ocean's 12 tickets...most ghetto place ever (read later)
Food prep: So, I started prepping for at 9:30 and didn't finish until 3 (even with the help of my minions (I mean friends), Sonali and Peggy (they now know how to wrap dumplings!) I wrapped spring rolls and dumplings, made potato salad and pasta salad, and peeled potatoes for the curry. I got so overwhelmed with the preparation, I had Peggy write a schedule for me for Saturday.

Saturday:
Cooking: Basically, starting from 11 am until 8 pm, I cooked the rest of the dishes: chicken with eggplants, green beans, lasagna (mostly made by Roberto), steamed fish, beef with broccoli, chicken curry, almond tofu, red bean soup, deep fried and boiled dumplings, spring rolls...
The Party: It was a lot of fun. We decorated our entire suite with Christmasy things (trees, lights, window stickers, gingerbread house (made by Jyoti and Jen)). People brought all sorts of desserts and Kimi even brought a 7 pound roasted chicken. We even had this super special salads made my 6 male med students (Chris, Dan, Kimi, Ben, Joe and Brian) and a consultant on the phone (Chris's girlfriend, Nirvana). It was totally yummy.
The movie: Most of us went to see Ocean's Twelve and it was a disaster. It was such a ghetto place. People were really rowdy and screaming throughout the movie and a half an hour before the movie ended, the stupid people uncapped the fire extinguisher. 2/3 of us walked out and left the rest there. The people who walked out got 2 free tickets (one of us got four, by taking off his baseball cap). I felt really horrible for picking the movie theater but I wanted a showing that was late so we didn't have to leave the party so early...SORRY!!!
The prank: So Brian wasn't supposed to go to the movie with us. We kept bugging him to go but he kept refusing. Suddenly as we were leaving, he changed his mind. We were waiting downstairs for everyone to come down and he asked me in this serious tone if he could talk to me alone. I thought something horrible happened but he said he forgot that he promised the security guard some leftover food and asked if he could borrow my keys to go upstairs. He came back down and drove me and Jyoti to the theater. The three of us waited outside for everyone and when we realized everyone had already gotten there, Jyoti and I ran into the theater since it was already past 10:40. After handing in my ticket, I turned around and realized Brian was walking towards the car. I thought he needed to grab something so I waited. Next thing I knew, he drove away. I was about to cry cuz I thought I offended him but running into the theater without him. I ran into the theater to talk to Joe and Chris to get them to call him. Chris came out and called up Brian and walked away from me as he was talking, so I really thought I offended Brian and was on the verge of tears. Chris got off the phone and told me that Brian had bad diarrhea and had to go home. I was upset cuz I thought my greasy Chinese food did it. After the disastrous movie phenomenon, I come home to find that Brian had packed our entire room with rolling chairs, to get back at our suite for stealing their chairs. He apparently left our door unlocked when he went upstairs to get food, so that he could get access later. The funny part is that he did it while one of our suitemates was asleep. The sweetest part is that he washed our dishes, sink and stove, even though I told him he couldn't (What a sweetie)! The entire 12A suite was in on the prank and I have to hand it to them: it was ingenious. I guess it's our turn to return the favor.

Sunday: Jyoti and I went to Mo's and went christmas shopping at the inner harbor. It was relaxing. Thanks for coming, Jyoti!
My brother, Ted and Alice came by to grab leftovers for dinner. Alice and I made stockings for the whole floor...they're really cool.

I've been trying to fall asleep for the past 2 hours but failing miserably. I still need to start studying...ugh, anatomy totally sucks.

2004-12-12T22:29:00.001-08:00

The 12A prank on 12B

2004-12-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

The 12th floor Holiday Party