So if you're anything like me, you get really, really, really excited about certain upcoming movies. Really. And, if you're as much of a procrastinator as I am, you love watching trailers for said movies online. I was going to go to bed early tonight, honest! But then I found out that the cover for the final Harry Potter book was released today and then I had to watch the trailer for the next Harry Potter movie, one thing led to another and before I knew it, I had generated the following list of Must-See Movies being released this year:
Blades of Glory -- March 30th
Shrek the Third -- May 18th
Ocean's 13 -- June 8th
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- July 13th
I realize these are mainly sequels (or tri-quels?) but I tend to enjoy movies that come in series. Previous favorites include Rush Hour, Ace Ventura and, I am not ashamed to admit, Jurassic Park. I loved both Shrek movies, all three Harry Potter movies, and Ocean's 11. There were certain moments in Ocean's 12 that were priceless (Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean who has to pass herself off as Julia Roberts, the sexy French dude doing acrobatic yoga to traverse a room crisscrossed with laser beams, to name a few) but overall it was not nearly as well-executed as the original. That being said, any film featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon together could have crappy screenwriting, poor special effects, and a weak plot, and I'd still fork over $9.50 to drool over my popcorn for two and a half hours. Hee!
Anyhoo, that's largely what the last hour or so was occupied with. But it's past 11pm now and I think I'll turn into a pumpkin if I don't get to bed soon.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Definition quiz
From time to time I will post a fun quiz that I have stumbled upon in my idle hours of procrastination-driven Web surfing. If you take the quiz, tell me the result!
Viveka -- [noun]: An immortal 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
Has spring finally sprung?
I feel like I might jinx the spell of lovely weather we've been blessed with if I dare to let myself believe that winter is finally over. I'm going to get a haircut this weekend as a symbol of shedding all that unnecessary insulation now that the sun is back in our hemisphere. That, and my layers are getting scraggly and too damn long.
A major shout-out to all my peeps from UMMS '07 who kicked ass in this year's residency match! Nearly all my friends got their first choices at top programs, most of which are in Massachusetts, so I'm happy they will be nearby next year. Of course, I'll probably have to page them at 2 AM in order to catch them while they're free, but still. I will also be ushering at Commencement so that I can watch everyone officially become an M.D.! *tear*
As I prepare for my own final year (eek! see previous post) I took the day off today from work so I could go to Worcester and get all my paperwork going for the electives I want to do in NYC. What a pain in the arse. On the upside, I got to have a leisurely lunch at El Basha with the divine Ms. Cristina (who will also be ushering), although we had one of those irritatingly efficient waitresses who can't tolerate the sight of near-empty dishes and who believes there should be no more than a five second lapse between courses. She actually asked if we wanted to order dessert and coffee approximately ten minutes into our meal, just as I was about to bite into a stuffed grape leaf and Cristina had her mouth full of chicken shawarma. We kind of stared blankly at her. She left us alone after that. [Aside: There was a group of internal medicine residents whom I recognized from my third year rotations leaving the restaurant as we were being seated and one of them was wearing his white coat and stethoscope. Under no circumstances, barring a medical emergency or bizarre costume party, should anyone need to wear a white coat and stethoscope inside a restaurant. Good grief.]
Speaking of annoying people, I have been experiencing a resurgence of homicidal ideation while riding the T. When I started working at MGH last summer I actually enjoyed taking the T, after three years of having to drive anywhere I wanted to go. Yeah, that lasted about a week before I was pining for my car. So I spent the rest of the summer and fall grinding my teeth every time someone obstinately refused to budge to make room for other people, or talked loudly on their cell at 8 AM, or insisted on reading the paper and thus taking up an additional three feet of armspan in a space which at least two human beings could occupy. But then I decided to rise above the feeling of sardine-ness and simply focus on getting from point A to point B. People are dumb, and I just had to accept it. For some reason, my self-fashioned Tao of the T isn't holding up anymore. Perhaps it's because I've witnessed too many hugely pregnant women have to stand while eight teenagers crowd into three seats, too many elderly citizens practically break a hip every time the train lurches as oblivious young people who are seated bop along to their iPods (which are always turned up to a volume audible to people in the next subway car), etc. But, in just a few more months, I'll have a daily commute to Worcester and back, and I'll probably post a rant here about the insane New Yorkers weaving around on the Pike. C'est la vie.
A major shout-out to all my peeps from UMMS '07 who kicked ass in this year's residency match! Nearly all my friends got their first choices at top programs, most of which are in Massachusetts, so I'm happy they will be nearby next year. Of course, I'll probably have to page them at 2 AM in order to catch them while they're free, but still. I will also be ushering at Commencement so that I can watch everyone officially become an M.D.! *tear*
As I prepare for my own final year (eek! see previous post) I took the day off today from work so I could go to Worcester and get all my paperwork going for the electives I want to do in NYC. What a pain in the arse. On the upside, I got to have a leisurely lunch at El Basha with the divine Ms. Cristina (who will also be ushering), although we had one of those irritatingly efficient waitresses who can't tolerate the sight of near-empty dishes and who believes there should be no more than a five second lapse between courses. She actually asked if we wanted to order dessert and coffee approximately ten minutes into our meal, just as I was about to bite into a stuffed grape leaf and Cristina had her mouth full of chicken shawarma. We kind of stared blankly at her. She left us alone after that. [Aside: There was a group of internal medicine residents whom I recognized from my third year rotations leaving the restaurant as we were being seated and one of them was wearing his white coat and stethoscope. Under no circumstances, barring a medical emergency or bizarre costume party, should anyone need to wear a white coat and stethoscope inside a restaurant. Good grief.]
Speaking of annoying people, I have been experiencing a resurgence of homicidal ideation while riding the T. When I started working at MGH last summer I actually enjoyed taking the T, after three years of having to drive anywhere I wanted to go. Yeah, that lasted about a week before I was pining for my car. So I spent the rest of the summer and fall grinding my teeth every time someone obstinately refused to budge to make room for other people, or talked loudly on their cell at 8 AM, or insisted on reading the paper and thus taking up an additional three feet of armspan in a space which at least two human beings could occupy. But then I decided to rise above the feeling of sardine-ness and simply focus on getting from point A to point B. People are dumb, and I just had to accept it. For some reason, my self-fashioned Tao of the T isn't holding up anymore. Perhaps it's because I've witnessed too many hugely pregnant women have to stand while eight teenagers crowd into three seats, too many elderly citizens practically break a hip every time the train lurches as oblivious young people who are seated bop along to their iPods (which are always turned up to a volume audible to people in the next subway car), etc. But, in just a few more months, I'll have a daily commute to Worcester and back, and I'll probably post a rant here about the insane New Yorkers weaving around on the Pike. C'est la vie.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Fifteen months...
...'til I'm an actual doctor. As in, ostensibly capable of making life-and-death decisions. Yikes.
The months leading up to graduation are packed solid with stressful/fun plans. I'm finishing up my research at MGH by the end of June. For anyone who cares, and even if you don't (this is my corner of the universe, after all), here is the schedule from July onwards:
July '07 - Perinatal Medicine, UMass Memorial
August '07 - Gynecologic Oncology, UMass Memorial
September '07 - OB/Gyn Sub-internship, Beth Israel Medical Center, NYC
October '07 - OB/Gyn Sub-internship, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Medical Center, NYC
November - December '07 - Residency interviews
January '08 - Neurology Sub-internship, UMass
February '08 - Clinical Anatomy, UMass
March '08 - Medicine Sub-internship, Worcester Medical Center (St. Vincent's)
March 20, 2008 - Residency Match
April '08 - Himalayan Health Exchange, Dharamsala, India
May '08 - Travel
June 1, 2008 - Commencement!
The New York rotations are still tentative because I have to fill out all this paperwork to assure other schools that I'm an upstanding American medical student in good health (as opposed to an illiterate, parasite-infested farmer). But everything else is pretty much set! I am a bit apprehensive about going back to clinical work after 12 months away from it, but the research I've been involved in at MGH is fairly clinical so I'm not as rusty as I could be. It will be tough leaving behind a 9-5, Monday to Friday job for the indentured servitude that is the low rung of the medical hierarchy.
I am planning to apply to residency programs primarily in the Northeast but, for the first time in my life, I'm opening my mind to the option of going to the West coast. This is huge for someone who has stayed within a 50 mile radius of her parents' house for the past 25 years. I've only been to California once and I did enjoy it but I'd have to be sure I could survive the laid-back, earthy-crunchy Pacific attitude since I am a card-carrying Masshole. That being said, the thought of not having to shovel three feet of snow off my car in the winter and risk getting frostbite every time I expose bare skin to the elements is quite tempting. But there is time to decide about these things. Chances are pretty good I'll stay in the frigid, unfriendly, don't-f#@!*-with-me region that I call home.
The months leading up to graduation are packed solid with stressful/fun plans. I'm finishing up my research at MGH by the end of June. For anyone who cares, and even if you don't (this is my corner of the universe, after all), here is the schedule from July onwards:
July '07 - Perinatal Medicine, UMass Memorial
August '07 - Gynecologic Oncology, UMass Memorial
September '07 - OB/Gyn Sub-internship, Beth Israel Medical Center, NYC
October '07 - OB/Gyn Sub-internship, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Medical Center, NYC
November - December '07 - Residency interviews
January '08 - Neurology Sub-internship, UMass
February '08 - Clinical Anatomy, UMass
March '08 - Medicine Sub-internship, Worcester Medical Center (St. Vincent's)
March 20, 2008 - Residency Match
April '08 - Himalayan Health Exchange, Dharamsala, India
May '08 - Travel
June 1, 2008 - Commencement!
The New York rotations are still tentative because I have to fill out all this paperwork to assure other schools that I'm an upstanding American medical student in good health (as opposed to an illiterate, parasite-infested farmer). But everything else is pretty much set! I am a bit apprehensive about going back to clinical work after 12 months away from it, but the research I've been involved in at MGH is fairly clinical so I'm not as rusty as I could be. It will be tough leaving behind a 9-5, Monday to Friday job for the indentured servitude that is the low rung of the medical hierarchy.
I am planning to apply to residency programs primarily in the Northeast but, for the first time in my life, I'm opening my mind to the option of going to the West coast. This is huge for someone who has stayed within a 50 mile radius of her parents' house for the past 25 years. I've only been to California once and I did enjoy it but I'd have to be sure I could survive the laid-back, earthy-crunchy Pacific attitude since I am a card-carrying Masshole. That being said, the thought of not having to shovel three feet of snow off my car in the winter and risk getting frostbite every time I expose bare skin to the elements is quite tempting. But there is time to decide about these things. Chances are pretty good I'll stay in the frigid, unfriendly, don't-f#@!*-with-me region that I call home.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Personality-palooza
You know how sometimes the same topic or idea keeps popping up everywhere you go in a freaky coincidental way? My friend Marisa and I have been wasting time at work filling out stupid online personality quizzes. We're also people who love going to the doctor because we get to answer questions about ourselves the whole time. If you know either of us, then you understand why this is fun. :-)
Then today my friend Amanda emailed me lots of information about personality types! Earlier this week, Marisa and I did a quiz about personality disorders. These are fascinating because they can only be diagnosed once a person is 18 years of age, implying that our personalities are supposedly fully formed by then. This seems a bit arbitrary to me because I have interacted with lots of little kids (infants, even) who definitely have highly developed personalities, and I doubt they will change drastically by the time they are 18 years old. That being said, personality is understood as the overall manner in which we interact with our environment and other people which does fluctuate as we grow up. Anyone who's been through high school can attest that those four years are fairly hardcore in terms of personal growth. People who have disordered personalities have a dysfunctional way of interacting and responding to events. It's also possible to have a 'trait' and not a full-blown disorder. The beauty of these disorders is that they are usually ego-syntonic, that is to say that the person does not perceive anything troublesome about the way they interact with the world. Try having a conversation with a narcissist. Fun times.
A more functional way of classifying personality is with the Myers-Briggs personality type (or Jung-Myers-Briggs, depending on who you ask). According to this typology, all people can be classified using four criteria: extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving. There are 16 possible permutations within these four categories. This typology is somehow related to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (anyone know more about this? please chime in). Both of these tools are very commonly used to help people with career and job decisions, as well as questions of compatibility with a life partner. Bottom line, I love answering questions about myself, as stated earlier. It's the Leo in me... astrology being another of my less scientific ways of understanding myself.
According to Myers-Briggs, I am an ENFJ (extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging), also known as the Teacher Idealist by the Keirsey sorter. Apparently I am among only 2-3% of people and am quite charismatic. I share the same personality type as Mikhail Gorbachev. Make of that what you will.
If you take these quizzes, do share your results and thoughts about how accurate or not you think these things are.
Then today my friend Amanda emailed me lots of information about personality types! Earlier this week, Marisa and I did a quiz about personality disorders. These are fascinating because they can only be diagnosed once a person is 18 years of age, implying that our personalities are supposedly fully formed by then. This seems a bit arbitrary to me because I have interacted with lots of little kids (infants, even) who definitely have highly developed personalities, and I doubt they will change drastically by the time they are 18 years old. That being said, personality is understood as the overall manner in which we interact with our environment and other people which does fluctuate as we grow up. Anyone who's been through high school can attest that those four years are fairly hardcore in terms of personal growth. People who have disordered personalities have a dysfunctional way of interacting and responding to events. It's also possible to have a 'trait' and not a full-blown disorder. The beauty of these disorders is that they are usually ego-syntonic, that is to say that the person does not perceive anything troublesome about the way they interact with the world. Try having a conversation with a narcissist. Fun times.
A more functional way of classifying personality is with the Myers-Briggs personality type (or Jung-Myers-Briggs, depending on who you ask). According to this typology, all people can be classified using four criteria: extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving. There are 16 possible permutations within these four categories. This typology is somehow related to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (anyone know more about this? please chime in). Both of these tools are very commonly used to help people with career and job decisions, as well as questions of compatibility with a life partner. Bottom line, I love answering questions about myself, as stated earlier. It's the Leo in me... astrology being another of my less scientific ways of understanding myself.
According to Myers-Briggs, I am an ENFJ (extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging), also known as the Teacher Idealist by the Keirsey sorter. Apparently I am among only 2-3% of people and am quite charismatic. I share the same personality type as Mikhail Gorbachev. Make of that what you will.
If you take these quizzes, do share your results and thoughts about how accurate or not you think these things are.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Happy teeth!
So I just made the switch over from the good ol' manual toothbrush to a fancy electric one. And I must say, I'm quite impressed. This might be TMI but you know that nasty sensation of plaque/tartar that you start to feel when you run your tongue over your teeth in the middle of the day? WELL. With this little gizmo, it is a thing of history! It's funny - because I moved around so much as a little kid and my parents had more pressing matters to worry about than our dental hygiene (like say, oh I don't know, repeating their medical training), I didn't start seeing a dentist regularly until I was in high school. Then we went all out - cleanings twice a year, x-rays, and of course, the requisite orthodontic work. I've been lucky to have a mouth of solid teeth so they weren't rotting out of my head by the time a professional started caring for them. The main reason I got the new toothbrush is because I am sans dental insurance at the moment and my mother preferred to invest in a high-end toothbrush rather than out-of-pocket dental care. She also made me promise to floss every day... if only there were an electric flosser...
In other news, this blog has already gone above and beyond its aims! Simply by announcing it I have heard from two of my dearest friends, Jennie and Shefali, both of whom I have been terrible about keeping up with. Check out Shefali's blog (also listed on the sidebar)!
In other news, this blog has already gone above and beyond its aims! Simply by announcing it I have heard from two of my dearest friends, Jennie and Shefali, both of whom I have been terrible about keeping up with. Check out Shefali's blog (also listed on the sidebar)!
Monday, March 5, 2007
A journal of sorts
I decided to create this blog since I am at a point in my life where I have friends and family in all corners of the globe. So far I've been able to stay in close contact with my Brandeis buddies and I hope to be as lucky with my UMass friends. I think this will be a great way to keep you posted about my happenings as well as staying up to date about yours. In this spirit, I hope to post here as often as I can and, if you maintain an online journal/blog/website, please let me know about it! :)
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