YAY!

Congratulations on your engagement, Route52!!!

Travel Advice

#1 If you are flying during the holiday season in the Northeast, assume that your flight is going to be very delayed. In fact, assume that it will be so delayed that you will have to spend a night alone in an airport Comfort Inn in, say, Manchester, NH.

#2 If you do have to stay in a hotel, get directly into the king-sized bed, turn on the TV, and watch E!'s 100 Most Memorable SNL Moments. Remain there until the morning.

#3 Don't try to fly with an opthalmoscope in your carry-on luggage. The begloved TSA folks will think you are a terrorist and go through everything you own, right down to your pencil case.

My New Outfit

Ten gave me a bright red onesy for Christmas. It came complete with booties and a rear opening with snaps for nightime callings. It actually fits, even the feet part. She got it at a high-end used women's clothing store in Shelburne. "Don't worry," she told me. "I washed it." She knows me so well.

Well, not wanting to seem too particular, I waited until Ten had left to wash it again. With a load of laundry that came out a pretty pink color.

Ten also gave me a new set of snow shoes. Naturally, I intend to go snow shoeing in the onesy. I'll probably make the front cover of the Valley Times.

Quick Whazzupdate

Last night was a dark, dark night. I haven't been so stressed out in a long time, and for me, that's really saying something. I even had nightmares of acute hemolytic anemias and aggressive lymphomas. I'm not kidding. I hardly slept. But I woke up to a new foot of snow, and the exam is over with. And now there are two exams down, one to go. As I used to say in college, but never meant, but now do mean, two point oh and go!

Ten comes tonight on her way down to MA for Chr... the holidays. She's bringing Boo and lots of presents for me, so clearly I'm excited.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!

Did you know that there is something called "Sudden Nocturnal Death Syndrome?" Doesn't that sound awful? And doesn't "syndrome" seem like an odd word choice for this condition?

More YouTube

A Christmas Photo

The reason Boo looks so disappointed is that she had just quizzed me on my flash cards.

List Time

Ah, Hitchens. If you weren't such an attention-seeking sexist, I'd think you were rather clever.

Six Reasons Why It Is Insulting That Same Sex Couples Can't Get Married
1. Britney Spears and Jason Allen Alexander (55 hours)
2. Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley
3. Ted Haggard and Gayle Alcorn
4. Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn
5. King Henry VIII and [well, you get it]
6. Zsa-Zsa Gabor and [insert name of one of 9 husbands]

Do you have any?

I Could Try Your Crack Cocaine?

This evening I found myself wishing that I had experimented more (or at all) with drugs in my youth. It would sure make it easier to memorize all of the desired effects, side effects, withdrawal symptoms, etc. I guess it's not too late to try out a couple, but it's a pretty risky thing to do during finals period.

Speaking of crack, today I had to call a plumber to fix my sink.

Tomorrow I have three events planned:
1) Dump my trash.
2) Mail the Town of Hanover the ten dollars I owe them for my parking ticket.
3) Study neurology.

I Could Buy Your Senate Seat?

I thought if I gave this blog post an exciting title you might keep reading in the hopes that I'll do something other than complain. (Sorry. Not this time.)

This has been the dankest, rankest term ever. There are only 12 more days of it, and I think I can make it. The term ends only a couple of days before Christmas, so getting presents in time is going to be a real challenge. I hope friends and family will be satisified with lightly worn Smart Wool and old New Yorker magazines.

Today I've been studying personality disorders. You know what that means: it's self-diagnosis time! Woo hoo! Fortunately in the last couple of days I've moved past Parkinson's, lymphoma, early-onset Alzheimer's, vitamin B12 deficiency, and my abdominal aortic aneurysm. Now it's clear that since coming to medical school, I have become soooo Cluster C.

Avoidant personality disorder: Avoidant patients are generally very shy. They display a pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to rejection. Unlike patients with schizoid personality disorder, they actually desire relationships with others but are paralyzed by their fear and sensitivity into social isolation.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are markedly preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and control. They lack flexibility or openness. Their preoccupations interfere with their efficiency despite their focus on tasks. They are often scrupulous and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, and values to a point beyond cultural norms. They are often stingy as well as stubborn.

I think I finally have an answer to the question of why I can't make any friends.

The only reason I was so down on pulmonology last term was that I didn't yet know how horrible hematology is. Forgive me, pulmonology. I didn't treat you fairly.

I am reading *There's Nothing In This Book That I Meant To Say* by Paula Poundstone. Ten thinks that I've become obsessed with Paula P. How dare she diagnose me like that.

You Can Pick Your Friends, But Not Your Peers

There is a Facebook group called "IN GOD WE TRUST." The purpose of the group is to encourage people to write those four words on the back of their mail. Also included in the mission statement is this:

"~America was founded, settled, and colonized for many reasons. One of those was to spread Christianity to the native people. So God has been in America from the very beginning. Why does everyone want to remove anything about Him now? But even if they do remove any trace of God’s existence in America, He will still be here in the hearts of the 86% that still believe in Him."

You poor, misused minority (of 86%). This makes me more nauseous than eating Thanksgiving dinner in the anatomy lab would. Seriously, I think I'm going to throw up right now.