Sunday, March 30, 2003
Last nite I dreamt I was a soldier riding on a boat heading for the Beach on D-day with bullets and artillery shells flying all around me, and then suddenly I was watching the scenario from third person's view, and I was playing Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. And throughout the entire ordeal the song "Stand By Me" was playing.
Saturday, March 29, 2003
When I was a kid, the one thing that I always wanted that I never got was a solid chocolate easter bunny. Every april when I would go along with my mom to the supermarket I'd see all the chocolate Easter paraphernelia and my mom would never let me buy them. So today, to satisfy my sweet tooth before I started studying I bought myself a solid chocolate easter bunny and two cadbury chocolate eggs. Simple pleasures eh? Now I feel kind of sick, I overdosed on chocolate.
Bleagh.
I guess sometimes simple pleasures come with simple consequences.
Bleagh.
I guess sometimes simple pleasures come with simple consequences.
Last night I dreamt that I put my 2004 registration sticker on the wrong place of my car... and I had to keep peeling it off and putting it back on so many times that it lost it's sticky properties... Some random-ass pathology slides also found their way into my dreams.
Just finished another study session that began around 9. Learned about the cerebellum and trying to commit it's afferent tracks to memory. Olivo-cerebellar, Cortico-ponto-cerebellar, Dorsal-spinocerebellar, Cunneocerebellar. blah blah blah... The amount of info expected from us for a midterm (4 weeks of material) is enough to completely fill a 4 inch binder. It's pretty ridiculous.
I'm in the middle of reading "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" for recreation. I average about 5 pages a day, so I'm progressing pretty slowly, but it' provides a much needed respite from all the neuroanatomy I'm currently trying to pound into my head. One of my favorite lines in the book is,
"...Sammy and Joe scarcely took note of their surroundings. It was just the clearing in which they had come to pitch the tent of their imaginations."
It's just a beautiful metaphor that conjures up images of youthful creativity. At lunch today one of my classmates remarked that he felt like he had lost his sense of creativity since entering med-school; everything is memorize and regurgitate. And this is true, which is why I'm trying desperately to keep some of my creativity alive even if it is 5 pages at a time.
Thing's I love: Sleeping in. A good hole puncher.
Thing's I hate: Moving the clock an hour forward. Having a runny nose.
I'm in the middle of reading "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" for recreation. I average about 5 pages a day, so I'm progressing pretty slowly, but it' provides a much needed respite from all the neuroanatomy I'm currently trying to pound into my head. One of my favorite lines in the book is,
"...Sammy and Joe scarcely took note of their surroundings. It was just the clearing in which they had come to pitch the tent of their imaginations."
It's just a beautiful metaphor that conjures up images of youthful creativity. At lunch today one of my classmates remarked that he felt like he had lost his sense of creativity since entering med-school; everything is memorize and regurgitate. And this is true, which is why I'm trying desperately to keep some of my creativity alive even if it is 5 pages at a time.
Thing's I love: Sleeping in. A good hole puncher.
Thing's I hate: Moving the clock an hour forward. Having a runny nose.
Friday, March 28, 2003
You know how yesterday was a long day. Today was even longer. You don't belive me? Just look at the time stamp :)
One of my best friends, Eddie, who is an army reservist got called out to war. He's going to Kuwait tomorrow.... well.. in about 8 hours. A bunch of his friends gathered at his house just to wish him well and see him for the last time for however long he'll be gone. I drove from Monterey Park to UCLA to pick up our mutual friend Scott, who since getting into an accident does'nt have a car anymore. And from UCLA drove to Cerritos. Then did the reverse after Eddie's place. Totalled almost 150 miles. But that's what friends are for right? To help them out when they need it, and I think it was good for Eddie too. More people to send him off with love. All in all, it was a good evening... very well spent.
The only thing I regret about my day is I didn't get to do the one thing I had planned for today... which was buying a hole puncher. Now my notes will have to go hole-less for another day. They'll survive.
One of my best friends, Eddie, who is an army reservist got called out to war. He's going to Kuwait tomorrow.... well.. in about 8 hours. A bunch of his friends gathered at his house just to wish him well and see him for the last time for however long he'll be gone. I drove from Monterey Park to UCLA to pick up our mutual friend Scott, who since getting into an accident does'nt have a car anymore. And from UCLA drove to Cerritos. Then did the reverse after Eddie's place. Totalled almost 150 miles. But that's what friends are for right? To help them out when they need it, and I think it was good for Eddie too. More people to send him off with love. All in all, it was a good evening... very well spent.
The only thing I regret about my day is I didn't get to do the one thing I had planned for today... which was buying a hole puncher. Now my notes will have to go hole-less for another day. They'll survive.
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Went swimming today, just finished studying... going to sleep now. Long day.
Wednesday, March 26, 2003
Midterm coming up on Monday for neuroanatomy, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, some psychiatry, and some radiological imaging. Great stuff.
I've realized that I'm becoming the sort of student I never wanted to be before entering med school. I promised myself I'd never be one of those people who became so school-centric that they neglect everything else, and yet I feel myself getting slowly sucked into that pattern. I'm studying not just to pass, but to get 100%. The amount of time and energy increases exponentially between 70% passing, to 80%, to 90%. The school doesn't even really care about what your score is, as long as you pass the test.
On the otherhand, there's another school of thought that says you should try to do your best, whether or not it counts. Besides, don't you want to know that your doctor tried their best, and did'nt just aim to do the minimal amount of work needed to pass?
I've realized that I'm becoming the sort of student I never wanted to be before entering med school. I promised myself I'd never be one of those people who became so school-centric that they neglect everything else, and yet I feel myself getting slowly sucked into that pattern. I'm studying not just to pass, but to get 100%. The amount of time and energy increases exponentially between 70% passing, to 80%, to 90%. The school doesn't even really care about what your score is, as long as you pass the test.
On the otherhand, there's another school of thought that says you should try to do your best, whether or not it counts. Besides, don't you want to know that your doctor tried their best, and did'nt just aim to do the minimal amount of work needed to pass?
Um... sometimes things just need a little more explaining Take this for examle.......
"Zatoichini: Coffin Site i don't get it.
Zatoichini: from neil's page...
Philipyen: who's neil?
Philipyen: oooh
Philipyen: haha
Philipyen: ya
Zatoichini: neilgaiman
Philipyen: you don't get it?
Zatoichini: no.
Philipyen: it's a coffin
Zatoichini: ...?
Zatoichini: and...
Philipyen: it's funny
Zatoichini: a coffin?
Zatoichini: ok
Philipyen: becuase it has a "package" theme
Philipyen: like you're sending the dead person back from where they came ?
Philipyen: like if I mailed out a package
Philipyen: and the person I sent it to doesn't want it
Philipyen: they have the post office stamp "return to sender" to it
Zatoichini: ah
Philipyen: and they will subsequently mail it back to me
Zatoichini: i don't know how packages work
Philipyen: this coffin makes light of death in relation to mailed packages...
Philipyen: and that's why it is funny
Zatoichini: got it"
It's just not as funny after you explain it.
"Zatoichini: Coffin Site i don't get it.
Zatoichini: from neil's page...
Philipyen: who's neil?
Philipyen: oooh
Philipyen: haha
Philipyen: ya
Zatoichini: neilgaiman
Philipyen: you don't get it?
Zatoichini: no.
Philipyen: it's a coffin
Zatoichini: ...?
Zatoichini: and...
Philipyen: it's funny
Zatoichini: a coffin?
Zatoichini: ok
Philipyen: becuase it has a "package" theme
Philipyen: like you're sending the dead person back from where they came ?
Philipyen: like if I mailed out a package
Philipyen: and the person I sent it to doesn't want it
Philipyen: they have the post office stamp "return to sender" to it
Zatoichini: ah
Philipyen: and they will subsequently mail it back to me
Zatoichini: i don't know how packages work
Philipyen: this coffin makes light of death in relation to mailed packages...
Philipyen: and that's why it is funny
Zatoichini: got it"
It's just not as funny after you explain it.
Sometimes you can't sleep because you're stressed....
sometimes you can't sleep because you've had too much caffeine...
sometimes you can't sleep because you've had too long of a nap in the afternoon.....
and sometimes you can't sleep because your printer is printing out pictures of cerebrovascular disease pathology slides and it prints really slowly and really loudly when the pictures are in color, and the noises that it makes aren't even remotely rhythmical so it doesn't lull you to sleep at all, instead having the opposite effect of keeping you wide awake, and you even begin to contemplate throwing the damn printer out of the window...........
sigh.. I have to get up in 4 hours and 20 minutes....
sometimes you can't sleep because you've had too much caffeine...
sometimes you can't sleep because you've had too long of a nap in the afternoon.....
and sometimes you can't sleep because your printer is printing out pictures of cerebrovascular disease pathology slides and it prints really slowly and really loudly when the pictures are in color, and the noises that it makes aren't even remotely rhythmical so it doesn't lull you to sleep at all, instead having the opposite effect of keeping you wide awake, and you even begin to contemplate throwing the damn printer out of the window...........
sigh.. I have to get up in 4 hours and 20 minutes....
Alright... I finally figured everything out... test phase is over and I can get to making honest to goodness real entries.
A lot of the time I find myself wondering, what did I do with my time? And then I think for a bit and try to take an inventory of how I spent every hour of the day. Here's how it typically goes.
7:00am - 8:00am Wake up, get ready, and go to school.
8:00am - 5:00pm Stay in school and pay attention.
5:00pm - 6:30pm Work out.
6:30pm - 7:00pm Eat dinner.
7:00pm - 12:00am Study.
12:00am - 1:00am Prepare for bed.
1:00am - 7:00am Sleep.
Now it doesn't always follow this schedule strictly.. but there's the general idea. I still end up getting 6 hours of sleep (we're taught that you need 8hrs). It's completely different from undergrad where most of my time went to screwing around, watching tv, surfing the net, playing videogames. Now, each hour is spent productively without leaving much room for error. On the days I skip working out I get sometime to relax and just enjoy myself, otherwise any "play time" comes out of what little sleep and study time I have.
C'est la vie eh? The one skill i've really been able to hone is accepting the idea of delayed gratification.... just 8-10 more years.......
A lot of the time I find myself wondering, what did I do with my time? And then I think for a bit and try to take an inventory of how I spent every hour of the day. Here's how it typically goes.
7:00am - 8:00am Wake up, get ready, and go to school.
8:00am - 5:00pm Stay in school and pay attention.
5:00pm - 6:30pm Work out.
6:30pm - 7:00pm Eat dinner.
7:00pm - 12:00am Study.
12:00am - 1:00am Prepare for bed.
1:00am - 7:00am Sleep.
Now it doesn't always follow this schedule strictly.. but there's the general idea. I still end up getting 6 hours of sleep (we're taught that you need 8hrs). It's completely different from undergrad where most of my time went to screwing around, watching tv, surfing the net, playing videogames. Now, each hour is spent productively without leaving much room for error. On the days I skip working out I get sometime to relax and just enjoy myself, otherwise any "play time" comes out of what little sleep and study time I have.
C'est la vie eh? The one skill i've really been able to hone is accepting the idea of delayed gratification.... just 8-10 more years.......
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
what happened to my comments?.....
testing updates
now testing comments...
Hello, this is a test!
