This is my sister's kitten, Zach.  8:14 PM

The boys at the gym are smelly, and I messed up my knee

I managed to drag myself to the gym for the first time in about 4 months yesterday. I keep getting glimpses of my fat ass in the mirror, and for some reason, every time I see it, I'm shocked. I'm not sure why that would be. Do I still have the body image of a thin person? I was pretty healthy all though high school and college. Medical school has me packing on the pounds, most likely due to stress and the fact that I eat too much. Oink. Seriously, when you study for hours and hours every day, it seems like 60 minutes of activity at the gym wouldn't be able to undo all of that. The only person I have seen lose any weight in med school is Diane. She works a lot harder at it than I do. I have never be very good at will power when it comes to food. I can be disciplined for school, and most other aspects of my life, but when I see french fries... I cave.

Oh man, defeated by the french fry. Shoot me.

I can only hope that when I start rotations, and I'm on my feet for most of the day, it won't be such a struggle to lose some weight. In any case, I caught a glance of my butt and hit the gym yesterday. This was when I discovered that the elliptical trainer is tough on the knees, and that the boys at the gym smell worse during the summer. Due to the sore knees, I had to take today off from working out. Believe it or not, it actually makes me mad. 8:04 PM

What do you think of my new template? Pretty cool, huh? I'm not crazy about the ads at the top, but I guess I should leave them alone (especially since I don't know enough html to cover them up).

This is what's up with me now:
I am officially done sitting in the lecture hall. Forever. I will have to attend grand rounds once a week next year, but that is SO not every day for at least four hours. I guess this is kind of a big deal, considering I have been sitting in lecture letting people talk at me for something like 19 years. The rest of med school is more like "on the job training" because I'll be in the hospital learning how to be a real doctor. This is what I have been going to school and busting my ass for all along.

The last two years have gone by so fast, I can hardly believe it. I think I have been more challenged during that time than I have ever been in my life. Everything has been new. I moved to a new city, started a new school, started living with Ryan... It's pretty amazing.

I only have two more years left and then people will start calling me "Doctor." I might even make my parents call me that for a while. I will finally be making money, and I'll be able to do things that I want to do in my life, like get married and go on vacation, and buy myself a present.

Let's see... What else is going on?
I'm studying for Step 1 of the USMLE. This is the first step of the process to get a license to practice medicine. It's what they call a "high stakes" exam. This test, along with my grades for the next two years, will determine where Ryan and I live after medical school, and what kind of medicine I get to practice. It is a big deal in the Residency selection process, even though it isn't supposed to be. The major problem with this test is that there's about a million different kinds of review books, and it's hard to choose the ones that will help the most. Not to mention the fact that they're really expensive!

I had a total stranger ask me if I am on the pill today when I was minding my own business at Beaner's.

I think that's all that's been happening. There have been nervous breakdowns over study schedules, and weird bipolar girls asking me inappropriate questions.

What's up with you? 9:41 PM

A Global Village

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of 100 people, would you recognize it?

52 would be female
48 would be male
33 would be children
6 would be over the age of 65
58 would be Asian
70 would be persons of color
30 would be Christian
6 would own half of the village's wealth
all 6 would be U.S. citizens
9 would speak English
50 would suffer from malnutrition
80 would live in sub-standard housing
66 would not have access to clean, safe drinking water
10 would be lesbian, gay or bisexual
1 would have a college education

Sources:
Meadows, D. If the World Were a Village
Provasnik, M. A Summary of the World 3:56 PM