Fam, Hair, Rio

Now that our anatomy block is done I can finally breathe! We had family dinner studying last weekend before doomsday. Once Tuesday came, I celebrated being done by hanging out with my friend Lina and then going out with friends. Followed by a very expensive trip to the grocery store on Wednesday, something I had not done in months. I ended up having to call a cab because I bought too many groceries that I couldn't carry them home. Fail.

Followed by BURRITO MAKING!

I have been craving Hector's and Cafe Rio something fierce for weeks. WEEKS. So I finally made some bomb burritos with made-from-scratch spanish quinoa instead of rice. I love using quinoa anywhere I can because it is a complete protein and has no carbs, but it will fill you up like rice and is cheap like rice. Win.

Followed by a weekend of awesomeness!

Went out Thursday, stayed in for movie night Friday, My fam came up from DC Saturday and then I went out with friends late, and stayed in Sunday. The weather here turned awful today.... only 50 degrees and rainy all day. Perfect weather for cooking comfort foods and staying in PJs to watch football. Which is exactly what I did today :)

Enjoy some pictures!

CAFE RIO, HOW I MISS YOU!

Dim Sum Family Dinner at school before the final

COOKIE-BROWNIES!!!

Lastly, I don't usually take pics of myself. But I had a rare exception the other day. I had the best hair day possibly EVER. See for yourself :)

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I am almost done with the anatomy block of my first year of medical school! I am so close that I can taste it and I am so excited!!! But now to update from the past...

Two weeks ago I went to New York City!!! My friend Ryan from the UUSOM was in Brooklyn for 5 weeks for an abroad rotation at King's County Hospital and I got to see him for his last weekend. We spent Friday and Saturday in Brooklyn and Sunday in Manhattan. It was pretty cool, I could live there I think :) I sucked at taking pictures, but I do have a few to share...mainly of the Highline Park.

This is Ryan

This is Me

This is the view from the balcony in Brooklyn

Best Pizza Ever in Chelsea off the Highline. Thanks to my friend Gabi for the recommendation!!!

That's all for now :) pray that I will survive this last week in Anatomy and my final next Tuesday!

L

The Not-Study Game

I don't know what it was about today but I couldn't get a good thing going. My day started by oversleeping and being nearly an hour late for class! It would not have been a big deal except our class had a midterm on Friday so our schedule for this week was a tad different than usual. 

We normally have a one hour "lecture" from 08:00-09:00, then cross-teach, and finally  dissection or self study depending on the day. But today, we had dissection at 08:00 until 11:00, which is when the other half of our group came in for cross-teach until 12:00. I felt terrible about being late and leaving my dissection team a man down. 

After that whole dissection mess (dissection was particularly difficult today and I was unable to get all of my prep done...) I was excited to meet up with a friend to go climbing. Which ended up not happening for various reasons. Bummer. 

But in the end, I decided to stay in, do laundry (something I have never done since moving to Philadelphia), and watch hulu. This plan was aided particularly by the weather: it has been a torrential downpour here in the city for most of the day - lightning, thunder, the whole bit. These rainy Mondays make me want to snuggle in bed with a movie on. 

Which is exactly what I did today aka played the not-study game. And I feel great about it.

L

Sunshine and bunnies

My last post was depressing. So let's brighten things up a bit.

Funniest Episode EVER

The Louses are Coming

In the past week, I have had two dreams where I have head lice. Considering I have never had head lice, I am concerned. So I googled it. Here's what came up:

LiceA dream of lice contains much waking worry and distress. It often implies offensive ailments. Lice on stock, foretells famine and loss. To have lice on your body, denotes that you will conduct yourself unpleasantly with your acquaintances. To dream of catching lice, foretells sickness, and that you will cultivate morbidity.

                                 Apparently, I am going to be a brat. My apologies in advance.

On the bright side, I just graduated and work at a tier 1 research university where professors that study lice and, consequently have lice, invent gadgets to get rid of lice.

Behold...I give you, the LOUSEBUSTER! 

SCIENCE!!!!!!



L

So many colors

I was going to blog about an awesome hot air balloon ride I went on yesterday. But without pictures, it is a lame story. So changing focus to my favorite month...OCTOBER!
October is my favorite month because of the colors, Halloween, the activities, and Day of the Dead.

I can't believe October is almost here. I went boating at Jordanelle yesterday (that's right, it was warm enough to go boating on September 24!) and it made me miss the summer. I do love fall so I'll get over it I'm sure.
1. October is when my interview in Albany, New York is taking place! And who wouldn't love autumn in new york?

So beautiful!

2. October is when I start getting excited for HALLOWEEN! and just a preview of what's to come:

Rainbow Dash!

                                                      Oh yes, start getting excited.
Lastly, 3. October-ish is when Day of the Dead is. I want to make a skull of my own this year. Maybe like these...

Well, it looks like it is going to be an awesome month. Hooray for October. Can't you come sooner?


L

Haysi

For someone who is super unattractive, he sure makes my hips want to dance. I love this song.

Avatar VS. Ferngully: The Last Rainforest

My roommate Erin and I just had a heated discussion brought on by looking at pictures on Liz's blog from China. She went on a trip to the mountains that inspired Avatar scenes and they have a replica statue of the bird-like things the navi ride on in at this park in the Chinese mountains. I was trying to describe said creature when it came out that Erin has never seen Avatar. This pro/con list is inspired by our convo that followed.

AVATAR                                                                       FERNGULLY

Pro: sweet CG effects                                                  Pro: the original

Con: giant blue people                                                 Con: corny 90s music  

Pro: sweet wormy connections to the earth                   Pro: matriarchal society

Con: long                                                                    Con: mullets

Pro: Sigourney weaver                                                 Pro: Tim curry

Con: guy who plays norm                                            Con: guys who play workers and pip

Pro: beautiful fake scenery                                           Pro: Batty's rap

Con: stole story-line from ferngully                               

Well, that's what we could come up with. And since Ferngully is the original, and has one less con, it wins.

Score one for planet Earth.

L 

SERS

SERS or Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering is what I should be thinking about. But I'm not. I'm studying in my biology lab classroom in my favorite spot...right in front of our 500 gallon aquarium. And it's night-time in the tank (meaning the lights are off). Because of this my favorite nocturnal creatures in the tank are very active right now....and very distracting. Let me give you all a quick lesson on Brittle Stars :)


Brittle stars are Echinoderms. They're related to starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea lilies. They are in the class Ophiuroidea and are divided into two groups:

Basket Stars

Brittle Stars

Basket stars have dichotomously branched arms - which means at each node there are two continuations. Their arms can keep branching until they're very fine, at which point the basket star uses them almost like a net to catch things drifting by in the water. They like to live deep in the ocean, near strong currents. I'm currently watching the basket star in our tank feed - COOLEST ANIMAL EVER.


Brittle stars have a central body disk containing their organs and then their arms with muscles to help them move. Brittle stars are called brittle stars because their arms break off easily, probably an escape mechanism. They are predators, eating smaller brittle stars and sometimes fish as well as scavengers. They have spines and plates covering their arms which protect them and give them traction as they move about. I am currently looking at the body disk of the biggest brittle star in our tank. In the four years I have taught this class, I have never seen his body disk. ever. So this is a pretty big deal.




All in all, I <3 Echinoderms. Their physiology is fascinating. They're cool to look at and fun to play with. And now that I have shared some brittle star knowledge, I will go back to figuring out what the hell SERS really is. Wish me luck.


L

Little monster

This next week is going to be rough, but it will all pay off. Let's start with bad news first...

My thesis is due Tuesday.

My scholar designation publication is due Tuesday.

I have to have grading done by Wednesday.

I have a nanoscience test on Thursday.

I have a statistics test Saturday.

BUT THEN.....

I'm seeing LADY GAGA

SATURDAY NIGHT!!!!!

I'm the best LITTLE MONSTER EVER.

Oh...And I'll be in Mexico the whole next week. 
VIVA LA MEJICO. VIVA LA SPRING BREAK.


L.

Frenzied

I should be typing my project for anatomy colloquium but you know what I'm doing? Listening to  A Fine Frenzy. The lyrics are just so good! For example:

So lace your hands 'round the small of my back
And I will kiss you, like a king
I will be your bride
I'll keep you warm at night
I will sing, I will sing

It was now and we were both in the same place
I didn't know how to say the words
With my heart ticking
Like a bomb in a birdcage
I left before someone got hurt

Cuz it was, what I wouldn't do
I might, if I had you
It was, what I wouldn't do
When I had you, babe
When I had you

OR:

You are a thunderous thing,
Wondrous king
The face of a marvelous God,
It's deep in your thoughts

Come here, oh closer to touch
Never enough
Let me climb under your skin
Oh let me in

From your lips, a precipice
I hang on every word
Height and seeking
Oh, we are reaching
New heights and seeking
How to keep them high?
Keep 'em high?