Evan

Given the recent news discussions regarding off-season baseball transactions, I felt it was necessary to make my stance known:

If the Detroit Tigers trade Curtis Granderson this off-season, I will withdraw my allegiances to this organization for a minimum of one year. I will not attend any games, I will not willingly observe any broadcast, I will not actively take part in anything affiliated with the Tigers organization.

That is all.

With the minutes I have to spare these days, I thought I would enlighten everyone on what has been quite literally, the most intense academic week of my life. Period.

I started med school last friday, but it honestly feels more like a month ago given the amount of information I've accumulated already.

So here's a fun little thing I decided to do entitled:

"You know you're in med school when..."

... your ENTIRE day has been spent learning in some capacity.
... you spend more time with dead bodies than you do with live bodies (outside of school of course)
... you haven't watched any form of TV in a week.
... you haven't shaved in a week.
... you haven't showered in a couple days.
... you are perfectly capable of discussing your favorite food dishes with colleagues amid the stench formaldehyde and decomposing tissue of the cadaver lab.
... your exercise for the day consists of walking between buildings with a backpack containing three books of more than 1000 pages each.
... you run countless anatomical facts through your brain as you lie in bed trying to sleep, and the moment you "wake up" in the morning your brain continues the same process...prompting you to ask yourself "Did I actually ever fall asleep?"
... the greatest moment of the day is the first bite you take of your Jimmy John's sandwich you have for dinner....for dinner EVERY night of the last week.
... 6:00 becomes exciting simply for the fact that the parking garages are open to the public and you can drive over to the "luxurious" Law Library to study for the rest of the night.
... your 10-15 minutes spent in your car every day feel so relaxing you almost consider purposely getting yourself lost just so you can avoid the inevitability of more studying that awaits you regardless of your actual destination.

I have my first exam this coming Thursday. The material covered on the exam will go right up to the day before the exam, which means I literally have to get at least one day ahead on all my studying if I want ANY chance to "review" for the exam the day before.

I'm scared shitless.
But excited also.

But mainly I'm just tired....

Unfortunately I let too much time go by again since my last "Life update", so the best I can do this time is just let the fingers run wild and hopefully some form of coherent information is produced.

So I graduated from college a second time...I guess that should be exciting or something, but it really isn't. It'll be hard for me to ever think of this past year as anything more than a waste of time (and a shit-load of money), but at least I feel a little more validated as an engineer now...for whatever that's worth.

I'm struggling mightily to get my research published...I was working in a lab for over two years on one project, and it's still been a challenge making a coherent manuscript to submit to a journal. I should have had this done well over a month ago, but now I'm not sure if it'll ever get off the ground... frustrating to say the least. The worst is that I feel like the post-doc that is helping me with it is trying to dance around the issue because she doesn't want to tell me how truly awful the project is and how little chance it has for being accepted to a journal. I wish she would just be honest and tell me it's not gonna happen, that way I can at least get it off my mind and move on.

So it's like 99% official that i'm going to msu. I've already registered for my summer class and I've already signed an apartment lease, so basically i'm committed now. It's really been tough dealing with rejection from Wayne State a second time through... I felt like I had improved myself a good amount, and considering how much I expressed my level of committment to their institution, I felt like I would be in a much better position this time around. Don't get me wrong, MSU will be good as well...considering the type of work I want to do, it might actually be a better option than wayne. But if i find out i wanna do surgery or some area like that later on, i'm probably going to be at a disadvantage at msu. Worst of all is I'd like to think that the whole DO vs MD thing doesn't bother me...but it does. I don't want to have to go through my entire professional career trying to convince people that I'm just as valid of a physician as an MD. I don't want to have that big chip on my shoulder while trying to be the best doctor I can be. I guess I could use it as motivation in a way...to show people that I'm as good as or better than many MD's...but honestly I don't want to have that in my thought process. I'm sure this feeling will diminish, if not completely pass, as I progress through my schooling and into residency...but for now it's just something I have to deal with.

My car died....yes, ECTO 1 (as some of you affectionately call it) has had it's last hurrah...at least with me. I was up in Lansing about three weeks ago looking at apartments, and the transmission blew on me. Some of you may recall the same thing happened to me two years ago...costing me more than I care to remember to fix. Well, after two solid weeks of deliberating and politicking with roughly five different repair shops, I decided to cut my losses and run. Instead, I am now the proud lessee of a 2007 Pontiac G6. As many of you know, I've never been in the possession of a new car....hell, I've never had a car less than 12 years old. I'm still adjusting to all the modern comforts and amenities that come with modern cars, but it's definitely not a bad thing. Though, I am going to miss the ample room that the wagon offered...and who could honestly say they're happy to lose reverse bench seats in the trunk?? Such an engineering marvel was so before it's time...

The worst part about the whole car fiasco was the lost time. At least two weeks of my precious vacation before med school was swallowed up in the mess. Now I sit here, two and a half weeks left before the start of the rest of my life, and with very little of my "list o' things to accomplish over break" completed. Making up for lost time is going to be difficult, but hopefully I can salvage enough of the time I have left to be satisfied with how I spent my vacation. It's funny to think back to half a year ago when I was scheming all these grand plans for how to spend my time off...New Zealand.... Mexico....and now it looks like the best I'll do is a trip to baltimore and a few days at my cottage. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just that the things I once thought were going to be quite possible are now completely impossible...at least for now. I'm sure I'll get to travel some day...in fact I won't be able to live with myself if I never make it to NZ, but I just wish I had the chance to do more by this point in my life. It's discouraging, but I know I just have to be patient.

It's funny how part of me feels like I've reached the end of a chapter in my life now that I'm done with UofM, and especially because of the enormous life change so near now. Another part of me can't really place such a stringent dividing line on this phase of my life. The way I see it, there is always going to be a good amount of spill over from one phase to the next for me. I'm horrible at adjusting to big changes, and having old ties to fall back on is the only way I can make those kinds of transitions comfortably. I guess it's a type of fear I've always had...but I think the fact that I'm making these big changes, at least in terms of my academic/career choices, without outside provocation is a step in the right direction. I'm sure before too long I'll be able to reflect happily on my decisions in this regard. I may have to remove the safety lines at my own pace, but at least I made the leap.

Enough with the theatrics...I think this post is sufficient for now. Anyone interested in hanging out before I shove off to medical boot camp feel free to get ahold of me.

Oh, and go Tigers :D

Virginia Tech victims

I knew Kevin Granata

Not personally, but I had a small amount of communication with him by email about a year ago in regards to my lab research. His research was closely related to my work and the work done by our entire lab. He was a good friend of my advisor, Dr. Dan Ferris, and they collaborated a great deal in each other’s work.

Dr. Ferris emailed our lab to inform us that he was one of the victims in yesterdays shooting. It was an incredible shock, but it didn’t really sink in until after seeing the above article, seeing his picture, and reading about him. I really didn’t quite know how to react…I honestly still don’t. I never knew the man personally, yet this small amount of personal connection made the tragedy infinitely times more real to me. I sat at my computer in my lab for what was probably 30 minutes before I could really even attempt to get any work done. During that time my mind whirled through a lot of things, and part of the time I was self-reflecting on how I’ve dealt with national tragedies like this in the past. I remember Columbine vividly, I remember the Columbia shuttle disaster well, and of course hurricane Katrina and 9/11… but in every case I had no direct connection to anyone personally affected. While all these events had some level of impact on me, small and large, I was never struck as deeply by these events (with exception to 9/11) as I have been now. I thought to myself “I actually spoke with someone who was shot and killed…probably face to face with his killer…I knew a man who met his ultimate demise at the hand of a student at his institution.” These kinds of thoughts, for whatever reason, have really affected me…but I can’t figure out in what way I have been affected. I don’t feel any one particular emotion, but the best I can describe it as is just shock. Part of it may be the fact that I know my advisor was a close friend with this man, and thinking about how I may feel and react if I was in his position…losing a friend like that…it’s hard to even envision.
I’ve also been very struck by how fast and how much information has been made available already about what transpired and, even more shockingly, how much is already known about the killer. As fellow LJ friends have even posted links to this person’s screenplays and short stories, it’s more than I choose to learn at this point in time, but nevertheless I can’t help but be shocked by what I have been able to learn. For whatever reason, I feel like there was not nearly this much information available about the two killers at Columbine so soon after the shootings, or even much later. Within a day of all of this I already know where he grew up, his parents occupation, how and where he acquired the firearms, and personal accounts of his reclusive personality both in college and back home among others. Not to mention the detailed biographies about each of the victims. Removing yourself from the horror of these events, you can almost marvel at how easily and with such detail we are informed about current events now. Incidents like these make it very apparent how small the world has become in terms of communication.

To anyone who may actually be interested, I promise a thorough life update once exams are over. Until then, I’ll leave this entry on a happy note [and one of very very few things keeping me happy these days]…It’s baseball season :)

"Doth thine eyes deceive me?!? The prophecy was true! He has posted!!!" -- Random imaginary medieval web surfer

It's recently come to my attention that I haven't had a real serious "life update"-type of post since back in May or thereabouts..so I'm going to do my best to summarize the last half-year of my life for you now. I can't say for sure what will come of it, but rest assured there's a prize involved if you read through to the end!

So the struggle to move on with my life post-undergrad has been a constant source of suffering for many many moons. I was wait-listed at Wayne state med school in April and didn't find out officially that I had been rejected until July 31st. I was basically incapable of making any sort of plans for the next year of my life until I finally got word of the rejection, and honestly I was so drained from the agonizing wait that I would have probably been just as indifferent about finding out even if I had been accepted. With that bit of news I was finally able to start making some set plans again. I decided to continue with school for the time being by enrolling in a 1-year masters program at UofM in biomed engineering. It's not nearly as great as it may sound to some of you, believe me, but it's at least keeping me from being totally stagnate in life.

The summer for me was basically a repeat of last summer, for better or for worse. I continued working in the biomechanics lab that I had been working in since last May, but this time I was getting paid by my professor directly resulting in a depressing cut to my paycheck, but allowing me to be more free in my work hours. I spent a lot more time up north which was great, and also worked on all my re-applications for med school. This time around I made sure to get things done a little sooner. I also looked into osteopathic med schools (DO instead of MD). For those of you not familiar, it's virtually the same as an MD but teaches certain things with a different approach. You see it normally in primary care, which is what I plan on going into.

Oh and as a sidenote, the Detroit Tigers basically made me the happiest person on earth this summer. I know I don't need to go into details, so suffice it to say that they were my escape from an otherwise depressing period of time in my life. I can't be more thankful for having a baseball team to be proud of after more than two decades of patiently standing by and hoping for the future. It looks like that future has finally arrived, and if only for this past summer. I can at least die happy now knowing that I had at least one year that I could be proud of my team....but I digress...

So eventually school started and I moved to a new apartment (4th time in as many years). It's been a very pleasant surprise thus far at this place, and hopefully it stays that way. School has for the most part been retarded, though. I feel like I'm just biding my time, not learning much of anything... hopefully that changes next semester, but regardless I don't see myself getting a whole lot out of this program. I can see now why it's not that popular of an option for people to do this 1-year thing in place of a normal 2-year grad program....oh well I guess.

In happier news though, and probably the highlight of this entire ridiculous post...::drum roll:: I got accepted to a med school. MSU's Osteopathic med school (so their DO school)...I'm still waiting to hear something from Wayne state and MSU's MD school, but even so it's a gigantic weight off my mind. Roughly two years of mental anguish waiting for some kind of validation for my efforts and finally I get something. I'm sure I'd be happy in that program if nothing comes of the other two schools. It felt pretty comfortable during my visit, so I hope that bodes well for the future.

And with that I believe you are all now up to speed in the life of I. Hopefully you've refrained from gouging out your eyes during all that. My sincerest apologies to any of you physically or mentally harmed by the above text as it was not my intention to do so. Please direct any comments or concerns to the following:

How's my writing?
1-800-RET-ARDE-D




....oh and there is no prize. You lose.

I know if I'm not searching for it, I'll find it...

but that's impossible if I'm always searching...

frustration




In other news: School saddens me, so I've gone to South Bend, IN for the weekend. Viva azul

smells like dirty carpet....

Tigers win in dramatic fashion...makes me feel warm and fuzzy

Tigers players and their wheels:

Todd Jones = GMC Envoy
Curtis Granderson = Chevy Trailblazer [I wish he was my older brother]
Jamie Walker = Ford F-250 super tricked out American flag sticker on rear window [threatened to run over people that were in front of him.]
Placido Polanco = Range Rover super pimped out
Craig Monroe = Range Rover tricked out
Magglio Ordonez = Mercedes Benz S550 (uber sleek)
Carlos Guillen = Range Rover
Fernando Rodney = SUV of some kind can’t remember
Vance Wilson = Chevy Avalanche

Jim Leyland = Bad ass walking home w/family entourage

Twas an all-around glorious evening....

So I kinda had a personal film festival today. Amid doing application shiyaz all day and restringing my electric, I found time to watch the following:
Road Trip
Corpse Bride
The Birds

Now I really don't have much to say about the first two. Pretty much what I expected, and they had their moments. But there is definitely something to say about The Birds. I can easily understand why people have been a bit freaked after seeing this movie. Any average person would be sceptical, especially in this day in age, of a movie with a simple title and a simple premise....The Birds...about killer birds....oohh i think i just wet myself in fear (he says sarcastically)

But it was obvious Hitchcock understood the necessity for one particular horror movie element...an element that unfortunately very few horror movies possess these days...realism. As you can well imagine, a movie about killer birds is probably one of the hardest movie premises to make into a good horror flick, but he met the challenge well. There were very few holes in the plot or poor decision making that seems to plague most cheesy horror films. Most importantly in my mind, though, is that there was no soundtrack...no music...just dialogue and the sounds of the birds. A very real and spooky mood is created without the help of the audio training wheels that music provides. Now don't get me wrong, music is a vital part of many movies, but if you want to scare me...you have to make me think that what I'm seeing could actually happen to me...and last I checked, most people can't fit the London Philharmonic in their back pocket. And considering this movie was made way before special effects were anything more than some fireworks and dry ice, it's an even bigger credit to the film. I wasn't particularly scared, but I'll admit some of those scenes were as eery as any i've ever seen in a movie. Why do scary movies have to suck so bad these days? If a movie about man-eating crows and seagulls in the 60's can creep me out, why can't all the millions of dollars in computer effects figure out some way to do the same? oh well...

I'm a retard..I apologize for wasting your time..

Yet another placeholder post...my sincerest apologies...

Sunny and 70 degrees...perfect baseball weather on a nearly perfect baseball day. I had my second ballgame this afternoon, and although we lost it was highly enjoyable and felt could to get a couple hits. But that isn't the best...

1. History-making hits, 2. good 'ol fashion brawling, and 3. an almost storybook tigers game to cap it all off.

1. Yes, even though we all hate Barry Bonds, he did tie Babe Ruth today. So I have to give him some kind of acknowledgement for that.

2. Windy City crosstown rivalry game. White Sox and Cubbies....collision at home plate sparks a little scrum between the catcher and runner...catcher connects with a beautiful right hook into the face of the runner, starting a bench-clearing fight to make any baseball fan proud.

3. Tigers and Reds, Tigers up 5-2 in the 7th inning. Bases loaded for THE Ken Griffey Jr. A guy I grew up idolizing and drooling over the most graceful of swings in the history of the game. And with an almost effortless swing...sends the ball 450 feet into the right field bleachers to go up 6-5 on Detroit.....Bottom of the ninth, two outs, for Curtis Granderson. A young smart sure-handed centerfielder with a bit of a bat...high fly ball down the left field line....does it have enough???.....YES!! Tie ball game folks!!
Extra innings...bottom of the tenth...guys on first and third with 2 outs....Craig Monroe...grounder to shortstop..should end the inning...shortstop double clutches...throws off balance....gets by the first basemen!!....TIGERS WIN


I love this game

SO don't expect a nice,long, insightful post here. I'll do my best to chase away the sloth-like mindset I've had the last few weeks for a brief moment to write a real post...but for now a quick update and random blips from my brainwaves...

Graduated
Med-schools hate me
Grad school is looking like my only option
Pistons are hilarious
Tigers are scaring me
Playing mad amounts of baseball/softball real soon
Bought a coffee table

So life is presented me with a fun crossroads...I kind of feel like a train engine on one of those turnstiles with like 10 different tracks they can be set on. And much like the train I have no control over which one i get placed on...i hope Fate is a kind conductor

PS. Watched American History X tonight...extremely good movie. It really hit home for me....minus the neo-nazism, killing, and prison rape of course....there's a ton of other major inconsistencies between the movie and my life, but whatever...it was still a good flick.

So I'm watching tv right...Best Damn Sports show period....some of you may know it or heard of it. So Tom Arnold used to be a host on the show up until a year or so ago. He comes back on the show tonight cuz he has a new book coming out so it's somewhat to promote the book. But here's the thing...the book is apparently a complete tell-all about his life, like absolutely everything...and along the way he says some things about his time on BDSSP, or more specifically about the other hosts of the show....

So basically they call him out about this on the show, and totally confront him about the stuff he put in the book about hosts/former pro athletes John Sally, Rodney Peete, Michael Strahan, and Rod Dibble. What's crazier is that it appears that none of these guys, other than the head host dude, knows that Tom Arnold had talked smack about these guys in the book...

So they start by quoting something Tom said about John Sally, but JS isn't on the show for the night so he can't defend himself against the comments. Then they read a couple little things about Rodney and Rod, not too hurtful but still a bit o' slander nonetheless. IN the meantime Tom Arnold is just trying to explain himself about why he wrote what he did, mostly saying it's what he felt "at the time" whatever kind of poor excuse that was. But then came the big one....

They read a quote about Michael Strahan. Now apparently MS is a long time friend of Tom Arnold, and Tom is friends with Tiki Barber (MS's teammate) and the NY Giants owner (Tiki and MS's team). I really hope you guys are still following this :P So he basically says that Tiki said MS wasn't a team player blah blah blah, but the fact that Tiki said this to Tom and Tom puts it in his book to make it public (and to top it all off MS hadn't heard anything about these quotes before this!!) made things extremely interesting....

So eventually, things slowly escalate between Tom and Michael. Michael saying that wasn't stuff that should have been put out publicly and never telling him beforehand, Tom saying "well he said it so i put it in" with no better excuse than that...and bam! they start brawlin like a Jerry Springer episode!! Oh but it gets better~!!

So the other guys try to break Tom and Michael up, and in so doing, it appeared that Michael got hurt! and hurt pretty bad (he yelled something about his shoulder and proceeded to sprawl face down on the floor).....and then.....fade out. End of the show....no credits....just on to the next show.

I really hope I'm not the only one who finds that insanely ridiculous....particularly the fact that if Michael Strahan is seriously hurt, it could effect whether or not he ever plays again cuz he's been around a number of years already.....un-freakin believeable

Little over a month into the semester and I'm already on my 3rd all-nighter.....::sigh::

So no real reason other than the desire to post....

Topic #1. My hair is nearly passed my eyebrows. kinda nutty. The one time i ever really wished i had a digital camera up here, the other day i got out of the shower and combing down my hair, and by some act of God i was able to get the left side of my hair to look like wolverine from the x-men.....i was ecstatic......and i had my pseudo-beard thing going so other than the outlandish sideburns i was lookin pretty Logan-ish. sadly i tried for at least 15 minutes to get the other side to match to complete my state of euphoria, but alas it was not to be....at least i have the memory

Topic #2. So I just figured out today that the voice of George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld was being done by Larry David (for those of you poor beings without HBO he's the star of Curb your Enthusiasm and old writer of Seinfeld). Yah, just thought I'd throw that revelation in there....

Topic #3. Between last Thursday and this passed Tuesday I had two exams, two papers, one gigantic presentation, and a slew of homework and reading to fill in the gaps. On top of my 2 jobs and volunteering it proved too daunting to my immune system, and thusly am paying the consequences of an unrelenting sore throat....well that was just boring...my apologies..

Topic #4. I'd like to know when Winter is going to start....seriously...we haven't had it yet. We had some freak cold streak back in like November, but since then I swear it hasn't been under 30 more than once(during the day of course). If the world didn't already seem screwed over enough, Michigan has become a sub-tropical climate. I hate this state.

Topic #5. Does anyone out there find detailed analysis of Spanish Renaissance literature and poetry interesting? If you do, I will kill you dead. I mean it. I will.

Topic #6. I miss piano.

End transmission.

Thought you'd seen the last of my posts?!?! FOOL YOU!....Okay, way too much expression in this already, my apologies. It's hard to decide where I should begin, but let's maybe go with the most recent and move backwards shall we?....yah..yah that's the ticket

So today was my first day of Winter term...the final winter term of my undergraduate career (barring any unforseen apocalyptic-esque events between now and the end of april). I will be taking my Senior design course, which promises to consume my entire life around March...an Occupational safety management class that i'm praying will be easier than breathing (anything more and I'll be annoyed)...and 2 spanish classes to complete my minor: Golden Age Spanish literature and some other spanish liter-,histori-,cultura-,politi- something or other that I'm pretty sure won't be all that enjoyable. So in summary, just another stressful, time-consuming semester like all the others have been the last 4 1/2 years.....and if I have the chance, it won't get any easier, but I'll get into that later....

So I officially have a new roommate. With Kevin on a grail hunt halfway across the world (soon to be that is [and not really a grail hunt but it sounds exciting that way, right?..okay maybe not so much]), I remain as the only one of the original 4 still left in Ann Arbor. My new roommate is something else. Let me enlighten everyone on the ridiculousness of this guy's accomplishments. First of all, he's 32. He's an M.D. specialized in plastic surgery, was practicing for almost 10 years before deciding to get his PhD, which he is currently now getting, as well as continue hospital service. He's Egyptian, and got all his degrees there except for the PhD he's getting here. And to top it all off, the Egyptian government is paying him to get his degree here...he's that good. Needless to say I feel about 1cm tall talking to him (even though in reality he's about my height). The great thing though is that he's very personable and down to earth, and really conscious of others. If that keeps up it'll make for a very pleasant living environment this semester.

In a related side note, it's possible Jeremy may move in as well, but that is just speculative rumor at this point. I will neither confirm nor deny that preliminary negotiations have begun. Stay tuned for breaking news on this story as it develops...

I won't delve too much into this one, but so far the med school thing is going about as well as I imagined it would.....shitty. Still no replies about whether or not I'll even be interviewed. I'm just happy that I have a decent back up in the works. Grad school for a year + Work in my lab and possibly publishing something + more hospital volunteering = A better shot next time around. I'm still avoiding the idea of retaking the mcat, but we'll see what happens there... (Honestly that's like debating whether or not to slam my face into a pile of glass shards)

Outside of all that, things aren't too bad right now. Not great...but could be worse (Always the optimist:-P). Christmas break was nice...family time is always good. I got to see my cousin's baby girl for the first time since the summer and she's gotten bigger, started to talk, and exponentially cuter. I probably spent two hours with her trying to get her to say all sorts of words. I think the only one that will stick with her is "circle" but maybe she'll remember "intransigence" as well....
I got to see a lot of friends over break, played disgusting amounts of video games, ate disgusting amounts of food, and slept 9+ hours most days. That alone is a winning formula for a good break as far as I'm concerned.

Well I believe my public interest meter has expired at this point so I'll finish this off quickly. Just want to wish Kev good luck in Taiwan, Jeremy in finding a job/grad school, Jon in his illustration endeavors, and everyone else in their upcoming semesters of school.

Stay classy San Diego...

http://www.slate.com/id/2129373/?GT1=7407


Some recognition for my favorite Sunday Comic of all time...

Year two of the UofM Experience nearly complete. Quite a year it has been, with the mandatory bumps in the road along the way that any school year brings, but I feel I made it out fairly well, though my body has taken quite the heavy toll. Chances are I'd be winded just by looking at a treadmill at this point. But I'd rather not get myself any more depressed about that, so let's digress onto other things shall we?

I guess the biggest word of the year, or acronym better stated, would have to be "MCAT". Most of you probably know I've been studying for that exam since December pretty much every day for about 4 hours or so on average. I just took it this past Saturday. 8 hours of focus, fear, and writers cramp. Most people found it to be easier than they had anticipated. I must be the odd man out in that one because I really didn't feel the same. I felt parts of it were better than I had feared, but other parts were worse. Chances are it had more to do with my state of mind, particularly on the last section. I didn't feel quite on while taking it. It's hard to explain, but it just didn't feel right. I dunno...

But there is a bigger thing I wanted to address about all of this. I've become quite disgusted by the way people simply assume someone will do well in something based solely on the fact that the person worked their ass off to succeed. Not only do I have a problem with people who say this to other people, but I feel the general concept of "You can achieve anything if you try hard enough" is probably the worst "motivational" phrase someone can preach. Yes, I feel by putting forth significant effort a person has a better chance of achieving what they set out to do, but in no way does it guarantee ANYTHING. For those of you reading this and know this applies to something you have said to me, I'm not angry about it at all. I'm upset about the way our society has made it the polite standard in doling out these kinds of encouraging heeps of crap. I feel a better alternative would be simply to tell the person "just try to the best of your ability" and leave it at that. Too many people take for granted that people with strong work ethics are inherently capable of succeeding. What do you say to someone you've been repeatedly ensuring that they will do brilliantly when that person tells you they failed? Nothing. There's nothing you can say. I've been bothered by this type of encouragement for years and years. People don't realize that there is nothing that mandates hard work to yield equivalent results, it can merely improve the odds. But why take the gamble? We think we're helping people by spewing these kinds of motivational words, but it's a sore misconception everyone has about being polite and encouraging to others. It's become grossly apparent to me over the last couple of years just how often people will do this to others, and I just want people to try to stop themselves before they say something they can't back up.

Sorry, it's a sore topic with me. I can't emphasize it enough.

Back to a more pleasant state of being, and more pleasant things to say. I have a research position this summer here in Ann Arbor. The professor is a really cool guy and my hours will be fairly flexible, and from who I've met in the lab so far the people I'll be working with should be cool. I just hope it proves interesting:P I'm also looking forward to having a set schedule and nothing required of me outside of work. This means more time enjoying this crazy city, and hanging out with my roommates and other people that may be around. Even more exciting, I've decided to buy my first electric guitar:) I haven't looked into it very much yet, but that will be my hobby for the summer. I feel I've gotten strong enough with my acoustic that I can try my hand at something new. And with the money I'll be making doing research I won't feel so bad about spending a bit of it on a toy:D

Other than that life is decent. I'm happy I can finally start to enjoy the beautiful weather that has graced our state this spring. Hopefully it's a sign of a good summer to come:)

Oh one last thing. It's really kinda creepy when you're 8 stories up in the air and there's a construction crane right outside your window rotating back and forth like some kind of mutant cyborg giraffe. Just thought I'd share...

So the Tigers beat the Royals today 11-2....not only are the Tigers on pace to go 162-0 this year, but Dmitri Young hit 3 HR's in the game.

The dude is on pace to hit 486 homeruns this season.

Oh hell yeah......

So I'm walking back to my apartment today, and one of the M-buses are going by. For you non-UofM folks these busses usually have something like "Northbound Commuter" or "Bursley-Baits" on their sign on the front of their bus, or even "Not in Service" if they're on break. But today the bus going by had "I'M LOST" in this spot. No joke...it was a real sign they made for this bus. I proceeded to laugh to myself for the next 5 minutes or so as I continued on towards my place.

Just thought I'd share...