I scream, you scream...

I scream again for ice cream!

Ever had a day (or a few in a row) when all you can think about is one certain food that you'd kill to have? I guess it's more succinctly called a craving, now that I think about it. At any rate, I haven't been able to stop thinking about a soft-serve chocolate-vanilla twist ice cream cone covered in rainbow sprinkles since last Thursday. And I'm not talking a spoonful of sprinkles over the top, I mean a full-on Dairy Queen-style dunk in the sprinkle vat. Mmmm, sprinkle vat.

The Ann Arbor DQ on Packard is closed until who-knows-when. I'll figure something out, I assure you.

xoxox

Get in my belly, ice cream cone with multi-colored sprinkles!

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

Ahhh, glorious weekend. My mood is considerably lifted since my last post, namely because it's been sunny for a few days in a row now and I'm leaving for my Mexican vacation in less than 7 days. Fortunately, my two exams this coming week are Wednesday and Friday so I didn't have to spend every minute of the weekend studying for a Monday morning test. Following is an assortment of musings regarding the past few days:

1.) I'm currently in the middle of a Jane Austen infatuation. I watched Emma this weekend starring Gwyneth Paltrow (courtesy of Netflix!) and adored Pride & Prejudice when I saw it in the theatres a few weeks back. In terms of Austen, I've only ever read (and loved) Pride and Prejudice (I know! I'm a literati poseur!) but I can't get enough lately. I'm thinking about dropping by the Ann Arbor Public Library and picking up Sense and Sensibility to take on my trip. Any other Austen favorites?

2.) Have I mentioned that my trip is actually yet another cruise? I'm excited beyond belief to go but neither Josh nor myself were planning on taking another cruise anytime soon. It just so happens that this trip was a killer deal and 30 of my classmates are going too. I'm not one to turn down a vacay in the sun so even though my last cruise turned out to be a drama on the high seas, I'll take it! It should be a blast :)

3.) Last night the Discovery Channel showed an encore presentation of The Grizzly Man, the recent documentary about one Timothy Treadwell who spent 13 summers living in the Alaskan wilderness with grizzly bears but was ultimately killed in a brutal attack by one of them. He filmed hours and hours of his time with the bears and other wildlife in Alaska and the documentary was chock-full of beautiful imagery.

I was, however, irritated by the movie because Treadwell struck me not as a trained conservationist or ecologist but rather a very troubled man seeking solace with the animals. On more than one occasion he physically changed or manipulated the bears' environment to achieve the behavioral response he wanted from them and didn't seem particularly knowledgeable or well-trained about the animals or their needs. Treadwell seemed to me someone battling his own demons who loved animals but didn't quite understand the fine line between admiring and respecting them. My fear is that Grizzly Man might encourage the notion that animals are simply primitive, food-driven beasts incapable of emotion or the development of relationships if they could kill Timothy Treadwell so viciously after living seemingly harmoniously with him for so long. It seems that Treadwell did a lot of work advocating the protection and awareness of the Alaskan grizzlies but that he also--maybe without realizing it--intruded on the self-sustainable and awesome power of nature. I'm not trying to wax philosophical, I just can't stop thinking about the film and just hope that viewers take away more from it than the idea that bears are simply wild beasts.

4.) I finally filed my taxes for 2005 (and by "I" of course I mean "Josh") and couldn't be more thrilled. Thanks to my buddy Rick's suggestion, I received a pretty hefty "life-long learning" tax credit for working and then going back to graduate school and I'll be getting three times as big a return as I was expecting! I plan on saving some of it and using the rest to pay some bills but...mama needs a new pair of shoes! ;)

I thought I had more to say but that's probably because I really don't want to start studying for Prosthodontics, a subject I find fascinating but a class that has to be one of our most boring. Have a lovely day :)

xoxox

How low can I go?

I think I've finally hit rock-bottom in terms of motivation and overall attitude. My classmates and I are ready for a break in a big, bad way. Everyone is so irritable, unkempt, and exhausted. Instead of commiserating and even enjoying each other's company, every one of the 110 of us just walk in to school at 8, keep our heads down (some more than others because they fall asleep in lecture), plow through it and try to get out as fast as humanly possible at 5. It's time for a break. I'm personally ready to snap because my room, laundry basket, and apartment can all be classified as disaster areas and trying to make/find easy, fast, healthy, vegetarian meals has simply become a nightmare with this schedule. I called my mom crying last night because I'm 1.) always starving (my metabolism is through the roof) and 2.) don't have the time to meal plan, cook, and grocery shop well. *sigh* I think I can stick it out until Spring Break with a little help from weather.com--it's 85 and sunny in Cozumel right now :)

Only 8 days, 1 quiz, 2 practicals, and 2 exams to go. I can do that.

Yeah...I can do that.

xoxox

psssst:

Quickly, a few things I forgot:

1.) I got my new Dell and I love it!

2.) The presentation on Wednesday went very well even though my stomach was so queasy with nervousness I could only eat cherry tomatoes for lunch. I'll find out whether or not I got the funding in the next month or so. Keep those fingers crossed for me!

3.) Have I mentioned yet that I'm going to Mexico for Spring Break on March 3rd? Details to come. I can't waaaaaaait! :)

xoxox

A totally tubular weekend

Ahhh, it's late Sunday morning and I haven't done a lick of work yet this weekend. That certainly doesn't mean that I don't need to do a lick of work just that I have no regrets about having a little fun this weekend. It's been fun and relaxing.

Friday night we headed over to "professional" dental fraternity Delta Sig's first annual 80's party. The party itself was kind of a flop but it was hilarious to see everyone's outfits. The decade of neon and bold colors, shoulder pads, big big hair, and power suits was worn with pride that night. I somehow managed to score a not-found-in-nature purple prom dress complete with absurdly large bow and asymmetrical top hem line in my exact size at the thrift store. I paired it with atrocious hair and tacky earrings and made my debut. I think I had to wash my hair twice to get all of the hairspray out Saturday morning. Check out the pictures below.

Last night, my college buddies Stephanie and Emily (and their respective boyfriends Scott and Bill) came over to my place for a game night. We played Apples to Apples (a great game!) and Scene It Sports Edition. Highlights of the night were Stephanie referring to the Lord of the Rings franchise as "one giant geeky endeavor" and the George W. Bush card being played in the "profound" category of Apples to Apples. I finally had a chance to use my fondue pot with some chocolate and fruit and Emily brought a fabulous taco dip. It was nice to have a low-key evening with all of them and I'm looking forward to another game night soon!

Finally, Josh's sister Jamie leaves for Poland this afternoon where she will be spending the next 4 months studying architecture (which she studies at the University of Detroit Mercy). Josh and I are meeting up with the Wansten family to have lunch and see her off. I think this will be a fabulous experience for her and knowing little Miss Independent Jamie, it's very likely that we may never see her again once her feet touch European soil! I'm already cooking up ideas of a quick trip over to visit her this spring during our winter-summer semester break. Very unlikely, but I can dream right?

*sigh* Time to run and actually do something productive I guess. It's going to be hard getting back to the grind after a day and a half of doing absolutely nothing at all. I could get used to this! :)

Cheers!

xoxox

Mom and Dad sent Tanya and I these adorable (and delicious!) personalized Hershey's bars for Valentine's Day! I'm so lucky to have so many Valentines ;)

Josh, Madeline, Stacy, Shveta, Katrina, and me try our best to honor our decade of birth. Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures that do justice to the height of my bangs that night. Half a bottle of hairspray and 20 minutes after starting my hair I think my bangs were brushing the ceiling at one point.

Josh's jeans were so tight that he couldn't sit down comfortably or take his wallet out of his back pocket.

Madeline looked like she stepped right off of a day on Walstreet in this teal power suit.

Running the gamut of men's 80's fashion, Josh, Curtis, Tom and Pat represented the Billy Idol, Miami Vice, and NBA fan demographics.

Somehow Laura and Courtney managed to find these matching outfits at the Salvation Army just hours before the party. Laura also found a used Kleenex in the pocket of her sweatshirt, presumably from the 1980's. Now that's authentic!

The night couldn't end any other way than with a sing-a-long in Tom's room. Tom is a very talented musician and he recently sold some of his own songs (that he wrote) to the Lifetime Channel to use as movie soundtracks! The kid's gonna be big -- you heard it here first!

Shelby and Me: Belles of the Ball circa 1986

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxox

Pringle update, nitrous oxide, and lovin' love

I must type quicky because I'm currently on borrowed computer time from Josh while he's out "having a few beers and watching sports" at the bar to drown his sorrows after our brutal 60-lecture neurology exam today. I, on the other hand, have a really intimidating and anxiety-inducing presentation to give on Wednesday to the review committee for the D-school's Summer Research Program. I basically have to convince them that I understand a ton about intracellular signaling in squamous cell carcinoma and that they should give me a small fortune as a stipend to research it further this summer. Instead, I'm writing in my weblog and making my valentines later tonight (speaking of which, note the font color change in honor of said holiday). Here are a few thoughts of the moment:

1.) Miles Davis rocks. Sometimes I feel like his trumpet is singing directly to me.

2.) Josh looked up details on the Pringle on the internet (see post from 1/18/06). My mom was right; it is indeed an auditorium. I'm not quite sure how I feel about knowing the truth now. I'll admit to feeling a little emptier every morning when I walk to school. There's something to be said about maintaining the small mysteries in life. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with not understanding how under-water tunnels are built.

3.) My old computer has been replaced and a new Dell notebook is en route to me as we speak (as I type?). I don't know the difference between a kilogram and a megabyte so Josh did a lot of the shopping for me. It'll be hard to say goodbye to my Inspiron 500. It's gotten me through countless papers and late-night instant messaging all through college and beyond. I'm miss the little guy.

4.) I literally studied the entire weekend starting from 8 pm Friday night, well over 12 hours Saturday, and the same on Sunday. The only consolation I got was the hilarious and very immature discovery that nitrous oxide, an inhalation anesthetic frequently used in dental offices (a.k.a. "laughing gas"), has a side effect of flatulence in addition to excessive laughter due to its high lipid solubility. Did a 7th grade boy design that anesthetic or what? Just imagine the possibilities! I laughed so hard at this thought of cyclical entertainment that I had to call my sister. I can't wait to administer nitrous in my office.

5.) I posted recently about taking advice from Dory of Finding Nemo fame. Oddly, my friend Solomon is The Fish Guy (no, literally...he's doing his PhD in aquatic ecology) and noticed my misnomer of Dory as an angel fish. He emailed me with a gentle correction noting that Dory is indeed a blue fin fish and I promised that I would acknowledge my mistake in the name of weblog accuracy and integrity. Thanks for the fish knowledge, Solomon...just watch out for any dental-related tidbits you might be keen on posting! :)

6.) Finally, tomorrow is the big day: Valentine's, V, or Dooms for those of you haters out there. For me, Valentine's Day is a wonderful excuse to wear pink and eat chocolate so I love it. That and I almost sickeningly love love and even though Josh and I don't really do anything special for February 14th, I still enjoy it. I think anyone can be anyone's Valentine so I try to remember to tell my friends and family that I love them too. I guess that's a good idea any day of the year, though. For tomorrow...I'll take the chocolate.

Well, it's back to presentation preparation for me. Expect a post gushing over my new computer this week and maybe...just maybe...tales of a tiny bit of fun this weekend. Maybe ;)

Will you be my Valentine?

xoxox

Under the weather

My computer and I both caught viruses last week. I seem to be coming out of my sickly malaise after spending the weekend doped up and resting up. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my almost-6-years-old laptop. I don't know if my little Dell is gonna make it out of this one and I might be forced into buying a shiny, new replacement. I'm feeling a little sad because I'm inexcusably nostalgic (my first computer bought my first semester of college!) and loyal despite obsolescence.

Hang tight for a few days and I'll try to discreetly slip in a post here and there from Josh's computer or the D-school computer lab.

xoxox