Scott's MD-PhD Adventure

Monday, July 31, 2006

Juice

Jessica (Juice) discovered an article about grad school. She didn't like it.
Then she put it in her blog, complete with Steven Colbert style "The Word" parentheticals throughout.
Then she IMed Mike and they talked and that went in her blog.
Then I read it and I snorted.

Hell to the No!

From: Elizabeth Przybylski [mailto:Elizabeth.Przybylski@ama-assn.org]
Sent: Monday, 31 July 2006 4:03 PM
Subject:

Hello Scott,

My name is Elizabeth ( Prizzi) Przybylski. I work at the American Medical association in Chicago.
We are Trying to contact you to get a current phone number for you for our records.
Please call me at 800/337-1599, And ask for Elizabeth Prizzi, or you may e-mail me at elizabeth.przybylski@ama-assn.org.

Thank-you, and have a great day.

Elizabeth (Prizzi) Przybylski
Division of Market Research
and Analysis
American Medical Association
515 N. State Street
Chicago, IL, 60610

Translation: We want to annoy you and call during dinner to ask you about giving us money.
Hell to the no!

Friday, July 28, 2006

Men Only

Mike and I went for a walk, and walked by this sign for "Hotel Men Only" on south clark. I have no idea whether it's still operating. It's next to a Fish&Chicken place, fried lobster, a pawn shop, and a jazz club. Anyone know anything about it?
Here's a pic.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Spanking the Monkey

I work with tissue cultures and mice. Ina works with monkeys. Which would you rather do?

Ina (8:26:21 PM): a monkey masturbated in front of me today

Sacrificed!

In lab meeting today, I was giving my report on what I did the past week.
"On Monday I killed the mouse"
*gasps!* from the other three. "You mean sacrificed!"
"Oh...ok. On Monday I sacrificed the mouse..."

Apparently I really need to take this required Animal Ethics course asap!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Beyonce has a Hydrogenia!

Apparently Beyonce has an inner diva named Sasha.
First Shitange, now Sasha. Everyone needs one!

These images are limited due to body habitus.

Apparently fat people can't get MRIs cause they don't fit and Xrays cause they got too much dense tissue.
Wow. Just wow.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Broca's & Wernicke's

A fascinating study, reported on NPR about how we learn to use language by putting babies in a "hair dryer." Any news report that mentions Broca's and Wernicke's areas gets my vote!

Sunday, July 23, 2006

JD

Mike and I went to Little Three Happiness for dinner tonight.
Of all the fortune cookies in the world, I randomly pick the one of two they gave us...

Even my fortune cookie knows about the JD! ;)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

National Association for Advancement of Carpenters & Plumbers

So Colbert had the real chairman of the NAACP on and not only discussed the Bush speech with him, but also asked him to help with Colbert's search for "a new black friend."
It's absolutely a must-see! I cannot believe the things that Colbert gets away with saying.

Here's the link!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Celebrity Update

You heard it here first: Jenna Fischer (Pam on The Office) will be in a "romantic comedy" somehow involving medicine.
How do I know this? Because when I went across campus to get a mouse to kill, Lili and I saw a movie being filmed right between BRL and OCC on the corner of Taylor & Wood. After asking some of the crowd watching, I was informed what was going on. I even snapped this picture of Jenna walking in her brown scrubs.



I have no idea what it's called or when it will be released or who the director is. But I did have fun getting confused as to who was a real doctors/nurses watching the filming and who was waiting around because they were extras...until I noticed the really fake "Chicago Family Hospital" logo on some of the scrubs&coats. Still, quite a fun break today.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Algebra for Black People

Some community college is in trouble because their algebra class had a word problem involving Condoleezza throwing a watermelon off of a Federal Building.

First of all, if Condi was actually black enough to enjoy watermelon, she wouldn't bother to throw it off of a building. She'd be eating it.

Second, if she did throw it, why from the "Federal Building"? Shouldn't she be lobbing it at Dick Cheney's for something? Maybe cause he shot her?

And really, why is this a scandal? Shouldn't algebra word problems at a community college involve black people? "Bob" and "Jane" are so yesterday - Shiquita and Boronkeisha should be getting their hair did, and students should be calculating how long Boronkeisha's hair would be if she has 3 feet of weave and each knot is 0.25 inches and uses 4 inches of weave. Or some shit like that. You know, practical.

Or as Ava put it:
"that's amusing. but like, i dont think it's that offensive. i think it'd be offensive if it was like 'an uppity republican nigger, Condoleezza, ate 1/4 a watermelon in 20 minutes. at this rate, how long would it take her to eat 20 watermelons that should could have distributed amongst her 10 welfare children?' but ya, that is funny."

Oh Joe

So Joe had a little Redline Pseudoromp, to which I say good for him.
Then, some people were shocked and turned on; others were confused.
Then, some hetero went crazy and another tried to defend the rubdown.
Finally, some dad had to metaphorically shout "what about the children!" and he got his own smack-down.

Isn't Craiglist fun?!?

Carmina Burana

Tonight was a free concert at Pritzker pavillion at Millenium Park - Carmina Burana.
Of course I knew nothing about this beforehand, other than someone shouts it in La Vie Boheme...but I went anyway since it's free and I had to read about AID-deficient Hyper-IgM Syndrome.

1) It proceeded to rain, causing me to put away my journal article and sit, with no umbrella. However, I'm pretty sure based on these lyrics that it's just some opera about a guy deflowering his woman after he wins her over.

Mea mecum ludit (My virginity)
virginitas, (makes me frisky,)
mea me detrudit (my simplicity)
simplicitas. (holds me back.)
...
Dulcissime, (Sweetest one! Ah!)
totam tibi subdo me! (I give myself to you totally!)

2) The child in front of us decided it would make faces. The family in this row consisted of 2 white adults, 3 white teenagers, and 3 black children ~ages 3, 5, and 9. Yeah...

3) After the show, there was a GayGames concert, featuring such major celebrities as T.C. Carson. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus sang "It's Raining Men" and "Dancing Queen". Yes, those songs can in fact get gayer. The lesbians sang "Your Women's Bookstore"

4) The highlight of the night was that the songs and talking between them needed not one, but two different sign language interpreters. One seemed to be doing ASL, the other...we don't know. Since it was the international gay games, was this flaming homo signing in spanish also?
Really, I think he was just signing in/translating to gay, because I don't know what word or phrase is signed by putting your open hands one on top of the other on your belly button, and sliding them down to your crotch. Ok, I know what it could mean...but that word or phrase was definitely not in the gospel ensemble singing "anthem of praise"

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

USMLE Scores!

Apparently they've been released. I guess I'll hear in the next few days?

Project Runway

So I finally searched the internet to figure out how there was another season already. It turns out there are two New York Fashion Weeks a year. One in Feb, one in Sep.

Also, there really does not need to be a text message vote of who should get "Auf'd!"

There's a TV watch all summer!
"What did we learn from the first hour? Not much more than that most of the women seem focused and most of the men seem homosexual, both useful skills for this show."
Classic.

The Desk I Want


So, here it is.

It's glass and pretty and the correct shape and affordable. Except, it's only available online, which means I have to pay the 104 shipping fee. :(
I even called Target to see if they could ship it to the store so I could pick it up there and not pay the 104 shipping fee ("it's 103.99 sir!" "Sorry...I rounded up") and they said no! Grrrr

Let me see your stats!

OMG Sarah sent me this and it's hilarious.
Best stats video ever!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Washer-Dryer Combos

Thor seems to be my favorite. Every section on this site is worth reading. I think the SoftLine seems to be the best and has 2.3 cubic feet capacity.

Creative Laundry has some as well, including one with a 3.7 cubic feet capacity.

Specialized appliances has one but the volume is small.

This Maytag one seems to be what I use now, and it's 3.3 cubic feet. We probably don't want less than 3, and even 2.5 would be pushing it?

Consumer Reports:
Washers
Dryers

Blinds!

(For Mike!)
How to measure!

Just update sizes to see price - all are available top-down bottom-up.
All are single-cell 3/4" pleat.

Light-filtering
On sale for 15% off:
Hunter Douglas
Levolor
Kirsch
Not on sale (lower original base price):
Blindsgalore
Comfortex
Bali

Blackout
On sale for 15% off:
Hunter Douglas
Not on sale (lower original base price):
Blindsgalore
Comfortex

If all were Hunter-Douglas (based on earlier measurements):
Living room 1: 200+48 -15% = 210.8
Living room 2: 242+48 -15% = 246.5
Bedroom: 314+48 -15% = 307.7 *2 = 615.4
Total: 1072.7
Free shipping! No tax!

Color comments?
Chai > Sandcastle > Polenta > Cornsilk > Winter Frost
Polenta or Butterscotch for bedroom?

BlindsGalore pricing:
LR1: 181 + 34 = 215
LR2: 220 + 34 = 254
BR: 287 + 34= 321*2= 642

Comfortex pricing:
LR1: 194 + 35 = 229
LR2: 235 + 35 = 270
BR: 308+35= 343*2= 686

Kirsch base price (for light-filtering only) is 186, whereas HD is 146. They don't make blackout in this style. Hunter Douglas is only cheaper because of the 15% off sale through July 19!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Magnetic Poetry

So my grandmother is loaning us money for down payment for the new condo. We asked our lawyer to give us a sample promissory note type document so that we could then make our own and have something in writing that wasn't "I will pay my grandmother the money back" with my signature.
Instead, he drafted a promissory note, for "Mark & Scott," that ends with the following section:

WAIVER: All parties hereto severally waive presentment for payment, notice of dishonor, protest, and notice of protest.

I know what all of those words mean, but doesn't it seem like lawyer magnetic poetry where he took a bunch of real words, and arranged them in a sentence that allegedly means something?

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Mexican Dozen - the sequel!

So I posted a while back about how I order bagels. Today we went to get more, and they caught on. As I said what I wanted, they counted along:
"two pumpernickel"
"that's 2!"
"and 2 cinnamon raisin"
"4!"

Of course I still tried my method: after I got to 10, I said "and the rest plain." Maybe it's cause it was after 5pm or something, but the grand total of bagels from NYC Bagel Deli today...

19!
Now that's a Mexican dozen.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Are you 18 or retarded?

So at the party this weekend, Clint, the 18 year-old, asked Josh, the 28 year-old, how old Josh was.

18 year-old: Hey, how old are you?
Josh: I'm 28.
18 year-old: Really? Wow. I have a 27 year-old friend and you look really similar to him except he looks much older.

Is that not blatantly contradictory? Are you 18 or retarded?