Still crazy, but possibly sincere

You know, it just occurred to me that the day that Tom Cruise was boinging around on Oprah's couch, that he may have really just been that excited. Since he and Katie are seemingly still together, and Suri (which I still think sounds like a British apology) exists and doesn't appear to be a robot or an alien. How about that.

I would write about the wonderfully good day that I had on Saturday, in which I actually FELT WELL, and the fact that Jim Sturgess (from 21 and Across the Universe) has gone directly to the #1 position on my Geeky Hollywood Fake Boyfriends List. Don't worry, Scott knows all about this. But it's not a threat to him, given that he's the only person on my Geeky West Virginia Real Boyfriends list.

But I can't elaborate now, because I've just discovered that I'm accidentally watching Jerry Springer: My Boyfriend is a Woman. Ack.

American Idol Randomness

I've only been randomly watching Idol this season - I keep forgetting it's on, and then usually I've fallen asleep (because I've felt so crappy for months) and if I do watch it, I don't feel like sitting at the computer and blogging. With that said, tonight I'm feeling a smidge better and I have a few thoughts.

I've only seen Danny Noriega sing once, at Hollywood, but he did this one thing that reminded me of Clay Aiken for a second. I'll keep an eye on him.

And speaking of Clay Aiken, every time they say "Hotlanta", it reminds me of the crazy Clackhouse. I'm not so sure why that is - Clay Aiken must have done something in Atlanta (besides audition - hey, I *am* a PRoCer at heart, after all - I do remember some random Clay trivia.)

I might have to call shenanigans on Asia’h Epperson's story about her dad. She just wasn't reacting the way that I would be if my daddy had died suddenly two days before (God forbid.) Also, her apostrophe reminds me of a post that I need to do, because it's something that really grinds my gears - people who name their kids stupid things with phonetic spellings and random punctuation scattered throughout.

I like Amanda Overmyer. I'm thinking she may scare the old people at the nursing home, though.

I also like Josiah Leming, but I don't understand why he has this occasional British accent.

Nice to see that Pauler is still talking about happy spirits and magicalness. Randy is sitting in the middle, though, and it's throwing my world off a little bit. Also, about Randy - he doesn't know how to work percentages. And so he should just stop saying things like, "Eleventy billion percent yes!" Because it annoys me when people mess up percentages. And it's all about ME.

Perrie Cataldo - oversang everything, like his life depended on it. Good thing it didn't.

That guy who kept talking about the "tingly feeling" that he only gets when he sings (didn't catch his name) reminds me of a junior-high version of Scott. A little bit.

Amy Flynn & her abstinence curriculum (not that there's anything wrong with that) always looks freshly scrubbed. And also, unfortunately for her and her Caruso hairstyler, freshly eliminated.

Dear Bruce Dickson, it's very creepy to have one of those "half" necklaces with your DAD. You probably shouldn't tell that to the entire country (and my BFF Corrie, who I'm sure is watching from Dutchlandia.)

Kristy Lee Cook, Amazing Grace is a great song - no doubt about that. But things usually don't fare well for people who always sing the same song. Just ask ... uh, that one girl. Whose name I can't remember. See?

It's hilarious that Jeffrey Lampkin is singing so passionately about PEE-kan pie. (Speaking of PEE-kan pie - I can't eat it normally. I'm allergic to tree nuts, so I have to scrape the PEE-kan layer off and just eat the filler goo and the crust. It's really good that way, too.) Anyway, Jeffrey Lampkin. I might like him if he's not too Ruben-esque. Not rubenesque, Ruben-esque. You know.

Angela Martin's dad just died too? Geez - all the other contestant's dads better watch themselves.

Oh! Did I tell y'all about the American Idol concert that I went to back in the fall? It was actually pretty entertaining (shut up!) - I went with my mom, and met a random person who is now my Facebook friend (she's applying to my medical school.) But the most interesting part was afterwards, when I met Scott at a movie theater (within walking distance of the concert arena) to see 3:10 to Yuma. A few minutes after the movie started, two guys walked in with a few other guys and sat right in front of us, and I am like, 95% sure that it was Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson. Well - 97% on Blake and about 90% on Chris. "Blake" spent a good bit of the movie IMing on his phone, and I spent a good bit of the movie watching Possibly!Blake and Possibly!Chris - so much so that Scott gave me a quiz on the movie on the way home. Heh. I can pay attention to two things at once, you know - it's installed in the female brain.

Geeeeeeeeez! I've been gone for awhile.

I have no excuse - just holidays, my birthday, and sickness. Did you know I've been sick on about 26 of the last 29 birthdays? It's kind of my trademark. You should see some of the pictures that I have from my birthdays when I was a wee tot - standing in front of a flickering Snoopy cake, looking unsure whether to blow on it or barf on it. Actually, in this day and age, you COULD see that picture. I'm at the apartment, though, and the picture's at home - I'll scan and add it later. I was so darn cute when I was a kid, I'd hate to deprive you of my cherubian face and my dark curls. (I'm not being vain - because while I was a cute kid, I'm not so cute anymore. So.)

What have I been doing, you ask? Let's see. I ushered in Christmas Eve. Then I ushered it out and ushered in Christmas. Then I ushered it out and ushered in my birthday (my 29th birthday - this is the one that I just keep celebrating the anniversary of, right?) and my pancreas reared it's ugly head even higher than normal. And then I got some sort of virus that came complete with lots of barfage, weird leg pain and twitching. That stayed around until New Year's Eve. Scott was very sweet through that whole viral crap - he came up to see me almost every day and was all attentive and stuff. Awww.

Then I started back to school on January 7th - I'm on my Family Practice rotation. So far, I really like it. It's soooooooo much better than my foray into Internal Medicine (I blame a lot of that debacle, though, on the fact that I was so sick and everyone was all, "How dare you be human!!!") This time, a whole different me showed up to the first day of the rotation. I am a lot more interested, responsible, and attentive when I don't feel like someone is stabbing me in the gut.

And I've watched Reign Over Me, Juno, and Enchanted. I'd recommend them all - especially Juno. I adore Michael Cera (is he too young to join my Geek Love Fake Boyfriend Brigade? I'll have to check.) And Ellen Page makes a great debut. It's funny, heartwarming, and just very darn good.

Oh, and I saw a toenail fungus yesterday. I itched the whole rest of the day. I know that Trichophyton (Trichophytons?) don't have legs and couldn't have jumped on me, but still. The mind is a powerful thing. Also, did you know that adults most commonly get toenail infestations by dermatophytes, which invade normal keratin? And that older adults (i.e., geriatric adults) most commonly get toenails infected with mold, which invade irregular keratin? I didn't either.

It was barftastic.

Yesterday, since I'm taking this rotation off (I really need to give y'all details on that, because I KNOW you're clamoring for them) I was lazily watching afternoon TV while editing the eleventy billion pictures that are on my baby (my Canon 30D) that I've let pile up over the past 6 months or so. But I digress.

Afternoon TV includes The Oprah, and she had Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks as guests, promoting Charlie Wilson's War. But what they were really on there to do was to remind us all how FAMOUS they all are (The Oprah included.) For crying out loud, they might as well have been saying things like, "Look at me! I'm FAMOUS! I have babies and give them names that make them sound like they're 80 years old!"

"No, I'm MORE famous! My son is also an ACK-tor."

And then Oprah chimes in, "I'm so glad that I'm so FAMOUS that I can have my BEST FRIENDS Julia and Tom on my show, so that I can emit my charming horse laugh at their every word! Hoo hoo hoo hooooo!"

Ack.

Seriously - Hazel and now baby Henry? Geez. And I'm not going to mention Phinnaeus, because I don't even know what kind of ridiculous name that is.

They also talked at length about a scene in which Tom spends a large amount of time in a milk bath (see also Eeeeeeeew, eeeeeeeeewwww!) The whole show was just very vomitus-inducing. I was thinking, "Did I accidentally drink 12 raw eggs mixed with milk and mustard? Because I don't recall ..."

All three of them suffer from a SEVERE case of Full-Of-Themselvesitisosis, and one oddity associated with that syndrome is that it nauseates other people. Especially people who aren't famously FAMOUS and are educated instead.

Pat Kiernan is tricky

First of all, I'm furious that I'm not a contestant on The World Series of Pop Culture for 2007 on VH1, because I can rock these questions and I'm at least as interesting as these people.

And also, even when I hear the lyrics of It's Tricky by Run-D.M.C. READ by Pat Kiernan, I still have to dance to it. Just in case you were wondering. (By the way, I was totally amused with Pat's lyrics-reading in the "Rump Shaker" category. Hee.)

I'm having trouble finding non-school stuff to talk about since I'm not in the middle of the Harry Potter craze (I think I'm the only person on earth) but I am going to see Order of the Phoenix tonight with Scott and Huan. At least I think that's the name of it. Speaking of movies, Transformers was way better than I expected. It made me wonder if Shia LeBeouf is too young to be added to my Geek Love list (which also includes Zach Braff, Clay Aiken (shut up), and Adam Brody). *quick IMDb check* No! He's 21, which makes his addition to the list legal, but slightly creepy. Oh well. The movie also made me want to name my kid Optimus Prime. Would that be wrong? I mean, it's better than Pilot Inspektor (sic).

Father's Day & Mother's Day, both a little late

I meant to do this on Mother's Day, but I had some evil test or another - or, now that I think about it, I believe I had just finished a set of blocks and was still in post-block stupor. (A phenomenon, by the way, with which only medical students can identify - or maybe all professional students in the sciences (dental students, pharmacy students, physical therapy students) - I don't know. Anyway, what happens to me and some members of my class is that after we have exams, we can't seem to form coherent sentences. They come out sounding like Steve Martin's water-smudged "Dear John" letter from Bernadette Peters in The Jerk* - "I meant to tell you that blah bluh blee, and then we can bloo blah." And then one stares into space for about seven minutes. Sometimes we would go out for lunch after our last exam, and I would have a horrible time ordering. "I'd like a guacamole side plate of tomato dressing, I mean, a salad with extra plates and side guacamole on the dressed tomatoes, I mean, a plate of salad with extra tomatoes, dressing on the side and guacamole no. Oh well, that's good enough." Poor waitresses. No wonder we make them run away. And strangely enough, when I'm speaking post-test jibberish, other medical students can understand me.)

Enough about that. Then I meant to do this for Father's Day yesterday, but I was busy hanging out with my dad in between naps. (His naps and my naps!) So, I love my mom and dad to pieces and wanted to say so. Here's some pictures of wee Kim with Mom and with Dad (I think you can figure out which is which.) Forgive Dad's unfortunate hair - it was the 70s, after all. And wasn't my Mom so pretty? That's probably what I was trying to tell her.

Or maybe I was saying, "I want a cat." Or, "My pancreas hurts." Or, "What's an anxiety disorder?" Speaking of anxiety disorders and my pancreas, my parents are so understanding and helpful when I'm hurting, mentally or physically. I know that when I hurt, they hurt, and when my heart breaks, theirs breaks twice as much. I will never be able to pay them back for all that they have given me, and I love them dearly. By example, my Mom has taught me compassion, generosity and the importance of family. (And also how to cook stuff.) And Dad is my definition of hard work, responsibility and sacrifice. He's a great businessman and I am totally going to enlist his help in building my own medical practice if I ever decide to do so.

They both make me feel very loved and cared for, and I hope they know that I love them right back. From then to now ...

* Here's a mp3 if you haven't heard that scene. (Right click and "save target as", as usual.) There's some other great quotes from the movie here at "got wavs?" - man, that's a funny movie. Maybe I should watch it again.

SarahK wants you to see if you should be gluten-free. And other things.

SarahK, my favorite person with blunted intestinal villi, wants you to know if you should be gluten-free. So go take this quiz, and talk to your doctor if you score high.

/PSA

The other day, while we were in our Step One review course? Someone slapped a cheeseburger (cheese-side down) on Christy's car window. I really don't know what would motivate someone to do that type of thing. I mean, if I have a cheeseburger, it's going in my mouth - not on someone else's plexi-glass. What a waste of some good saturated fat. She could have told you this herself (and it would have been funnier, because she is funnier than I am) but I can't get her to blog with me. She seems focused on this test - this USMLE board exam - most important test of our lives or some such mumbo-jumbo.

So, I finally broke down and bought a pair of MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) shoes from Bliss. They're supposed to help tone your butt and legs - I'll let you know in about a month if it was a crazy purchase. But I can tell you that they are VERY comfortable - and that they look like orthopedic shoes. If they work, though, it will be worth it.

Scott is finally on Facebook. Yay!

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - and meh. Waaaaay too long with a convoluted plot. I fell asleep for awhile, and then actually left the theater and walked to Coldstone Creamery nearby to see what time they closed. (I really needed a Cheesecake Fantasy, and I managed to get one after all of the swashbuckling finally ended, with about three minutes to spare.) Johnny Depp, of course, was entertaining and all kinds of pretty - and I still think Captain Jack Sparrow is one of the best movie characters of all time. But in my opinion, the rest of the film fell apart around him. Scott and I are seeing Shrek the Third tonight - I'll let you know how that goes.

Okay, I need to hit the Kaplan QBank. Hard.

Postpourri

Well, this afternoon I emerged unscathed from the bowels of the Evil Pharamologic Emperor Zurg (I hope.) NOTE: Sometimes I type bizarre things, like "Evil Pharmacologic Emperor Zurg" to see if someone eventually Googles them and finds the bizarrity-containing post. They usually do.

Tomorrow at noon I have pathology and then patient care (have I started studying for patient care yet, you ask? The answer is no. No, I haven't. I'm still knee-deep in the breast and ovary - which are our pathology topics this test block.) I'm almost to the point of not caring, though. That happens long about midnight the night before a test - I just get too tired to care. I'll do all I can do, and that's all I can do at this point. I can always study more efficiently next time - besides, I did well on our last pathology and patient care block (thanks be unto the Lord!)

I had the Grammys on last night while I crammed drugs into my head (I mean, drug names and uses and adverse effects and such, which is really like learning another language) and I have some thoughts. (They include the Dixie Chicks and how flarking annoying they are. And no, it's not just because they're liberal. I really could compose a manifesto entitled, "Why the Dixie Chicks Make Me Want To Peel Off My Own Skin". But I just don't have that kind of time.) I'll elaborate on the Grammy broadcast later, maybe tomorrow - as soon as I take The Best Nap Ever™, scheduled to begin somewhere around 3:30, after Christy, Michael, Todd and I have our post-block celebratory lunch. Er - pre-dinner, post-lunch. Afternoon snack. Whatever.

I adore the new Blogger, because it lets me add tags to my posts, like "Medical Scruel" (thanks to Rush Limbaugh for the "scruel" thing - it so applies to the "medical" variety. Medical school is tortuous (like the splenic artery) and I can't wait to be finished with it.) I've made some good friends, though, and I ::heart:: them. It can't be said enough.

Al Gore, can you 'splain to me why it's colder than it has been in a decade in this area, and why I had to go buy a space heater for my apartment this winter because my toes literally turn blue from the outside drafts? Hmm? I thought the sun was progressively working on incinerating us all. (Don't wax poetic on the truths of global warming in my comments, please - I'm just not going to believe you, and it will waste both of our time.)

Has anyone seen Mozart and the Whale? I'm thinking of renting it tomorrow, but not if it's crap (like Edmond with William H. Macy and Julia Stiles, which without a doubt is the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life.)

Nicholas Cage always looks like he's about to fall asleep.

And Christy has a cat that barks. For real.

Goodnight, y'all.

I just have to say that it was quite bizarre to see Matthew McConaughey, Oprah, and her audience chanting "We are Marshall." Bizarre, but cool all the same. Go see the movie when it comes out on December 22nd, everybody - it looks like it should be pretty good. The dang preview makes me tear up every time. Speaking of the preview, watch it here:

In other news, I can't believe that my computer doesn't know that "phagocytosis" is a word. Oh, what it's missing.

AND, my semester ends TOMORROW. I'm going to sleep for three weeks.