Ok, so I'm a little drunk and rambly (side note- I do not recommend eating at fanny's, even if for free)- but here's a story.

So... as you may know I'm applying for plastic surgery fellowships. It is very competitive, and I think I'll need all the help I can get. So there's this forum, on "studentdoctor.net" where people write about their application experiences, etc. But mostly it's a lot of med students bitching and moaning. So... I'm too lazy to cut and paste the whole convo, and besides it's too long. But this one little shit, who goes by "moola" was debating the pros and cons of plastics vs. ent- blah blah blah. But at the end he said "but all I want is to be a real moola doctor". I couldn't hold my tongue, and I told him I recommended he cool it with the moola shit; that it's offensive.

Well he came out and tore me a new one, saying that *I* was the offensive one, he grew up poor, wants to be a self-made man, blah blah. I couldn't care less, and I don't care how poor he is- I think most people already think doctors sit on their asses all day and do nothing but play golf and make millions, which is so far from the truth. He does not need to perpetuate that myth.

So I responded. He ripped into me again, at which point I decided I was done. But someone else ripped into me, saying "it's liberals like you..." which just made me laugh. Me, liberal?! hardy har.

But seriously- is it just me, or is it tacky and gross to hear someone talking about choosing their specialty based not on a love of the field, or the patients, but on "moola"?

I hate my job sometimes. Not my job, but that I have to be lumped in with douchebags like that.

Ugh.

Ok, done ranting. time for bed.

Ok, so I just got this email from a friend:

Ladies -
> >
> >
> > Bloomingdale's is coming out with their own line of make-up called
> > ELF and they are selling it all online as a start up promotion for
> > $1!
> >
> >
> > I am not kidding you - you can get like $300 worth of makeup for
> > $30.
> > I just ordered a bunch of stuff.
> >
> >
> > Just thought I would pass it along. Happy shopping!
> >
> >
> > Here's the link:

I assumed it was a hoax, but it actually seems to be real... I went to the website, and everything really is listed as $1. (though there is also a little section that says they have nothing to do with bloomingdale's). So who knows if it's crap, but I figured there might be a few peepettes out there down with nearly-free makeup.

And just some randomness to close with-

These are these disinfectant super germ-killing wipes that are all over Roswell.

I just love the "no babies" warning on them.


Hope you all had a good weekend!
Love,
J

P.S. Go see The Prestige! It rawks.

(and by "long time" I mean- 3 whole days. whoa!)

Nothing much here. Roswell is sucking the life out of me. But rather than make the best of it, I seem to prefer bitching about it. Good attitude!! Debating a date or two, though, which I guess is a good thing...

But a fun little game seems to be making the myspace circuit. Since I am too busy (or lazy) to make a new mix these days, I'll just copy this for you here instead. I didn't like my original result, so I redid it. (my original is with my whole music library- new and improved is from my "4-5 stars" playlist only. Problem is I've only assigned stars to a few hundred songs, and my taste seems to change rapidly)

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing- no cheating!
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Go burn your soundtrack!

• Extra credit [labor-intensive] version: don't do it on shuffle- actually pick the songs you feel are appropriate.

[below is my lazy version]

Opening Credits:
Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz

Waking Up:
Mr. Brightside - The Killers

First Day At School:
The Bordello - Pelican City [very cool mellow electronic-y stuff]

Falling In Love:
Encore - DJ Dangermouse [I love the Grey Album]

Breaking Up:
Praise You - Fatboy Slim

Prom
Your Woman - White Town [Talk about one hit wonder (and I am using the term "hit" loosely) but I always really liked this song.]

Life's Ok:
Rosy and Grey - Lowest of the Low [ahh, ex-boyfriend flashbacks... not as painful as they used to be, fortunately]

Mental Breakdown:
Blame the English - The Lovekevins [on my second mix, I believe. Available for download over there ---> ;) ]

Driving:
Black Cab - Jens Lekman [ooh, love him. Jens, you crazy swede you!]

Flashback:
Trouble [big beat remix] - "Coldplay" [kick-ass techno remix]

Getting Back Together:
Pounding - The Doves

Birth of Child
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens

Wedding Scene:
Two Step - DMB [prob my fave DMB song of all time. Still love it, after all these years. Ahh, college memories.]

Final Battle:
Computer Talk - Coldplay vs Kraftwerk [cool mashup from BootieSF.com]

Death Scene:
Let's Just See - The Engineers

Funeral Song:
Caring is Creepy - The Shins

End Credits:
Banquet - Bloc Party

Whoa.
I just got this from my dad, with the caption "wow... I feel like a chump. Not a dry eye in the house".

Check it out:

(it's a story about a (75yo) dad who was run 85+ marathons, pushing his (45yo) disabled son in a wheelchair... then they finally rigged something up so the son could communicate, and he said all he wishes is that one day he could push his dad... Anyway, there's a video at the end, and it's a tearjerker.)

Ok, and on a TOTALLY unrelated note...
Can someone please tell me what 'hyphy' is? Context: now playing: "blah blah blah song: hyphy remix"
Apparently it's some new fad in music... but I'm lost. Even listening to it, I can't tell exactly what it is.

So, there's this girl at work... I've sort of never liked her. Probably b/c I'm jealous, but I'm not sure. She's very pretty, and very stylish. Very designer-everything, which is sort of the opposite of me. But we've been on call together for the last few weeks, and actually it was kind of fun and I realized she's not so bad. She gave me a ride home from work yesterday, and Paris Hilton's song came on the radio, and she said "ugh I hate Paris Hilton" and I mumbled something and she said "well I was dissed for Paris Hilton" and I asked what she meant, and she said that Nick Carter dumped her for Paris. She said she'd been wondering why he was being weird and not returning calls- and then she saw them on the tabloids in the checkout line or something.

But anyway, so yesterday she invited me out with her... I felt like the nerd who had been invited to hang out with the popular kids... I was kind of psyched. I even bought some sexy shoes, b/c my usual jeans and a sweater wouldn't cut it in her scene. (and I got compliments on the shoes (zebra striped stilettos) ALL night, even from girls. Score!)

So my other friend and I went to Blu Mirage. She picked the place and said she'd meet us there, so we went there. Well she didn't show. She called from Soho instead, and said to come there, but we didn't feel like walking that far. So the nerd got stood up by the cool kids, again. Ugh. But we had fun anyway.

It was an interesting night... Ended up at Mother's til 5am. Some girl tried to strangle my friend for talking to her boyfriend. Like seriously left scratch marks on her throat.

And I got introduced to these two guys, Andrew and Ryan. I didn't think much of it, they didn't seem interested in me, and I wasn't so interested in them. But girls were all over them all night....

I learned later their last names are Peters and Miller, and they are Sabres. I don't think they liked that I didn't know who they were, and didn't fawn all over them all night. Whatever.

Then some guy bought me a drink, and we talked most of the night. He was cute. And it turns out that he's good friends with my Work Crush #2- who later showed up. Small world. People kept telling me all night how into me he was. And he had no power/heat, and was kind of hinting about needing a place to stay. Everyone was giving me winks and nudges. So I said he could crash at my place. So he did. And we didn't even smooch. He ended up leaving a little while ago, and didn't even ask for my number. Hmm. I was kind of surprised, b/c I had definitely been getting the feeling that he was interested.

I wish I wasn't so socially retarded... I just don't know how to play the game. At all. I can't flirt to save my life. I mean I don't know that I'm super into this guy or anything, but he was cute and nice and I would have let him call me, but I think I gave him totally cold vibes, without meaning to. Blah...

Ok, back to my regularly scheduled hangover.

Sorry I'm so chatty (yet boring) lately...

-J

...I speak for the trees.
Oh, the poor trees.

On my way home from work this AM, now that a lot of the snow has melted and the roads are mostly dry, I was able to get an idea of what a mess it is out there. So I took my camera with me as I went to do errands, and then I cruised around the 'hood surveying the damage. Bird between claremont and ashland is amazing. So here are some pix, and the rest are here


You've seen this one. 5pm thurs. Just getting going.


2am friday.


Saturday afternoon- on ramp to the 90


Forest and Elmwood (psych center in the background)


Ouch (on Richmond)


Richmond and Potomac (the house I almost rented)


Claremont and Bird


Bird

I hope everyone is safe and warm!! (and if you need help, ask your friendly neighborhood peeps! Please!)

-J

I hate that I am so internet dependent. Ugh.
I keep calling my house to see if my answering maching will pick up, and it does, so I guess I still have power. Which makes me happy, as several of my colleagues do not, and I am starting to see them trickle back into the hospital, looking for maybe a warm bed, or at least a warm shower. Scary to have to imagine even for a second what it's like to be without, and what we take for granted, and what some people don't have... but anyway, so there are more people than usual populating the little 'wing' of call rooms... and there's a desk with two computers. One has a sign on it that says "do not use this computer". And I finally thought "why the hell not? I'll shut it down when I'm done." So I booted up and went to log in... and this computer has a non-QWERTY keyboard!! It's so weird! I've never seen anything like it. All the letters are in the wrong place. There are letters on the top where the numbers go, numbers on the right, W on the bottom... I figured maybe that's why we're not supposed to use it. I think the lady whose desk it is had a stroke and can only use one hand, so maybe that's it. So I was trying to type on this crazy thing and kept screwing up- til I finally realized it actually IS a QWERTY keyboard, just mislabelled. Yikes.

This storm is depressing me. I keep wandering back to the tvs with the weather channel on. One was talking about the "snow ratio"- said this snow is 5:1 snow to water, and that 1 cubic foot weighs 20 lb. That "normal" snow is 20:1 and is 4lb per cubic foot. That plus the leaves is major tree damage. Up to 90% of the trees in buffalo they said. And that the big storm a few years ago was 87 inches of snow, but caused less than 1/4 of the damage this one has. Said this is actually one of the most devastating storms in buffalo history. Wowie wow wow wow.

I thought this was just an annoyance... snow too early... but this is like a big deal, peeps!

And have you heard the name? "october surprise".

LAME.

Ok, back to wandering the halls aimlessly, I suppose...

Sorry for the boring post.

Stay warm... and if anyone needs a warm place, you're welcome to swing by. Well, after I get home tomorrow. (I'm guessing my haircut appointment is a no-go, what do you think?)

Wow... I am astonished at what a mess this storm has turned out to be. I mean, i was thinking "wow, it's snowing, that sucks." Had no idea how serious it is! Now they're saying we're going to run out of water! Last I heard there are 400,000 people without power. A guy at work was calling around to look for a hotel to stay in since he has no power/heat. I didn't realize how lucky I am to still have power.

It took me an hour to get in to work this morning, and I was still the first one here. Reluctantly, I admitted defeat and left my poor little car in the snow, and accepted a ride in my landlord's big mean SUV. I guess being stuck in a place with heat, power, showers and internet is not so bad. But get this- since the hospital is in disaster mode, all "non-essential" employees don't have to come in. Apparently the cafeteria is non-essential. So not only is there nothing for employees to eat- they're not even making food for the patients!! i guess they're just feeding everyone cereal and boxed lunches.

the trees make me sad though. When I was coming in this morning, around 6:30, it was still a mess. It was like an obstacle course... we kept having to re-route to get around roads blocked with trees, and downed power lines. And there were abandoned cars all over. Even in a 4WD truck we were slipping and sliding. But we ended up going down, what is it, Lincoln parkway? Into the circle bye gates, then down delaware. But a lot of the gorgeous old trees in the middle island are all broken and splintered. :(

Well peeps, I hope you are all warm and safe.

-J

P.S. (e:ajay) did you make it to town? did you make it to goodbar last night? i did not. sorry if I missed you!

Just when I think "enough is enough. I need to spend less time on the computer, and more time studying," I find this dumb quiz-

How will you be defined in the dictionary

And here's my answer.

<center><table background="#FFFFFF" border="0" style="border: 1px solid black;"width="450"><td align="center">
<b><font size="+1">Alexis --</font></b><br />
<font size="+1">[noun]:</font><br /><br />A master blogger
<br /><br />
<a style="color: #FF0000;" href="http://www.quizgalaxy.com/quiz.php?id=83">'How will you be defined in the dictionary?'</a> at <a href="http://www.quizgalaxy.com" style="color: #FF0000;">QuizGalaxy.com</a></td></table></center>


I think it's a sign.

Hmm. Ok, well I guess cutting and pasting the code doesn't work.
But it says:

Alexis: n: A master blogger.

Ok, so I'm really not amused by this snow. Took this from my back window around 5pm. Maybe I'm not crazy to turn the heat on after all.



And aside from that, what a lame day. A shithole thursday, perhaps.

(though this article (about Londoners "flashmobbing" in the subway to their ipods) is amusing )

Speaking of ipods- the day started with our "office" at work getting burglarized. My bag was stolen, and then later recovered by the elevators- sans ipod. :( However two co-workers fared worse- one girl had her purse including wallet and keys stolen- the empty purse was later found across the street in the psych ward, and one guy had his whole bag, including suit and shoes for an interview tomorrow, not to mention kes/wallet/ipod taken. Some clothes recovered later.

I mean what the fuck. Shit like that makes me so ANGRY. I mean, who just thinks it's ok to steal people's stuff?? Either it was an "inside job" by someone who has access to the room, or someone didn't close the door all the way. But even if the door was open, the room is quite off the beaten path, and no one has any reason to be there- especially from 6-8 am, which is when it happened.

But when the guy called his credit card to cancel it- they said it had already been used 4 times in a 20 minute period at the delta sonic up the street- which has cameras all over... If the BPD can get off their asses and do their job, they should be able to find him on the tapes. They could also try to get prints off the glossy leather portfolio that was moved to get at the other girls wallet. BPD said they were sending a detective, but somehow I'm not holding my breath.

So while I'm bummed to be out an ipod (and fancy headphones, too), it's nothing irreplaceable. At least I got my research files, jump drive, etc back.

So that was the start to my day. Made me miss my only case, too.

Then I had a meeting with the boss... had no idea if I was in trouble or what. Fortunately I am not, and it went fine, but that was stressful.

Then the guy at work that tries to flirt with me, tried to flirt with me some more, and denied his relationship with his GF. Shady.

Then an email that the ex is looking to buy a house with my successor. That hurt a little. Shouldn't but it did. They've been together for a shorter time than we were- and I could barely get him to spend the night. Ah well.

DID have a bit of a civil chat with 'the boy' though. not sure if that's a good thing or not. I should have let it go, but I couldn't help myself. But he was civil, and I'm much more at peace with it all now. Not sure if that makes it easier or harder to move on.

Then I walk out to my car and get shoes full of slush. My parents said it's supposed to hit 70 in RI today- freak heat wave. Guess I will have to ask the landlords to clear their golf clubs out of my side of the garage a little earlier than I expected.

Supposed to meet ajay tonight since I can't make it tomorrow, but I dunno what my motivation will be like. Hot mulled cider and cozy pjs on the couch with grey's is sounding pretty good right about now...

Oh great. My fucking power just went out and I'm running on backup.

Guess i'd better hit publish!

oh yeah, the backup doesn't run the wireless. But power is back already. Just off long enough to make the clocks blink 12:00.

Think I should go nonetheless.

Enjoy the snow, peeps! :/

-J