From the It's Summertime Again dept.:

It's really hard to believe that another year is gone.  I know I say that at the end of every year but wow, 3/4 of the way through undergrad.  It's actually getting to the point where so many of the things that are required for medical school application are becoming due.  But all in all, things are falling into place.  

Things that need to happen this summer (in no particular order):

1.  Get some experience at the hospital or a doctor's office.

2.  Get research underway at school.

3.  Study for the MCAT

4.  Make some money.

The first one is necessary because medical school will have a hard time happening if I don't.  Plus, I really would like some exposure to the field to ensure that it is something I want to do for the rest of my life.  The second one is necessary so I can get my degree (mostly, the research is for my honors diploma).  The third is also so i can get into medical school; I need to pull something like a 30 to get in (that's what I'm aiming for; I could probably get away with less). 

 The fourth one is somehow the least important and most important at the same time.  After running out of money this past semester, I have become more keenly aware of how important it is to have a little money in the bank.  If I can get through this next academic year without a loan, it will mean that I have gotten through undergrad without borrowing money--and that means a lot to me.  I'm not sure why, as I will be taking out a lot of loans for medical school.

This summer is also going to be a musical renaissance, of sorts.  I have lots of new ideas that are quite different than before.  My previous work was all about one thing, probably because that was the most inspiring thing to me at the time.  However, I have been able to expand my horizons, and now I am able to write about things that are a bit more--timeless?  I find no pleasure in playing most of my old music, even though they used to be my (and everyone else's) favorites.  So I'm putting them in a box (in my head, anyway) and moving forward.  Like I said, musical renaissance!  I have several new songs that need to be recorded.  The first one out of the hopper will be Afterburner, one of my first new songs in a long time.  It's got some new elements that I've never really tried in songs before, like open droning strings and radical progression changes.  My goal for this album: to write good, powerful songs that cannot be taken away by anything.  It's hard to lose a song, let alone an album's worth.  I view it as a new beginning, though, and I'm not bitter.  Just a little sad.

I believe there's more text than anybody wants to wade through.  So I'm gonna leave it at this.  Stay tuned for more from the thacked dept..

DT

From the Breakfast Ends at 10:00 at Burger King dept.:

So Anne and I went to Burger King this morning for some breakfast.  During the ride to the restaurant we casually debated about whether they would still be serving breakfast.  It was about 9:45 or so, and we had decided that they stop serving breakfast at 10:30.  We walked in about 9:55, and were happy to find that the breakfast menu was still up!  So we get in line, and the next thing we hear is 

"You guys ready for lunch?"  

"Sure."

"Okay, get ready for lunch."

After this dialogue, the lady running the register reaches up and slides the lunch menu out over the breakfast menu off of which we were looking forward to ordering.  Our pictures of breakfast burritos and biscuits were covered with images of whoppers and giant chicken sandwiches.

All of this happened 5 minutes early.

I was very sad.

DT

From the It's Pretty Much Obvious But Our Lawyers Want To Make Sure It's Clear dept.:

I was on my banking website today, and I ran across this disclaimer at the bottom of the page:

"Only authorized users may access this service. Unauthorized access is prohibited. Unauthorized access or use is not permitted and constitutes a crime punishable by law."

The first sentence sums it up pretty well, in my humble opinion.  The second sentence, however, seems to be entering the "redundancy" zone.  The third...wow.  Not only can just authorized users access the service, but unauthorized access is prohibited AND not permitted!

:)

DT

From the combating entropy dept...

In cleaning today, I realized that my room is in a constant state of increasing entropy.  I usually can't find the time to clean when there are tests, and when aren't there tests?  I clean when I get a chance, and it is really amusing to watch my room degrade into a state of complete disorder.  Of course, I don't feel like I'm putting much energy into the system when I don't clean, but there certainly is an energy expenditure when I have to clean.  Is this an example of entropy in action?

Hmm.

Back to cleaning...;)

DT