A tough reminder

I was walking through a crowd of recent graduates and their proud parents, grandparents, and assorted extended family members today and I really couldn't help but think about what my graduation day would be like. Most graduates would agree that the ceremony, the cap and gown, and all the pomp and circumstance is mostly for the doting parents.
Would I want to walk? I'm not sure. I know who'd I'd invite, I know who I'd want pictures with, but I can't help but feel like it's not a complete picture without my father.
This is grief... little annoying reminders that I'm different, that I am a parentless college student. The phrase "my mom" or "my dad" seems foreign when it isn't followed by "died". It's just been so long since they've been alive. And yet there are days when I still cry like they died yesterday. And sometimes I can't believe that this is my life, that I'm the one whose parents are dead already.

The bright side? I have 2 more years to decide about my graduation celebration, so I have pleeeeenty of time.

Status Update

I refuse to let this blog go for an entire year.
Part of me thinks that the era of blogging has passed its prime. I mean, there was a time when blogs were insightful. You weren't just writing for yourself (that's what journals are for!) but also to enlighten, entertain, amuse, or just engage in intelligent arguments and conversations. What I'm trying to say is that there was real value to blogging. For instance, Danielle's Blog. It's the best blog ever because:

• it keeps loved ones up to date
• it is informative: a super good resource for anyone moving to Brazil
• it's interesting because her life is an adventure
• that woman can write. really well.

I've been reluctant (and also a bit lazy) to blog because I feel like all the social aspects of the internet have been bombarded by useless crap. Facebook used to be restricted to schools.. remember those good ol' days? Now it's a newer version of MySpace, sans the ridiculous and seizure inducing HTML code. I feel like such an old grump by saying all this. Remember when status updates were witty? Now they're just to-do lists. Or TMI.
So when I think about posting, I have to ask myself, am I just adding to all the crap that's out there? There is something about social networking that makes people think that they are truly special, that everyone cares about what errands they'll be running today and what epiphanies they had (for the 147th time) on the toilet earlier.
I just wonder how many other people feel the same way I do. I don't think this sort of self-promotion and useless information overload will last forever. At least that's what I hope. It scares me that most teenagers see the internet as a way to get on MySpace rather than a useful tool for other things... everything!

So why am I blogging? It's my personal scrapbook of where I've been and where I'm going. While one can argue that I should just use a paper journal for this purpose, it is highly unlikely that I'll exert myself to the extent of bringing a pen to paper for anything other than academic purposes. Just think of all the lovely distractions that typing can bring! Besides, I'm more comfy here.

So.. I'm back.
This has nothing to do with the fact that I have a bunch of studying to do and that I love to procrastinate by doing unrelated things and then feeling like I've accomplished something other than putting off the original task at hand.

In the meantime...

A new blog post is sooooo overdue. I know. It's been hectic now that I've been taking more challenging classes and (surprise!) applying myself. :)
So chew on this for a bit as I get a giant update prepared.

http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/Medical-Guide/Annual-2009/Good-Grief/

I broke it.

Well that was a quick two weeks!

I dropped my Biology class, much to my disdain. It was the right choice, though, since the entire first two weeks covered the Chemistry of biology. It's been years since high school chem so it was, well, terrifying. I'm going to take Chem during the first summer session, then Bio during the second session. So not all is lost -- more time to focus on Economics.

I went back to see the sports medicine doctor for a quick progress check for my wrist. She squeezed and pinched and it was awful. Two weeks after my accident and my hand was still noticeably swollen. After another series of x-rays, she concludes that I FRACTURED SOMETHING. More specifically, I fractured my Scaphoid bone. This little guy:

It's the most difficult one to break, and it heals the slowest. Of course! I've got a lovely white cast now. I've never had a cast, so it's been a huge adjustment. I am proud to report that I am still capable of doing dishes and cleaning the house. But that's probably because no one else will do those things ::hint hint::
I'll be going to an orthopedic doctor on M0nday to assess the severity of the fracture, but I'm fairly sure I'm looking at 6-8 weeks of slavery to the cast. It's not even cute. They didn't even have colors to choose from. Stomp stomp stomp

I started a little project on facebook today. In 1998, my father's brother published 2 massive volumes of all the descendents of William Palmer, the first Palmer to have immigrated here from England in 1638. It's crazy. He spent his life working on that thing, and there are probably thousands of Palmers in there, complete with mini-bios and some creepy photos from the late 1800's. I'm not completely certain, but i'm fairly sure that he died right after my father did. So starting from the back of the book (where the living people are) I searched for names on Facebook. At first it was completely fruitless, but then I'd find one person, view their friends, find the siblings.... etc etc. Even without being to view their profiles, I was able find the right people by simply looking for siblings on their friends list. I created a facebook group, and sent each person an invite. It's going to take time to grow, but I think it'll be fun to see the diverse bumch of folks descended from a puritan from England.

Tomorrow is Picnic Day! Elena is driving up from Berkeley and a good time will be had by all. I'm excited.

This post has taken me a good 30 minutes to type. I reaaaaally am tired of this cast. Uy.

Ba-gok!

Week one done.

As of right now, my Biology class terrifies me - in the sense that I am going to have to work hard. But it's also exciting to be thrown into a class in which I cannot simply recall things from high school or use my wits to find a way around going to lecture but still doing well in the course. Kinda nice to be making that sort of transition.

I'm taking a poultry experience course of sorts -- at least that's what I thought it was going to be. In all honesty, I signed up for it because it filled a gap in my schedule perfectly, is only 3 units, and seemed interesting.

Then I realized that this course is only open to 2 students, and the location is off campus... but close to home! It's about a mile south of the house, in an area that I hadn't yet explored. This is the bike ride:


On my way to the facility, I passed the UC Davis airport (it does exist!) and a few creepy, abandoned buildings. When I finally got there, it seemed empty. I disinfected my shoes and wandered around a bit. Eventually I stumbled upon the kitchen area, where my instructor was enjoying a bowl of chicken soup.
I immediately thought to myself, "You dedicate your lives to them, and yet you eat them. I'm glad you aren't a pediatrician!"

My first day was supposed to be an orientation followed by a tour of the facility, but since some chicken research people had called in sick, we headed to campus to clean chicken cages. "It's your lucky day!" she told me. I found myself decked out in scrubs, a lab coat, overboots, and a face mask. I really wish I could have taken a picture of myself because I looked like I was part of a hazmat team.


I rolled eggs and cleaned up chicken poop for 2 hours. I know this sounds like a terrible time, but I had fun. I haven't had much up close and personal experience with chickens, so I found amusement in the occasional "ba-gok!" sounds and egg-laying. I also learned that commercial egg-laying hens have a lifespan of 2 years, and then they are "culled". Gotta love euphemisms. These hens came from a commercial farm, but instead of getting culled, they were sold to the university for research. "How nice." I thought.
Then I found out that they were going to be culled in two weeks. So much for borrowed time.

So that was that.

I'm taking a stupid math placement test tomorrow, something that I've been putting off. I took this thing last summer and didn't pass -- because I couldn't remember squat about factoring polynomials and all those lovely algebraic details that you learn in high school. But I need to pass it in order to take Chemistry this summer... so not passing is not an option this time around.

But before I go, here's a delicious recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes
I made the Lime, black bean and rice version. I highly recommend it!

I believe I can fly... and land painfully.

I flew off my bike on Saturday afternoon.
I was riding past the pavilion on campus, where there were about 500 people attending some robotics convention thing. So I managed to weave in and out of people, and as soon as my path cleared, I sped up. Of course, I wanted to get the hell out of all the commotion. I entered a bike circle and there was someone on the outer edge of it, so without thinking, I swerved slightly left. My left pedal, meanwhile, was coming back down and embedded itself on the curb that lines the inside of the circle. This caused my bike to come to a complete stop...however, I did not. I took flight over the handlebars, landed on my wrists and belly (finally, it does something for me!) and because my feet were still attached to the bike, it promptly came down on me and landed a few feet in front of me. I laid there for a second, on the nice warm pavement, in a shock induced nirvana state. Do I really want to get up? The sun was so nice and warm.
Turns out that robotics convention was for middle- schoolers. I found myself surrounded by 20 pre-teens armed with band aids, good intentions, and too many questions.
"Can you get up?" "Can you move?" "Is your back okay?"
"Can you give me a second? I just flew off my bike."
"Sorry! Do you need ice?"
"Probably."
Some paramedics were nearby and bandaged me up and sent me on my merry way. It wasn't until I got home that things started to really hurt. I basically felt like I got hit by a bus -- everything was sore. I couldn't use my hands for anything, and I had unexplained bruises in weird places.

A few x-rays and many anti-inflammatories later, I am happy to report that nothing is broken... I'm just a little beat up. I've regained use of my right hand so I am not so dependent on Mark to open doors and bottles for me. My left hand is still badly sprained but I'll be good to go in far time. All that was lost was a little bit of pride and half of my big toenail. Lovely. The whole reason I was on my bike that day? I wanted to buy some delicious broccoli from the farmer's market.

Spring quarter began yesterday. So far, I am optimistic about my classes and am motivated to work my ass off. I suppose everyone starts the quarter that way -- but I intend to keep this mentality for the next few months. These grades are my currency, the salary I earn in exchange for attending school. I know that I've worked hard for crap pay... so the logic is that I should be perfectly capable of busting my ass for something much more important in the long run... right?

Tuesdays provide me some nice free time between classes to take a break and get some sunshine. My original plan was to continue the nap that I began in my morning Microeconomics class, but it's much too pretty of a day to close my eyes.

Off to class!

oh man oh man...

...Winter quarter GPA: 3.72

sweeeeeeet.

Heavenly Broccoli

I made the most beautiful broccoli for dinner tonight, and just had to share:

It was $2 a pound at the farmer's market, so not only was it delicious and so very pretty, it was also organic, local, and cheap. The holy grail.

I'm on spring break, which has been a lot of spring cleaning and sleeping in. Right now I'm going to sip some tea and watch TV... but tomorrow I'll be back here for a mid-March report. Danielle says I need to blog more often (like, when things are good) so I am going to get on that.

A sigh of Relief and the Smell of... cedar.

Ah, Friday. I'm finally sitting at the computer, wasting time and not feeling guilty about it. Usually I am sitting here, with some massive amount of homework to be done, yet I find myself chatting with Danielle, planning the classes I am going to take for the next few years, making grocery lists, reading up on health news, and generally being productive -- while putting off the task at hand.
But today is different. There are no deadlines. In fact, all that's left is finals, which are in about a week and half. That means I can enjoy my weekend and, um, put things off until next week! Hooray!

In other news, Mrs. Socks is adorable. As I started typing this, she managed to squeeze her zaftig self under the desk and is sleeping at my feet... something that she's never done. It's extra cute since she's always refused to snuggle and has been the independent type all her life.

We also bought her a new bed from Costco... and it's fantastic. We kinda underestimated the size of it, though, but it seems to be working out just fine. It has cedar in it, so the house has been smelling of the lovely combination of cedar and dog farts. Like... a rotting forest. We're hoping the recent change from lamb to chicken based food will help. I'll be sure to update you on the status of the smell in news to come.

In real news, Diego is going to be a blood donor for the UC Davis VetMed Teaching Hospital. We took him in last week to have some blood drawn to see if he'd qualify, and today they let me know that his bloodwork was normal and that he's the universal donor type. The impressive part is that he'll be awake while he donates,something that I've never seen - we used to knock the dogs out when we'd take their blood at my last job. So that'll be fun to watch. (They said I could!) On a selfish note, he got $300 worth of bloodwork done. Yay on saving money! Also... every time he donates, they give away goodies, so everybody wins.

I've concluded that every quarter, there will be a class that makes me obnoxious. Last quarter, it was wine making. This time around, it's my nutrition class. I'm fairly certain that Mark avoids this topic at all costs because once I get started, I can't shut up. It's the product of having to read so many medical journals and clinical trials.. "Mark! We need to take more omega-3's! We need to eat this and we need to avoid that and did you know...blah blah blah" I mean, it's all good stuff, but I tend to get carried away.

I still can't believe it's March.
And I still love Davis! Someone pinch meeeeee!

Whaaaaat?

What the hell? I'm going to be 24 this month.
Although I'd love to put off the paper that i'm supposed to be writing by ranting and raving about how time flies, there is a much more important issue here:

March 19. Send gifts.

Back to work!