Sunday, October 31

Happy Halloween!


It is Halloween, and the last day of October, so for the sake of posterity and not wanting to have gone an entire month without a blog post, I am writing today. This has been a most interesting week. First, I should mention that I am currently at Penn State! Yes! I'm sitting at a computer on the 4th floor of Paterno library. If I am at Penn State, why am I at the library, you ask? Well tomorrow, we have a test on this past week's material: Human Behavior. One would think that this stuff would be easy especially after Anatomy, but it is very dry and unnerving. So dry, in fact, that I'm close to ruling out Psychiatry as a future profession. And so unnerving that I'm pretty sure I already have a couple of psychiatric illnesses including but not limited to anxiety, bipolar II, and dementia.

Despite the stresses of Behavioral Week, we did try our best to have fun. On Saturday, I went to the Fall Festival (hayrides! pumpkins!) and on a shopping spree with Ananya. On Sunday, I finally ate out for the first time in months - Banana Leaf (Malaysian cuisine). Monday (when we got our grades), we celebrated the end of Anatomy. Tuesday, we did something. I forget what it was. Wednesday, we watched Silence of the Lambs. When I saw "we", I mean "they" referring to the other progs. I sat in a corner listening to music. I do not take scary movies very well. Thursday, we attempted to get into to a club dressed in Halloween costumes. Yesterday, we went to a tailgate before the PSU vs. Michigan football game and retired to Anita and Moksha's apartment for the rest of the day. In a moment of childhood regression, it was decided that we would watch "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". For my sake, Shutter Island was avoided. And today, while walking to the library with Anita, I felt like a Penn Stater again, walking along Shortlidge and Pollock and passing by the HUB, Davey, McAllister (math). It was lovely.


Anyway, once this weekend (and this stupid ICM test) is over, Biochem begins. And once again, I find myself on the brink of something new. Will it be chill (no more dissection, right)? Will it be stressful (probably)? Will it change my perspectives on medicine, life, and the universe as a whole? Gotta wait and see.

Saturday, September 25

Hi friends!

Just had a quiz (which was difficult). It's hard to believe that there was a time before Anatomy. It's also very hard to believe that it will be over in another 2 weeks. Yesterday, I crammed into my head 12 lectures worth of information, so today is a day of peace and relaxation. Also, I will be home this weekend.

Times are stressful, but now is the time to put everything into perspective. I mean, stuff could be a lot worse, right? Like, for example, I could be out camping but then get eaten by a bear. Or I could ride a Segway off a cliff. Or I could be locked in a bathroom after an earthquake (anyone see Modern Family?) And there are greater things to look forward to, such as Halloween. Christmas. That is kind of far away, but stuff like that requires advance planning, right? So yes, there are more important things than Anatomy in this world. A comforting thought.

Friday, August 27

Gesundheit


Studying for medical school gives you tunnel vision. Not like, actual tunnel vision, but figuratively speaking. Because only when one pulls oneself away from the books does one finally see the big picture and realize that time flies. I feel like I just sneezed, and already my first medical school exam is behind me (the written part, at least. My anatomy practicum begins in exactly one hour).

You can never study everything in medical school, and when you learn that, you also learn that you don't have to be studying all the time. And that's why I am blogging right now. All the exciting new things about this place have now become routine. Lectures, dissection, memorization. The formaldehyde smell has thoroughly seeped into my scrubs and now I'm afraid to put them in the wash with the rest of my clothes. The other day, we dissected out the human heart. I was afraid of dropping it on the floor the first time I held it. Amazing how being around a cadaver 24/7 makes you aware of your own mortality. I wonder who'll get to dissect out my heart. Eheh.

Tonight, after we put the apartment back together (it is currently lying in shambles since Swetha and I have not been cleaning or doing dishes for the past few days), I'll be taking a bus back home for the weekend, where I will be reunited with my iPod, my Krishna, and a television screen. I will be free and IT WILL BE GREAT

No matter what you do, gotta have some fun:

Saturday, August 14

And so it begins.

I think it's become clear that during carefree times, I don't blog. Which explains why I am writing my first blog post in a very long time. Medical school started two weeks ago, so I have been adapting to big changes ever since. After a very nice summer in Bedford amidst World Cup watching, Pfizer, and dance camp, the move to Philadelphia has been both exciting and stressful. It has been an extremely eventful two weeks, to say the least.

To start, I currently live in an apartment with my apartmentmate, Swetha. It is a welcome change from dorms, especially since we each have our own rooms and all this extra space which we have no idea how to use. In fact until yesterday, our living room was completely bare, save for an industrial sized megafan (I will explain later). We have also been "cooking" on our own. Well, we make fresh chapathis and rice (even yogurt!) everyday for dinner, to go with some vacuum packed curry premade by my mother. When we can't crash meetings for free food, we make our own lunches too. Grocery shopping is also exciting adventure (we lost our way the first time).

So the greatest lowlight of the past two weeks occurred, of course, on the morning of the first day of class, when a pipe feeding into our toilet tank decided to come loose and hose down our entire bathroom with a torrential rush of water. The noise woke up Swetha at five in the morning (lucky it did, because I probably would have drowned by the time I noticed) and we took turns directing the spray into the bathtub until maintenance fixed it. The carpet was all wet, so we tried to dry it with the industrial sized megafan. It continued to smell for a few days, and it even stank up the hallway. But I think it's clearing up now.

Philly is a lovely city. Last weekend, when we were still innocent children (i.e. before classes started) we spent a day walking the streets, viewing art galleries, and partaking in food and drink. This city is much easier to navigate on foot than Boston and we have easy access to downtown, Chinatown, malls, and the bus station. To bad we don't have lives anymore, otherwise we might actually be able to enjoy these things.

Nope. Four days ago, classes started, and my brain hurts. I know this sounds terrible, but the thing about med school that is the most unsettling to me is the fact that everyone is highly motivated. It just puts me on edge. Remember at Penn State, when I didn't go to classes? Well, can't do that here, and not only do I force myself to attend class, I also have to get there 30 MINUTES early so that I can get a decent seat. You think I'm joking, don't you? Oh, I wish. Yesterday was my first day with the cadaver. Lucky for me (not) my cadaver was obese in life, which, as I found out, spells out disaster during dissection. Not only is there fat everywhere, even between the muscles, when you try to take off the fat globs with your hand, it melts upon contact and pools on the table, just waiting to drip onto your feet. On the bright side, I own my first pair of scrubs!

Whooooo. So that has been all for now. Thanks fo reading

Sowmya

Tuesday, May 18

And for the first time in a year, I finally something worth blogging about.

Tuesday:
Today, I brought home Alex from the MSPCA in Boston. Alex is a little black kitten, just two months old. He has been put in my care for two weeks while his left eye, which has a bit of conjunctivitis, gets better. We've only known Alex for five hours and my entire family is smitten. He is a playful, exuberant little kitty but has yet to make a sound (besides purring). He loves running around in circles, diving off the top of his carrier case, and attacking wires. It's obvious he's more of a doer than a talker.

Katherine and Soreen accompanied me and my mom to the MPSCA where we picked up Alex and his supplies for the next couple of weeks. The ride back was bumpy and rainy, but Alex was very cooperative and did not fuss at all. We set up a pen in my room where he'll live, also containing his litter box. So far, he has made friends with the tassles on the carpet and a few lamp wires before I tied them up. He is also fond of shoelaces. About an hour ago, I was able to coax Alex onto my lap to apply his conjunctivitis medicine. I found that when he is sitting on you, he likes to either climb up your chest or squeeze his face into your armpit.


Wednesday:
Alex has settled in quite comfortably. My mom has already started calling him "Krishna" because he is black and mischievous. He is so tiny and yet so fast...recently he figured out how to go up and down the stairs and has had me on my knees looking underneath furniture whenever he decides to scurry away in search of dust bunnies. But right now, he is snoozing in my lap quite comfortably. I've only known him for a day and I already feel like I've experienced all dimensions of his personality.

I promise I'll have some pictures for you.

Sunday, May 9

Apparently, I'm done with college. And I was just starting to get the hang of things, too! Anyway, I am home now, on the brink of a new stage in my life, kind of just waiting for something awesome to happen. My last month at Penn State was certainly stressful, but also quite memorable. It's weird knowing that I won't be going back there in the fall.

Anyway, I have to think about this summer! I'll be working at Pfizer as a research intern for several weeks. I am sincerely hoping that I can also get a chance to foster kittens this summer, but we'll see how everything plays out. I'll be moving into Philadelphia by the end of July.

I'm hoping I'll be far less busy this summer than I was during the Spring semester, so I WILL try to report on everything I've been doing!

Thx fo reading
Sowmya

and Happy Mother's Day

Thursday, March 11

Hai friends

I should mention that it is Spring Break! And instead of escaping to some island paradise like the stereotypical college student, I am at home with the fam. I've been trying to get ahead with my schoolwork, but we all know how that goes. I've also been sharpening my cooking skills! After some great deliberation, I decided that having food to eat will be a necessity when I start med school in the fall, seeing as I will have no college dining plan. Two days ago, I made grilled Teriyaki salmon! Today, I made spaghetti with the most ridiculous tomato sauce. They tasted awesome, though that was probably do to my adding generous amounts of oil/butter. I now realize I should have taken pictures to document my first ventures into the culinary realm. I did not think about this while I was eating them.

During my free time, while also watching Scrubs, I have been reading the Cosmology textbook that my professor gave me last semester. In an older post, I talked about determinism and how it makes perfect logical sense that we live in a very deterministic universe where we have no free will. Before the 20th century, every philosopher would have agreed with me. But that was all before quantum mechanics!! It suggests that our futures are not predetermined! Maybe we have free will? I don't know. I'll gather my thoughts and tell you.

Saturday, February 13

New Moon: A review


I think it's natural for anyone from my generation to be cynical towards any recently popular book-based movie franchise. Everyone knows that the Harry Potter books are way better than the movies, so we just love to brush aside a new one that claims to be a "phenomenon". Especially one about romance with vampires. Especially one that attracts middle school fangirls. Despite all of this, we will still read the books (if to just find out what happens in the end) or watch the movie (if to just make ourselves feel better by making fun of it).

When my roommate Anita asked me if I wanted to see New Moon this evening at the HUB, she was joking. I, on the other hand, decided it wasn't a half bad idea considering I did read the books and did watch the first movie and unfortunately didn't have anything better to do on a Friday night. We decided to go, like I said, to mock it and tell all our friends how terrible it was. Judging from all the snickers we heard in the movie theater after just the five minutes of the movie, it was clear that everyone else had come for the same purpose.

About two hours later when the credits rolled, there was a general air of "wow, that was kind of retarded" as people got up to leave. No, it was not a particularly enjoyable movie. It was agonizingly slow. There were times when I closed my eyes for 5-10 seconds and when I reopened them, nothing had changed. The most exciting parts were actually meeting new cast members, such as the werewolves and the Volturi. But between Taylor Lautner's torso, Kristen Stewart's "the world hates me" face and Robert Pattinson's gruesome facial expressions, where was the story?

And then it hit me...New Moon has no story. It wasn't the director's fault. I could tell you the entire story in one paragraph, though I won't since I don't feel like yelling "Spoiler Alert!". And that's why I think that while New Moon was not a quality film, it's a laudable effort. There's skill involved in even making a two hour movie on Stephenie Meyer's plot. No, I would not watch it again. But to make up for the lack of substance, it's richly detailed. It tries to be artistic and meaningful, and begs to be taken seriously. It's as if the filmmakers are like, "Sorry about the lame ass story. It's not our fault. But enjoy the scenery." Also, it's a pretty good adaptation of the book--faithful to the details. So I guess my point is, if you want to avoid reading New Moon (something I highly recommend), watching this movie is an acceptable alternative.

From me, the movie gets a 51%. I'm sure many of you would rate it lower, and I know I'm not supposed to be sympathizing with directors anything, but just consider the material they had to work with. Whether you want to watch it just to laugh at it or watch it just to get it over with, I think you should watch it.

And then tell me what you think by commenting below...:)

Tuesday, February 9

Gobs of fun

If any of you remember me in middle school, my friends and I went through a phase of Lord of the Rings obsession. One year, my new year's resolution was to learn Elvish (I'm not kidding even one bit). Interestingly enough, in my linguistics class, we had an assignment that involved researching an artificial language and proving whether or not it is a real language. I chose Sindarin, which is actually one of the many Elvish languages invented by JRR Tolkien and wrote a paper on it! I will share my findings with all of you after I find out if I did okay on it.


I had a rather wonderful weekend (minus the frantic cramming on Sunday night). I didn't go to any classes this Thursday because I didn't feel like it. I did however attend my Anatomy Lab Exam at 9 PM. The Anatomy Lab Exam is where we have to go around to different stations identifying different bones in the body. We get 45 seconds at each station, which is more than enough time to identify and write down your answer if you actually know the bone that is sitting in front of you. However if you don't, it is a very stressful 45 seconds and usually ends in you frantically sketching a lousy picture of it so that you can try to identify it later (never works that way).

Anyway, on Friday was Bhangra Resurrection! We had to go, despite the foot of snow. We only spent an hour there, but it was a very energetic hour involving Bhangra dancing, stepping on peoples toes, doubling over in wheezing fits (I am that out of shape). This year, I thought I should pay for any damage that I have caused so I even bought a bright yellow Bhangra Resurrection T shirt. It was gobs of fun, but we had to leave early to surprise Swetha at midnight for her birthday.

And on Saturday was Dandia On Fire! DOF is a Raas competition where several awesome teams come to perform at Eisenhower (we had it last year too). They were awesome to watch. And after DOF, Sampath, Moksha, and I watched Jalsa on a big screen by hijacking a room in Boucke Building, opening the podium lock, (using a combination which we had acquired just earlier that day :D) and playing a downloaded rip of the movie. We also brought popcorn and smoothies into the room even though it said "food and drinks not allowed". We are such bad people.

Sunday was not terribly exciting since I tried to start doing homework at 10 AM (I actually started at 6 PM). After that, it was kind of stressful.


It is now Tuesday, and I've got a test to study for tomorrow, so I'll stop writing. However, there are exciting things in my future: For my Graphic Design class, I have to take these abstract artsy pictures of "microscale natural phenoma", stuff like smoke, dew drops, snowflakes, fire, and stuff like that. I really liked some of the artwork I saw with smoke, so I picked that for my project. Unfortunately, most buildings are equipped with smoke detectors so I can't really create smoke without causing great anguish from my dormmates. Therefore, I am going to get myself one of those electronic cigarettes. Don't worry, I won't be smoking it there is no nicotine in it anyway...it is just going to produce water vapor which photographs a lot like smoke. So my ECig should get here sometime this week and I'm very excited to use it. I'll take pictures of that too.

Sunday, January 31

Sowmya's first ever Technology Byte


The iPad

http://www.apple.com/ipad/#video
(You can also watch the keynote at apple.com)

If you keep up with online gadget rumors at all, you know that for the past few months, there's been all that fuss about Apple coming out with a tablet. People have gone nuts imagining what this new device would probably look like and coming up with clever names for it.
Well, they can pretty much relax now because just few days ago, Apple unveiled their brand new multimedia device, the iPad. When I say unveil, I mean that they've only just showed everyone what it is. We won't actually get to buy until late March.

The iPad is supposed to be this iPhone/laptop intermediate device which combines the "best of both worlds" (though I do currently fail to see how this is possible, considering it has neither phone capabilities nor a keyboard). It also seems to slightly resemble ebook readers such as the Kindle and Nook which have gained a lot of popularity recently. The iPad has obviously generated a lot of excitement, being the first completely new thing after the iPhone, which was tremendously successful. Of course, there are those who voice their complaints about it already, though they all (myself included) secretly want one. If you watch the intro video about the iPad, you will see that it's clearly an amazing piece of technology. And it's made by Apple, so it'll be pretty freaking gorgeous as well.

It's clear that Apple has played on the two things that have really put their product at the top: The multitouch interface and the App Store. Everyone who owns an iPhone will personally attest to the fact that the touch capabilities of the device are unparalleled. Other phones have tried to emulate the touch screen, but the iPhone's screen is lightyears ahead. I personally own an iPod touch with a screen that, people say, is slightly less responsive than the iPhone's, and I am still impressed with how well it works (even today, three years after I bought it).
Other companies like Microsoft Zune have also tried to come up with their own App Stores, and they've all pretty much failed. The App Store proved to be a great way third party companies could gain access to the massive the iPhone/iPod touch clientele.

So it was pretty obvious that in its newest device, Apple wasn't going to do away with the two things that had worked so well for it. But one new thing Apple has made sure to do is to emphasize that even the first generation iPad is going to be reasonably priced. They're clearly acting preemptively against what they think customers are going to do: wait. Everyone remembers how when the iPhone came out, it was like 6 or 700 bucks. And buying it when it was first released involved waiting in huge lines in front of an Apple store. Some people, to avoid the rush, even shelled out more than $1200 to buy one on eBay. And within a few months, the price dove by a couple of hundred and those people were probably kicking themselves (Apple tried to placate everyone by giving them all $100 in store credit). Now, providing you're willing to lock into a pricey monthly plan with AT&T, you can get an iPhone for $99. So if people have learned anything from this, it's that they should probably wait at least a little while after the release of a brand new Apple product since the price will almost definitely go down quickly. It's clear that Apple has anticipated this, so they're introducing the iPad for a "reasonable" $499 and have suggested that the price won't be going down significantly thereafter. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Sunday, January 24

Two weeks later, nothing much to report

Hi friends

I am having a wonderfully relaxing day in the library. I've been perusing the library's collection of Bharata Natyam DVDs and videocassettes to watch at future Natya meetings. I've also been checking out a fair share of English DVDs which I hope to watch while not catching up on TV shows. As you can tell, I haven't done any substantial work yet, though that will soon change as OChem Lab starts for real tomorrow. I've been passing the time playing Super Mario 64 while sitting across from Anita, who is diligently studying for MCATs which she (and some other progs) will be taking on January 30th.

I would tell you about the cool stuff I've been learning in my classes, but honestly, I haven't learned anything that cool yet. I haven't done anything terribly exciting outside of school either, though I really want to visit the ice rink day. I realized that I would like to improve my ice skating skills especially if I want to go skating at the Rockefeller ever again.

What I have been doing is daydreaming about summer vacation and all the awesome things I want to do before moving to Philly. Look at this amazing picture taken at Angkor Wat, a temple complex in Cambodia. I-want-to-go-to-there.

And so, even as the fourth semester has just begun, senioritis is slowly setting in. I forgot to mention that a bunch of computers in South Halls have have this stupid virus on them for some reason, including mine. And therefore, I don't have internet in my dorm room at the moment. There's an incredibly long waiting list to get your computer fixed...Arthi finally got hers back after a week or something. So, without internet in my room, I've been bumming around places like downtown, other peoples rooms, and the library stacks.

Seeing as I have all this time which I'm not wasting on the internet, I might as well fill out some paperwork I'll be needing soon, such as the application for an apartment at Jefferson. Does anyone know anything about pets being allowed in the apartments? Like a kitten? Maybe a puppy?

Thursday, January 14

four down, one to go

Happy Sankranthi Everybody!

Here I am in my dorm room, enjoying some last remnants of winter break: Super Mario 64 (via emulator), Beetroot halwa that my mom made, a jar of Horlicks, and some lovely christmas presents including warm pajamas and a beautiful new digital camera which I've been utilizing heavily. I am also currently inhaling the scent of neem and jasmine flavored soaps which I got from the Indian Grocery store in Edison.


My semester contains a wonderful combination of nonscience classes such as Linguistics, Graphic Design, Hip Hop Dance, and Piano. But of course, there's also Ochem Lab (uggggh) which I can tell is going to be horrible.

As you can tell by my schedule and lack of enthusiasm for classes that involve work, I have officially entered second-semester-seniorship. It's only been four days since the start of classes and I'm already making plans to slack off for the remainder of the semester. My last semester at Penn State. It's incredible how so soon after we began our prog journey that one summer, we've already become seasoned veterans of college. The other day, I was on eLion and came across a button that said, "I intend to graduate this semester". I was tempted to press it.

Saturday, January 9

New York City Part 1

Happy New Year everybody!

Oh boy I have lots to tell you. Tomorrow I go back to college for my second semester of my last year. Yay for being a second semester senior so soon! It's going to be great :)

So anyway, last week I went to New York City to celebrate the New Year with some school friends and my family. It was a blast. We left my house on Wednesday morning, with the intention of driving all the way to Edison, NJ, to where we had booked two hotel rooms. It was a tight car ride; I squeezed in between Soreen and Staci in the back. Kevin drove and Katherine sat up front and operated the musical selections. My parents came separately in the van with Vishnu. All was well until we crossed the New York border line and Kevin's GPS somehow managed to steer us off the highway and into a lengthy detour in the Bronx, down many streets with sketchy store names like "Horizon Wireless". Note: you should look at the pictures from my facebook album entitled: New Years at New York City.


We got back onto the highway a while later and managed to reach Edison by late afternoon. While Kevin, Soreen, Staci, and Katherine all went to watch Avatar in a movie theater, I hung with my family that night and went to visit Madhavi and Shyam's new apartment in Jersey. We even had a lovely sit-on-the-floor dinner.


We drove back to the hotel and fought to stay away until past 12 in order to get practice for tomorrow. I know what you're thinking: staying up? That must be a cinch for you! Actually it was kind of hard since my sleep schedule was running normally again. :P

The next morning, we took the NJ transit into New York City (Penn Station) but then took the subway to Flushing, where we were meeting Soreen's friends from college. We had dimsum at this cool place and hung out at some Asian stores before heading back into the city. I learned that I had been holding chopsticks the wrong way forever.

Finally! When we emerged from the subway station, it was 5 PM and we were amidst the flashy signs and bright lights that were Times Square! It was exciting...up until we realized that police had already started barricading people into pens to watch the ball drop. We frantically looked around for an entrance into one of the pens before they closed it up. Eventually, we ran 10 blocks from 42nd to 52nd street to enter one of the open pens. There was already a huge mass of people crowded around the entrance. After being pressed and mashed and squashed for 20 minutes, we eventually trickled out of the crowd, having crossed the first of many such barriers.

Here my friends look triumphant after crossing the first barrier and freely walking down the road. However, there were a couple more to come. The longest wait was before the final barrier, after which we entered Times Square itself. THAT was a good feeling. It was a chilly night, but when we were in the crowd, it didn't feel cold.

It's hard to tell in the above picture, but the ball is sitting right on top of that tower in the distance with the flashy signs (that building is One Times Square, the one you see on TV all the time). We ended up moving as far as the Sbarro's Pizza, but then that was it since there were so many people there. At abut 7 PM, we decided to leave Times Square and maybe visit Central Park for fireworks. I saw Madhan on the subway!! How cool is that?

Eventually, it started snowing and hailing, so we decided to head back to the hotel room and maybe catch the ball drop on television. Instead, we got delayed in Penn Station and ended up celebrating New Years at the top of a parking deck! It was actually loads of fun. When I make the video, you can see it. And THEN, we were incredibly pooped and our hands were really cold after flinging ice at each other for a while so we drove back to the hotel and slept. What an end to the decade!

To be continued in Part 2.