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August 31, 2004
No kids, I can't believe it either...
80's pop icon Laura Branigan died yesterday!
Now who is going to sing songs like "Gloria" and "Self Control" that have withstood the test of time and provided enjoyment for the masses?
Who is going to wear giant shoulder pads and knee length oversized shirts with huge geometric patterns and a giant pleater belt over stirrup pants?
It is a sad day in Amerca.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)
For those of you in the Boston area(ish)...
The SAMFund for Young Adult Survivors of Cancer is having a karaoke night on Wednesday, September 8th at The Point on Hanover Street.
The evening starts at 7:30pm and you can come, strut your stuff, have some munchies, and support a great cause.
Cover is $10.
I demand that you attend!!!!
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
OMG
Does this really work? I am trying out NetNewsWire, a program that will let me post blog entries and get my daily fix of all the blogs I read at the same time.
Can I get a WHOA consolidation?
Here goes nothin'....
*** UPDATE ***
Holy mother of god it works.
And this program comes with a little notepad addition so I don't have to use OmniOutliner to keep track of all the stuff I want to blog about.
And I can just keep it up all the time instead of having to pull up a new browser window, get into Moveable Type, post and edit and all that stuff. It's all in one tidy little box with this program.
It gets a super duper A+ on my list of things that will keep me organized (because there isn't much that does).
Word.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)
Burning ASSHOLES.
Burning Man is some stupid ass shit.
I don't care what anyone says.
There is no changing my opinion on this.
And if you don't know what it is, just be happy that you don't.
Ah hell, here's a link describing it anyway.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
Transferrable skills...
Who knew that knowing how to put a stereo system together would help me with my nursing skills?
As it turns out, there are many similarities between a stero or media system and IV equipment. Lots of wires that have to go in specific places. Buttons, plugs, inputs and outputs, system settings and other such things are all a part of an IV set up. Thing get tangled. Stuff has to be moved around, switched and attached in the right spots.
Whew. At least that came in handy for something.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)
Very interesting discussion on codeblog....
Check it out: Body Art.
It's a discussion about the treatment of patients with extensive body piercings and tattoos. Responses are from both the public and health professionals alike, and run the gamut.
Of course, I had to put my 2c in.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)
I feel pretty!
Jana painted my toes yesterday.
They are now a lovely shade of Nantucket Mist...
Good bye black toe (the remains of an encounter I had with a dresser drawer almost 3 months ago), hello beautiful sausage toes!
See how beauuuuuuuutifullll they are?
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:46 PM | Comments (1)
August 30, 2004
Vacation plans...
So, I have three weeks off. This is more time off in a big chunk than I have had since I was like 12.
I want to try and use it wisely and still relax, so here are some thoughts.
Lots of sleeping.
Read the books for one of my fall classes
So I can place out of it. It's called Socio-cultural Issues in Health & Illness. I basically majored in that in college. That way it will hopefully free me up to really focus on clinical stuff next term.
Finish the books on my reading list that I haven't read, including:
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Shogun
Jack City
...and the three new ones.
Work on stuff for The SAMFund.
That I have been wanting to do but that I haven't had time to do. I need to develop the Grant and Scholarship Application Process and Timeline and compile a listing of current national and regional schoalrships for cancer survivors, among other things.
Go to and/or watch movies.
I really want to see:
Mean Creek
Hero (Again - DAMN THAT WAS FAMAZING)
Napoleon Dynamite
Mean Girls
Explore San Francisco and the surrounding areas.
This will happen next week, with Steven.
Catch up on my video game playing while listening to music really loudly.
I was lucky enough to get the first two Resident Evil games from Jana. I can't wait to sink my teeth into that. I also want to try my hand at GTA: Vice City again, but I can't get past the part where you have to blow up a building using a tiny, remote control helicopter. Son of a B.
Oh yeah, and work on the stuff for the MEPN Student Group we have started.
All I have to say is, I have a pantload of typing to do.
Sleep more.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Hai!
So even more recently, I have become quite fascinated with learning Japanese. I went through an extended period of Japanobsession when I was 12, and I think it has returned.
I was searching online today about some online practice stuff and came across this. It cracked me up.
But it doesn't make me want to learn it any less.
Even more, actually.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2004
Time to think....
So now that the term is over, I actually have some time to sit down and process what I have been experiencing.
The first thing that keeps drifting in and out of my mind is my issues with death and dying. Personally, I have plenty, but I I need to learn more, to read more, to understand the dying experience from as many perspective as I can, so that I can better care for my patients and their families, and just be at peace for myself.
Everyone's experience with death is different. It is scary and beautiful. It is a transition, just as any other part of life is, and the best I can do is try to understand my own sense of it.... My friend recently described her experiencing caring for a loved one that was dying, and she called herself, "His midwife into death". I thought that was beautiful.
So I bought some books, with the help of Death Maiden (and my current obsession with Zen Buddhism).
I am starting with:
- Dying Well: Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life - Ira Byock, M.D.
- On Death and Dying - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
- The Zen of Living and Dying - Philip Kapleau
We'll see how it goes.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)
At least I'm not her...
Poor Jess.
It seems I left that place just in time.
But then again, at least she's not Paris Hilton.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 10:03 AM | Comments (1)
August 28, 2004
Since when is San Francisco hot at night??
So, I can't sleep, and instead, I'm trying to think of things to do with my brother when he gets here next week (not this coming week, but the week after).
Here is what I have so far:
Things to do with Steven:
The Zoo (duh.)
Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park
Special "free" double feature at the Daly City movie theatre (Don't ask.)
Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley
The Castro (Because he will wet himself laughing.)
Fisherman's Wharf
The Haight (Although I'm not sure. Patchouli smell makes me want to boot.)
Full Drive Through of the City (w/ Laura)
Japantown and Chinatown (maybe Chinatown, Definitely Japantown)
Outer Sunset Beach
Cable Car Ride
Over the Bridge to Saulsalito
Santa Cruz (on the weekend w/ Laura)
Oh, and I have to get him to at least try sushi. The dumbass.
Any of you kids have other suggestions?
OH, AND I'M GOING TO MY FIRST A'S GAME TOMORROW NIGHT!
WHEEEEEEE.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 03:46 AM | Comments (5)
August 27, 2004
The Calista Flockhart of Digital Cameras!
You can stop gritting your teeth and cursing me now. In celebration of my last day of the term and for two months of non-stop work, I bought me a digital camera so I can put up crazy pictures of my San Francisco life. I know you're excited.
But it's the Casio Exilim EX S2. It's skinny, the battery lasts a long time, it's skinny, I already have a memory card for it, it's skinny, takes pictures real fast and oh yeah, it's skinny. And I don't care if it only has 2.0 Megapixels because I don't need that many mega pixels and it only cost me $130 on 1/2.com.
I would show you a picture of it, but oh right, I DON'T HAVE A CAMERA.
It's like her old one, but blue.
That's right, blue.
Stay tuned for some practice shots.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)
Oh geez, my duodenum.
I gave blood today!
And I am now officially part of the National Bone Marrow Registry too, which I have wanted to do forever but haven't because usually it costs $75 for them to draw two vials of blood, type it, and add you to the registry, but you get it for free at Stanford if you donate a pint of blood too, which I would do anyway.
And please, you want me to pay you $75 so I can do something for the greater good of humanity and so you can stick a needle and take blood out of me? I don't think so. That's where I draw the line.
But now that I'm in, this now means that I could potentially be called up to be a bone marrow donor for someone who is in need of a transplant. And it is weird to think that this could happen tomorrow... or never... It's just good to be a part of it.
If you are in California and want to do this, go to the Stanford Blood Center.
They give you cookies and a t-shirt too.
What a way to go out on my last day of the quarter.
But now I need to take a very long nap.
A pint of blood ain't no joke.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:01 PM | Comments (1)
August 25, 2004
First, you put the puddin' on a stick...
I never thought it would happen!
They brought back Jell-O Pudding Pops!
Happiness on a stick!
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!
Now all they need to do is reissue the Jell-O Gelatin Pops and all will be right in the world.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 10:24 PM | Comments (1)
Angel, you are hell and gone from Cartagena....
Today was quite the day. I took my last final (*insert applause here*) and scraped by with two As and a B, because they don't give +'s... and with the exception of that B... I am pretty pleased, and damn happy to be done.
Don't get me wrong, I am not the kid that has a problem with Bs, especially given the current madness of 50+ hours a week of classes and clinical, but I had an 89 in the class. And if that isn't crazy making, I don't know what is.
But enough bitching. No, wait, not yet...
The exam I had today was Pharmacology, and I studied my ass off, and got in there and didn't recognize a single thing on the first page of the exam. Has that ever happened to you? The blank stare. The double checking just to make sure you're not going insane. The moment of panic. My first reaction is to promptly burst into tears, which I did. But I got through it, and luckily she wound up dumping some of the questions from our final scores.
I'm DONE, suckas!
To top the day off, we had the first meeting of a new MEPN student group that I have started with some of my classmates. That's right --- it's time for a revolution. Well, not really. No mutiny here. Just trying to figure out how to change a few things and figure out what we can do to help ourselves through this experience. It feels good to do something to move forward. Usually I just let shit get to me and then stay in bed all day. This time it's different. This time I'm trying to do something about it instead of just perseverating and whining and pulling the covers over my head.
Let's see if the motivation keeps up. But it's there now....
I want to see Napoleon Dynamite.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:07 PM | Comments (2)
Now, I know this shouldn't be funny....
...but it is.
Headline on Yahoo! this morning:
'Death and Dying' author Kubler-Ross dies
Say it out loud.
*****
But, more seriously, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross totally reconceptualized the dying process and the context in which we can put the death experience as we or our families and freinds face it. Amazing. Truly.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 11:50 AM | Comments (3)
today i miss...
this.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2004
It's official...
I have a crush on...
Yeah, you guessed it: Z-A-C-H B-R-A-F-F
*sighs*
But you knew that.
When the hell did I turn into a 12 year old?
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 12:51 AM | Comments (0)
Take that, Webster!
From Cami: "yawngasm" - look it up in your Pharm book.
Yes kids, it's a real word.
According to p305 in Pharmacology for Nursing Care, a yawngasm is a spontaneous orgasm that occurs while yawning.
What next, I ask....
Oh, and here's what the Washington Post had to say about it...
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 12:11 AM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2004
Half of the time we're gone and we don't know where....
Today I'm feeling a little nostalgic, a little philosophical, a little overwhelmed, a little dreamy...
It's hard for me to believe that my first term is three days from ending. That I just spend two months without my love, completely immersed in a new life, a new place, in this work that I knew nothing about prior to starting school, and it is like everything is changing so quickly. But now it's my life, and Laura's here, and I'm the same, and we're the same, and we're different too... It's all same and different existing right now. What I have learned, what I know, what I continue to experience.... And to have been so in it and now it's the end of the beginning, and it's just strange... It's like a microcosm of the bigger picture of life and the course it takes.
I don't even know if that makes sense, but sometimes I just need to sit back and feel my life. Not just be in it. To feel that this is how it happens... and it's amazing.
Maybe it was that darn movie, or some recent conversations I have had with friends from school.
But we're just here. Right now. And it's all right there in front of us.... all of our experience that we see with clarity in little bits and pieces when we sit with it for a minute.
Today I am going to be a nurse.
Today I have a life with my love in San Francisco.
Today I am learning and being with these amazing women who have given me so much in such a short time here.
Today I miss my family.
Today is today.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:17 PM | Comments (1)
You won't be surprised when I tell you that...
According to this quiz which I found through parttimemom's blog, I am:
What internet acronym are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
You're KIDDING!!!!!!!!!
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2004
I'm Rick James, BITCH!
I think we all need to take a brief moment of silence to honor this cultural icon who passed away last week.
"Cocaine's a hell of a drug."
--- RJ
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)
And so it ends... for now.
Finals this week!
Time to kick ass, take names, then sleep for three weeks.
P.S. Uma Thurman wishes she were me. (I just watched Kill Bill Vol. 2 and I'm a little jealous.)
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2004
Things that can suck it...
Ok, really, but do we really need all of the sob stories for the Olympic commentary.
How many times can I hear about a girl who struggled through poverty only to have her house burn down and kill her cats and leave her homeless eating frozen potatoes and dirt and then her last remaining parent dies in a horrible freak avalanche and she is taken in by a kind and loving family that helps her use gymnastics as a way to overcome life's obstacles and her scarred past and as a tribute to her parents who could not live to see the day that she won the gold.
What happens when she doesn't win the gold?
What then, huh?
Back to the streets for you, wench.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)
Let Go....
Tonight we saw Garden State, this jaw-droppingly amazing new movie. It's written and directed by Zach Braff (who also stars in it). If you don't know who he is, he's the main character in the funniest show on TV, Scrubs.
That show makes me want to pee my pants, but that's a story for another time.
Oh and Zach Braff has a blog too.
But back to my original thought...
This movie has to be one of the funniest, most emotional, real movies I have ever seen. It was just incredible. Grabs you from the first scene and first note of the score and you just become wrapped, enveloped, in its beauty.
And it has a really neato soundtrack with music by Nick Drake, The Shins, Simon and Garfunkel [why can't I ever spell his damn name correctly?], Coldplay [*drools*] and others. A very ambient soundtrack that matches perfectly with the themes and the scenes in the movie and all the songs make you feel something diffferent. I love music that just makes me feel - experience - emotions.
Aghhhhh.
I think this one will stay with me for awhile.
GO SEE IT. Right Now. I mean it.
Now.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2004
Baby Docs
So, I think Doogie Howser works at the hospital. Or at least 50 carbon copies of him do. And strangely enough, it seems that even after only two months of being in school (as compared to the four years of medical school that they have been through), we as nursing students have more common sense and general good judgement than they do.
They write orders, discontinue them, write a new one, discontinue that, write two orders for the same drug, switch medications on whim and really basically have no idea what they are doing, yet are the first line of reference when the nursing staff or patients have questions.
I know people have to learn sometime, but really... I feel like they should be in diapers. There is this one intern who is the quintessential "just out of medical school running around like a chicken with his head cut off jolt cola drinking spazz boy who can now work with sick people" and I see him coming and just want to pat him on the shoulder and be like, "Go back to your playpen....Baby."
I can't wait until I have been doing this for 10 years and get totally fed up with newbies.
Even though I am a newbie.
It's just different. Really.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 11:12 PM | Comments (2)
August 18, 2004
I shoulda known....
We used to joke in college about the 1,234,520349.5 reasons that I was a lesbian.
This was before I was actually in love a women.
But really, everyone seemed to be waiting for the day that I "Came Out" (which, of course, technically never happened).
Although, the more I think about it, the more I realize I have loved the ladies for a long time. Not necessariliy sexually, mind you, just....
Well, maybe if I go through the top 5 reasons [in no order] why I am so definitely a lesbian after all (not including Loody, because, duh.) you will understand.
- My first tape and first favorite song was Bette Davis Eyes [by Kim Carnes], and I never knew why. And then I recently listened to the lyrics. And the song is about a very seductive, sensuous woman. Right.
- When I was 12, Julia Roberts was really reaallllllllllllllllllllllllllly cool. Way cooler than Kirk Cameron could have ever dreamed of being. And when I say cool, I mean... just... so... coool.
- I am going to be a nurse (haha, just kidding).
- I had an extraordinary amount of "Favorite Teachers." All the favorite ones just happened to be women. The really favorite one just happened to be a lesbian. Yeah, I know.
- I have two words for you. Stevie. Nicks.
- The one time I had a major crush on a boy in elementary school who I would play GI Joe with in our rock garden on the weekend. One day I wore a dress and a big pretty ring one day because I thought maybe he liked me and maybe I liked him and then proceeded to chase him around the playground and he totally ignored me. And we never played GI Joe again either. And really, I think that was the end of it all right there.
So there.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
This has nothing to do with nursing, but...
New favorite song = Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
It doesn't get more 80s than that.
*Bobs Head* *Snaps Fingers* *Kicks feet out in Belinda Carlisle Style*
And damn you, Cami and Jana, for getting me back into 80s new wave just when I thought I was really starting to be "down".
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2004
Go toward the green light...
These are our new lamps. They are lime green. What more could you ask for, really.
*Drools.*
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:49 AM | Comments (1)
The hip bone's connected to the.... JAW BONE?
So I pulled out my hip. Or I have a herniated disc. Or sciatic nerve problems. Or I'm just really tense.
Basically they don't know, but I have been on a lot of drugs and had to miss clinic last week and spent Wednesday in Student Health Services crying while the nurses checked in on me.
Yes, I am a baby.
But the good news is they set me up with this chriropracter who totally realigned me in a sum total of 15 minutes. Seriously. And he did it by pulling on my jaw.
It was quite possibly the strangest experience I have ever had. I went in there and he goes, "do you have tension in your right jaw?" and of course I do because I have tension everywhere. So then he proceeds to pull on my left leg (where it hurts), put his fingers in my mouth and pull on my face, and then pull my leg again. This time, the leg shifted back into my hip. WTF? You had to be there to see it, I guess, because you're probably thinking to yourself right now... What a quack this guy is, and if she believes him I never want her to be my nurse.
But it worked, I swear.
But I still can't sit for too long in class. The only position that is comfortable right now is laying down with my left leg bent up.
OYYYYYYYYYYYYY. My body is a mess of a beast of a thing.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:43 AM | Comments (1)
Ikea = Happiness
We bought lots of storage items the other day now that Loody is here for good. And 2 cool-ass lamps that I just want to stare and drool at all day long. Thank god for Ikea. Seriously. Except we both have some post-construction injuries we are trying to contend with, including a laceration on my finger (see, I can say that now and know what it means) and a number of bruises.
Loody is tired. All the time. She goes to sleep at 8:30 and I can't fall asleep until way later. So I am stuck with a big snoring lump next to me for at least 3 hours every night. Thank god I love her. And really, thank god she's here. I like sleeping next to a snoring lump.
The term is almost over. I am passing (getting A's in 2 of my 3 classes, in fact...). Miracle of all miracles.
And best of all, my brother is coming for a week in September so we can explore the city together!
I can't wait.
We are good little travel companions.
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 01:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 03, 2004
Remind me never to look at the things growing in my throat ever ever again...
So I forgot to tell you the results of the throat cultures we did two weeks ago (and my incident with a culture of candida albacanis, otherwise known as STANK NASTY YEAST INFECTION).
There are beasts in our throats. Evil, horrible, disgusting creatures that are running around and having a barbeque, and I know they are mocking me. Now, this is all "normal flora" as they call it. Stuff that is supposed to be there. But really, it's just gross, and the thought that bacteria are everywhere on me [even if it's for a good reason] just makes my stomach turn. And they are little sluts too. Practically overgrew the agar plate in a matter of days. They don't care who they screw, they just find other bacteria to continue to exponentially multiply their disgustingness.
So then, after I'm already heebing out from the goobers in my throat and all of their little textures and shapes and colors, I am forced to identify a strange and unusual culture of some kind of unknown microorganism.
So what is the first thing I do? SMELL IT.
And what do I get? For all you ladies out there, maybe you should skip this part.
A BIG FAT PUTRID WALL OF YEAST INFECTION SMELL.
What the f-ing hell in this universe was I thinking? Why is my first impulse to smell things when I know, I KNOW that Bridget + Smells = Flashbacks and Nightmares for Years to Come.
I promptly had an anxiety attack and ran out of the room in a cold sweat.
I am now going to be forever terrorized by yeast smell.
Poor Kim even just had a yeasty smelling bagel in the car this morning and I thought I was going to pass out.
And I actually once thought I wanted to work in infectious disease....
Posted by missfitsandstarts at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)