april is the cruellest month...

I'm sure almost every April in my eight years of blogging I've made a post entitled "April is the cruellest month," because, well, April sucks hard. (Sorry T.S. Eliot, I have not your way with words.)

Yes, April is the perfect, opportune, most SADISTIC time for professors to lay one last awful hell week on you before the hell week of all hell weeks: May finals. It's like clockwork.

I was looking at a text doc of things I had wanted to blog about nearly 2 months ago, and unfortunately half of them don't make sense to me anymore:

1. med school formal
   
2. valentine's day
3. hell week for studying (...which one???)
4. got the job i wanted** (I put two stars next to this one because it probably merits more than a few skimpy sentences.)
5. a word on healer's art
6. spring break -- home and california**
   
7. flight delay
8. the white tiger
9. sam adams brewery
10. starting at project trust 4 hrs/week**

Let's just say for numbers 1 and 2 that they happened, they were lovely, and they involved brilliant views of the Boston skyline (no. 1) and heart-shaped pancakes (no. 2).

Nos. 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are too long to hash out entirely, but they did involve Disneyland, an unplanned overnight stay in DC that I spent sleeping at the airport (thank you, United!), some beer with AMSA pals, and "fuzzy hearts" from old Jewish folks, though not entirely in that order of events.

But in all seriousness, Spring Break was an incredible mash-up of seeing my family, bringing Andrei to KC again, celebrating my 21st birthday (no I don't feel any wiser nor do I drink any more alcohol than I did before I was 21, sadly?), and lying poolside in sunny California in-between medical talks. (Sign me up for the next conference!) And no, I have not yet posted pictures. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

Sidenote: At the national AMSA conference I did get a chance to meet and chat with Dr. Tao Le and Dr. Goljan, of First Aid and Rapid Review Pathology fame, respectively. Like, seriously, students were GEEKING OUT and asking for autographs and photos with these two docs. It was surreal, and slightly--no, tremendously--pathetic. In just one year, will I also be worshipping USMLE Step 1 review book editors? (!!!!) I shudder to think of it.

Other thoughts: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Just read it and you'll be glad you did. You'll like this if you liked Slumdog Millionaire or any type of tongue-in-cheek social commentary. One spoiler: the first person narrator tells his story entirely in letters addressed to the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao. Good, no? It is hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time, and well worth anyone's time. (Also the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, if you like that kind of thing.)

More details on the starred ** items for next time, hopefully soon.

(I have been THIS close to opening a Twitter account because usually my thoughts need to be put down immediately or they get sucked into the black hole of forgetfulness... but I'm still super Twitter-wary and for good reason, so I'm still not convinced.)