I am IN LOVE with my classes.
Seriously. But I'm sad cuz I really wanted to take five. I had to drop one and today I finally decided to drop Complex Problem: World Hunger [focusing on Nigeria], even though it is such an awesome awesome class. It was really hard to decide, and technically I'm still debating a teensy bit even though I didn't go to it this morning (I'm still registered). It's just so hard when there's five classes that are all so amazing. But here's my [most likely final] schedule for the quarter:

1)Health & Healing Across Cultures
2)Technologies/Ideologies of Sexual Reproduction
3)The History of US Public Health
4)Current Issues in Medical Economics
5)Emergency Response
6)Water Aerobics

A Forest Monk's Lesson in the New York Jungle
Reason to Run? Nader Argues He Has Plenty

I Don't Know How Accurate This Is:

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding hostesses. 12.3% of total population. Extroverted(E)55.88% Introverted(I)44.12% Sensing (S) 58.97% Intuitive (N) 41.03% Feeling (F) 61.11% Thinking (T) 38.89% Perceiving (P) 50% Judging (J) 50%

Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

This is just a very short online test, so I doubt it accurately protrays who I am. I do know that when I've taken this test twice in the past (the longer paper version) I came out once as an Extrovert and once as an Introvert. I think that I change based on certain situations. I definitely am different at home (outgoing compassionate friendly and talkative) compared to at college at the UofC (solitary quiet and mostly unsocial). Also, Paul is INTP. So if ESFJ really is what I am then it's true that opposites attract. ;o)

Spring Break: Ar-kansas!
Backpacking the Ozarks, somewhere to be determined and hot springs!

Job Search!
I'm applying to about a bozillion US Forest Service jobs right now (six in the past half an hour so far). Some of the temporary summer ones look fun. For instance:
Forestry Technician (Helitack)
Job Description: RAPPELS FROM HOVERING HELICOPTER (among other duties).

Freecycle in the New York Times: "Socks? With Holes? I'll Take It"

Sorry we killed your wife and three children, here's $5,000. 500 Iraqi civilians had been killed by American-led forces during the occupation.
"This war of yours cost billions," said Said Abbas Ahmed, who was given $6,000 after an American missile killed his brother, his sister, his wife and his six children. "Are we not worth more than a few thousand?"

We Can all Thank the Pirates for St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day, celebrated every year on March 17, is a holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity in the A.D. 400s. Saint Patrick's real name was Maewyn Succat. For his first 16 years, Maewyn lived a normal life as the son of a wealthy landowner and magistrate in Britain.

At 16, Maewyn was captured and sold into slavery by a group of pirates who raided his village. After six years of herding sheep, Maewyn escaped, went to France and became a priest, adopting the name Patrick.

During his training, Patrick discovered that his calling was to convert Irish pagans to Christianity. He returned to Ireland, established monasteries across the country, set up schools and churches, and converted many with his winning personality. Patrick carried on a very successful mission for thirty years. When he died on March 17, that day was commemorated as St. Patrick's Day.
--From Care2.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day
Saturday was Tomorrow is the day that the Chicago River is dyed green! In case you're wondering how this is done, NPR has a little piece on it and the history channel also has a blurb about it. Even though I've been in Chicago for four years now I've never seen it....but tomorrow after my final I'm going to go witness this disgusting but celebrated event.
I MISSED IT. I guess it was the 13th when they did this. Arg.

How does a car become flipped upside down on a tiny sidestreet? I have no idea. I'd kinda like to know the physics of how it happend though (not the math, just the scenario, force, etc.) The crash is two blocks away, I saw the results as I took the bus back to my apartment. One of those things that everyone just can't help but stare at when you pass by. I'm tempted to walk back over there for closer inspection, but I won't.
In other weirdness this evening when I came out of the reg there were police cars outside, one that had driven all the way up to the entrance. I hope nothing is wrong there.
And, the D came over 15 minutes late for no apparent reason except for that James is ...well...James (sidenote: I have suspicious evidence that he also works at an adult store). He just sits there with the bus one block away! When he finally came (superlate) that A, B, C & D were all there waiting at the same time, all parked with the police cars.
Strange.

But in good news, Biogeography is done! Now I only have my Cultural Geography exam tomorrow and then to turn in a paper for that class on Friday. To celebrate [instead of studying like I should have been] Paul and I watched The School of Rock (which was awesome), and played Smash Brothers.

It's snowing!

Finals always suck and some sort of problem always has to arise. Mostly having to do with banks and money in various forms (I "lost" hundreds of dollars last spring for a short while, and it wasn't my fault). It's not like I have enough stress already, right?
But to cheer me up I just read this: I do like this poem. Very nice Chris!
and what's not to look forward to when spring break is just around the corner, even if plans of adventures in Zion haven't worked out. There's so much on my todo list. And yet, all I want to do is hike and relax and sleep and stare at the stars.

It's a Sunday! Banks should not call people on Sunday!
The Fraud department of Citibank called me a couple of minutes ago. Or at least that's where he claimed to be affiliated. Now I'm scared that it was a scam just to get my information and SS#. I'm a bit nervous. He did know a lot of details about me, but he was *soooo unprofessional*. At the end of the conversation he told me that I should come down to Florida for spring break, and that I shouldnt' bring my boyfriend. Then he went on to talk about girls walking around everywhere in bikinis and boys staring and how I should come lay on the beach and have everyone look at me. I was like HUH? This guy is crazy!
I just called Citibank to confirm that I actually had a call from the Fraud department in Florida. They have no mention of it so far tied to my account, although it was only a moment after he had called, so maybe the system just didn't have me logged in with the call yet? [fingers crossed that this is the reason]. I am going to call back in an hour and find out.

Update: Citibank is stupid and completely unhelpful. They don't even keep a record of if you were called or not, so there is no way to find out if the person who called me is a fraud or actually IS from the Citibank Fraud Department. Additionally, even though I did file a complaint about the unprofessional behavior of their employee it's completely pointless because they have no idea who my complaint is directed at. I then "filed" a second complaint about their entire system and tracking of customer's accounts. In reality, I just got screwed over for two hours of my time because of thier incompetance.

Eye on the World
While looking up information on Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for GIS I came across some DEMs of Afghanistan and some satellite pictures of tunnel entrances in the mountains. It just amazes me how our government (and many others) have an eye on the world--literally--even in the most remote places.
In case you're ever interested in taking a peak at the United States down to a pretty awesome resolution (one foot!) check out the USGS website for free images of basically anywhere in the US, many of them high-resolution orthoimagery. What is even more incredible is to think of how public images like these are restricted by the government..and that they have even higher resolution surveillance.
The government did flyovers of the 133 most populated cities in the country after 9/11 and have recently (in the past couple of months) added all of the high resolution color orthoimagery online, which all seamlessly fit together and are geo-referenced to make me smile. :o) It's fun to take a look at Portland and find my house, Mt. Tabor, landmarks in the neighborhood, and even create a shapefile and digitize my walk that I took to and from home each day [yes, I'm a nerd!].

The Meaning of 'Human' in Embryonic Research
I wish I had enough time to read all of this. Skimming through this I read an astonishing fact...did you know the record for the longest life was over 122 years? wow.

I ache. The slightest breeze feels like a fierce cold storm trying to invade my body and suck out my energy and what little warmth I have. My eyes are constantly crying and I'm incredibly incredibly tired. I'm sick, again, so soon. This time luckily with only a cold and runny nose..but it's still very draining...especially when I *need* to be studying for finals!

Has anybody else noticed what a peaceful and relaxing day today is? The sun is shining bright, but there seems to be hardly anyone about, and what people are around seem pleasant and quiet...well except for a random guy that burst into my Cultural Geography class today mid-lecture on the breakup of the Soviet Union. He was dressed in a sombrero, shorts and a skirt(?)--weird outfit and then tried to get the class to chant M-A-R-V-I-N ('give me an A--A!' style) in admiration, I suppose, for our Prof. Marvin Mikesell. It was rather odd, almost like a dream, because after the boy fled the scene the Professor then just made a comment about how the intruder wasn't very introverted, and the continued with the end of his sentence that had been interupted. Everyone just acted like nothing much had happened. I wonder if this is a yearly/quarterly occurance? Is this some sort of tradition with some frat? It wouldn't surprise me...there are an astonishing amount of "greeks" in the class.

I'm in such a good mood right now for no reason at all. This is awesome! This never happens, especially in the midst of writing a final paper! *smile* I wouldn't be unhappy if this occured more often!

I'm writing my final paper for Biogeography which is due tomorrow. I'm in Crerar USITE and there are these four girls that are talking in very loud voices which echo everywhere. It's very hard to concentrate, but I've just discovered that you can check out headphones, which is cool. Right now I'm listening to IranianRadio.com, unfortunately though I have a small head and these headphones don't fit me at all and they hang over my ears even on the smallest setting. Instead of blocking out the sound, they are amplifying this one girl's voice (and some others) from across the room...it's a very strange mix to listen to...random echoed mumblings with Iranian songs that I can't understand mixed with a dance beat. I hope this proves to be productive background noise as I attempt to finish this paper!
Update: Wow. Very strange, I'm listening to this song called Shamaizadeh - Medley and the person sitting directly behind me is typing away at the same rate as the song, providing additional beats which mesh perfectly. At first I thought it was part of the song and had to take off my headphones double-check.

If you know a lot about citing sources and all that technical stuff you must make friends with me soon. I need you!
*A book with about 20 articles inside. Do I really need to cite each article individually? It seems the only possible conclusion to make when I need to cite the individual article author in my paper. too much work.
*If they are Smith, Jr. you have to put that in each citation don't you? how dumb.
*I want to cite something that is already cited in an article (so i'm double-citing i guess?), and they got it pers. communication. i don't want to write in my paper so-and-so says about so-and-so. i just want to write about the information and leave all that junk in the parenthesis. how do i do it?
ps. the MLA Handbook is NOT helpful!

How Cute!
My cousin's daughter, Jasmine, 8, has to give a presentation tomorrow on something that is special to her. She has chosen to talk about the purple bangles that I gave to her two Christmas' ago from India. In a few minutes she's going to call and give her speech to me over the phone.

Find me here
Speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That is leading me
To the place where
I find peace again
You are the strength
That keeps me walking
You are the hope
That keeps me trusting
You are the life to my soul
You are my purpose
You are everything
And how can I
Stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be
Any better than this
You calm the storms
You give me rest
You hold me in your hands
You won't let me fall
You still my heart
And you take my breath away
Would You take me in
Would You take me deeper now
'cause You're all i want
You are all i need
You are everything
Everything
-Lifehouse, "Everything"

For Lunch, a Party of One
This article and photograph made me cry.

It's set!
For spring break, March 20-28, Paul and I are going to Zion National Park, Utah.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i'm so excited! camping and hiking and exploring. now we just have the plan all those fine details of how to get there? train/plane? rent a car?

i had a horrible virus this week, but luckily i narrowly escaped having IVs in the student care center. i'm almost back to normal now, which makes me happy. but now i must wean myself off of Harry Potter movies. (hey, i was BORED and sick! I tried watching Lord of the Rings but it just wasn't my kind of movie).
Now it's time to continue writing my final paper for biogeography, due tuesday. so much to do! and read for Structural Geology (final on Thursday!).
oh ohoh. There's a new class next quarter in the med school for 3rd and 4th year undergrads. Current Issues in Medical Economics and I just signed up for it. It looks so good. But now I have five classes that I really want to take. It's going to be hard to decide.

The Thong Song, animated by Kozo.
"Kozo is a 600-pound, thong-wearing, ex-Sumo wrestling, purple hippopotamus."

Thunderstorm
Saturday afternoon we took the SafeSpace kids (from the domestic violence shelter) to one of the quarterly field trips. It was so much fun. We went to ETA Creative Arts Foundation, which on 75th. We saw the West African play Thunderstorm. The cast was all children, about 25 in all, each playing different animals in Africa who told the story of how thunder met storm. It was a dance-musical and very lively. The kids were excellent dancers and singers...I was very impressed.

Here's a Hint
When you are in a computer lab within a 5 foot radius of other people it is NOT ok to make scratching your throat/clucking sounds and huge disgusting belches. And when you see people turning around to stare at you that means something. This guy in Crerar tonight was so oblivious to anything...I was so tempted to comfront him on these horridly bad manners, but ended up just walking out of the room instead. Gross!