I still remember a few years ago, looking at the bookshelf of my computer science geek of a cousin (ok I have many of those, but I'm talking about Adil Bhai) and seeing a book about XML. As if life hadn't become complicated enough with HTML, here was a new and even better programming language for the Internet. Wonderful.
Well I decided to read this book and learn XML so I could do things on the Web. But considering I have few skills when it comes to hard-core computer things (ie programming) I barely made any headway and decided to revisit the book and the subject when it was more relevant.
It's starting to be more relevant.
I'll try again to read the book in the near future, but for now I want to tell you all about my first venture into the world of XML: using the power of syndication.
From Blogger.com:
Syndication means that when you publish your blog, Blogger automatically generates a machine-readable representation of your blog that can be picked up and displayed on other web sites and information aggregation tools. Special pieces of software called Newsreaders (or Aggregators) can scan these feeds, automatically letting you know when the sites have updated.
Some of you have already been reading my blog through the XML protocol, using the Atom format at http://jerseysportsguy.blogspot.com/atom.xml that Blogger automatically provides. If you have, please stop using that one. It looks ugly on IE and I'm sure it doesn't look any better on Aggregators or Mozilla.
In order to cross-promote my blog on Friendster, I have set up a RSS feed (RSS is another format, different from Atom...I think) using the website FeedBurner.com. The link for this feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/jerseysportsguy. Please use this feed from now on if you use an aggregator. I apologize for the huge ad in the middle, but it looks much better.
Because of this, I have also added new buttons on the side of the blog where you can click and go straight to the feed, along with a counter. I hope to see that number go up.
Also, something related: you can now e-mail an individual post of mine to anyone using the little envelope button on the bottom of each post (next to the link for comments). Feel free to use it whenever.
If you have NO idea what I've been talking about here, I apologize. I figure I should try to spruce up my blog (look for pictures soon) and this is one way to do it.
Let me know what you think and I hope to have another post up very soon...
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
I'm bbbaaaccckkk...
You didn't REALLY think I forgot about my blog, did you?
Well, I almost did. One thing you must know about me is that I can be an incredibly lazy person (not to mention how time-consuming medical school is). I make up these grand plans in life and then barely follow through. That was the case last June (as I began this blog with some great ideas) and that is the case again this June; not only have I returned to posting (regularly I hope) but I have some ambitions dealing with this blog: photos, links, an RSS feed to complement the Atom feed that Blogger.com provides, and other stuff.
But while I work out the details of all that, let me just start off with a simple post summarizing what happened to this blog. Simply put: Hurricane Ivan. It hit Grenada in September, and it disrupted my life. Suddenly I had to leave Grenada, wait a few weeks for the school to decide what we were going to do for the rest of the fall (and beyond), and then move to Long Island, NY, to resume our classes, living in a craphole known as SUNY Old Westbury's campus. Quite a shock from the tropical paradise I had just begun to enjoy.
I meant to write a post detailing my hurricane experience and I even started it. But I kept stalling it, kept delaying it, and now it's still sitting in my "Edit Posts" page, waiting for me to do something with it. I think I might finish it, though I forget many of the minute details that followed after that point. The reason why I want to finish it is so that I can express my feelings of sadness and my thoughts on the fragility of our existence (oooo, fancy).
After that, I intend to summarize the past 10 months; each month gets its own post. You already know what the big thing for October will be about (I like to think of the 2004 ALCS as "it never happened" or "we're still up 3-0, baseball just postponed the rest of the postseason". Probably not the healthiest take on things).
I will continue my Sports Prediction of the Day, and I will change the South Park Quote of the Day around. Some days it'll be a South Park quote, some days a Family Guy quote (my new thing), and some days it'll be a Guess the Movie quote. I actually might make the Guess the Movie quote into its own section. We'll see. I might do away with the Current Rankings of Songs in my Playlist feature only because I listen to the same thing over and over again for an extended period of time before I try out new music. Plus, since I'm not listening to the radio here in Grenada, I don't get to hear much new music.
I can't guarantee I'll be consistent with the blog. I hope I don't disappear like I did before, but for as long as I am writing, I hope you enjoy this little venture of mine.
Now if only I could make myself exercise regularly...
Well, I almost did. One thing you must know about me is that I can be an incredibly lazy person (not to mention how time-consuming medical school is). I make up these grand plans in life and then barely follow through. That was the case last June (as I began this blog with some great ideas) and that is the case again this June; not only have I returned to posting (regularly I hope) but I have some ambitions dealing with this blog: photos, links, an RSS feed to complement the Atom feed that Blogger.com provides, and other stuff.
But while I work out the details of all that, let me just start off with a simple post summarizing what happened to this blog. Simply put: Hurricane Ivan. It hit Grenada in September, and it disrupted my life. Suddenly I had to leave Grenada, wait a few weeks for the school to decide what we were going to do for the rest of the fall (and beyond), and then move to Long Island, NY, to resume our classes, living in a craphole known as SUNY Old Westbury's campus. Quite a shock from the tropical paradise I had just begun to enjoy.
I meant to write a post detailing my hurricane experience and I even started it. But I kept stalling it, kept delaying it, and now it's still sitting in my "Edit Posts" page, waiting for me to do something with it. I think I might finish it, though I forget many of the minute details that followed after that point. The reason why I want to finish it is so that I can express my feelings of sadness and my thoughts on the fragility of our existence (oooo, fancy).
After that, I intend to summarize the past 10 months; each month gets its own post. You already know what the big thing for October will be about (I like to think of the 2004 ALCS as "it never happened" or "we're still up 3-0, baseball just postponed the rest of the postseason". Probably not the healthiest take on things).
I will continue my Sports Prediction of the Day, and I will change the South Park Quote of the Day around. Some days it'll be a South Park quote, some days a Family Guy quote (my new thing), and some days it'll be a Guess the Movie quote. I actually might make the Guess the Movie quote into its own section. We'll see. I might do away with the Current Rankings of Songs in my Playlist feature only because I listen to the same thing over and over again for an extended period of time before I try out new music. Plus, since I'm not listening to the radio here in Grenada, I don't get to hear much new music.
I can't guarantee I'll be consistent with the blog. I hope I don't disappear like I did before, but for as long as I am writing, I hope you enjoy this little venture of mine.
Now if only I could make myself exercise regularly...
Thursday, October 21, 2004
The Night That It All Came Crashing Down
Has God turned on the Yankees?
I sit here, numb, staring blankly at the screen. How am I supposed to explain this feeling in my stomach, this pit that hurts so badly?
Just 10 minutes ago, my hands were shaking as I tried to type something. The Yankees aren't supposed to do this to me. They never do this to me. Not even in 2001; that was more of a shock at the end that I blacked out from my memory, 10-20 minutes of my life that I pretend never happened. But this? This is 4 days of total agony. From "Damn, we didn't sweep them, oh well" to "OK if the Yankees lose Game 5 I'm officially worried" to "This can't be happening" to "This is about to happen and I don't even have the will to bear it and root with all my heart"
In 2003, I exhausted myself watching that Game 7. Wore my Yankees cap and my Yankees sun visor (one forward, the other backwards, switching them around to try to inspire my team). I made noises that you hear at the dentist's office. I slammed my fist into pillows. I threw the remote around. And we won. Oh how we won, how glorious it was. History was telling us our time was up, but we stared it down. We stared it down and said "Not today".
For years, I never felt much of a rivalry against the Red Sox. We always beat them! This isn't a rivalry, this is domination. But last year, we faced the fear of finally being That Yankees Team...the one who finally lost to the Sox, either in a pennant chase or in the playoffs. And we stared it down and said "Not today".
For years, I'd actually wish for the Sox to win a World Series and I still do...under one condition: They don't beat us along the way. And last year, we stared it down. But since Aaron Boone launched that knuckleball deep into history, you just had a bad feeling about this war. The Red Sox got Schilling aka The Yankee Killer. We overhauled our entire pitching rotation. The Red Sox lost out on A-Rod and we ended up with him. And we got Sheffield. And Nomar was shot, so insulted by the A-Rod fiasco that he turned it in, ensuring his early departure via trade. And we won 101 games, built up a huge lead in the regular season and held on.
"Wait a minute Kashif. You had a bad feeling?"
Yes. The Red Sox were built on pitching and defense. The Yankees were built on home-run boppers, a video game dream team. It used to be the other way around. But not anymore. Now I felt trepidation. Coming into the ALCS, everyone thought the Red Sox would win. Yet I stuck with my team and picked them to win in 6. I just had a feeling, and they almost made me look like a genius. Almost.
I couldn't be happier after the first 3 games. We knocked around an injured Schilling, showed Pedro who his Daddy is and absolutely murdered them at Fenway. We were up 3-0. That's it. You don't lose 3-0 leads in baseball. EVER.
But then they beat Mariano. Mariano! He blows postseason saves about once every 3-4 years, and considering he just blew one 2 weeks ago, I never saw that coming. But like 2001, Torre pitched him way too much. No bother, we'll beat them in Game 5.
But somebody forgot to tell the Yankees that the series didn't end after the 19-8 debacle. And they lost...again. With Pedro starting. Beating Mariano...again. And with Schilling looming in Game 6.
By then, I was officially freaked out. Schilling pitched a game for the ages, an MJ-with-the-flu-in-97 game. If it was against anyone else, I'd love him for life. But he did it to us.
So it came as almost no surprise to me as the Yankees got blown down in Game 7. I couldn't even bear to watch the game, filling my time with South Park and a chick flick. It was that bad. At least I can chant "1918" for at least another week.
Baseball is America's pastime, a sport that our country has turned to for joy and comfort for over 100 years. We celebrate its milestones, its players, its teams, its stadiums and its history like no other sport. We write about it more than football basketball and hockey combined. It thrills us in the summer and chills us in October. It makes us cry when our team loses (or worse, when it moves) and perform cartwheels when our team wins, on average moreso than any other sport. It makes us question our faith and praise the Lord in many different ways.
Am I making any sense? Probably not. And I guess that's the point.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pray for God to turn on the Red Sox.
I sit here, numb, staring blankly at the screen. How am I supposed to explain this feeling in my stomach, this pit that hurts so badly?
Just 10 minutes ago, my hands were shaking as I tried to type something. The Yankees aren't supposed to do this to me. They never do this to me. Not even in 2001; that was more of a shock at the end that I blacked out from my memory, 10-20 minutes of my life that I pretend never happened. But this? This is 4 days of total agony. From "Damn, we didn't sweep them, oh well" to "OK if the Yankees lose Game 5 I'm officially worried" to "This can't be happening" to "This is about to happen and I don't even have the will to bear it and root with all my heart"
In 2003, I exhausted myself watching that Game 7. Wore my Yankees cap and my Yankees sun visor (one forward, the other backwards, switching them around to try to inspire my team). I made noises that you hear at the dentist's office. I slammed my fist into pillows. I threw the remote around. And we won. Oh how we won, how glorious it was. History was telling us our time was up, but we stared it down. We stared it down and said "Not today".
For years, I never felt much of a rivalry against the Red Sox. We always beat them! This isn't a rivalry, this is domination. But last year, we faced the fear of finally being That Yankees Team...the one who finally lost to the Sox, either in a pennant chase or in the playoffs. And we stared it down and said "Not today".
For years, I'd actually wish for the Sox to win a World Series and I still do...under one condition: They don't beat us along the way. And last year, we stared it down. But since Aaron Boone launched that knuckleball deep into history, you just had a bad feeling about this war. The Red Sox got Schilling aka The Yankee Killer. We overhauled our entire pitching rotation. The Red Sox lost out on A-Rod and we ended up with him. And we got Sheffield. And Nomar was shot, so insulted by the A-Rod fiasco that he turned it in, ensuring his early departure via trade. And we won 101 games, built up a huge lead in the regular season and held on.
"Wait a minute Kashif. You had a bad feeling?"
Yes. The Red Sox were built on pitching and defense. The Yankees were built on home-run boppers, a video game dream team. It used to be the other way around. But not anymore. Now I felt trepidation. Coming into the ALCS, everyone thought the Red Sox would win. Yet I stuck with my team and picked them to win in 6. I just had a feeling, and they almost made me look like a genius. Almost.
I couldn't be happier after the first 3 games. We knocked around an injured Schilling, showed Pedro who his Daddy is and absolutely murdered them at Fenway. We were up 3-0. That's it. You don't lose 3-0 leads in baseball. EVER.
But then they beat Mariano. Mariano! He blows postseason saves about once every 3-4 years, and considering he just blew one 2 weeks ago, I never saw that coming. But like 2001, Torre pitched him way too much. No bother, we'll beat them in Game 5.
But somebody forgot to tell the Yankees that the series didn't end after the 19-8 debacle. And they lost...again. With Pedro starting. Beating Mariano...again. And with Schilling looming in Game 6.
By then, I was officially freaked out. Schilling pitched a game for the ages, an MJ-with-the-flu-in-97 game. If it was against anyone else, I'd love him for life. But he did it to us.
So it came as almost no surprise to me as the Yankees got blown down in Game 7. I couldn't even bear to watch the game, filling my time with South Park and a chick flick. It was that bad. At least I can chant "1918" for at least another week.
Baseball is America's pastime, a sport that our country has turned to for joy and comfort for over 100 years. We celebrate its milestones, its players, its teams, its stadiums and its history like no other sport. We write about it more than football basketball and hockey combined. It thrills us in the summer and chills us in October. It makes us cry when our team loses (or worse, when it moves) and perform cartwheels when our team wins, on average moreso than any other sport. It makes us question our faith and praise the Lord in many different ways.
Am I making any sense? Probably not. And I guess that's the point.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pray for God to turn on the Red Sox.
Monday, August 30, 2004
An Earth-Sized Mistake
I was wrong.
For months, I thought for sure that something bad would happen at the Athens 2004 Olympics, and I'm not talking about suspect officiating. It was too easy; the city was financially strapped and seemed to be running late in getting its infrastructure up to speed for the grandiosity that the Olympics (especially the Summer Games) nowadays demand. One main concern was security. Even with all the troops and assurances, you just knew that these games would eclipse the 1972 Games in an unfortunate way.
But like all the other pundits, I was (thankfully) mistaken. Nothing happened, the Games went on without a hitch, and the only controversies were a judging blunder in gymnastics, shotty officiating in basketball (I mean, it turned Tim Duncan into a surly guy. TIM DUNCAN!), the usual drug suspensions, and a crazy Irish priest. In other words, everything happened on the field, court, track, or arena. And that's the way it should be.
So why were we all so quick to predict these Games would be an unmitigated disaster, that something crazy was going to happen? Two reasons.
First, since the tragic events of 9/11/01, I feel (and everyone else should, unless you're just a moron) less safe than I did before 9/11. And that's not because of "terrorists" but because of the administration that "won" the election in 2000. Just as Clinton might be the greatest president I ever lived under, George W. Bush should (I pray) go down as the very worst of my lifetime. He's taken a problem and made it a million times worse, pointing fingers at others for his mistakes and blindly following the same path he did with Iraq (is there any doubt that he will invade Iran if he wins again? Honestly, that's WW III right there). I was against him 4 years ago, and I'm against him now. So much so that, though he should lose NJ, I've requested an absentee ballot each time to vote for someone other than him. I don't think Kerry is the best, but he is 20 times better than this moron we have, the most ridiculed president since, I don't know, Ulysses S. Grant?! For example, the Billionaires For Bush group. The world hates us even more now, especially in countries that have traditionally been our Allies (wussy France, post-WWII Germany, post-Commie Russia).
In any case, because of him I fear even more for people in the US, people in Europe, people in the Middle East, Pakistan, India, you name it. And I was ready to see his audacious policies blown up with a disaster in Athens. Again, thankfully it didn't happen.
The second, more disturbing reason for our collective cynicism was just that: cynicism. It's too easy to be a cynic in this world. Too easy to become bitter with people, to judge poorly of human nature. With all the negativity thrown across the airways, people have become more vicious and less respectful of everything. Maybe it's just because I'm older, but I see and feel so much more negativity, pessimism, cynicism about the world and what will happen in the next week, month, year, decade, century. It shouldn't be like this.
Coming to Grenada has been great for just that. The people here are relaxed and care-free because they get it. The beautiful home that is this small island reminds us all of it everyday. There are too many good things on this Earth to let it slip by and fight over, because eventually we forget what we were fighting for in the first place. I see the ocean, the lush green mountains, and all I can think of is how God made this world to cherish and worship Him, not to kill each other over anything and everything.
And despite the commercialism and parochial interest in the Olympics, that what these Games are for: to remind us of what is good and beautiful about this world, about human nature. Whether it's proud to represent your country no matter how disappointing the result (Allen Iverson), to give up your chance at history so a teammate can get one last medal (Michael Phelps), or making new bonds with compatriots and foreigners alike, the Games should always transcend the hypocrisies and bitterness that permeates throughout our lives. Do the Games always do that? No way. But more often than not, they deliver the goods.
So thank you Athens. I apologize for doubting you.
Now, can we please do away with medal counts?!
Sports Prediction of the Day: Jon Kitna will be starting for the Bengals before the 2004 season is over.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Seven Wiser "Take Me As I Am"
Silver: Smile Empty Soul "Silhouettes"
Bronze: Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence"
South Park Quote of the Day
UN Ambassador: Are you high or just incredibly stupid?
George W. Bush: I assure you, I am not high.
For months, I thought for sure that something bad would happen at the Athens 2004 Olympics, and I'm not talking about suspect officiating. It was too easy; the city was financially strapped and seemed to be running late in getting its infrastructure up to speed for the grandiosity that the Olympics (especially the Summer Games) nowadays demand. One main concern was security. Even with all the troops and assurances, you just knew that these games would eclipse the 1972 Games in an unfortunate way.
But like all the other pundits, I was (thankfully) mistaken. Nothing happened, the Games went on without a hitch, and the only controversies were a judging blunder in gymnastics, shotty officiating in basketball (I mean, it turned Tim Duncan into a surly guy. TIM DUNCAN!), the usual drug suspensions, and a crazy Irish priest. In other words, everything happened on the field, court, track, or arena. And that's the way it should be.
So why were we all so quick to predict these Games would be an unmitigated disaster, that something crazy was going to happen? Two reasons.
First, since the tragic events of 9/11/01, I feel (and everyone else should, unless you're just a moron) less safe than I did before 9/11. And that's not because of "terrorists" but because of the administration that "won" the election in 2000. Just as Clinton might be the greatest president I ever lived under, George W. Bush should (I pray) go down as the very worst of my lifetime. He's taken a problem and made it a million times worse, pointing fingers at others for his mistakes and blindly following the same path he did with Iraq (is there any doubt that he will invade Iran if he wins again? Honestly, that's WW III right there). I was against him 4 years ago, and I'm against him now. So much so that, though he should lose NJ, I've requested an absentee ballot each time to vote for someone other than him. I don't think Kerry is the best, but he is 20 times better than this moron we have, the most ridiculed president since, I don't know, Ulysses S. Grant?! For example, the Billionaires For Bush group. The world hates us even more now, especially in countries that have traditionally been our Allies (wussy France, post-WWII Germany, post-Commie Russia).
In any case, because of him I fear even more for people in the US, people in Europe, people in the Middle East, Pakistan, India, you name it. And I was ready to see his audacious policies blown up with a disaster in Athens. Again, thankfully it didn't happen.
The second, more disturbing reason for our collective cynicism was just that: cynicism. It's too easy to be a cynic in this world. Too easy to become bitter with people, to judge poorly of human nature. With all the negativity thrown across the airways, people have become more vicious and less respectful of everything. Maybe it's just because I'm older, but I see and feel so much more negativity, pessimism, cynicism about the world and what will happen in the next week, month, year, decade, century. It shouldn't be like this.
Coming to Grenada has been great for just that. The people here are relaxed and care-free because they get it. The beautiful home that is this small island reminds us all of it everyday. There are too many good things on this Earth to let it slip by and fight over, because eventually we forget what we were fighting for in the first place. I see the ocean, the lush green mountains, and all I can think of is how God made this world to cherish and worship Him, not to kill each other over anything and everything.
And despite the commercialism and parochial interest in the Olympics, that what these Games are for: to remind us of what is good and beautiful about this world, about human nature. Whether it's proud to represent your country no matter how disappointing the result (Allen Iverson), to give up your chance at history so a teammate can get one last medal (Michael Phelps), or making new bonds with compatriots and foreigners alike, the Games should always transcend the hypocrisies and bitterness that permeates throughout our lives. Do the Games always do that? No way. But more often than not, they deliver the goods.
So thank you Athens. I apologize for doubting you.
Now, can we please do away with medal counts?!
Sports Prediction of the Day: Jon Kitna will be starting for the Bengals before the 2004 season is over.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Seven Wiser "Take Me As I Am"
Silver: Smile Empty Soul "Silhouettes"
Bronze: Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence"
South Park Quote of the Day
UN Ambassador: Are you high or just incredibly stupid?
George W. Bush: I assure you, I am not high.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
The Honorable Lady Rosemary
I take that back. This place is like Pakistan. The power went out during lecture today. No AC means no fun. Ugh. Fortunately they got it back up quickly. Better not happen again.
And yet, today I found even more reason to be happy with life. I met Lady Rosemary today. Well, "met" should be used loosely here, considering her head was covered in a plastic bag and I stared at her spinal cord all day.
If you haven't figured it out, "Lady Rosemary" is our cadaver for Gross Anatomy Lab.
Seeing her today made me realize that I've come full circle. In 1997, I was a rising senior in high school who was hesitant about entering the medical field, yet open enough to the idea that I attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in the DC area. Ten days of speakers from various parts of the medical field, tours of hospitals and medical schools and much more. On the tour of the Maryland School of Med, we were told we would be seeing some cadavers later on. It took me a little bit to figure out what "cadavers" were, and when I did I was extremely anxious. I knew I would puke, or at least feel a bit nauseous. Then I would know for sure this wasn't for me, that I had no desire to deal with this stuff.
Well you can figure out the rest. Not only was I not nauseous, I was blown away by the experience. Totally fascinated, completely oblivious to the fact that a mere 10 minutes ago I wanted to run away from the school to avoid it all. Now I didn't make my decision right then and there, but it left such a large impression that I point to that time as when I seriously began considering medicine as a possible field for me.
Fast forward to now. Our cadaver passed away at an old age, with little fat and a kordosis of her spinal cord (aka humpback). And yet I had such respect for this person. She gave her bodily remains for the purpose of education, for scientific advancement. I can't even begin to imagine all the good she will do. If even one of the 16-20 medical students examining her body goes on to be a morally just physician, then her gift will save countless lives.
Today I feel even more excited about becoming a physician, and it's all due to the Honorable Lady Rosemary.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The Russians will never stop being sore losers at the Olympics.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Everything But the Girl "Missing" (The remix)
Silver: Madonna "Die Another Day"
Bronze: Garbage "#1 Crush"
South Park Quote of the Day
(at Devitzen's Tolerance Camp aka the Death Camp of Tolerance)
Devitzen (who looks and sounds a lot like Hitler) addressing the children: Today we will be using ze fingerpaint. You will make a painting that shows people of different colors, races and sexual orientations getting along. Fingerpaint, FINGERPAINT!
(the kids start fingerpainting)
Devitzen (as he walks around the room): You will not make any distinction between people of different color. People with different sexual preferences. You will accept everyone. (stops at Kyle) WHAT ARE YOU FINGERPAINTING??
Kyle: Uh, a bear.
Devitzen: EIN BEAR?! Un bear has nothing to do with accepting people of different races!
Kyle: I-I didn't know what else to paint.
Devitzen: Start over! (crumples the bear) You will fingerpaint what we tell you. (Kyle starts again) Go! Faster...faster...(puts his gun at Kyle's head) ffaasssttteeerr.
Kyle (as he speeds up): Ah!
Devitzen: Faster! Are you done?! What is it, what have you done?!
Kyle: People of all colors and creeds holding hands beneath a rainbow!
Devitzen: Good! That wasn't so bad, was it? (crumples the painting) NOW DO IT AGAIN! (resumes walking around the room) Faster! Ffaasssttteeerrrr.
(the whole groups speeds up)
You just have to see this scene to truly appreciate it...
And yet, today I found even more reason to be happy with life. I met Lady Rosemary today. Well, "met" should be used loosely here, considering her head was covered in a plastic bag and I stared at her spinal cord all day.
If you haven't figured it out, "Lady Rosemary" is our cadaver for Gross Anatomy Lab.
Seeing her today made me realize that I've come full circle. In 1997, I was a rising senior in high school who was hesitant about entering the medical field, yet open enough to the idea that I attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in the DC area. Ten days of speakers from various parts of the medical field, tours of hospitals and medical schools and much more. On the tour of the Maryland School of Med, we were told we would be seeing some cadavers later on. It took me a little bit to figure out what "cadavers" were, and when I did I was extremely anxious. I knew I would puke, or at least feel a bit nauseous. Then I would know for sure this wasn't for me, that I had no desire to deal with this stuff.
Well you can figure out the rest. Not only was I not nauseous, I was blown away by the experience. Totally fascinated, completely oblivious to the fact that a mere 10 minutes ago I wanted to run away from the school to avoid it all. Now I didn't make my decision right then and there, but it left such a large impression that I point to that time as when I seriously began considering medicine as a possible field for me.
Fast forward to now. Our cadaver passed away at an old age, with little fat and a kordosis of her spinal cord (aka humpback). And yet I had such respect for this person. She gave her bodily remains for the purpose of education, for scientific advancement. I can't even begin to imagine all the good she will do. If even one of the 16-20 medical students examining her body goes on to be a morally just physician, then her gift will save countless lives.
Today I feel even more excited about becoming a physician, and it's all due to the Honorable Lady Rosemary.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The Russians will never stop being sore losers at the Olympics.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Everything But the Girl "Missing" (The remix)
Silver: Madonna "Die Another Day"
Bronze: Garbage "#1 Crush"
South Park Quote of the Day
(at Devitzen's Tolerance Camp aka the Death Camp of Tolerance)
Devitzen (who looks and sounds a lot like Hitler) addressing the children: Today we will be using ze fingerpaint. You will make a painting that shows people of different colors, races and sexual orientations getting along. Fingerpaint, FINGERPAINT!
(the kids start fingerpainting)
Devitzen (as he walks around the room): You will not make any distinction between people of different color. People with different sexual preferences. You will accept everyone. (stops at Kyle) WHAT ARE YOU FINGERPAINTING??
Kyle: Uh, a bear.
Devitzen: EIN BEAR?! Un bear has nothing to do with accepting people of different races!
Kyle: I-I didn't know what else to paint.
Devitzen: Start over! (crumples the bear) You will fingerpaint what we tell you. (Kyle starts again) Go! Faster...faster...(puts his gun at Kyle's head) ffaasssttteeerr.
Kyle (as he speeds up): Ah!
Devitzen: Faster! Are you done?! What is it, what have you done?!
Kyle: People of all colors and creeds holding hands beneath a rainbow!
Devitzen: Good! That wasn't so bad, was it? (crumples the painting) NOW DO IT AGAIN! (resumes walking around the room) Faster! Ffaasssttteeerrrr.
(the whole groups speeds up)
You just have to see this scene to truly appreciate it...
Monday, August 23, 2004
The Brown Man and the Sea
So it's been about 10 days since I arrived here in Grenada, and what a ten days it's been. Meeting a ton of new people, making a bunch of new friends, having to study hard to keep up with the classes (alhamdullilah for my experience at Drexel, otherwise I'd be in tears every night).
My overall impression of the country is that it's like Pakistan, only nicer. Third world, but peaceful. The British system reigns supreme (driving on left side of the road, different power outlets, Queen Elizabeth on all the currency) but there is a large US presence on campus. Plus the US dollar is accepted at some big stores. The capital city of St. George's is bustling with activity, reminded me a lot of Karachi.
The med school consists mostly of Americans, but there are Brits and other Caribbean-ers here as well. A strong international feel. Most of the Americans are from NJ/NY (I feel like I'm at Penn all over again in that regard). And yes, there are a TON of brown people here.
The MSA here is strong. I would say there were 30-40 people at Jummah, and halal meat is readily available on the island (the Subway here serves halal poultry!).
This past weekend I signed up for like 6 clubs (at least their e-mail lists). Some I paid dues to, like the Emergency Medicine club and the Surgery Club. Some I may be paying money soon. Plus I played some hoops with some new MSA friends. Maybe I'll join the intramural league, we'll see if I can manage it.
We also had CPR class, exam tomorrow. For all of you, learn CPR. It's a good thing to know.
I'm trying to make the most of my experience, but what I ultimately need to learn so that I can truly enjoy the island is how to swim. Today I went to the black sand beach on campus. Over the weekend I went to the other campus (the Grand Anse campus, which just has dorms) and checked out the Grand Anse beach, a popular location on the island. I've never seen sand so white. Scuba diving is another popular activity. Just so much to do here.
And that's what sets this island apart from a place like Pakistan. On campus I have an absolutely spectacular view of the Atlantic, but if I turn east, northeast I see lush green mountains, which is what makes up the majority of this very hilly island. The weather is mostly humid and sunny, with random downpours that last 10-15 minutes. Of course that doesn't include the tropical depression that rolled through here last Sunday (and they said the island is out of the hurricane belt).
Nice people, nice weather, a safe environment (with a lot of beautiful architecture around). And that's just the island. So far I'm happy I came here.
I'll have more on classes and school soon (tomorrow iA). And hopefully I'll get back to producing some Kashif-humor pieces in the near future. Until then, I leave you with these words:
If you have the time and money, then come visit me! Not because of me, but because this is an amazing place for a vacation.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The US won't win an Olympic gold medal in basketball until at least 2012.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Avril Lavigne "Happy Ending"
Silver: Coldplay "The Scientist"
Bronze: Britney Spears "Everytime" (yes I know, hell is freezing over)
South Park Quote of the Day
Pharmacist: Look at that. Ritalin stocks are up 10 points.
Doctor: That's easily another 20 grand apiece
(Chef banging on door as Doc and Pharmacist cover up their cash)
Chef: Hey! Open this damn door!
Pharmacist: Can I help you?
Chef: Yes you can. What the hell are you two doing prescribing all the kids Ritalin?!
Doc: Well they've all been diagnosed with ADD, that's Attention Defi-
Chef: I know what it is. But now you got a town full of zombie children from the planet Xandor.
Doc: Huh?
Chef: All around the country you bastard doctors are giving children Ritalin. And for every one child that actually needs it, you give it to 50,000 that don't.
Doc: Hey now, don't tell us our business Mr. Chef. Why we-
Chef: You damn right I tell you your business because you two have got your heads up your asses. Thanks to you, we have children in our town who like Phil Collins.
Pharmacist: Wh-what?!
Chef: That's right, you made them so dull and boring that they're actually going to go to a Phil Collins concert!
Doc: My God, what have we done?!
Pharmacist: But if I had known, I mean...Phil Collins, my God!
My overall impression of the country is that it's like Pakistan, only nicer. Third world, but peaceful. The British system reigns supreme (driving on left side of the road, different power outlets, Queen Elizabeth on all the currency) but there is a large US presence on campus. Plus the US dollar is accepted at some big stores. The capital city of St. George's is bustling with activity, reminded me a lot of Karachi.
The med school consists mostly of Americans, but there are Brits and other Caribbean-ers here as well. A strong international feel. Most of the Americans are from NJ/NY (I feel like I'm at Penn all over again in that regard). And yes, there are a TON of brown people here.
The MSA here is strong. I would say there were 30-40 people at Jummah, and halal meat is readily available on the island (the Subway here serves halal poultry!).
This past weekend I signed up for like 6 clubs (at least their e-mail lists). Some I paid dues to, like the Emergency Medicine club and the Surgery Club. Some I may be paying money soon. Plus I played some hoops with some new MSA friends. Maybe I'll join the intramural league, we'll see if I can manage it.
We also had CPR class, exam tomorrow. For all of you, learn CPR. It's a good thing to know.
I'm trying to make the most of my experience, but what I ultimately need to learn so that I can truly enjoy the island is how to swim. Today I went to the black sand beach on campus. Over the weekend I went to the other campus (the Grand Anse campus, which just has dorms) and checked out the Grand Anse beach, a popular location on the island. I've never seen sand so white. Scuba diving is another popular activity. Just so much to do here.
And that's what sets this island apart from a place like Pakistan. On campus I have an absolutely spectacular view of the Atlantic, but if I turn east, northeast I see lush green mountains, which is what makes up the majority of this very hilly island. The weather is mostly humid and sunny, with random downpours that last 10-15 minutes. Of course that doesn't include the tropical depression that rolled through here last Sunday (and they said the island is out of the hurricane belt).
Nice people, nice weather, a safe environment (with a lot of beautiful architecture around). And that's just the island. So far I'm happy I came here.
I'll have more on classes and school soon (tomorrow iA). And hopefully I'll get back to producing some Kashif-humor pieces in the near future. Until then, I leave you with these words:
If you have the time and money, then come visit me! Not because of me, but because this is an amazing place for a vacation.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The US won't win an Olympic gold medal in basketball until at least 2012.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Avril Lavigne "Happy Ending"
Silver: Coldplay "The Scientist"
Bronze: Britney Spears "Everytime" (yes I know, hell is freezing over)
South Park Quote of the Day
Pharmacist: Look at that. Ritalin stocks are up 10 points.
Doctor: That's easily another 20 grand apiece
(Chef banging on door as Doc and Pharmacist cover up their cash)
Chef: Hey! Open this damn door!
Pharmacist: Can I help you?
Chef: Yes you can. What the hell are you two doing prescribing all the kids Ritalin?!
Doc: Well they've all been diagnosed with ADD, that's Attention Defi-
Chef: I know what it is. But now you got a town full of zombie children from the planet Xandor.
Doc: Huh?
Chef: All around the country you bastard doctors are giving children Ritalin. And for every one child that actually needs it, you give it to 50,000 that don't.
Doc: Hey now, don't tell us our business Mr. Chef. Why we-
Chef: You damn right I tell you your business because you two have got your heads up your asses. Thanks to you, we have children in our town who like Phil Collins.
Pharmacist: Wh-what?!
Chef: That's right, you made them so dull and boring that they're actually going to go to a Phil Collins concert!
Doc: My God, what have we done?!
Pharmacist: But if I had known, I mean...Phil Collins, my God!
Sunday, July 18, 2004
What's this? A new entry?!
One word: sorry
I want to thank you all for enjoying my blog and being honest to me about it. It's one thing when your friends and family say "Yeah it's good" and another when they say, unprovoked, "Dude when the hell are you going to write a new entry?!" So thanks for the love everyone, I'll try to do good by you (for you, whatever)
All summer I keep thinking how much I wish I'd be here in August and onwards. So many reasons to stay, so many people to be with, I'm finally comfortable in my surroundings and I have to uproot again, this time further away from my hood than ever before. It's something that, most of the time nowadays, I don't look forward to.
Then I look at where I'll be living the next two years, and all I can think is :-P
Couple that with the description of the climate (click on "Grenada" and scroll down) and I better be seeing some of you down there visiting me. I don't mind that your real reason for coming is the weather and not to see me, I've been hurt in far worse ways.
Besides, my parents are starting to wonder why I check baseball scores online so much...
By the way, this is just a primer before I have a typical post later tonight. Stay tuned...
I want to thank you all for enjoying my blog and being honest to me about it. It's one thing when your friends and family say "Yeah it's good" and another when they say, unprovoked, "Dude when the hell are you going to write a new entry?!" So thanks for the love everyone, I'll try to do good by you (for you, whatever)
All summer I keep thinking how much I wish I'd be here in August and onwards. So many reasons to stay, so many people to be with, I'm finally comfortable in my surroundings and I have to uproot again, this time further away from my hood than ever before. It's something that, most of the time nowadays, I don't look forward to.
Then I look at where I'll be living the next two years, and all I can think is :-P
Couple that with the description of the climate (click on "Grenada" and scroll down) and I better be seeing some of you down there visiting me. I don't mind that your real reason for coming is the weather and not to see me, I've been hurt in far worse ways.
Besides, my parents are starting to wonder why I check baseball scores online so much...
By the way, this is just a primer before I have a typical post later tonight. Stay tuned...
Monday, June 28, 2004
Ramblings and Snippets from the JSG
Don't you just hate it when you're on IM and are having an absolutely amazing, thoroughly enjoyable conversation, and suddenly the other person disappears and doesn't respond to your IMs? Well that's what I did to you guys (especially to Naumijaan; read his comment on my last post). Sorry to give you all a total bummer, but I figured I should cool off and let the obscenely long posts I've made so far sit for a while.
As for this post, I'm just gonna be all over the place with little paragraphs and snippets to cap off the week, as in the mold of Bill Simmons (aka My Hero). Let's see if I can keep this under 1,000 words (Ha!).
So I got a lot of beef for watching Sex and the City. Let me stress that I don't like the show (for many reasons) and I hate the character of Samantha (which is why I didn't talk about her). I was just flipping through the channels and found it. Plus, I think it's OK for any guy to watch it for one simple reason: Kristin Davis is super hot. I wish I could be her knight.
Regarding fantasy baseball: there's Obsessed, there's Dangerously Obsessed, and then there's "Can not, under any circumstances, let Shili beat me AND win the league" Obsessed. Guess which stage I'm at.
The Garden State Parkway might very well be the worst 5-lane highway in the country.
As far as sequels go, Spider Man 2 may very well be a dud. But the trailer has sucked me in, despite the fact that because of the trailers and ads I know about 95% of what's going to happen in the movie. Plus, when you take orchestral music with high-pitched women singing incomprehensible Latin words in an apocalyptic fashion and put it on a trailer, chances are you're going to get very excited. That music should be everywhere.
Say you have one of the three best players in the NBA. This man is a scoring machine who has carried your team from Day One and makes everyone around him better. But he needs help in the post and he wants it now, or else he wants out of town. Now suppose you have the choice of any entering player in the world this year. Do you pick the unproven, 18-year-old high school "power" forward who will need some time to reach his full potential, or the physical defensive specimen that just led his team to the national championship in college and will make your team instantly better? Exactly. Which is why if you're an idiot, then you can become a GM of a major sports team.
Isn't it scary that, for a lot of us, the one parent you grow up trying not to be like is the one parent you become a carbon copy of?
Sorry for sounding arrogant, but I know a lot about Bush and politics that many ordinary joes don't...and I would still strongly recommend everyone to go see Fahrenheit 9-11. It was that good.
I can view my Fall class schedule at St. George's, which has made me extremely giddy and excited. I love schedules too much, I should become some kind of planner.
Is it bad that I am reallllly interested in seeing The Notebook?
Another summer of hearing how the Yankees are going to trade for all the superstars on the block by July 31. Another summer of it NOT happening. Can we please give it a rest?
Wan and I may be the only people who see this, but Rani Mukherjee and Christine Taylor (Stiller's wife) look eerily alike (except for the skin color and hair color of course). Think about it for a second. Who's with us???
Speaking of alike, Simmons had pointed out how Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley look the same, which I suddenly realized was true. Then I find out Keira played the decoy queen Sabe to Natalie's Queen Amidala in Episode I. Now I wonder how far we can go with this. They could go down as the greatest non-twins twins ever.
Speaking of alike II, I have a set of twins in my SAT class. How in the world am I going to tell them apart?
Speaking of the SAT, I taught the first class for a course on Friday, where I mentioned I took this course as well...eight years ago. Eight years ago?! Has it really been that long? Then I thought about my Albany cousins (Sohail Salman and Sohaib) who I visited over the weekend and who stayed with us for a few months in that eventful summer eight years ago. Sohail is starting high school in the fall. Think about that. I'm starting med school, he's starting high school, cousins and friends are getting engaged, married (sometimes to each other), having kids. When we're 6-16, we want to grow up fast, for time to fly, yet it doesn't seem to go fast enough. Then when we're 18+, we want time to slow down, to enjoy life, yet it seems to go faster with every passing day. Ben's right, we always think that the grass is always greener on the other side. May we all reach the state where we don't wish to be on the other side.
(Did you really think I wouldn't try to be philosophical in a blog post?)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Fred McGriff will be the first member of the 500-HR club to not make it to the Hall of Fame (look at his career slugging percentage...it sucks).
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Aaron Lewis's cover of Pearl Jam's "Black"
Silver: Tori Amos "Tear In Your Hand"
Bronze: Coldplay "The Scientist"
South Park Quote of the Day
BHI Records Executive #1: Ah Ms. Lopez, come on in.
(takes a seat)
Jennifer Lopez: Yo make it quick, I got a video shoot at 2 and a script reading at 5.
Executive #1: Yes well, uh, Ms. Lopez, we regret to inform you that we're, uh, dropping you from the label.
Lopez: WHAT?! Oh no you didn't!
Executive #2: We want to thank you for all of your hard work and "talent".
Lopez: You can't drop me! I'm Jennifer Lopez, how can you drop me?!
Executive #1: Well a very talented younger singer has come to our attention, and the truth of the matter is her name happens to be Jennifer Lopez as well. And we really can't have two here at BHI Records.
Lopez: Who the hell is this other Jennifer Lopez?! Where is she come from?!
Executive #2: Well she lives in South Park, Colorado now but I believe she is originally from Mexico just like you.
Lopez: I don't come from no Mexico, I'm Puerto Rican!
Executive #1: Whatever, look it's nothing personal, we just think you need to move on.
Executive #3: And you're a mean-spirited bitch who spits on people who aren't rich and famous.
As for this post, I'm just gonna be all over the place with little paragraphs and snippets to cap off the week, as in the mold of Bill Simmons (aka My Hero). Let's see if I can keep this under 1,000 words (Ha!).
So I got a lot of beef for watching Sex and the City. Let me stress that I don't like the show (for many reasons) and I hate the character of Samantha (which is why I didn't talk about her). I was just flipping through the channels and found it. Plus, I think it's OK for any guy to watch it for one simple reason: Kristin Davis is super hot. I wish I could be her knight.
Regarding fantasy baseball: there's Obsessed, there's Dangerously Obsessed, and then there's "Can not, under any circumstances, let Shili beat me AND win the league" Obsessed. Guess which stage I'm at.
The Garden State Parkway might very well be the worst 5-lane highway in the country.
As far as sequels go, Spider Man 2 may very well be a dud. But the trailer has sucked me in, despite the fact that because of the trailers and ads I know about 95% of what's going to happen in the movie. Plus, when you take orchestral music with high-pitched women singing incomprehensible Latin words in an apocalyptic fashion and put it on a trailer, chances are you're going to get very excited. That music should be everywhere.
Say you have one of the three best players in the NBA. This man is a scoring machine who has carried your team from Day One and makes everyone around him better. But he needs help in the post and he wants it now, or else he wants out of town. Now suppose you have the choice of any entering player in the world this year. Do you pick the unproven, 18-year-old high school "power" forward who will need some time to reach his full potential, or the physical defensive specimen that just led his team to the national championship in college and will make your team instantly better? Exactly. Which is why if you're an idiot, then you can become a GM of a major sports team.
Isn't it scary that, for a lot of us, the one parent you grow up trying not to be like is the one parent you become a carbon copy of?
Sorry for sounding arrogant, but I know a lot about Bush and politics that many ordinary joes don't...and I would still strongly recommend everyone to go see Fahrenheit 9-11. It was that good.
I can view my Fall class schedule at St. George's, which has made me extremely giddy and excited. I love schedules too much, I should become some kind of planner.
Is it bad that I am reallllly interested in seeing The Notebook?
Another summer of hearing how the Yankees are going to trade for all the superstars on the block by July 31. Another summer of it NOT happening. Can we please give it a rest?
Wan and I may be the only people who see this, but Rani Mukherjee and Christine Taylor (Stiller's wife) look eerily alike (except for the skin color and hair color of course). Think about it for a second. Who's with us???
Speaking of alike, Simmons had pointed out how Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley look the same, which I suddenly realized was true. Then I find out Keira played the decoy queen Sabe to Natalie's Queen Amidala in Episode I. Now I wonder how far we can go with this. They could go down as the greatest non-twins twins ever.
Speaking of alike II, I have a set of twins in my SAT class. How in the world am I going to tell them apart?
Speaking of the SAT, I taught the first class for a course on Friday, where I mentioned I took this course as well...eight years ago. Eight years ago?! Has it really been that long? Then I thought about my Albany cousins (Sohail Salman and Sohaib) who I visited over the weekend and who stayed with us for a few months in that eventful summer eight years ago. Sohail is starting high school in the fall. Think about that. I'm starting med school, he's starting high school, cousins and friends are getting engaged, married (sometimes to each other), having kids. When we're 6-16, we want to grow up fast, for time to fly, yet it doesn't seem to go fast enough. Then when we're 18+, we want time to slow down, to enjoy life, yet it seems to go faster with every passing day. Ben's right, we always think that the grass is always greener on the other side. May we all reach the state where we don't wish to be on the other side.
(Did you really think I wouldn't try to be philosophical in a blog post?)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Fred McGriff will be the first member of the 500-HR club to not make it to the Hall of Fame (look at his career slugging percentage...it sucks).
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Aaron Lewis's cover of Pearl Jam's "Black"
Silver: Tori Amos "Tear In Your Hand"
Bronze: Coldplay "The Scientist"
South Park Quote of the Day
BHI Records Executive #1: Ah Ms. Lopez, come on in.
(takes a seat)
Jennifer Lopez: Yo make it quick, I got a video shoot at 2 and a script reading at 5.
Executive #1: Yes well, uh, Ms. Lopez, we regret to inform you that we're, uh, dropping you from the label.
Lopez: WHAT?! Oh no you didn't!
Executive #2: We want to thank you for all of your hard work and "talent".
Lopez: You can't drop me! I'm Jennifer Lopez, how can you drop me?!
Executive #1: Well a very talented younger singer has come to our attention, and the truth of the matter is her name happens to be Jennifer Lopez as well. And we really can't have two here at BHI Records.
Lopez: Who the hell is this other Jennifer Lopez?! Where is she come from?!
Executive #2: Well she lives in South Park, Colorado now but I believe she is originally from Mexico just like you.
Lopez: I don't come from no Mexico, I'm Puerto Rican!
Executive #1: Whatever, look it's nothing personal, we just think you need to move on.
Executive #3: And you're a mean-spirited bitch who spits on people who aren't rich and famous.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Hispanic E-Town and Fairy Tales
Never make promises that you can't keep; I'll have that tribute I promised in a later post.
So I'm driving to SAT Math Re-training this morning (I forgot what it was like to wake up before 11 AM) listening to the radio. I normally listen to two, sometimes three FM stations here in north Jersey. I have K-Rock on when The Reason by Hoobastank starts. I change to PLJ. Didn't like whatever was on. Changed to Z100 (my last resort), The Reason starts on that. Change back to PLJ...and The Reason starts on THAT. Three radio stations, same song, same time. Considering that I want to burn every copy of this song, it got me in a bad mood fast. But then, I hate the mornings anyways. Stupid hormones all out of whack.
Friday night was nostalgic. An old family friend from Hispanic E-Town got married right here in Desi E-Town, and seeing all these old faces from my childhood and high school was great. For the most part I've grown to accept that friends come and go, and that you can't expect to hold on to all of them. But then I go to something like this and wish for all the world I could reconnect with everyone. Of course, I would have been bored out of my mind had Mustafa not been there. One of my truly best friends, Mustafa is someone I can go months without talking to, and then immediately fill him in on all the details of my life. Friday was no different, but because of the lack of privacy, we decided we'd catch up later on our own. Can't wait (and YES, I will do some listening. I do listen sometimes you know).
Weddings bring out the ultra-sap in me, and this time was no different. Seeing some of my old friends happily (?) married made me wonder whether I'd ever live the "happily ever after" fairy tale. After Shrek 2, I realized every guy is like the big ogre, out searching for his Princess Fiona and his happily ever after. Will we ever find it? If we do, will we recognize it, or be so naive as to let it go by? How can we improve ourselves so that we won't let our stupidity blind us? What if we don't? OK forget we, what if I don't?!?!
We all grow up watching these TV shows and movies (Hollywood and Bollywood) that end in happily ever after (Ross and Rachel, Rahul and Anjali, Catherine Zeta-Jones and me). Even in these shows, there's a lot of pain to finally reach the end. But how do we know that's it? That it's all good after that? My dad was watching Chalte Chalte today on TV. I won't bore you with the details (and I saw maybe 4 scenes, but I heard about the story), but basically this Indian movie is a typical love story, except it doesn't end with the wedding. Rather, it shows the "after" of the love marriage, and you see that they are not having a good time of it. Their marriage goes to the brink, but eventually they survive and do live happily ever after (sorry if I ruined it for you). Made me think that fairy tale weddings are over-rated, non-existent, no marriage is absolutely perfect, not worth the trouble, all marriages suck, I'll just let my parents handle it.
But then, I did something I thought I'd never do: I caught an episode of Sex and the City (!)
(God, just when you thought I couldn't possibly be more of a woman...)
The episode dealt with the issue of whether or not it is a girl's dream to be rescued by her "knight in shining armor". A defiant Miranda refuses to ask her guy for help after eye surgery, but comes to realize that a guy's help isn't always a sign of weakness. Charlotte's "knight" turns out to be a brute. But what resonated with me was what Carrie said in the end, that sometimes a girl needs rescuing and sometimes a guy does. It goes both ways.
So what does that have to do with "do happily-ever-afters really happen"? It means that, like our other maniacal dreams, the end is rarely what we envision it. Sometimes it'll be ridiculously easy to reach that state of blissful happiness, sometimes it won't. Heck, most times it won't. But as long as all the sweat and tears are worth it in the end, then you'll be living your "happily ever after". You just have to prepare yourself to not fall asleep at the wheel, because then you'll crash and burn. So before you search for your knight (or knightess), make sure you're ready for what's to come, both for the expected and the vastly unexpected.
On that note, I'd like to congratulate _____ and _____ along with _____ and ______ for taking two very different but ultimately very successful paths to each other's hearts. _____ and ______, I couldn't be more excited for you because of how perfect you are for each other. _____ and _____, despite all the ups and downs, no matter how bleak things looked, you stuck together and fought through it, and give us all hope that we will find someone so supportive and caring. You all better have me over for dinner!!! Well, only as long as either ______ or _____ are cooking, because I don't think I can trust the food that _____ or _____ would make...
And as for me you wonder? Well, today at SAT Retraining, we established that the most common factor in the downfall of one's academic career is the opposite sex. So I'm out, keeping my head in the game and away from the groupies. No worries until med school is at least half done (if I say it enough times, maybe I can actually make it happen).
Of course, if my knightess in shining armor comes rescues me, I'd be hard-pressed to turn her away. Ultimately, we all want to find a personal reason to change how we used to be and to start over new. And I know I'd want that reason to be the woman of my dreams.
(Eh, maybe that song ain't so bad after all...)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Phil Mickelson will win the US Open.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Silver: Evanescence "My Immortal"
Bronze: Evanescence "Everybody's Fool"
South Park Quote of the Day
Stan's Dad: Now do you see why tolerance is so important boys?
Stan: Yeah, I guess.
Museum of Tolerance Tour Guide: We have to accept people for who they are and what they like to do. HEY! What the hell are you doing!
Smoker by the fountain: Oh I was just uh...
Tour Guide: There is no smoking in the museum!
Smoker: But I'm not in the museum.
Tour Guide: GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY SMOKER!
(smoker gets up and leaves)
Kyle's Dad: Yeah Dirty Lungs!
Stan's Mom: Go ahead and kill yourself stupid Tar Breath!
Butter's Dad: Dumbass!
Tweek's Dad: Get out of here!
So I'm driving to SAT Math Re-training this morning (I forgot what it was like to wake up before 11 AM) listening to the radio. I normally listen to two, sometimes three FM stations here in north Jersey. I have K-Rock on when The Reason by Hoobastank starts. I change to PLJ. Didn't like whatever was on. Changed to Z100 (my last resort), The Reason starts on that. Change back to PLJ...and The Reason starts on THAT. Three radio stations, same song, same time. Considering that I want to burn every copy of this song, it got me in a bad mood fast. But then, I hate the mornings anyways. Stupid hormones all out of whack.
Friday night was nostalgic. An old family friend from Hispanic E-Town got married right here in Desi E-Town, and seeing all these old faces from my childhood and high school was great. For the most part I've grown to accept that friends come and go, and that you can't expect to hold on to all of them. But then I go to something like this and wish for all the world I could reconnect with everyone. Of course, I would have been bored out of my mind had Mustafa not been there. One of my truly best friends, Mustafa is someone I can go months without talking to, and then immediately fill him in on all the details of my life. Friday was no different, but because of the lack of privacy, we decided we'd catch up later on our own. Can't wait (and YES, I will do some listening. I do listen sometimes you know).
Weddings bring out the ultra-sap in me, and this time was no different. Seeing some of my old friends happily (?) married made me wonder whether I'd ever live the "happily ever after" fairy tale. After Shrek 2, I realized every guy is like the big ogre, out searching for his Princess Fiona and his happily ever after. Will we ever find it? If we do, will we recognize it, or be so naive as to let it go by? How can we improve ourselves so that we won't let our stupidity blind us? What if we don't? OK forget we, what if I don't?!?!
We all grow up watching these TV shows and movies (Hollywood and Bollywood) that end in happily ever after (Ross and Rachel, Rahul and Anjali, Catherine Zeta-Jones and me). Even in these shows, there's a lot of pain to finally reach the end. But how do we know that's it? That it's all good after that? My dad was watching Chalte Chalte today on TV. I won't bore you with the details (and I saw maybe 4 scenes, but I heard about the story), but basically this Indian movie is a typical love story, except it doesn't end with the wedding. Rather, it shows the "after" of the love marriage, and you see that they are not having a good time of it. Their marriage goes to the brink, but eventually they survive and do live happily ever after (sorry if I ruined it for you). Made me think that fairy tale weddings are over-rated, non-existent, no marriage is absolutely perfect, not worth the trouble, all marriages suck, I'll just let my parents handle it.
But then, I did something I thought I'd never do: I caught an episode of Sex and the City (!)
(God, just when you thought I couldn't possibly be more of a woman...)
The episode dealt with the issue of whether or not it is a girl's dream to be rescued by her "knight in shining armor". A defiant Miranda refuses to ask her guy for help after eye surgery, but comes to realize that a guy's help isn't always a sign of weakness. Charlotte's "knight" turns out to be a brute. But what resonated with me was what Carrie said in the end, that sometimes a girl needs rescuing and sometimes a guy does. It goes both ways.
So what does that have to do with "do happily-ever-afters really happen"? It means that, like our other maniacal dreams, the end is rarely what we envision it. Sometimes it'll be ridiculously easy to reach that state of blissful happiness, sometimes it won't. Heck, most times it won't. But as long as all the sweat and tears are worth it in the end, then you'll be living your "happily ever after". You just have to prepare yourself to not fall asleep at the wheel, because then you'll crash and burn. So before you search for your knight (or knightess), make sure you're ready for what's to come, both for the expected and the vastly unexpected.
On that note, I'd like to congratulate _____ and _____ along with _____ and ______ for taking two very different but ultimately very successful paths to each other's hearts. _____ and ______, I couldn't be more excited for you because of how perfect you are for each other. _____ and _____, despite all the ups and downs, no matter how bleak things looked, you stuck together and fought through it, and give us all hope that we will find someone so supportive and caring. You all better have me over for dinner!!! Well, only as long as either ______ or _____ are cooking, because I don't think I can trust the food that _____ or _____ would make...
And as for me you wonder? Well, today at SAT Retraining, we established that the most common factor in the downfall of one's academic career is the opposite sex. So I'm out, keeping my head in the game and away from the groupies. No worries until med school is at least half done (if I say it enough times, maybe I can actually make it happen).
Of course, if my knightess in shining armor comes rescues me, I'd be hard-pressed to turn her away. Ultimately, we all want to find a personal reason to change how we used to be and to start over new. And I know I'd want that reason to be the woman of my dreams.
(Eh, maybe that song ain't so bad after all...)
Sports Prediction of the Day: Phil Mickelson will win the US Open.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Silver: Evanescence "My Immortal"
Bronze: Evanescence "Everybody's Fool"
South Park Quote of the Day
Stan's Dad: Now do you see why tolerance is so important boys?
Stan: Yeah, I guess.
Museum of Tolerance Tour Guide: We have to accept people for who they are and what they like to do. HEY! What the hell are you doing!
Smoker by the fountain: Oh I was just uh...
Tour Guide: There is no smoking in the museum!
Smoker: But I'm not in the museum.
Tour Guide: GET OUT OF HERE YOU FILTHY SMOKER!
(smoker gets up and leaves)
Kyle's Dad: Yeah Dirty Lungs!
Stan's Mom: Go ahead and kill yourself stupid Tar Breath!
Butter's Dad: Dumbass!
Tweek's Dad: Get out of here!
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
The Season of Growth
"Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final"
That's the screen name of one of my cousin Shahamat Bhai's buddies on MSN. I put that here because it was his MSN chatting that delayed this post (I was nice enough to let him use the computer last night). I also like the statement, very true. Too bad I didn't heed this advice when I smoked high school and started college.
Tuesday was a great day. I woke up to find my Rocketmail/Yahoo accounts now have 100 MB of total space along with 10 MB capacity on outgoing e-mails. I went to sleep smiling at the fact that the LA Fakers had lost the title they were "destined" to win. I didn't want the Lakers to win because:
a) Kobe and Shaq fuss all the time.
b) Phil Jackson won 9 titles on the coat-tails of already great teams knocking on the door.
c) Karl Malone and Gary Payton deserve a title, but not by riding coat-tails.
d) The whole team and their fan base carry themselves with a detachment that is disgusting. Contrast that to how much passion the Pistons and their fans displayed. Now that's what sports should be.
e) Mitch Kupchak is a terrible GM. He has allowed this dynasty, the one Jerry West created, to crumble, and I'm glad to see he didn't get bailed out by this whole "Four Hall-of-Famers" garbage.
Now the Lakers are done. They'll re-tool, probably will make the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they made it past the second round of the playoffs next year.
Anyways, back to the subject of this post:
I always have a tough time deciding what is my favorite anything.
My favorite Star Trek series? Either The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space 9 (DS9).
My favorite dish at Seven Hills of Istanbul? Either the iskandar or the hamburger.
(Note: there are, um, other possible favorite dishes that I'd like to try out at Seven Hills, but this is a family-friendly blog)
My favorite singer? Either Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan (well, now it's Tori, but yeah).
So when someone asks me my favorite season, I have a tough time deciding between spring and summer. I just love the warm weather, the longer days, etc. My birthday is in the spring and it's the start of the warm weather, and this spring was nothing short of amazing. Between my birthday and Memorial Day weekend, it was one of the best times of my life. Now if I didn't have a cold winter and fall, I would not appreciate the warm weather of spring/summer, which is reason #458 why I love the Northeast (more on that in a future post).
So why is summer the best? It's easier to dress for. No layers, jackets, whatever. Plus more to look at it when it comes to the, um, never mind. There's more daylight. I don't know about you, but I feel better with more sunshine around.
Warm weather means more sports and physical activities. Basketball, baseball, jogging, biking, sailboating, camping, kayaking...OK so I don't do many of those things. But I could.
Summer also means I get to work on my lawn. Yes, yard work. Mowing, fertilizing, getting my grass to look great (still far from it). People think it's a pain (which it is), people think I'm weird because I love doing it (which I am). But at the end of the day, a nice even-cut green lawn is immensely satisfying.
But I guess the reason why I love the summer so much is because of the break from school. Yes I've had summer jobs that have been pretty time-consuming, but until you're really out there in the work force (or beyond your first year of medical school) summertime is when you kick back, relax, and re-evaluate yourself to see what you can do to improve yourself. Well, that's what I like to do every few summers.
I came across this realization as I was buying some decent looking clothes at Macys. Instead of being indifferent to my parents' suggestions (yes I still shop for clothes with them. I have no money.), I was actively searching out some pretty nice shirts and khakis. Tried out clothes in the dressing rooms. Debating over which colors. I was trying to be logical and fast (like I tend to be when it comes to clothes), but I was enjoying it. I started thinking that this might be the baby steps I'm taking towards becoming the world's craziest metrosexual.
So why this summer? Well, looking back, I find a few summers where I actively tried to improve something or another about myself. 1997, I biked all over Elizabeth/Linden NJ and built up my legs. 1998, I performed Umrah and gained some financial responsibility. 2001, I jogged on a regular basis. 2002, I worked on my reading list. What did these summers have in common? In each of them, I was approaching a new phase in my life (before Penn, after Penn) and might have been going through some rough times where I wasn't so sure about myself (What do I do about my poor grades? What if I don't get into med school? What if I don't find the woman of my dreams?) and saw the summer as an opportunity to start over, to look and act better around people, to not be able to complain about not having "time" to do the little things in life.
Now, I'm about to embark to medical school, and realize this summer is one of the few chances I'll have left to tackle a bunch of things all at once. Read Quran in English, learn more Hadith, learn to swim, dress better, play basketball more, go to the batting cages, work on my reading list, play tennis with my dad, get rid of this gut once and for all (5 pounds more!), get a nice even tan, figure out my hair (both on my head and on my face), go jogging again, finish Final Fantasy VII, clean out my closet, organize my photographs, sell my old PC, win my fantasy baseball league, etc. etc. etc.
I could keep going on. But it's a great feeling when you feel inspired and actually start working on those things that you've always said you'd do but never felt the drive to do it. And for me, that feeling mostly comes along when the temperature is consistently over 70 degrees during the day.
That's why I love the summer.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time he hits a ball out of the ballpark, Ken Griffey Jr. will break his ankles when he is circling third base, won't be able to get to home plate, and won't get his 500th HR for another year. OK that's more wishful thinking than prediction. I hate the crybaby.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Bronze: Coldplay "In My Place"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Short Goth Guy: Dude you haven't drank your coffee.
Stan: Well I don't drink coffee.
Tall Goth Guy: You can't be a non-conformist if you don't drink coffee.
Next time, a tribute to the most important person in my life...
That's the screen name of one of my cousin Shahamat Bhai's buddies on MSN. I put that here because it was his MSN chatting that delayed this post (I was nice enough to let him use the computer last night). I also like the statement, very true. Too bad I didn't heed this advice when I smoked high school and started college.
Tuesday was a great day. I woke up to find my Rocketmail/Yahoo accounts now have 100 MB of total space along with 10 MB capacity on outgoing e-mails. I went to sleep smiling at the fact that the LA Fakers had lost the title they were "destined" to win. I didn't want the Lakers to win because:
a) Kobe and Shaq fuss all the time.
b) Phil Jackson won 9 titles on the coat-tails of already great teams knocking on the door.
c) Karl Malone and Gary Payton deserve a title, but not by riding coat-tails.
d) The whole team and their fan base carry themselves with a detachment that is disgusting. Contrast that to how much passion the Pistons and their fans displayed. Now that's what sports should be.
e) Mitch Kupchak is a terrible GM. He has allowed this dynasty, the one Jerry West created, to crumble, and I'm glad to see he didn't get bailed out by this whole "Four Hall-of-Famers" garbage.
Now the Lakers are done. They'll re-tool, probably will make the playoffs, but I'd be surprised if they made it past the second round of the playoffs next year.
Anyways, back to the subject of this post:
I always have a tough time deciding what is my favorite anything.
My favorite Star Trek series? Either The Next Generation (TNG) or Deep Space 9 (DS9).
My favorite dish at Seven Hills of Istanbul? Either the iskandar or the hamburger.
(Note: there are, um, other possible favorite dishes that I'd like to try out at Seven Hills, but this is a family-friendly blog)
My favorite singer? Either Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan (well, now it's Tori, but yeah).
So when someone asks me my favorite season, I have a tough time deciding between spring and summer. I just love the warm weather, the longer days, etc. My birthday is in the spring and it's the start of the warm weather, and this spring was nothing short of amazing. Between my birthday and Memorial Day weekend, it was one of the best times of my life. Now if I didn't have a cold winter and fall, I would not appreciate the warm weather of spring/summer, which is reason #458 why I love the Northeast (more on that in a future post).
So why is summer the best? It's easier to dress for. No layers, jackets, whatever. Plus more to look at it when it comes to the, um, never mind. There's more daylight. I don't know about you, but I feel better with more sunshine around.
Warm weather means more sports and physical activities. Basketball, baseball, jogging, biking, sailboating, camping, kayaking...OK so I don't do many of those things. But I could.
Summer also means I get to work on my lawn. Yes, yard work. Mowing, fertilizing, getting my grass to look great (still far from it). People think it's a pain (which it is), people think I'm weird because I love doing it (which I am). But at the end of the day, a nice even-cut green lawn is immensely satisfying.
But I guess the reason why I love the summer so much is because of the break from school. Yes I've had summer jobs that have been pretty time-consuming, but until you're really out there in the work force (or beyond your first year of medical school) summertime is when you kick back, relax, and re-evaluate yourself to see what you can do to improve yourself. Well, that's what I like to do every few summers.
I came across this realization as I was buying some decent looking clothes at Macys. Instead of being indifferent to my parents' suggestions (yes I still shop for clothes with them. I have no money.), I was actively searching out some pretty nice shirts and khakis. Tried out clothes in the dressing rooms. Debating over which colors. I was trying to be logical and fast (like I tend to be when it comes to clothes), but I was enjoying it. I started thinking that this might be the baby steps I'm taking towards becoming the world's craziest metrosexual.
So why this summer? Well, looking back, I find a few summers where I actively tried to improve something or another about myself. 1997, I biked all over Elizabeth/Linden NJ and built up my legs. 1998, I performed Umrah and gained some financial responsibility. 2001, I jogged on a regular basis. 2002, I worked on my reading list. What did these summers have in common? In each of them, I was approaching a new phase in my life (before Penn, after Penn) and might have been going through some rough times where I wasn't so sure about myself (What do I do about my poor grades? What if I don't get into med school? What if I don't find the woman of my dreams?) and saw the summer as an opportunity to start over, to look and act better around people, to not be able to complain about not having "time" to do the little things in life.
Now, I'm about to embark to medical school, and realize this summer is one of the few chances I'll have left to tackle a bunch of things all at once. Read Quran in English, learn more Hadith, learn to swim, dress better, play basketball more, go to the batting cages, work on my reading list, play tennis with my dad, get rid of this gut once and for all (5 pounds more!), get a nice even tan, figure out my hair (both on my head and on my face), go jogging again, finish Final Fantasy VII, clean out my closet, organize my photographs, sell my old PC, win my fantasy baseball league, etc. etc. etc.
I could keep going on. But it's a great feeling when you feel inspired and actually start working on those things that you've always said you'd do but never felt the drive to do it. And for me, that feeling mostly comes along when the temperature is consistently over 70 degrees during the day.
That's why I love the summer.
Sports Prediction of the Day: The next time he hits a ball out of the ballpark, Ken Griffey Jr. will break his ankles when he is circling third base, won't be able to get to home plate, and won't get his 500th HR for another year. OK that's more wishful thinking than prediction. I hate the crybaby.
Current Rankings of Songs in My Playlist
Gold: Pearl Jam "Black"
Silver: The Ataris "The Boys of Summer"
Bronze: Coldplay "In My Place"
South Park Quote of the Day:
Short Goth Guy: Dude you haven't drank your coffee.
Stan: Well I don't drink coffee.
Tall Goth Guy: You can't be a non-conformist if you don't drink coffee.
Next time, a tribute to the most important person in my life...
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