Snow

Working in the lab right now, looking out at a blizzard. I don't mind days when it is snowing, it is the days after that bother me. It tends to get really cold the day or two after a snow storm. Then as it warms up, slushy puddles of snow and nastiness form. You can't walk from place to place without looking like an army commando. Finally, at night the slush freezes to make an icy death trap. Needless to say, I'm a bigger fan of spring and summer than I am of winter.

I'm going to be happy when January classes are over. Many of my classmates have enjoyed much free time. I'm not sure if that has been a factor in my feeling a bit off lately. There are more complex reasons, but no need to go into those now. I think most people go through times of loneliness when they are not in relationships. I have spent most of the past few years hitched up, but haven't seriously seen anyone in a while now. I'm convinced there are evolutionary pushes for both males and females to be constantly seeing someone once they pass the age of around 20.

Enough of that babble. I am doing fine, just a bit of longing for something more lately. For now I will brave the snow and keep moving forward. I don't have a lot to complain about and there are always a lot of positives to keep in mind.

Winter

The last month has been a bit of a blur. Post finals, I sat on the couch for days on end swallowing any bit of food in sight. While relaxing, I am happy to be back into the world of the productive. I was fortunate to enjoy New Years in New York City and the inauguration of our new president in DC. The weather on this coast has been brutal lately, but the ability to take part in such events is a big benefit to being on this coast. I could use this to go on a rant about how fucking amazing it is to have a new president, but I won't. We still need to hold him accountable and push for the best possible policies, but I really feel like the people have an ally in the office.

January classes are a bit blah. Biochem and Biostats/Epi. Not exactly quintessential med school classes in my opinion. I'm looking forward to getting to February when the physiology starts in. But for now, I will pound the inborn errors of metabolism into my skull.

The only other task going on now is the lab. I have been putting in about 4 hours a day in the lab. The group is working on finding the genes/signalling pathways involved in development and especially with a certain congenital defect. I like the people in the group and I really like the fact that we are using some very sophisticated/cutting edge tools to find things out. For me, science and medicine go hand in hand in every respect. Augmenting the class/clinic work with science is something I hope to do at every stage in my career. That's it for now, back to some lonely book work.