Cause I Got A Feeling, This Could Be One Of Those Memories

So how have your past 36 hours been? I assure you, mine have been more dramatic. I don't say that often, and I less often can actually back it up. But right now, I can. I'm 99% sure I can.
Yesterday morning was midterm exams, and this time I had put in some serious study time to put out the small fires that were lit last midterms. I went in, did my thing and left feeling like I scored between an 85 and 90 on all three (this is pretty good considering the class averages are typically low to mid 70s). Went home, ate some lunch and got a message saying that the scores from one of the tests had been posted. I checked the grade, and it wasn't what I was expecting. It was a 48.

That's not your dyslexia cropping up, it really is a 48. Now, I've over projected my test results before, and they've come back 5-10 points lower than I expected. It's disappointing, surely. However, scoring 40 points below what you expected. It was like getting hit in the chest with a bag of manure. It makes you start to question everything you think about yourself. My buddy Dan and I were going to grab some pizza a couple minutes after I checked the score and I spent the whole walk over thinking about how on earth this could have happened. I mean, I thought I knew the material. I had put in the time.

At one point, I began questioning whether or not I was truly smart. I mean, sure some people might say that, but maybe it's because I'm ugly and they want something nice to say. That got me thinking about whether or not I was moderately attractive. So, because of that 48, I began to think, maybe I'm an aesthetically sub-par, less than intelligent fellow.

We have lunch and I'm going into to defcon 5. I'm asking random people if they know someone who works as a private tutor. I'm downloading the notes that will be covered in three weeks. An email is sent asking the professor to meet with me and go over the test, question by question so I don't make the same mistakes on the final. I was borderline panicking.

It's not like I haven't failed tests, because I certainly have. I hung a 32 in Accounting 210 at BYU. But the difference is, when I handed in the accounting test, I knew I was going to be lucky to get a 50. A 32 was acceptable, and wound up curving up to a 'B-' (Overall hardest class I have ever taken. Credit-for-credit however would have to go to the Organic Chemistry lab. 2 credits of demonic torment there). But when you expect a 90 or so, and wind up getting half of that, you feel your axis shift.

So the rest of the day had a dark tint as I was trying to figure out how on earth I could turn this around. My friends were meeting up to go swimming and fishing off of one of their docks. I went over and more or less forgot about it for a couple hours. (Didn't catch any fish, but saw these two kids bring in two or three by using a spear gun. I really want a spear gun now.) Came home to find another message saying another test score had been posted. This one was right about where I expected it to be.

However, it surprised me that it was posted so late. It wasn't up at 4:45, but by 7:30 it was up. So after checking that one, I figured well, might as well see if the professor responded to my email. I pull up the course page, hit the refresh button, and my grade jumped to an 88.

I've never hit control-P so fast in my life.

I was not letting that go. I hit refresh a couple more times to see if this was some sort of joke, but no, it was legit. Then I found an email saying that there was a some sort of mix up with the initial posting of the grades, but has been corrected. In one swoop, I was smart and attractive again. Had a fantastic dinner where I ate more sushi than I probably should have, and slept like a baby.

This morning was class as usual, and after that I went to get a hair cut. My sister's getting married in a month, and I knew I couldn't make it that long. So, I decided to get it cut now, this way, if it turns out bad, it will grow into something presentable between now and then. And I'm glad I did. In case you were wondering, the '#4' setting for clippers here is somehow not the same as it is in the states. The #4 here is more like the #2 back in the states. She warned me that it was going to be close, but I didn't realize how close until she cut a swath by my ear. And then there was no turning back. Now I have a decent buzz cut that will look normal in two weeks, which is one week before the wedding. Real glad I thought ahead on this one.

Right after the hair cut, Dan, Ray and I went to the beach to relax/celebrate after midterms. It was a perfect day. Slightly overcast, with a gentle breeze while the waves playfully lapped up the coastline. Took a short nap after settling into some chairs, turned over for a little and then just chilled for a while. After a couple hours being there, people started to leave.

Then, we look straight out and see a woman swimming toward two kids. I've seen enough people swim to know when they are swimming to have fun, and when they are swimming for a purpose. She was in the second group. The part of the beach we were at had a huge shore break, which makes it nice to watch, but makes it very susceptible to a rip tide. And these two little kids were certainly stuck in it. I got up and watched the lady for a minute, trying to see if she would be able to help. It became quickly evident she would not.

And then the lifeguard training from years back kicked in. I went in with two other guys. One of them went to lady, and the other one and I caught up to the kids. I don't know for sure what happened to the guy who was with me, but he seemed to disappear quickly. Now I'm swimming to shore with the two kids on my arm. I timed the waves and caught some footing under the water. The wave ebbed and I withstood most of it, but not all of it. Warning the kids that there was going to be one more wave, I got ready for one more great push. We all rode that wave far enough where I could firmly set my feet, and holding the two kids at my waist, endured the backwash. I walked out holding them for a couple steps when two other guys showed up and I handed each of them a kid.

I wasn't sure if the lady was back yet. I turned around and saw that the guy who was helping her was getting the job done, so I relaxed a little and waited until she was back on her feet and walking up the beach.

I can tell you this. I am out of shape. After just five minutes (maybe) of strenuous effort, I was tuckered for the next 15. Ridiculous. Does this mean I'm going to start exercising? You must not know me. At best, maybe I'll start running once a week. Maybe.

Oh and I got an 82 on the third test. A little lower, but still above the class average and more than enough to keep things going smoothly.

All of that happened between 6:45am on Monday morning, and 6:45 pm Tuesday afternoon.
How was your past 36 hours?

Word.

I Give It To Em Straight, You Cut It With Baking Soda

After six months in med school, I finally caved this afternoon. I knew it would happen eventually, but am more surprised that it took this long to get here.

For lunch I had a tuna sandwich and a green Monster. The tuna sandwich is not that interesting (even though I think it's the first time I ever ordered one), as much as the green Monster. It's the first energy drink I've consumed in about two years. I'm am wired right now. Like, eyes shaking inside of sockets wired. Like, seeing Ray holding his hand up while thinking and giving him an unprovoked high five. It's interesting. Let's see how long this train runs.

According To Me, You're Stupid, You're Useless

You should know, this will be long.

6 Things that irk me, for reasons that may seem stretched.

1. 'The Little Mermaid'

I don't know if I've gone over the evils of this movie in this space before, but I will tell you this, there is a 0 percent chance I'm allowing this movie into my home. 0. And if I have daughters, it drops to -25. That's right. I might actively ask other parents not to show this movie to them. I don't want them seeing it. It can only bring bad things.

Let's recap the plot line just so you understand my extreme viewpoint.
We start off with a happy family. The girls are all loved, cherished, protected and provided for by their father, who does all this while being King of the oceans. He even allows Ariel to indulge in a hobby of collecting foreign things, things he knows may be problematic. However, not wanting to intrude on her independence or impede her own maturation, he permits it. Fast forward to P-day (P for petulant), and Ariel gets an idea that she wants to go on land. She asks her father for permission, and he wisely instructs her that it would be a bad idea. And I agree. A 16 year old girl (I'm ball-parking and might be a little high), leaving home for a completely foreign land sounds more than risky.

Here's why I hate this movie. Instead of going back and thinking about why her father could have disagreed with her, she runs to the local drug dealer to get what she thinks is right. She has her frolic up on land, falls in love, and then it all starts hitting the fan when the drug dealer demands payment. And who rescues her from what can easily be analogous to jail? That's right. Her dad co-signs, sacrificing everything like a good dad does to protect his daughter.
But it's not over. Now the inmates run the prison with Ursula becoming the ruler of the seas.
Again, Ariel does clean up her own messes. Eric, the loving boyfriend, pulls off herculean efforts to set the world back in order.

And Ariel does nothing during this entire sequence. I repeat. Nothing.
And then her dad gives her what she wanted in the first place. Like nothing happened. No punishment, no conversation, nothing. Just a point of the triton and voila. Happy smiles and a lovely boat wedding.

I don't want my girls growing up thinking that:

• It's ok to disobey their parents
• If you can't get something through normal channels, go to the black market
• Every whim should be followed blindly
• They won't need to fix their problems because that's what their dad or husband is for
• No matter what happens, they will get what they want, and everything will be fine
  

So yeah. 0 percent.

2. Golf, swimming, and other things falsely called sports

If you don't have objective scoring, physicality and can not directly alter the other person's ability to succeed, you're not a sport. Sorry. If you take out objective scoring, you have performances. Remove physicality, you're playing a game. And if you can't physically impact the other person's efforts, then your just practicing with other people at the same time. I need all three for me to consider it a sport. I do love golf, but to say it's a sport is an embarrassment to real sports.

For those scoring at home, here is a starter list of sports: Football, soccer, basketball, baseball, water polo, cricket, rugby, tennis, hockey, and long distance running (because you can leave your lane and therefore, impede another runner's efforts).

The two that are so close, but I have to leave off: Boxing (if it was fight till someone gets knocked out, it would get it, but since it can go to judges, have to keep it out), and MMA (same reason).

Not sports: Swimming, short distance running, field events, gymnastics, skiing, golf, horse racing (although it would qualify as a sport for the horse), bowling and billiards.

3. Pencils

We have the pen. We even made erasable pens for those people who can't handle making a single line through an item. Why are we still using these things? Besides the texture, the noise it makes when the graphite scrapes loose...just gets to me. No thanks.

4. Door handles that only operate by being pushed down

This one gets to me because I like to hang things off the doorknob. If the handle only opens down, when I open the door, everything I hung on it slides onto the floor. No good. Because of this habit, I always try the up direction on door handles first. I find it disappointing when it doesn't work.


5. The importance placed on regular season basketball (college and NBA)

This one climbed onto the list after hearing about the possible move from 65 teams in the NCAA tournament to 96. If more than half of the teams are making the playoffs, that means you'll be accepting teams, on average, with losing records. As far as I'm concerned, no team should ever be allowed into any playoff system with a losing record. Isn't the point of a regular season to weed out the teams that wouldn't, and shouldn't, have a chance at winning a championship? Yes I realize that the cream will always rise to the top, but allowing teams who lost more than they won just seems ridiculous.

6. Literally

Easily, my pick for one of the most unnecessarily over-used, and improperly-used word. People are using it now to add emphasis, instead of to refer to things that actually occurred. You didn't literally crap your pants. You didn't literally die laughing. You didn't literally eat everything in the fridge. It didn't happen. Alternatively, I would find it awesome if people started using figuratively. I figuratively wanted to punch him. I figuratively went crazy. It's like a cool breeze on a summer day.

Not to end it on a down note,

6 Things that make me pleased, for reasons that may seem stretched.

1. 'Airborne'

If you haven't seen this movie, you haven't lived. Mitchell 'The Goose' Goosen, is the epitome of early 90s cool. He surfs, rollerblades, and even plays hockey like a champ. All the while, his hair is flowin', his lingo is stylin', and his shades are never out of reach. I feel like this movie is akin to 'Better Off Dead', where it's hilarious in part because it's a complete period piece, but also because they had just enough decent scenes to make it rewatchable.

2. Aggro Crag

If you're wondering if I spent about an hour scouring the web for a big piece of the glowing rock, you would be right. And if you know any past Nickelodeon Guts champion looking to part with their green chunk of the Crag, let me know. I'm more interested than Pauly D over a new hair gel.

3. Sawdust

Nothing not to like here. What pleases me the most, is know that if there's sawdust, it's because I made something. It's because I did something that can't be undone. It is the certificate to satisfy my high need for accomplishment.

And I like the smell.

4. Clocks

They simply fascinate me. Well, the full analog ones do. The digital ones aren't that complicated. A 5th grader can make a computer program that accurately simulates a clock. But the gears and the escapement wheel, now that is genius. Someday, I might try to build one. Odds on it working 5-2 against.

5. How far away campus is from my apartment

I live about a 6 minute walk from door to door from campus. It's the perfect distance if you ask me. Short enough that it's not a trek, but long enough that it gives me time to defrag the day's events as well as make plans for what I'm going to do once I reach whatever end point I'm going to. And, they tell me that walking is good for my health. Jury still out on that one.

6. Tootsie Rolls

No explanation needed. They're fantastic.

Word.

I Hope To See You Soon, Because You're Fond Of Me And I Am Fond Of You

Please don't ask me to explain how this works, because to be honest, I don't know. I just booked my flight to home and back for after this semester. It was a little steep, even for a flight into and out of St Maarten. So I held off for a while. Then today, I realize that the White Sox are playing at Yankee stadium during the second weekend of my break. I work around this and realize that it is $10 cheaper to fly to Florida for a week, then New York for a little less than a week, and fly back to St. Maarten. Oh, and it was cheaper to book the legs separately, and they became direct flights instead of transfers. Not kidding.

Somehow, by flying twice as far, and taking less planes (ok, it's the same, but only because I got directs to NY and from NY to StM. That counts for something) I save $10. I'm not complaining in the least. I'm shocked really. Essentially, they paid for my soda. Well maybe they paid for my soda. Yankee Stadium is ridiculously expensive, so they might have only paid for my pretzel. I'm pretty stoked about the whole thing. Nothing like taking a vacation from your vacation.

This is totally a Russell family thing. We like going to places for no more than a week at a time. So, if we have a break, vacation, or something similar for more than a couple weeks, there's a good chance we're going to more than one place. We simply like to see as many different things as we can. For example, two years ago, my parents went to Germany for a business/vacation trip. I was in my last semester of business classes which I knew would not be factored into my science GPA, nor would I get less than B's, so I took a week off and went out as well. Why not. However, after a couple days of seeing some of the sights, we realize that we're kind of close to Amsterdam. Next day, there we go. Then we figure, since we're here, let's go see Belgium. So we do. That's just kind of how we are.

My parents often spend a month or two in Park City. They like to get away from the Florida summers, and enjoy the serenity of the mountains. But only for so long. Then the walls start closing in, days start dragging along, and before you know it, cruises are booked. To Alaska. Again. Why not.

I've caught hold of this and love it. Christmas breaks are always a week in Florida and a week in Utah. This break it's a week in Florida and a week in New York. Next one, I might end up spending a week or so on your couch, so please keep it clean for me. Why not.

Word.

PS. For the record, this is the second time I've flown to New York to watch a baseball game. And pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks. I miss baseball like the world misses Calvin and Hobbes.