I Was Listening To The Radio And Wondering What You're Dreaming When It Came To Mind That I Didn't Care

I'm still kind of reeling about how the US got robbed against Slovenia. Sure the defense decided to take the first half off, but that doesn't mean we should get penalized in the closing minutes in addition to allowing those two goals.

Yeah, I have World Cup Fever. It presents with a strong urge to actually play soccer, using the term 'pitch' to describe something other than a throw to the catcher, and rooting for countries that you can not locate on a map (Slovenia?? The announcer said it was next to Italy. Good enough for me). It's a 30 day bug, and usually self-resolves, but may recur in four year intervals.

Normally, I would watch every game, but do to time zone changes, and class, I have to miss most of them, and abstain from a couple others. As it turns out, Medical School was the right time for my parents to say "You know, when you get to (junior high/high school/college/medical school), you're going to have buckle down and study." I've been a world class coaster for the past 20 years of my academic career. Every now and then a class would challenge me and I would have to raise my game, but for the most part, the road was a downhill slip and slide. Just enjoy the ride and everything will be great fun.

Now, I'm studying for tests weeks and months out. I'm studying for a test that is a year out. A year. It blows my mind to think about it. There's just so much stuff that I need to have on recall that I genuinely have to start as soon as I receive it. I spend a good chunk of my day preparing outlines and flash cards reviewing bacteria, viruses, tissue pathologies, and physiological abnormalities. And none of it will pay off for at least three weeks. Ridiculous.

Which brings me back to the World Cup. More pointedly, diversions. I love them. They keep me sane and help me realize that there is more to life that just grinding it out. For those of you that don't have an iPhone/iPod touch, you can just check out now. Go over to Sporcle.com, play yourself some mentally stimulating games, and eat some apricots. For those that do, I have to express some love for a couple apps that have gotten me through many a late night or all day study session.

In order of how willing I am to name a child after it:

1) Angry Birds- Ok, maybe not a child, but I guarantee you, the next softball team I construct, we will be known as the angry birds. For $0.99, you get this fantastic game where you slingshot birds (with various special abilities) at pigs, in efforts to reclaim the eggs those pigs stole from you. It is amazing. If you trust me about anything other than food recommendations, trust me that this is 99c that you will be glad you spent.

2) Words with Friends- Rae-lo showed me this one and I've been hooked ever since. It plays on my hyper-competitive nature as well as my puzzle-solving-itis. It's scrabble against either known or random people over the internet. The best part is that if you don't have time to play a whole game in one sitting, you just leave and come back later. It works out great when I'm playing against friends out in Utah or California who live in a completely different time zone and therefore wake up later than me and stay up later than me. A big-ups to Rae-lo for this recommendation. If you have it and want to play, get at me (I've always wanted to say that) at RickMD239.

3) Catan- Dear sweet goodness, if you haven't played Settlers of Catan, go play right now. And if you have played it and don't like it, then return to your alien ship and fly home. Seriously. Best game ever created that isn't named 'Monopoly'. And they have it in app form. Only downside, can't play multiplayer like Words with Friends. I understand why because it's a game that needs be done in one sitting, but still would like to have the option. Also, a little pricey at $4.99, but definitely worth it if you like Settlers. After a couple of games, you'll come to hate Vincent almost as much as I already do.

4) Line-up- It's free, so you might think it sucks, but it's a fantastic little app. You clear out connecting, same-colored tiles in efforts to prevent the stacks from reaching the top. The best part is that a game usually is over within 2 minutes, so it's perfect for when you're waiting for someone or something and you're not sure how soon they'll be there. Like how snake was for the original Nokia phone. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, get out. Just get out right now. As far as I'm concerned, that is, was and always will be the greatest cell phone game ever. And it's not even close.) Completely worth getting, and has a high replay ability.

Oh, and the thing plays your music collection while you're playing games. Really would have blown pioneer minds that they could have played virtual kick the can while listening to Come, come ye saints (remix).

Word.