Groups of Five:

1) our Lab was cancelled yesterday.
2) I had a lovely salad bar lunch!
3) I spent psuedo-class time finishing off notecards
4) I settled in for a nap while going over said notecards
5) I'm pretty sure I "dreamt" about OH- and H+

1) I printed out chapter outlines last night after work
2) I did some "highlighting" before bed
3) I slept with the window open
4) This morning I had to take an antihistamine
5) So now I'm a little drowsy

1) We have no coffee creamer and or milk
2) That's the only way I can consume coffee
3) *insert eye rolling here*
4) I have to leave early for class
5) So I can hit Starbucks on the way

My life in groups of five. How fun.


~~J

p.s.

1) Andy Roddick (tennis star) has had some injury problems this year,
2) but he was doing well during his first round match at the French Open.
3) The commentators were talking about how it was his "best" in years
4) I had to stop watching and go to work,
5) Then he lost, draw your own conclusions. I have my own (see #4).

Small Miracles:

Here I sit after 10pm making notecards concerning "basic" chemistry (yes, I'm taking Biology). It's not the most horrible stuff I've EVER seen in my whole entire life and rewriting and SEEING everything repetitively is REALLY helpful.

You've probably heard about the different "styles" of learning: Visual, Auditory, Tactile AKA Seeing, Hearing and Doing. I think my "style" is a combination of all three. Once I wrap my brain around something and it makes sense I'm off and running.

*allow image of my brain running at warpspeed to sink in*

Over the past several years at work in the pharmacy (my day job as a Pharmacy Technician) I have come to realize that I might also have a photographic memory (or at least that's what co-workers say). I can recall the actual packaging of a stock bottle (or tablet, capsule, etc.) with great clarity which is almost scary.


I know that might not sound too exciting, but did you know that brand name Keflex (antibiotic) came as a dark green & light green capsule in a dark brown square-ish bottle which is very similar to the brand name Prozac (antidepressant) bottle, which I know is made by Lilly so I can tell you that Keflex was originally made by Lilly as well (maybe that was off-topic).

This could be very important if you came into the pharmacy and told us that you were on antibiotic that was dark green & light green and it caused you to break out into a rash. We have a place to start as far as helping YOU identify your drug allergy. Life and death, people.

Now I just have to use this photographic memory (really?) and memorize what isotopes, ionic bonds or covalent bonds look like when expressed in numbers and letters.

Since I've had time to blabber on about all of this, I guess you can tell I survived my first day of class. Our first lab is tomorrow and our first exam is next Tuesday. I think my schedule is going to suit me perfectly. I can finish reading and taking notes AFTER work every night and I have time to start reading (or read over labs) BEFORE class every morning.

FYI: On the way to school today, I noticed a brand new building on Sycamore View: STARBUCKS! It has opened within the last few days and I have to pass it TWICE everyday now! The sound of joy could be heard echoing within my car. Small miracles, everyday.


~~J

Twenty-Nine:

I've been thinking about this date for months now. You could almost say today as been circled in red (not literally) on my mental calendar. Maybe 29 will become my "lucky" number.

According to Numerology (which is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things--thanks wikipedia) traditionally the numbers 2 and 9 would be quite fitting for me right now:

2. Balance. Union. Receptive. Yin. 9. Completion.

Balance and Completion. It is technically the beginning of something (classes), but I'm working toward life balance and completing my bachelor's degree. See? Maybe there is something to it all. Then again 2+9=11 and 1+1=2 which goes back to the original "balance. union. receptive. yin." part. Receptive and open to new ideas and suggestions? Will I become a "Biology Maven" this month? I hope I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.

So if I look at the Cantonese number definitions:

2. easy 9. long in time.

Okay, so it's been a long time coming, right? That's how I'll read into that one. I can cross my fingers that this will be EASY, but maybe I know better than that. Let me restate my "new" summer motto: I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.

This morning I have been a bundle of nerves. I woke up at 6 and 6:30 then 7 and 7:30 then 8 and finally decided to take a shower at 8:30. I had a strange dream last night and all I can remember is a locker. A locker like in high school. OH NO! I hope my "stuck in high school at the age of 35' dreams aren't coming back.

I think after class today I will feel a whole lot better. I will have a syllabus in hand and some idea as to expectations for the upcoming 29 or so days.

Oh, and I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.

~~J

Start Me Up:

Dear Coffee: I shall now sing for you a special song filled with deep passion and truth, "and I can't help falling in love with you..."

Since I don't start Biology until next week (4 days), I've had some time to think about my BOC (Beverage of Choice). I even got a lovely package in the mail this week containing Kill Devil Coffee (Ashley's Indonesian Blend) and although I have yet to brew a pot I am very excited at the prospect.

My BOC might have been whatever was 2-for-1 at the bar during 'College: The First Attempt' but now I'm older and wiser (right?) I am trying to be smarter with my choices. Plus I might need all of the coffee because I AM OLDER and need something to wake me up and keep me going in the morning and when I get home from class AND work only to start on homework (homework? what's homework? OH NO!)...but I digress.

You can akin your local/favorite Barista to your local/favorite Pharmacist. I understand this all might be a bit of a stretch, but in my little world it makes perfect sense. They are both legal drug dealers who mix up fabulous concoctions to cure what ails you. Yes?

I was with a dear friend a couple weeks ago when I picked up some Ugly Mug Coffee (Southern Pecan) because it was on sale and I've always loved what they've had to offer. On the way out of the grocery store, I saw a display of seasonal ELVIS coffee (also brewed by Ugly Mug) and I had to ask my friend to give me a reason NOT to buy it. "You just bought some coffee..." She's so smart!

The coffee, by the way, was a big hit! It makes me want to sing...


~~J

p.s. Suggestions? I have a summer filled with three classes ahead of me, I need all the help I can get.

Sudoku me this:

Just kidding.

Although I am normally one for all sorts of puzzles of logic I am NOT one of those people who has lost their collective mind over this new Japanese wave (Latin squares) to hit our country. As you soon will discover (the month of July when I attempt to pass intermediate algebra) anything that appears too algebraic will send me immediately into convulsions. Sudoku is too number-centric for me, but being a student of words...I enjoy saying it.

数独! Sūdoku! It sounds like it can be used in so many different situations (i.e. when I'm TRYING to understand the real number system, functional relationships, or binary operations) or lets say, if I stub my big toe!

Thankfully in less than 10 days I will be conquering BIOLOGY instead of numbers. In my attempt to "get ahead" come up to speed I've moved to chapter two of Inquiry of Life, aptly titled "Basic Chemistry".....

oh Sudoku!

Atoms (Greek--ἄτομος or átomos meaning "indivisible") are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons the first two subatomic particles I've mentioned are found in the nucleus of the atom while electrons float around in outer rings or shells and have a negative charge. Electrons like to hop around and bond atoms together.

*insert image of a physical science teacher from my freshman year of high school hopping around in front of the class to demonstrate what electrons "act" like here*

Isn't it funny the things you remember? Maybe I can commit CHNOPS (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur) to memory afterall at least for a month.


~~J

Ramen, oh Ramen!

(otherwise known as 'COLLEGE FOOD')

So I was wandering around the grocery store (Aldi) the other day and saw a cardboard flat with 12 packages of chicken flavored Ramen noodles--for less than $2.00! I thought to myself, "Do it, for old times sake, young college student!"

Note: I didn't really eat Ramen noodles while in the dorms during College the First Season. I ate a lot of pizza rolls (because I had that little microwave/fridge deal) and bags of lettuce with crutons and bacon bits.

This afternoon I actually indulged in a little 'Ramen time.' After boiling a few cups of water and letting the block o' noodles get nice and al dente I drained them (I like it less-soupy, more noodle-y). Now because there's enough sodium in one little package of seasoning to kill a horse, I only used 1/4 of it on my noodles and threw the rest of it away. I added chopped green onions, poured the mixture into my thermos cup and enjoyed.

I thought about the first time I remember having Ramen noodles: I was watching Iron Eagle (on televison) with my father and he made them (very soupy, and with the block o' noodles broken into teeny pieces. It was the perfect companion food to Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) who at that time, I thought was the hottest guy to get into a cockpit (of a jet)*.

*Note: I've been told that I really had a thing for Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) who I guess technically was the hottest guy to get into a cockpit...of a space craft. But I only remember my boyfriend, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), so was he the hottest? Childhood crushes are telling.

I don't know how long it will take me to get through this cardboard flat of Ramen, because I've decided that they are truly an aquired taste that I might have flow past (in a jet with Jason Gedrick).


~~J

Happy Day of my Birth:

So it happened in the middle of the week and I am still trying to embrace my new age: 29. I am now 29.

And I do keep telling myself the world became a better place twenty-nine years ago because I was introduced into it. I thought it would feel different or I would suddenly look wiser. Not really. I did get more than 5 inches of my hair chopped off, but that's about it.

I toyed with the idea of taking a few years off my age NOW as opposed to 10 years from now, but that idea has fallen flat. Maybe. We'll see if I can fool a few of my soon-to-be classmates with 26.

I found more time to check out the first chapter of Biology. I am scared to death that the professor will decide to skip the first few chapters of the book and call it "review." Review? How can it be review if it's been 10+ years since I saw it last? ACK!

I finished taking notes for Chapter 1 (although I really didn't read the last section too well because Ace of Cakes was on the Food Network and Chef Duff really makes my mouth water--which is a biological thing anyway, right?)...and then I took the "online" multiple choice quiz.

Results? A solid 80%, which I believe to be a B. I'm pretty sure I got a B the first time in Biology, so that's par for the course.

So can I make a hypothesis based on the first quiz results and the previous B in the same subject? I will. Did I forget to make an observation first? What are the steps for the Scientific Method again? (just kidding, I got that question right)

~~J

Inquiry into Life:

Also Known As: I got my Biology textbook and Lab Manual today! *round of applause*

So I will refrain from griping about the cost of aforementioned text and manual. Inquiry into Life will do me for the second class too (I will have to get the second manual though). While wandering about the bookstore, I also saw the two books I will need for the 2nd Summer Session. Weeee! I didn't purchase them just in case the world ends before July 5th and I need that extra cash in my account (or I find them cheaper elsewhere).

The cashier (she also took me to the location of my new books on the shelf) just finished the same Biology class and so she sold me HER Lab Manual for $15 less than the used manual price! What luck, bless her heart!

After the bookstore experience, I got my parking hangtag (after going upstairs and getting proof that I've paid for the summer). That was fun and the police officer went over the parking map in great detail. She looked at my scheduled and decided which lot I should use. Ha! I'm telling you, Karma was on my side today.

Nerdy Stuff:
------------
So I'm already taking notes on the first chapter of Biology. I am remembering SOME of this stuff from more than a decade ago Mrs. Juanita Covington's biology class my sophomore year of HS. And the fact that I just remembered her name (I can picture her too) is a good sign. I think.

Molecule->Atom->Cell->Tissue->Organ->Organ System->Organism

ROCK ON! Notecards!


~~J