Note to self

Don't postpone journal entries until the day it's due to write about what happened in a class over a month ago & after a long (but fun) night out. <- not what she said?

Facebook offishul

It's so cathartic to delete people off my facebook friends list. Not that I actually get rid of people that I try to keep in touch w/ over the years, rather those who I haven't talked to in a while. Though the world is becoming less private (like this blog, haha) it's nice to have some control over what people do & don't see. Though this blog can get pretty personal in terms of thoughts even after I edit stuff out & try to keep things vague, I consider facebook more intimate because it's more about my everyday life & the details.

In other news, I find Google+ to be interesting but also unnecessarily complex. There are a few too many buttons/shortcuts for my liking, I understand they're aiming to one up facebook but it hasn't impressed me thus far.

Lastly, I know I've said this before, but I love my job. I don't think there are many others who can joke around & laugh w/ their coworkers & boss as much as I do while being productive as we are. Being able to listen to music all day & getting a lunch break at a pharmacy is also a huge plus & even though there are always going to be some difficult patients, it's awesome that some of them also have a great sense of humor & so friendly. It's a great environment to be in & I've been loving every minute of it!

Am I a jerk if I wonder about stuff like this?

Since fat technically floats on water, if a 500lb person made mostly of fat jumped into the middle of a lake, would they sink because of their weight or float because of their amount of fat?

Other than that, beaching it up in Grand Haven w/ Mike & Vanya. Peace.

Fourth of July

Today's the day we celebrate our independence, displaying patriotism by hanging flags, saluting our troops, barbecuing w/ our families, & overall enjoying our American freedoms. So it's ironic that as I sit here while so many celebrate our Founding Fathers, the superhuman foresight they had in writing the Constitution- setting in motion the superpower country & invincible government that exists today- and what it means to be an American, I'm not feeling so patriotic myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who fought & continues to fight for our freedoms, protect us, & may pay w/ their lives. It's more that I'm a little disenchanted w/ our government & the illogical way things are run because they're so outdated. A lot of these thoughts came about late last night/early this morning as I stayed up to read Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Chronicling the persona & death of Pat Tillman, the aftermath, Krakauer pieces together a great novel in what seems to be pretty thorough. To make contribute to the reader's understanding, he included the mentality of the Middle East pre-dating Tillman's time in the military when the USA invaded the area during the first Bush's administation and the reasons behind their perspectives. Like so many of Krakauer's books, this is no exception to his wonderful writing though the contents of it is extremely maddening. It details as best as it can the cover up that our Army & government tried so hard to implement regarding Tillman's death at the hands of his fellow Ranger. Though the book demonizes the Bush's presidency (& in this case, rightfully so) for its actions, the worst part about this is that it couldn't have been the first & as long as wars exist, definitely won't be the last time a situation like this arises for any of our presidents.

It's sickening to know that this story is only coming to light because of Pat Tillman's celebrity & without it, he'd be another name in the book & his family could possibly be lost in the shady bureaucracy forever, foraging for answers that never come. What's even worse is the countless families that have been lied to in a similar fashion.

Moreover, it's maddening to know that people who are high up in the military aren't in the battlefield & people back in Washington who don't even oversee day to day action on the ground can veto or override what commanders in the field know that they need. If we're going to fight a war, we need to do it right. We need to provide our troops w/ the necessary skills & equipment they need during & after the war. Any other way & people are going to slip through the cracks as we've been seeing. However, it doesn't even stop w/ the parents fighting the wars. Check out the Newsweek article on the conditions of schools that military kids go to if you're interested.

We have all this patriotism & love for our country but when it comes down to it, what do most of us do for our country? Nothing. We say, like our brave countrymen who so vehemently fought off the British & other enemies, we'll take up arms to besiege any enemy that wrongs us. Yet, when the time comes, most of us sit idly by, allowing the action to come from some one else, not him or her. The lay person doesn't understand why we went to war in Afghanistan, current events, or even who the vice president is. It's alarming that we take our country & our freedoms for granted. Furthermore, it's the latter that allows us to sit back on our heels & become oblivious to ongoings not only in the rest of the world but in the United States. Yet, instead of realizing this & giving back to communities & helping the betterment of society as a whole, we complain about petty & trivial things like not being able to sign up for a class, something at the grocery store being priced higher than usual, or a driver who cut you off. Basically, though people say they're proud to be American, I don't see it. There's hardly anyone giving back to our country in any form, whether it be to charities to help the millions living in 3rd world conditions a few miles away from us, community service, or serving our country. We all say Happy Fourth! but do most of us really feel the emotion or say it w/ passion? To me, it sounds like an empty saying which at one point meant a great deal to all citizens of our borders but over the years, we've started to forget. Of course, I'm not saying that I'm a saint & do all of these things, but I feel like after nine years of volunteering & donating to charity I have a little soapbox for me to preach upon. Anyways, I'm getting off it. Incredibly long rant, I know

In recent news

A bunch of stuff has happened lately, so in list order because that's how I like to organize things:

1. took the hardest exam of my life to date. How do I know this? It's the first that I've never finished. That includes organic chem, calculus, & physics tests. However, I thankfully passed it! (: So now I'm an official P2, yay!

2. moved out of our glorified attic apartment. It was a pain in the ass & I had a lot more stuff than what I thought I had but thankfully I had help moving everything. I ended up sorting a lot of things at my new apartment to go back home & whatnot so there won't be nearly as much clutter.

3. I had an awesome time at the Borden fireworks! I pretty much just laid on the hill w/ Zach, Tony, Meredith, & Ashley. I might put a picture or two up later.

4. Last night Vanya & I were going to go to the fireworks in Mt. Clemens but because of traffic & stupid people blowing shit up that was so explosive it set off car alarms, we instead went to Sonic. There, a 15 year old boy wouldn't stop hitting on us even after I told him we both had boyfriends, his lines sucked, he's too young to be talking to girls, & then said some of the weirdest things ever (i.e. how much I love midget porn...which by the way, isn't true.) Sigh. Oh, & he also thought after a while that Vanya & I were lesbians >.<

5. My parents called me in the middle of work to tell me that when I go home today for the first time in a few weeks, they aren't going to be here (since I'm at home now) because they decided to go up north because it's too hot to do anything down here & they want to go hiking. Trip #3 that I'm left behind on ):

Though I don't really mind it because I made an awesome salad, I can do my laundry in peace, & it won't be awkward for me to walk around the house in my underwear. Couch potato night here I come!

6. After looking back on some of my other posts I realized I haven't mentioned anything about my internship. I guess I really only want to say that I love it! Great people, environment, & pace. I've been working there for a while now & I haven't had a day yet where I don't want to go to work. That's a good thing considering I'm going to start working 40hrs/week for the rest of the summer right? Regardless, I've been incredibly lucky to have gotten such great summer internships to years in a row (: