News from the chunk of ice: January 2007

Some music

In case you were curious, here are some songs I've been listening to alot recently. Thank you, youtube!

The lovely Regina Spektor's Samson:

And Matt Weddle's excellent cover of Outkast's Hey Ya. My friend played this for me satirically once, to hillarious results. If you've heard the original, you may be surprised at how different the two versions sound!

It's -21º today.

But with the wind chill, it feels like -32º. My first reaction was: I can't wait until I get to go tobogganing tomorrow!

Does this mean that I'm becoming Canadian?

Inner-tube water polo

Last Wednesday, after class, my friend Chase informed me:

"Oh, yeah, I should warn you that you're on my inner-tube water polo team. We have a game this Sunday. 5:30. At the gym. I'll see you there!"

Now, this tibit of information surprised me, for a few reasons:
1) I hadn't signed up to be on Chase's inner-tube water polo team.
2) I hadn't signed up to be on any inner-tube water polo team.
3) I'd never played inner-tube water polo in my life.

For those of you who can't picture it, it looks a-little something like this:

It's pretty much the least dignified sport in the world. I love it.

So on Sunday I found myself a member of the best inner-tube water polo team ever: The Watermonkeys.
The premise of the game is simple; it's basically water polo, with inner-tubes added. You're only allowed to flip a player if he/she is in possession of the ball.
Chase, who is a rather hefty guy, is basically unflippable. If he ever got hold of the ball, he'd basically barrel through the other team's defenses and score. It was beautiful.

It was also great meeting my team members--mostly dentistry students-- and discovering that not all medical students are driven to the point of being creepy. What a relief!

How do satellites orbit?

Bwah, I'm a bit of a panicked mess this week. Tomorrow in a big day for me-- sort of one of those "define your future" moments, if you will. I have medical school interview, and I'm going to have to trick my interviewers into believing that I am a compassionate, articulate, competent doctor-want-to-be. Ha!

In lieu of a real post, I'll give you this: how satellites orbit.

Do you know?

The are two factors to keeping satellites in the air: gravitational force, and momentum.
So: if you drop an object, it'll fall. That's gravitational force for you.
But if you apply a bit of force before you let go? It'll fall in an arc. That's momentum.
Basically, when we send satellites in orbit, we're applying a ton of force, which makes them fall in an arc. But here's the kicker: we're applying enough force for satellites to fall along the arc of the Earth. So in essence, satellites are continuously falling! They're just moving forward as quickly as they're falling towards the Earth, which allows them to orbit.
Voila! Questions?

A word of clarification

Ok, I think it's about time I clear something up.
I can understand why there's been confusion--I mean, I blog about bridal showers and wedding planning all the time--but I am not, in fact, getting married.

A word of explanation. I got a mildly panicked phone call from my sister today, asking whether or not I had plans to get married in the immediate future and hadn't told her. Apparantly, someone posted the following comment on her blog:

"Your sister will only have ONE bachelorette party and bridal shower in (hopefully) all her life. You may want to refocus your priorities ESPECIALLY considering you've MONTHS of notice as to the date. Your sister adores you and raves about you all the time. You need to be there for her."

Sorry, anon! Although it's true that I rant and rave about my sister, I can't say that I was planning on getting married anytime soon.

Victoria: still on the market. Get 'em while supplies last!

Canadia-ho!

So I'm back in Montreal.
And sick. Lovely. This means I have to get up at "crack-of-dawn" 8 A.M. to wait in front of the drop-in clinic before it opens (this is the only way it's actually feasible to see a doctor).
It's been so long since I've actually been sick that I'm a bit confused. I don't have any real symptoms, either, apart from a general sense of malaise, feverish feelings, extreme fatigue, and forgetfulness. Hopefully it's just general burn-out and I will feel better soon.

In other news, I have a job interview coming up in a week (eep!). It should be fun though; they're expecting me to give a 10 minute "how-to" presentation. Past presentations have included "how to interpret the label on a bottle of red wine", "how to find an apartment", and "how parachutes work". It needs to be non-academic, and non physical (such as "how to knit").
I was thinking about "How to ace a job interview in 10 minutes or less", but I think that may be a bit too cheeky.
Any suggestions?

Christmas break: recap

This break was exactly what I needed: although it was just 9 days, it feels as though it was much longer.
I was able to sleep to my little heart's content, eat like a pig, spend a bit of time with my family and last but not least, reconnect with my home town.
Coming back, after three years, felt like coming home. I realize now how much I've missed it. So: without further ado, Washigton D.C....

First my friend and I hit the Eastern market. We roamed the food stalls, gulped down hot cider, romanced the scary mannequins, and admired the crafts.

Then we picked through the books in the fullest bookstore I've ever seen.

This man was perturbed because I wanted to take a picture of him. But look! He's looking for books! In a bathroom! It's priceless!
I also love that the bathroom is the foreign novels section.

Next: the Phillips Gallery. I was so ashamed that I was raised in D.C. and had never been.