Sad and beautiful and adorable all at the same time

I read this article in The Star and found it incredibly sweet:

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/newsfeatures/article/721390--dying-6-year-old-girl-leaves-love-notes-behind

Hasta La Vista Vista...and Running

On Sunday, I woke up early (well, early for a Sunday) so that I could go run 8km.

Yes, this may be a sign of clinical insanity.

I hadn't really trained for the race (save for running twice in the preceding 2 weeks) and was anticipating the worst - cramping, pain, maybe a little N&V (nausea and vomiting). However, it was actually a great race - the trail ran along a lake and the sky was clear and blue. I usually try to run 6 minute kilometers (read: slow) but I managed to do the race in 47 minutes and change. I also usually feel like crap afterwards but it was incredible. You could have gotten me to commit to running a marathon (however, the post-race euphoria may have also been a result of the coffee and cookies I had consumed - there was honestly a bake sale worthy spread of food after the race). I think I do want to attempt a half marathon but I will definitely have to do some sort of training for it, just to avoid dying and/or passing out partway through.

And finally...Vista is being replaced by a (hopefully superior) Windows 7. However, I feel like Microsoft should give everyone that was forced to buy Vista a free copy of Windows 7 as compensation for their trouble. I have loathed Vista in a way that I have never loathed a computer platform before. Between the general slowness, multitude of messages asking permission for EVERYTHING and lack of intuitiveness, this new fix could not arrive fast enough.

Butternut Squash Soup

One of my friends, Jess, decided to organize a soup exchange, which is arguably one of the greatest ideas ever. In a nutshell, you make a big pot of soup and give each person participating a serving size of soup...so you wind up with 6 different kinds of soup that you can freeze and then eat during exams when we're too tired/stressed/sleep-deprived to cook. I've been meaning to try making soup from scratch for awhile but I figured this would be an ideal opportunity. I attempted butternut squash soup and I was quite happy with how it turned out - hopefully everyone else will concur.

Periodically, I realize the extent of my immersion in the med school bubble...One of the girls on my soccer team gave me a lift to the game and I was telling her that I was expecting clerkship to be crazy and when she asked what clerkship was, I realized the downside of hanging out with fellow meds 24-7 - thinking that everyone will automatically know what clerkship (and other fairly med-specific terms) means. For the record, clerkship is when we get flung from the relative security (and ennui) of lectures in the classroom to the hospitals where we are at the mercy of physicians, nurses, residents and patients. In all seriousness, I think most of us are looking forward to this because this is why we decided we wanted to be doctors (i.e. not to sit in lectures for hours at a time). It won't be pretty but pretty is thoroughly overrated.

I finally finished reading Other People's Love Letters. I've been reading a few every night before bed and it has been surprisingly life-affirming in that amidst the hate, corruption and deceit that runs rampant, there is still an abundance of love and compassion and trust in the world. Some of the letters are cheeky, others are wonderfully brave and some reflect a love that has already weathered many a storm. At the back of the book, there are back stories about some of the letters and it is touching to see how many of the authors of the letters wound up marrying the object of their affection. I definitely want to pick up a copy of this for myself for those days when life seems rather bleek.

Birthday Letter

Paul lent me Other People's Love Letters and this is one of my favourites:

http://thisfloatinglife.blogspot.com/2005/11/birthday-letter.html

Coming from a true soccer fan...clearly not one hypnotized by Ronaldo's abs

“[Cristiano Ronaldo]’s worth every penny,” said Stephanie, of Oakville, Ont., a young woman dressed in a Real Madrid crop top wrapped in a Portuguese flag. “David Beckham was good in his prime but he’s a little done now. He’s had his moment and it’s his time and he’s the new David Beckham, he needs to shine. He’s like him, but in a newer, stronger, younger age that Beckham never had.” (The Globe and Mail, August 7, 2009)

Honestly girl, what are you trying to say? That Beckham is like an overcooked pot roast because "he's a little done now"? That Beckham was never the same age as Ronaldo? Twit.

The (Slow) Return of Soccer Mojo and Other Recent Occurrences

First, I just want to say that VIA royally screwed my camping plans for the weekend. Royally. However, their discounted fares may be somewhat redeeming if they assist me in getting to Montreal this weekend. That's assuming I can actually manage to log onto their website and book tickets. Stay tuned.

I'm playing soccer on an all-girls team this summer, which feels a little weird after playing co-ed for the past few summers. Dare I say that some of the girls we play against are a little vicious, more so than some of the more evil boys I've played against? Part of that may be attributed to the fact that I'm playing in Tier 1 (and maybe people are more cutthroat as a result?). Anyway, I realized it had been a year since I've played defence for longer than 10 minutes. I've been playing goalie for my indoor teams and I think I was finally getting the hang of inhibiting the defender/midfield in me when it was necessary that I think like a goalie. However, I didn't think I had inhibited it so much that I couldn't play defense anymore.

There are some really talented people on my current team (who may or may not have played on soccer scholarships in the States) and I'm properly in awe most games. Women who've had 3 kids still dominate the field in a way that I've never been able to. My first game happened to be against the best team in the league and it was pretty painful and a little disheartening... Fortunately, after that game (and a somewhat disastrous stint in net against the same team), it feels like some skill is coming back. I still feel completely outclassed...but less so now? More importantly, I am having fun and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't like a good challenge.

A few weeks ago, I went to Joy (the only place in Kingston that plays dance music) with a few friends and while I had a great time, there were a few notable turd boys who felt that they had open invite to grind up against any woman who might have let her guard down for a second. Seriously, most women don't take too kindly to be introduced to your crotch before they know your name. It was funny because at the time, I pondered if wearing a ring on your ring finger may potentially be a deterrent (I concluded that a guy who lacks the decency to introduce himself to you would likely not have the decency to heed a wedding ring).

However, while perusing the Salon website recently, I came across this article: http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/07/28/mstaken/index.html. Apparently I was not alone in the pseudo wedding ring thought.

And finally...I've noticed a weird trend - being catcalled...by other women? The first such time was during a walk in suburbia. It has also happened while waiting to pick up take-out on the "main" street in Kingston and while retrieving a ball when I was playing goal last week. Somehow I don't think this is what the third wave of feminism had in mind.

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life

Last summer, I picked up Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey from Chapters, but I am only now getting a chance to read it. I'm liking it so far - it's very reminiscent of the Popular Music course I took in undergrad. I was on the Amazon website and I was looking for a book on DJing written by one of the co-authors. In doing so, I discovered that the authors updated the book a few years ago and it doesn't just sound like a little update - the new version of the book has 200 more pages than the previous version. Couldn't they have just published a new book? I would feel bad/wasteful buying the updated version and so I'll probably just sign it out from the library once I finish reading the first edition. I know it will drive me nuts reading it though, knowing that there are 200 more pages that I should be reading.