Aquaporins Are No More

Our previous dominance in the pool has sadly come to an end with our semi final match in the innertube waterpolo tournament. We were only down 1 goal at the half, but quickly the bridge was expanded until our moral fell. It was valiant play, nonetheless, and I am happy to retire my speedo and ball for the 2005 season.

Laguna

After spending Thanksgiving at the inland empire that is San Bernadino with Cousin Joe and his wife Roula, I headed west to the OC--Laguna Beach actually. I met up with John Hornbeak and kicked it with him and his family for a while. We enjoyed the georgous beach, surfed, and flew the kite bord kite. The detour from San Diego was refreshing and worth it 100 times over.

Finale

In celebration of our last final we drowned our frustrations in something we hadn't see in all too long: sand, sun, and surf. Molecules and Medicine was a joke, but required a day of studying nonetheless. So afterwards some of our big sibs gave us some celebratory drinks which we brought along in our post-test exodus to the beach. The surf sucked, the sun was a tease, and the sand did what sand does... but this arduous 2 weeks of straight studying made this place feel like paradise. Now we will just have to wait a day until we can stuff our selves silly with food. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Dim Sum

I started the day with a bit of studying and then Kyoko (Chris' friend) came and took us to this dope dim sum place in Clairmont Mesa. The trip had such highlights as...
Chris: "Kyoko watch out there is a car coming"
Kyoko: "sorry--Asain girl"
Me: uncontrolable laughter from the back seat
Later we found ourselves at the resteraunt bringing the white person count up by 200%. Lunch was great, then we headed back for some more finals cramming. I met up with Fonz and Hornbeak later for some hottubbing and general chilling (but Fonz's stomach had other plans and he ended up booting in the corner of the back yard... yikes)
In other related news, the Aquaporins (our Med school innertube water polo team) advance past the 1st round of finals. Here is a quick recap:

In one of our most stunning performances yet, the Aquaporins outshot, outplayed, outmuscled, and outclassed their opponents yet again. The match was nothing short of amazing. We played the whole game one man down giving the opponents incredible advantages on offense and defence. Huge props to Kari for being the rookie of the year with her first appearance at the pool being one of absolute dominance. Chester rocked the pool with some sick defence and an amazing counterattack. Kevin's arm was an unstopable rocket, nay make that a laser guided misile, and always found a way to get open. Ben was animalistic in the goal, stretching to block all four corners of the cage and even dunking oponents with is might. He even scored (claiming two points) from his position in the goal! Kayla was outstanding and an offensive force to recon with. She fired a shot around her defence and bunny-eared the unsuspecting goalie for two points. Needless to say the aquaporins may not be able to perscribe you drugs, but the sure as hell can make you want them.

Anyway thats all for now.

Orange you glad?

Hell yeah I am...
So let me preface that a bit with some background info. Today I opened my front door to see a UPS truck driving away, leaving deisel fumes behind... oh and what is this? SEVENTEEN POUNDS OF MANDARIN ORANGES?!? And to that I say Hell yeah! Mom, Dad, you just made my day (and Grandma, thank you for having such a delicious and prolific tree!). I guess it is sometimes the little things like this (well big in this case) that rock your world during the stresses of finals.

2 down, 4 to go...

Biochemistry and Disease final was today... I studied a whole bunch, and actually felt good about the test. So that's one more in the bag. I learned that I passed Espanol with flying colors, which is nice. And things are feeling up and up. Today I felt like this picture so beautifully illustrates.

Pork Chop Party!

So it finally happened. I ate my first pork chop ever, in style of course. This was more or less an imporomptu party that started with Chris and I walking through Vons the day before and picking up some pork chops to cook on account that I had never tried this delicacy before. At some point we decided to make a party of it, and celebrate the end of our Major-block classes as well. We made a great spread with tabouleh, curry potatoes, rice, and some amazing specimins of the other white meat. Top that off with chips, dip, a veggie spread, and 3 kinds of cake and pie! (notice the beautiful centerpiece on the table) People were coming and going all night long, so it kept things fun and fresh. We had a great time and even busted out the Argillah towards the end of the night. I feel sorry for all the losers who couldn't make it...

Final Thoughts

As I begin to study for my finals (one down-- Espanol-- that wasn't so bad... just 5 more to go), I am reminded of the first week of class that seems like so long ago. I was in lecture that first week sitting there trying to take notes and absorb the informations being thrown at me. I was swimming, not knowing up from down or alpha-ketogluterate from glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. So I pulled out my computer in search of a digital santuary. Dr. Taylor was lecturing... She crystalized PKA, and you better be damn sure that we learned every intricate part of that pathway, as well as how important they are. If her lectures were any more boring I would have gouged out my eyes long ago, and if her slides were any less coherent I would have given up after day two... So I began to doodle and came up this rendition.
As I study for finals, I like to think back at where I was back then and how overwhelmed I felt, and now I feel like I'm actually getting it. Although I'm behind in just about every class, but easy does it and I'll get there. Wish me luck...

Dia De Los Muertos

It was a bit of a gamble, but Swati, Caleb, and I hopped into my car and drove to Dr. Rojas' house for a Dia De Los Muertos Party. We sat parked in front of the house for about 5 minutes debating wheather or not to go in... none of us knew anyone there. Dr. Rojas was going to be our Spanish Preceptor, but that wouldn't be until next week. I think we were drawn by his email saying, "come early while I'm still sober." We had a great time, met tons of people, and successfully put of studying for another day.

Kite Surfing!

So what started out as a day to catch up on studying turned into a day catching up on kitesboarding technique. Chris, AJ, and I all headed to the beach (Blacks beach that is.... complete with naked volleyball players and the like) and all tried our hand at controling and launching the kiteboarding sail. We had a blast, and although we didn't do any actually kiteboarding, we learned a ton for the next time we go out.

Roomates

This is a picture from halloween in which my roomate was Chris Farley, and I was something that had lost his shirt, adorned a headband, and had some strange facial hair. Chris (as coinsidence has it his name is actually Chris) is a great guy, and an amazing roomate. I don't think I could have been paired up with anyone better... somehow things just worked out and we are lucky that we click so well. Big shout out to trick-or-treating for shots.