MCAT scores came out today. No, I won’t tell you what I got, except to say that I did better than last time.
But.
I don’t feel great about them. I had hoped for a little more elevation in score. It’s nice to see that what I studied the hardest did indeed show the greatest improvement. But I actually went down in something that I thought would have been easier due to the classes I was taking. At least my writing is better. Given my luck, the median score will go up with mine, and I’ll be exactly mediocre…again.
I guess it’s possible that I might get in with those scores. But then it’s equally possible that I would do much better in physical therapy. Course, I would have to take the GRE again. Sigh.
On the upside, I’m definitely joining the Browncoats. (Watch out, long one.)
bored to tears
StandardEver have those times when you just don’t know what to do with yourself? Work has been utterly unfulfilling, and even though I’m in the middle of a good book, this is certainly a time when I wish I had someone to go out with on a saturday night.
I seem to have quite a few people saying ‘we need to talk’ lately. Never a good thing.
And though hope springs eternal, sometimes it gets pretty squashed. le sigh
Aggression
StandardI just spent an hour de-icing the freezers in the equipment room, which basically means I got to hit a lot of ice really hard with an ice scraper until it decided to spray everywhere and fall, with a rather satisfying thunk, to the floor. Fun in a sort of mindless, lean-as-far-from-the-projectile-ice-as-you-can way.
“I feel great now!” (I’m listening to RENT. Sue me if I quote too much.)
Who else is bored today?
good mood
StandardWriting is exhilarating, when it’s working. It’s mostly working right now. I finally got out of the boring beginning (yes, I admit it, it’s boring right now. That will change, I hope) and presented the conflict. Sort of. Now I get to rush to the end, because I’m fighting both time and word count limits. But I’m a sprinter, and I have a kick.
Heh. Hot damn. I was worried there for a bit that the fairy tale I was working on wasn’t going to end up with any fairies in it.
Wanna see my Harry? No, not that Harry. Not that other Harry, either, though admittedly influenced by him. The Harry of my story. Funny how I have no problem finding guys to model my characters after, but the girls are much more difficult. Anyway. this guy is quite a muse.
Back to work. Both kinds.
hope
StandardDo you ever have the feeling where you’re pretty certain good things are coming but you’re unwilling to let yourself hope for them too much on the chance that things might fall through? Yeah.
I find myself smiling, just thinking about it. Then I try not to think about it, because it’s distracting (yes, I do in fact have a story for the St. Louis Writer’s Meetup Anthology, and no, it’s not finished, and yes, it’s due Wednesday). And I hope it’s true. But things like this don’t happen to me, at least not for a long time.
It’s scary and exciting all at once.
never seen anatomy like this
StandardIf you’ve read this journal recently, you know I just finished a class in anatomy and physiology. One of my regrets (this makes me sound morbid) was that we didn’t get to see actual human cadavers for our human A&P class. (We did get to spend some quality time with some dissected cats, though.) However, if you went to a science museum showing this exhibit, you’d see that and more…it’s creepy but I think it would be really interesting. And the tech behind it (yes, there is tech to exhibiting preserved specimens) is interesting too. So perhaps I need to go to Denver or St. Paul this summer…I’m such a dork, that something at a science museum would make me want to travel more than just your typical sightseeing…
BODYWORLDS-
It’s freaky in a cool way.
*We now intterupt your regularly scheduled (or not so regular) journal entry for this fangirl message: *
Renaissance festival! X-Men 3! This weekend! *end fangirl message*
Aon Rao
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by Brandon Sanderson
I remember reading about Elantris a while ago and not being too impressed with what I read. Then it came in my Amazon recommendations, and I took a closer look, and decided to give it a try. I had coupon, so even in hardback, the price wasn’t bad. And I’m glad I did.
It’s a good fantasy novel, and inspirational to boot (it’s the author’s debut novel, so there is hope for me). The world is well built and easily imagined. The characters are fleshed-out enough that you understand their motivations, except, of course, when the twist comes about…
The title of this entry comes from the name of one of the symbols that the characters use to work magic, for lack of a better term. An Aon is the symbol, and Rao means ‘spirit.’ I’ll try a summary: Elantris used to be a city of light and power, its people silver-skinned and glowing and capable of great magic. The Shaod was a mysterious process that transformed ordinary and extraordinary alike into Elantrians, but one day it stopped, and the city has fallen into ruins. Now, instead of becoming godlike, those taken by the the Shaod turn into zombies (okay, not the term they use, but if your heart doesn’t beat yet you are still walking around and alive, what else would you call it?), and are shut off from the rest of the country behind the still-standing, tall walls of Elantris.
Raoden is a prince of the land, and he is taken by the Shaod. He struggles to make a ‘life’ for himself in the ruins of Elantris. Sarene is his betrothed, widowed before she was even married because of Raoden’s disappearance. There’s an evil monk, an even eviler monk, political intrigue, magic, angst, humor…just about everything I like. The middle part is a bit slow, but has its shining moments. The end is especially good, with all sorts of plot lines coming together and questions asked about what will happen in that world…or even our own.
I’m terrible at writing summaries, so I suggest you pick up a copy and see what I mean for yourself. If nothing else, the image of a glowing Aon hanging in the air will stay with me for a long time. That and the cover of the actual hardcover book itself is green, so you know that makes me happy 😉
I’m looking forward to Mistborn, the author’s next book, which is set in a different world than Elantris. It comes out in July. Yay summer reading.
Hopefully I can have a new layout up for you soon. We’ll see…
Proven Guilty: a review
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Usually I’m not a particularly lucky person. This will probably be borne out when I get my MCAT scores in two months, but this week (once the MCAT was over, of course) seems to be going rather well. Nice start of the week spent with the ‘rents for their anniversary (no, I did not spend all day with them, but hey, I really appreciate the fact that they’re still together and that we still have a great relationship) and then Monday, as much as it sucked to be stuck in the equipment room all day searching for samples, I know that I only missed one on my A&P test (take that, studying for only a day after the MCAT!).
Anyway, last night I went to the St. Louis Writer’s Meetup like I do every month, and having heard that the newest Dresden Files book had been seen over a week early (amazon says it’s due out May 2) at other Borders ’round the country, I thought I’d have a look. I fully expected this one to be as it normally is and not have it, and a glance at the Butcher shelf proved me right. Sort of. The paperback version of the current penultimate book was also to have come out May 2nd, but there were two copies on the shelf. No Proven Guilty, though. So I thought, okay, my luck isn’t that good, but hopefully I perused the endcaps nearby…and there were five copies on one. Sweet!
(What’s not so sweet is that I bought duplicates of some magazines I already had. Again. I really need to just subscribe so I stop paying newsstand prices. Twice.)
I also had the interesting dilemma that once I got home last night, I was in the middle of two books by the same author at the same time. I had already reread all the Dresden Files, and had started on the Codex Alera last weekend (the first book was my MCAT escape during the test 🙂 ). I’d just started the second book yesterday morning. I wasn’t expecting to have Proven Guilty until next week, but obviously I took a break from the reread of Academ’s Fury to read the new one 🙂
Oh, so now you want the review, eh? Possible spoilers. Read on at your own risk…
a pretty big day
StandardAside from the stuff I have to do at work, these things happen today, all of which are pretty damn cool.
30 years and still going very strong. Here’s to many, many more. Thank you for staying in love. You have no idea what it means to me.
yes indeedy, four years ago I went a little crazy and ordered my very own website. Think it’s any different? Seems like so long ago. In a sort of weird coincidence, I’ll be going back to campus next weekend for WILD and get to feel all student-y again, four years and a few days after I finished my last final.
Last but certainly not least:
Enjoy it, babe.
Wish me luck on the last A&P test, which I haven’t really studied for (hey, I claim the MCAT had bigger designs on my time).
wish me luck
StandardIn far too short a time, I take the MCAT. Again. I did a little studying today, but I felt pretty good when I was actually getting the answers to the physics parts before I looked up the answers. I suppose time will tell, and I might fail miserably. But at least I can say I tried.
I hope it will go well. I’m a longshot in any case, why should this be any different?