Extra bonus: it looks way cooler.

http://parsr.org

On the upside, today gave the impression that I actually had a summer. It was in the high 70s and I drove around my neighborhood with Allan while listening to Iron & Wine’s The Shepherd’s Dog. The whole time reminded me of a few years ago when I had the good fortune of doing absolutely nothing during the comfortable summer months in Santa Barbara. I guess today will have to do as a summer stand-in, but I’m okay with that.

Straight from the jackass’s horse’s mouth:

I couldn’t get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia’s restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it’s run by blacks, primarily black patronship.

And there’s more…

There wasn’t one person in Sylvia’s who was screaming, ‘M-Fer, I want more iced tea.’

How does this guy still have a job? Do enough Americans actually have similar enough views that they find his social commentary interesting or enlightening?

For one reason or another, that evening’s dining experience (or a really awesome kid’s meal toy) pushed me to share a thought with my parents. I informed them that when I grew up, I wanted to either be a doctor, or work at the SLC Wendy’s.

Years later, I have entirely lost any desire to operate a deep fryer but the idea of becoming a physician remains. I go to school, practice standardized exams, read countless biology textbooks, attempt to avoid (and eventually succumb to) visiting studentdoctor.net, update family/friends/professors/advisors/that guy at the grocery store on my progress and a million other small and not-so-small tasks that it takes to arrive at my stated destination.

A number of my friends are either in medical school or attempting to join the ranks of the short white coats, which is nice because someone I know is either experiencing the same triumphs and tribulations, or has in the past. Recently I discovered that there are a considerable number of blogs written by medical students, interns, residents and physicians, making my habit of “taking study break” (read: procrastination) that much easier. My favorite so far: The Underwear Drawer (named for the author’s hiding place for her childhood diary, so stop thinking dirty thoughts). A good example of her fine work is “The 12 Medical Specialty Stereotypes” and to save you some time (always an important aim for those of us who should be studying 25 hours a day), a YouTube clip that discusses the role of anesthesiologists.

One day I hope to be running around the hospital with a white coat of one variety or another, helping people feel better and maybe even having the time to write a blog entry or two. Until then, it’s back to the books…

Yes, a good portion of my sanity is officially gone. The most I can deal with these days is a Japanese chimp walking five bulldogs.

So far my search has turned up a number of interesting (although not completely useful) spots, such as Coffee to the People, the UCSF Library on Parnassus and Tart to Tart (note: contrary to what their name suggests, the latter makes horrible fruit tarts). Today I ventured just a few blocks from my house to the West Portal branch of the San Francisco Public Library. It’s proximity and free wifi were the main points I was attracted to, and I hoped for it to be a nice, peaceful place to get work done.

It turns out that like other public libraries I have visited in the past, this one attracts the usual variety of mothers with small children, senior citizens and crazy people, each adding a little to the unusual character of this establishment. Perhaps I should have realized that this would be the case but in my defense, I haven’t visited a public library in years.

Shortly after arriving a middle-aged woman sat down across the table from me and took out a stack of miscellaneous papers, some of which were filled with nonsensical words, written in large, block letters. She carefully wrote letter after letter, filling numerous pages with a script that apparently made a great deal of sense to her. After about 50 minutes (I was doing a timed MCAT practice biology section) she started to get agitated with something that none of the other library patrons could seem to grasp, gathered her papers and stormed out.

Shortly after her disappearance, a older gentleman wandered around the stacks, looking at the floor and quietly mumbling to himself. I couldn’t tell whether he was anticipating a cold front, an impromptu tennis game or a casual Friday at work, but his attire demonstrated that all his bases were covered.

And thus, my search for the perfect study spot continues. Hopefully Yelp will guide me to the perfect spot and in the mean time, I’ll work a little more on my understanding of all things o-chem and my appreciation for the variety of life that seems to present itself at the West Portal branch.

Normally I’d think that subscribing to a premium television channel would be a bit on the excessive side, but with HBO comes some real comic genius: Flight of the Conchords.

Last week’s episode (”Bowie”) was pretty amazing. Here’s a clip (thanks, HBO):

Perhaps one day the comma will acquire the much-maligned status of the semicolon but until then, I’ll do my very best to include an excessive number of commas in my rants posts.

In other news, I’m currently sitting at Coffee to the People where one can find free wifi, decent coffee and way too much cream cheese applied to otherwise-tasty bagels. Living in the Sunset means that the only coffee shops I have the distinct pleasure of visiting aren’t particularly San Francisco-y (Starbucks, Pete’s) so this is a nice change of pace. Of course, having the Shins playing a little too loud might hamper my ability to review physics for the impending MCAT (August 16th!) but for the time being, I’m happy to immerse myself in a setting other than the UCSF library.

The Wedding of Paul and Suzy AKA A Zombie Wedding