flesh-eating drugs

'tis the season for peppermint soymilk steamers from starbucks. it's like drinking a liquid molten candy cane. it's like pure christmas spirit in a beverage.

the radio station 100.3 is only playing christmas music. kudos to them for not giving into the whole you-can't-play-christmas-music-until-after-thanksgiving idea. 

do not google image the term 'krokodil drugs'. gross. we learned about it in my policy class last week (a giant tangent). it's a drug for people who have passed the point of meth being a strong enough drug for them. it comes from russia and it's brutal. you inject it and the side effects are.... flesh necrosis. usually at the point of injection. first your skin turns hard. hence the name, krokodil. but then, flesh necrosis. yeah, your skin literally falls off. often to the bone. there's like a 90% mortality rate.

i know this is all so random, but that's my life, baby. 

xo

i just don't understand how artists like miley cyrus can be famous and make it big for "singing" and for being "talented" when there are actual talented singers out there who make actual music. 

i think one of the most talented unknown singers out there right now is brandi carlile. seriously, why doesn't everyone know who she is?

because i can't choose just one and because i'm overly obsessed, here's another one....

i've yet to be able to go to one of her concerts. but the day that i do will practically be the best day of my life.

people watching

i learned recently that an acceptable plural form of the word cello is celli. yeah, who knew?

i went to the symphony a little bit ago. i love that at the U, feeling cultured is free with every student id. 

now, i'm particularly adept at people watching. i quickly found the three most interesting people in the symphony. it's amazing how much you can learn about somebody just by watching them play their instrument.

so person #1. unorthodox bassist. you know how you're supposed to hold the bow a certain way? well, this guy held it the OPPOSITE WAY. i mean, he still used his right hand, but instead of the back of his hand facing front, the back of his hand faced backwards. what? i have never seen that.

person #2: the oldest living violinist. seriously, this man was probably 95 years old. his hair was pure white and he was in that shrunken state so that even when he was sitting up tall, he was probably one head shorter than everyone else. oh man, he was just so cute. 

person #3. i saved the best for last. he was the principal 2nd violinist. man, his face was priceless! if i was the conductor, i would have been watching this guy's face the whole entire time. it would be so distracting! he was so emotionally in tune with the music. on his long notes, he literally would close his eyes, look up, and sway. it looked like he was meditating. kind of. when the song picked up he would eye those notes down and he would get them. there was no escape for those notes. there is no way to explain the method to this form of genius, but it was awesome. totally made the whole concert for me. 

alright, so what lessons did i gather from symphonic people watching?

find something that you love and do it! find something that you want to do until you're 95 and old and shriveled! don't apologize for doing something differently. if you love it, that's all that's important. go out there and do it. don't do things half-heartedly. 

when you pray, pray.

when you study, study.

when you're in something, be in it.

if you're someone's friend, be their friend.

when you play the violin, play that violin.

play that bass with your hand backwards. 

find what you're passionate about and do it. 

i think everyone will be much happier when that happens. 

mientras tanto, soy feliz

pre job interview job interviews? weird. whatever.

the perfect snowglobe of a winter wonderland that i woke up to at 5am? magical.

the cutest old man wearing uggs with his pants tucked in at the hospital? adorable.

speaking spanish and conversar-ing with spanish-only patients and family? takes me back to the good old days. and reminds me that i need to learn medical spanish. 

the best institute class ever with the best teacher who literally changes your life just a little bit every single lesson? mind-blowing.

the upcoming pathophysiology test i have? oh shoot.

my life? magical, wonderful, awesome. i love it. 

there are very few things that bring my family as much joy as neil diamond's christmas album. i don't even know how it happened, but somehow this became the first album we would listen to on the day after thanksgiving while we were putting up the christmas tree. always. 

 my little missionary brother specifically mentioned in an email that he was celebrating the fourth of july by listening to neil diamond's christmas album (he's a good boy and wouldn't have a regular album). he said he couldn't think of anything more american than neil. 

also a few months ago my little missionary brother wrote me in response to a few things i was complaining about and he said and i quote "when life gets hard to handle, Neil." wow, as i was typing that out just now, i just got the double meaning. oh, carson, you are witty. how did i miss that before?

i busted out his christmas album today in honor of the first snow. 'tis the season! 

anyway, let us pay homage to the man who defines americanism and without whom, the christmas season just wouldn't be complete.