Won't someone please think of the cones???

During some Webwandering today, I happened on these folks.


Poor cones. Despite all the Traffic Cone Preservation Society does, they're treated horribly. Hundreds are driven over every year, and you can almost hear them screaming...

Please, folks. Adopt a cone today. :-p

Hurt, but hope.

Well, I heard back from OU yesterday.

Spent a long time talking to their dean of the medical school, and he said I was denied an interview, but not for anything that was my fault. The class was simply full when I applied.

But...

He also said that if I were to apply there early, say, this July, I'd be nearly guaranteed an interview, even without a new MCAT. I'd have to take the MCAT again, of course, but I could be in before end of this summer.

And, to fill my time for the year, I did a little searching.

MUO offers a Master of Science in Medical Science, which is exactly what I need. I exceed all of the requirements, and that class is still way below full. One year program, and I walk out with an MS and straight into medical school.

Failing that, there is option #2. Master of Public Health. 2 years, and I get an MPH that will easily get me into medical school.

Of course, Wright State could still call, making all of this moot.

It hurts, but I'm glad to at least have a plan.

But... but... it's THUNDERING!!!

As I write this, both of my dogs are curled up under my desk. Why?

Thunder.

Now, you'd think a terrier mix that had laughed at danger, and a 110# mastiff wouldn't be afraid of a few clouds bumping into each other, but you would be wrong. Molly and Sara are scared today. ;-)



That's Molly on the left, Sara on the right. :-) They're both rescue dogs. Molly came from Save-A-Pet, one of the biggest no-kill shelters in the country, and Sara came from Petfinder, where she was pulled from an abusive home.

All the dogs we've ever had have been rescues or finds. Who says you need a breeder? :-)

Help! I've been tagged!

*looks confusedly at the tag hanging off his ear*

Well, Bainwen got me, so here we go...

1. Who was your first Prom date?
$80 per bid, plus the fact that I didn't date in HS, meant I didn't go.

2. Who was your first roommate(s)?
Not applicable. Always had my own room growing up.

3. What alcoholic beverage did you drink the first time you got drunk?
Love Potions #5, same as Bainwen. Good stuff. :-)

4. What was your first job?
I started working for my dad when I turned 14, and still work there, though I have had other jobs in addition along the way. It's a good bit of locksmithing, tossed with installation and servicing of security doors and bars.

5. What was your first car?
1993 BMW 318is, got it in 2004. :-) Runs like a champion.

6. When did you go to your first funeral?
First one was the funeral of one of my classmate's grandparents in second grade- we had to. First that I was old enough to know what was going on fully was my grandma's, when I was 17.

7. How old were you when you first moved away from your home town?
With luck, I'll be 24. :-)

8. Who was your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Kulwicki. Evil woman.

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Washington DC.

10. When did you sneak out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
Solo, 17, just needed away for a while.

11. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends with them?
Guy I went all through grade school and Cub Scouts with. He drifted out of the Scouts Freshman year, I was still very much in, and we had a knock-down, drag-out fight over a few things. Haven't spoken to him since.

12. Where did you live the first time you moved out of your parents house?
Hopefully an apartment in Athens. ;-)

13. Who is the first person you call if you have a bad day?
My girlfriend.

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid/groomsmen?
Never have been, though my dad is proud of the fact that he was flower girl at a lesbian wedding once. ;-)

15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Grumble at the clock a lot.

16. What is the first concert you ever went to?
Beatles revival in college. Man, those guys were incredible.

17. First tattoo or piercing? What age?
Zero.

18. First Celebrity crush?
Never really had one.

19. Age of first kiss?
I was 23. It was worth the wait.

20. First crush?
Third grade. :-o

21. First time you did drugs?
Never done. :-)

Love.

Last night, driving home, I was listening to my favorite country station and getting steadily more ticked off. It's not the music- I love country, as Bainwen can attest- but the commentary. The DJ was ripping on a few of the songs, specifically It's Your Love by Tim McGraw and She Don't Tell Me To by Montgomery Gentry. I happen to like them both, and the comments were getting under my skin.

Why?

Well, let's go at it this way.

As I see it, when you love truly, you put all you have in it. You don't hold back, you don't hide things, you don't have a side the other can never see. But, that's what this DJ was suggesting. Every kind act was ridiculed as being full of ulterior motives, or proof that the men had lost their testicular fortitude and rights as men.

In a word, bullshit.

Ex duos, unus. Despite my issues with Catholicism, this is part they have right. In the traditional wedding, the two candles of the individual are used to light a larger candle of a pair. From two there comes one whole.

If you choose to go through life believing that everything has a hidden sinister meaning, I pity you. I choose to love wholly, completely and purely, and that is all I will ever do.