Things'll be different, baby. Promise.

So the new school year starts on Monday, and tomorrow we have our one and a half-hour 'second year orientation,' which the class ahead of us has said is basically 90 minutes of having the fear of God put into us...ie, this year we have real grades, this year even more is expected of us, no more messing around, no more procrastinating and trying to cram everything in two days before the exams, etc. A sort of preemptive strike against laziness; a preventive spanking.
Problem is: this is what I have going through my head 24/7, in stereo and at a volume setting of 11 (out of 10). Do I really need to have the shit scared out of me to do a good job? Especially when I'm already, so to speak, flowing in that direction? Now we have Honors, High Pass, Pass and...*Not a Pass* as grading options, rather than the previous Pass/Fail. Of course, I'm going to shoot for all Honors, but do I need to go to Gunner Attitude Boot Camp tomorrow to get ready for the coming year? Maybe I'll have a little Xanax before I go... Am I high strung? Pas de tout.

And this year it'll be different. Not so much with the studying (I studied a fair amount last year, and didn't generally put things off...just tried to stay on track, rather than trying to learn a semester's worth of material in three days like some people I know...who shall of course remain nameless), but with life. A balance. Social activities, studying, exercising, and perhaps most pertinent for those reading this: blogging. I'm going to update this site, if not daily, then at least 4x a week. Hopefully there will be hilarious hijinks to recount, poignant moments to share, and my strange mix of hippy-dippy idealism and cynical misanthropy to vent. Join the fun!

This first 'block' of courses includes
Pathology, ie: 'When stuff goes wrong,' or 'Looking at the process of disease' or 'The Microscope's Revenge: The Return of Histology--this time it's nasty.'

Pharmacology, or 'Yes, we can make even DRUGS monumentally un-fun. Who remembers what gets processed using Phytochrome 450? Or perhaps more trickily, what doesn't? Hands? Tell me the difference between adrenergics and cholinergics and be smart about it!'

and Otolaryngology, or "The only lecture you're really going to remember is the one about things kids have stuffed up their noses."