The “Busy” Starts Today

I’m not sad to see it go, but I’m sure I’ll be longing for it in a few weeks. I’ve really enjoyed my six week break before the start of classes this summer. Jeanna and I constantly joke that this will likely be the last summer break ever, and I suppose it’s true. If that’s the case, it seems that my last summer break ever ended when I went to bed last night, because today’s agenda is full.

As you might expect, there are lots of errands to run and documents to get in order. I have to finish setting up my office. Most importantly, though, I have to make sure my Trapper Keeper is organized and ready to go. Funny, isn’t it. It’s only been about 20 years since Trapper Keepers were considered “high tech” in the classroom. Now my “Trapper Keeper” is a ThinkPad X61. All my notes, calendars, to-do lists, and contacts are kept inside, and at its mercy.

I thought you might be interested in seeing my course calendar for the next few months. I inserted it into Google Calendar (where I manage my agenda), so feel free to follow along if you wish.

Speaking of Not Having Much Time Left

Okay, I promise this is the last “countdown to medical school” post I’ll write, but that’s pretty much what occupies my mind right now. I’m not nervous, per se, but excited – ready to get started.

I was thinking earlier today that, while I really like this design for the site, I also realize that it’s somewhat hard to read. There are multiple categories scattered all over the page. No offense to you, dear reader (Hi Mom!), but I know your time is valuable and it’d probably be better if I just kept things simple.

So, I think tonight I’ll change the design of the site (at least temporarily) to make things a bit easier.

Look it up, dear.

I’ve known for a long time that the reason I love the internet is because it completely destroys the learning curve. I’ve always done best in environments where the learning curve is very steep – and I’ve always lost interest when the curve flattens out. Because of this, I don’t generally refer to myself as an expert on much of anything. I actually thank “the internet” for this. It’s almost as if the tables have turned completely around versus 20 years ago.

When I was in elementary school, there was a series of commercials – I think they were for Encyclopedia Britannica – where a child would as his mother some off the wall question like, “Mom, who is Herman Goering?” and mom would answer by saying, “Look it up dear!” – encouraging the child to break open the Encyclopedia Britannica and find her answer. Today, if parents would only ask their children questions like this, I’m certain the children would reply by saying, “Geez mom. Just look it up.”

But I’ve gotten a good sense over the last year how much students are actually using the internet to help them learn using traditional methods. Last September, I created a small web application that generates Cornell Notetaking Method style notepaper. Though I made it mainly as a way to familiarize myself with a particular php class, it has bee hugely popular and still has over 200 unique visitors per day.

Wanna know how to take better lecture notes? Look it up, dear.

Holy Smokes! It Works!

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time now, but I’m just now getting around to it. Do you remember that post I put up a while back that talked about how this company would send you a free iPod if you threw their advertisers a bone? Do you remember, huh? Do you? Well, I tried it, and, um, it works! I got an absolutely FREE, $499 iPod Photo in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Basically, I haven’t had time to post this message because I have been playing with my NEW, FREE, IPOD PHOTO during every second of free time I’ve had lately. It took a bit of work to complete the requirements, but it was certainly worth the $500 that it would have cost had I decided to forego the work portion of the deal.

The photos below show you a bit of proof. The iPod Photo was brand new, in the box, and shipped directly to my door about 2 weeks after I finished meeting the requirements. Anyway, take a look at the photos and see for yourself. I’m using the same process now to get a free iPod Mini(100% complete), a free Flatscreen TV(received 11/17/05), a free iPod Nano(60% complete), and a free iPod Shuffle(0% complete). If you want to try it out, I’d recommend starting with the iPod Shuffle. The requirements for it are the easiest to get. Because it’s a new product, I had already started on the iPod Photo (that’s why I have 0% for the Shuffle right now). In the end I’m confident I’ll own every one of these products. Hey, you gotta stick with what works, right?

UPDATE: Jeanna received her brand new, pink, iPod Mini in the mail yesterday (3/31). It’s about the size of a small box of Lemonheads. She loves it – AND IT WAS FREE!

UPDATE 2: I received my brand new Viewsonic 19″ Flat Panel LCD monitor yesterday (11/17/05) and can’t wait to test it out! It looks awesome – AND IT WAS FREE!

Our New Home

Our living room on Harper Avenue

Well, we finally have some pictures of our new home to share. Ryan is really enjoying his new camera, so I convinced him to take a few pics of our house instead of standing on the side of the road taking pictures for car commercials. At least you can get a general idea of what our place looks like.

This is a picture of the other half of our living room. I spent two days painting it a soft yellow. The high ceilings were not much fun at all to paint. I was cursing myself after I started, but very glad I did it once I was finished. The great thing is that we have lots of open space. We use the “other half” as our dance floor. Ryan is thinking we need a disco ball.

After painting our living room, the dining room was looking so drab I decided I needed to paint it too. I used a light green in this room. It almost looks like the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Our kitchen needs some serious help, but I wasn’t about to tackle this room. I put an area rug in here because the floor is awful for sucking up dirt.

For those of you who haven’t seen us in awhile, here we are waiting for our friends Ryan and Melissa to arrive.