Seriously...

I am having some awful House pains.
I miss that show so much.
I have watched it since I was 12!

MCAT...

Dreadful word. Jut thinking about the MCAT makes me feel sick to my stomach.

So I have been doing some thinking. In order to retake the MCAT, I would have to study so twice as hard just to get back to where I was last June AND then some to IMPROVE my score.

The root of the 'problem' back in June was that I wasn't studying. Kaplan gave me a list of things I had to complete and I was just checking things off the list, whether I know them or not; that's not really learning. I SHOULD have studied the flashcards instead of focusing on the quizzes. Then there was the problem of running out if time. My Kaplan class ended in May and I also took the MCAT in May.

Right now, I just feel like I won't be able to retake the MCAT and do well enough to make it worthwhile. It's expensive. It would take extensive excessive studying. And it would probably cause me some actual physical pain somehow, haha.

And they're adding so many sections to the MCAT. I would also have to take time to brush up on my sociology and psychology. More things to study. More time.

Ugh.

I need GRE flashcards.

2012, where did you go?!

New Year's is right around the corner.
Where in the world has this year gone!?

I'm just finished up some nasty antibiotic for a bacterial infection. It is hands down the most awful tasting medicine I had ever taken. There's no coating so it instantly fizzes into powder releasing the foul taste. As if that's not bad enough, it's making me feel awful. My stomach isn't happy. Ugh.

My LAST semester of college is starting in January. I'm graduating in May.
My COLLEGE graduation. Wow. It still doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel like I've been at Berry for four years.

This past semester I made all As again. It's my seventh semester making the Dean's List. I have made it every single semester. Now that's an accomplishment in my book. I have completed my minor in Biology and I only need three more class for my major (biochem II, another writing intensive class, and a literature class).

This semester I'm also hoping to squeeze in some shadowing/volunteering hours for PA school.
My schedule is nice. I only have one lab (and it rarely took the whole time last semester).
I will only be tutoring one person, Mallory, from last semester. I'll be a TA for a lab on Thursday.
So my schedule is fairly open and I'm done with class around lunch so I'm hoping to have two days to volunteer each week.

Merry Christmas

I had a good (and BUSY) Christmas this year.

My Christmas Eve started with a stomachache for most of the morning. We went to Nana's around 4pm. She cooked breakfast and we ate around 5:30 and then opened presents, took a few pictures and had some red velvet cake. Mmmm. I got the final House season on DVD and a Vera Bradley purse.

Then we went to Aaron's parents just in time for presents (which was good because we were full and she basically only made desserts!). I got a new pea coat and a Keurig! I simmered in the heat inside that house while we watched the four year old granddaughter open all thirty of her presents before leaving around 9pm. She's cute, but spoiled.

We drove to Aaron's aunt's house in the thickest fog I have ever seen. But by the time we got there, the festivities were kinda over and some people had already left, haha. Oops! We hung out there for a few hours and then he brought me home a little before midnight.

Soon after that, I had an awful stomach pain and severe nausea, bringing flashbacks of last Christmas Eve when I had my first ever spell of almost unbearable heart burn. I wasn't able to lay down because of the nausea so after six pepto bismol, by 2am I was finally able to lay down. But it's not like I slept good or anything after that..

On Christmas morning, we opened presents from Santa Claus. We went back to Nana's for leftover breakfast (for actual breakfast this time). Later, I tried out my Keurig. We went to the parents of Aaron's stepmom at 5pm. It was so crowded. And raining with a storm coming that ended up spitting out over 40 tornadoes that night. Then we managed to make it to my aunt's house.

New Comet: Coming December 2013

GETTY IMAGES

Within days after a new comet is first discovered, astronomers can tell you exactly what its path through the solar system will look like. They can calculate when it will make its closest approach to the Sun, how near it will be to Earth at any given moment and even when — or whether — it’s likely to make a return visit.

What they can’t say for sure is how brilliant a show it will put on for us. Back in the 1970’s,Comet Kohoutek was billed as the “Comet of the Century,” but it turned out to be so disappointing that it ended up as a laugh line for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. Even a well-known comet like Halley’s, whose 1986 appearance was ballyhooed years in advance, can turn out to be a dud.

With that caveat noted, however, there’s a reasonable chance that Earth is in for a celestial display just about a year from now. Comet ISON, discovered by two amateurs — one from Belarus, one from Russia — in September, shows early signs of being truly spectacular. At its brightest, in fact, ISON could put out as much light as the full Moon but concentrated into a smaller area — and if that turns out to be true, the term “dream comet,” now floating around the internet, would be an understatement.

There’s a legitimate possibility this might indeed be the real deal: for one thing, ISON (named for the International Scientific Optical Network, of which discoverers Artyom Novichonok and Vitali Nevski members) was first seen when it was nearly 600 million miles (965 million km) from the Sun, well beyond the orbit of Jupiter. That’s unusually distant for a comet to be spotted: these interplanetary chunks of debris usually live in the frigid realms out beyond Neptune and are more or less invisible until solar heat begins boiling ice and dust from their surfaces, forming a light-reflecting halo (known technically as its coma), that makes them seem bigger than they really are.

The fact that ISON can already be seen means it may be reasonably large — perhaps a couple of miles across — which suggests that when it dips to less than a million miles (1.6 million km) above the Sun’s fires next November 28, it may be robust enough to avoid the breakup that often happens to smaller comets. And if it does survive, ISON could go on to light up the night sky in the Northern Hemisphere for much of December, 2013 and on into January.

Comet experts are also making much of the fact that ISON’s path is very similar to that of Kirch’s Comet, a.k.a. Newton’s Comet, a.k.a. the Great Comet of 1680, which was bright enough to be seen in daylight and had a magnificently long tail (it was also the first comet ever discovered with a telescope). It’s not the same object, but it’s quite possible that both  are chunks of a much larger body that broke apart long ago, maybe during its own passage through the inner solar system. The fact that such larger bodies exist isn’t in doubt: Pluto, for example, is essentially a gigantic chunk of dirty ice.

If ISON is truly destined to become one of the greatest comets in history, we won’t have to wait until November to find out. By August, it will still be more than 200 million miles (320 million km) from the Sun, but that’s close enough for it to start forming its halo. How bright it is then should be a good indication of how much brighter it could get.

Even then, comet-lovers would be wise to stay calm. “Comets are like cats,” the great amateur astronomer and comet hunter David Levy, who has found 22 comets himself, has said. “They have tails, and they do precisely what they want.”

This article is from TIME magazine.

Reading for Fun

I am definitely the type of person that once I'm on a break from school, I race to the nearest Barnes & Noble to find a book to read. It's so nice having time to read for fun after a semester of reading textbooks. Unfortunately, I always find four or five books I want to read. The weekend before finals started, I had found a great book in Target. I was drawn to this book, first of all, by the title, Proof of Heaven. It's intriguing. I read the back cover and instantly knew I wanted to read this book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(the back cover)

A Scientist's Case for the Afterlife

Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress. Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion—and in essence makes us human—shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back.

Alexander’s recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, Alexander journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself. Alexander’s story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition. This story would be remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr. Alexander makes it revolutionary. No scientist or person of faith will be able to ignore it. Reading it will change your life.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After reading the back cover, I was already planning on buying this book, but I put it down. Aaron tried to discourage me because I had three finals to prepare for and he didn't want me to get distracted by a new book. I was thinking about waiting until after my finals to buy the book. But I couldn't walk away. He ended up distracted looking at another book and I maneuvered around him and managed to grab this book and start reading the first page before he noticed. I read the first TWO SENTENCES of this book and said "That's it! I'm buying it. It starts out JUST like my favorite book!! It's a sign." And I walked toward the register with Aaron trailing behind me. It also helped that it was on sale, haha. I got this $16 book for $12. Unfortunately, once the book was mine, I still had to wait a whole week until my finals were over to start reading it.

I came across a paragraph I really liked. Deep in a coma, Dr. Alexander visits heaven and meets God himself. In this paragraph, God has just revealed to him that there are multiple universes and evil is present in all of them. He explains why. I think this makes perfect sense and I find it comforting, too.

I finished the book today. It was a fairly quick read at only 171 pages, including the prologue. I really liked this book. The back cover says its life-changing. While I agree that my perspective on things has changed, my life cannot be drastically changed by this book because I already believe in God and His kingdom of Heaven. This book is geared for the people who do not believe.

I thought the last few chapters seemed to drag on but the very last chapter was great. It tied everything together and it left you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

 I would most definitely recommend this book to ANYONE.

Taylor Swift's Trouble

Taylor released the video for I Knew You Were Trouble. It's her 23rd video and she premiered it on her 23rd birthday (December 13)! 

Well, first of all, the video is 5 minutes long. It begins with Taylor waking up in the middle of field surrounded by garbage and what seems to be remnants of a party the night before. Her hair is short with pink tips. She's wearing skinny jeans. Then for the first two minutes of the video, Taylor gives a monologue to a sequence of scenes showing a rough looking boy.

The monologue. 

"I think when it's all over, it just comes back in flashes, you know? It's like a kaleidoscope of memories. It just all comes back. But he never does. I think part of me knew the second I saw him that this would happen. It's not really anything he said, or anything he did, it was the feeling that came along with it. And the crazy thing is I don't know if I'm ever gonna feel that way again. But I don't know if I should. I knew as the world moved to fast, and burned too bright, but I just thought.. How can the devil be pulling you towards someone that looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you? Maybe he knew that, when he saw me. I guess I just lost my balance.  I think that the worst part of it all wasn't losing him, it was losing me."

The video shows the ups and downs of the relationship. It's very edgy. Punk. From bar fights to grimy hotels and partying too hard, Taylor's lover boy is just too rough for her and is tainting her. The video ends as the relationship did; Taylor left behind in a field as she says, "I don't know if you know you are until you lose who you are." Very different from her other stuff. 

Taylor said "I've written about 'shame on you, you broke my heart,' but I've never written about 'shame on me, you broke my heart. I knew when you walked in, you were going to be complete bad news and I ran toward you anyway. I believed you anyway. I fell for you anyway, even though every red flag was going up every step of the way," as her inspiration for the song. "We find ourselves where we are in that situation where we want to think we're the exception. We want to think we can change someone, tame a lion, or make a bad guy good ... But nine times out of ten we end up looking back going, 'Shame on me. Should have seen that one coming!'"

Click HERE for a link to the video.

So Incredibly Blessed

Today has been amazing.

This morning was the Christmas cantata at church.

I had Subway for lunch.

I'm reading a great book called Proof of Heaven.

This semester is finally over. I'm DONE!!!! I had three finals. My art final was open book/open note. My analytical final was a train wreck because I forgot to study an entire chapter's worth of new material that we covered right at the very end and that chapter ended up being half the test. I left two entire pages completely blank. I knew I would make a B in the class. There was no way in my mind that I would do better than that. I studied for an entire week (which involved 709 flashcards) for my biochem final that covered fifteen chapters. It was an 8am final and I was running on only four hours of sleep. I was so glad to be done, though. Friday after I got home, I checked to see it any grades were posted (not expecting any thought because grades aren't due until the following Monday). I found that four of my five grades were already posted (including biochem, the final I had taken that morning). I made an A- in biochem and A's in health topics, art history, and senior seminar.  Analytical was the only grade not up yet. I figured that he would take the whole time and I wouldn't see it posted until at least Monday.

Today, Aaron and I drove to a cooking demonstration for a bridal registry. They gave us engraved champagne glasses, two tungsten wedding bands (about $400-600 a piece), and an all inclusive 5 day paid trip to the BAHAMAS ($3000 value). Aaron and I were blown away. It was completely perfect. Aaron said God was watching over us and I completely agree.

When I got home, I thought my night couldn't get any better. I checked my email. And it did. Dr. Earnest had let me know that I had made an A.

I am completely on cloud nine right now. 

Depressing

Well...

I officially will NOT be seeing Taylor's RED tour.

Both cities relatively close to me have already sold out all shows. 

Taylor on VH1 Storytellers and AMAs

VH1 storytellers

Taylor Swift held a contest recently calling colleges to vote competing for a private concert. Harvey Mudd College in California won and Taylor performed a small concert, which was recorded by VH1 and premiered as an episode of VH1 Storytellers. 

She opened with You Belong With Me.
"I recently wrote an album called Red and I am holding a guitar that is also red. The song that I wrote was about this relationship that I had that was the worst thing ever and the best thing ever at the same time. I was writing this song and I was thinking about correlating the colors to different feelings I was going through...emotions like daring, passion, love, affection, and the other side: jealousy and anger and frustration and 'You didn't call me back and I need space.' What I ended up doing was writing a song that I hope you want to hear right now called 'Red.'"

 

Next, she performed Ours. That song was one of Taylor's best moments. It was just her and her guitar. Her voice is so pure and controlled. The anecdote beforehand made it even better. She said when two people are in love, it's theirs and no one else's, even though everyone wants to judge. She talked about a critic that really didn't like her and she wrote Mean, which she performed next. She then told a funny story about writing a song accidentally in the studio with two co writers. A friend of an ex came in and said I heard you're getting back together.
We are Never Ever Getting Back Together was performed next. 

She said the next song she wrote for her high school talent show about a nice guy she was dating at the time. The crowd loved it. She told her record label she wanted it on album and they told her that she can't base decisions on your friends. It was her first number one so she said I guess you can.  
She played Our Song. 
 

 

Taylor said you never know what's going to happen to a song when it's released. When she was 17, she liked a guy who was bad news and her parents were right about him. She got mad at them one day and stormed off, slammed the door, and wrote a song comparing them to Romeo and Juliet. 
She played Love Story, her first number one worldwide hit. 

Note: This is based on the VH1 Storytellers show, not the actual performance. They didn't air every song she performed. She actually performed You Belong With Me, Red, Ours, Eyes Open, Mean, Begin Again, Our Song, Love Story, and closed with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, lasting about an hour and a half for about 3,000 students.

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American Music Awards 

Taylor won Favorite Female Country Artist  
and performed on the AMAs this year. 

 

She performed I Knew You Were Trouble (debut). She appeared in a long white gown.  Midway through the song, she disappeared in a mob of her dancers. A few seconds later, they dispersed revealing her in a red and black corset with a black skirt with gold embellishments and details. 

 
 
 
 

Click here for a video of her performance. 
I thought it was awesome.

 In 2010, she performed Back to December and won Fav Female Country Artist. In 2011, she didn't perform but she sweeped the awards, winning Fav Female Country Artist, Fav Country Album, AND Entertainer of the Year (the highest award). 
 
 

Berry Eagles and Looming Football

Update: the eggs have hatched! Berry has BABY bald eagles! (1/29/13)

Update: there are eggs in the nest!! (1/5/13).

Update: Berry installed a live eagle cam to arch the nest! (12/17/12).

Update: the female could lay eggs any day now! (11/28/2012).

Back during all the debates on campus about adding football, two bald eagles nested on campus right where the stadium was to be built. Officials and bird experts and such even comments on how odd it was for the eagles to nest so far from water.

How about that? I think it's hilarious in a karma kind of way.
The birds that are protected by federal LAW (can't touch them, can't move them, 100K fine) build a nest in the EXACT spot where the stadium is planned. 

Hm. Hehehe. 

This is just incredible!

 Stadium plans were halted. Berry had to apply to some forestry association to get permission to build in the planned spot. Recently, Berry was granted permission to build as planned.

September 7, 2013

This is the date of the first Berry football game.. 

The first ever Berry football coach. 

Tony Kunczewski from La Grange College.

*sigh* 

I am so glad that I will be long gone from Berry when football fever sets in. 

Protein Crystals

These are the proteins (lysozyme) we crystallized in biochem lab last week.

I think that's SO COOL!

Ticket Fiasco

So Taylor announced her Red tour, which kicks off in March and goes through September so far. Tickets went on sale November 16 at 10am. I was worried. 

I couldn't get tickets for the Speak Now tour because it sold out in three days. I was worried about the Red tour since her career has skyrocketed so much. I knew tickets would go fast and I wanted to be ready. But I had a test that day at 10am when they went on sale. This only caused more worrying and panic. 

On November 11th, I received an email with a secret code to be able to purchase tickets as part of the presale the next day at 1pm. WHAT? I was surprised and so so soooooo happy that I would be able to try to get tickets without messing up my test! So at 12:50pm on that Sunday, I was ready. I had my code and my laptop and Ticketmaster already loaded. As SOON as they became available, I entered my code and searched for the 'best available.' No luck. I tried again. Nothing. I must have searched 15 different times and it couldn't find tickets. Finally, it found two tickets, but the were in the back, third level, $200. I gave them up and searched over and over for almost an hour. I finally gave up. 

Later that day, I found out 14 stadium and arena shows were sold out within MINUTES, including the one I was shooting for. Taylor sold out three stadiums and several arenas: 
Toronto’s Rogers Centre stadium (sold out in 5 minutes)
Detroit’s Ford Field stadium (sold out in 10 minutes)
Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium (sold out in 25 minutes)
Los Angeles (2 shows in 1 minute)
Washington DC (2 shows in 5 minutes)
Atlanta (2 shows in 5 minutes)
Miami, Tampa, Columbus, San Diego and Sacramento.

In response to the strong demand for tickets, the following shows have been added to the previously announced RED Tour dates:

June 14 - Toronto

July 26 - Foxborough, MA

August 23/24 - Los Angeles   

Taylor Swift’s The RED Tour will now include 11 stadium stops,

 for a total of 62 shows in 45 cities in 29 states and 3 provinces in 2013.  

I have another city in mind that I will try to get tickets 
 for as soon as they go on sale.

It's Official!

I'm a Georgia voter! 

I mailed in my absentee ballot this morning. 

This is my first election to be old enough to vote. 

In November 2008, I had only been 17 a few months.

 

Red Hot

I love Taylor's new album!! 

It's very different and I like the songs, some more than others, but I think the three new songs released with the deluxe edition from Target are superior to most of the others she released, because they are more ...real and exposed, like her other songs. 

 

 State of Grace

Taylor described this one as a "song that sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way." This one is about Jake Gyllenhaal. I really like it and the music is awesome. I absolutely love the way she says 'you're my Achilles heel.'

 Red

This one is pretty much my favorite song (as a whole) from the album. 

It's also about Gyllenhaal.

 Treacherous

This one is most likely referring to John Mayer. 
This one is just okay. The line 'this slope is treacherous' just feels weird to me. 
It's almost like it feels more like twangy country, which I don't like.  
Initially, I wasn't crazy about this song. But after listening to it a few more times all the way through, I absolutely love the second half of this song. I think it's my favorite part of the whole album. 

 "Two headlights shine through the sleepless night And I will get you, get you alone. Your name has echoed through my mind and I just think you should, think you should know,that nothing safe is worth the drive and I will follow you, follow you home... I'll follow you, follow you home"

 I Knew You Were Trouble

When this song was released, I initially thought it was weird. The more I listened to it, though, the more I liked it. It's such a different vibe from her, but now I think I love it. It's so catchy!! This one is about Harry Styles from One Direction. Taylor had one date with him, then he went gallivanting off to Australia and 'found some trouble' with another girl.

All Too Well

This song is sweet. It's your classic Taylor. It just screams Jake Gyllenhaal.

22
Whoa. What? I love the tone of her voice for the verses of this one! This is such a fun song. It refers to her friends Ashley Avignone, Dianna Agron, Claire Callaway, and Selena Gomez.

I Almost Do

I really like the chorus in this one. I was unaware that Taylor dated Adam Young from Owl City. This song is clearly about him. (Side note: "Enchanted" was also about this guy.) A convincing argument could also be made for John Mayer.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

I LOVE this song. It's this album's equivalent to "Picture To Burn." Some say Gyllenhaal again, but it could also be Will Anderson.. from the band Parachute? I have never heard of him. Or that band. 

Stay Stay Stay

I love love love the music for this one. It's so happy and peppy and you just want to bounce along to it. It's a cute song. This one is more about her THEN current boyfriend, Conor Kenedy. The album dropped Monday. Today is Friday and there's talk flying that they are no longer together, due to Taylor's busy schedule and long distance.

The Last Time

Gary Lightbody joins Taylor on this song. Never heard of him before. He sounds so much like Michael Buble to me. When the tempo picks up, it sounds like a Lady Antebellum song. This one refers to Gyllenhaal again. Geez, they must have had a whirlwind on/off relationship because like half of these songs seem to be about him! The harmonies of this song are gorgeous and effortless. The voices of Gary Lightbody and Taylor Swift mesh so well together. "You open your eyes into mine."

Holy Ground

So upbeat!! But I like it. I love the way she says 'was holy ground.'
This one follows “Forever and Always,” “Last Kiss,” and “Better Than Revenge.” Yep. Joe Jonas. But “Holy Ground” seems to say she's finally at peace with this now. 

Sad Beautiful Tragic

Again, classic Taylor. This one is a toss up. It could be about Mayer or Gyllenhaal. 

The best bet? Her parents' recent divorce.

 

The Lucky One
I love the chorus for this one!! I just want to sway along with it. This song was close to being another one of my favorites until I heard it had a bad word in it. C'mon Taylor. She hasn't used a bad since that first album. That section of the song is really weird to me because of the bad word. That's not Taylor. I don't really wanna listen to this one anymmore now. This song could be about Joni Mitchell, who is one of Taylor's idols and songwriting inspirations. Taylor is going to play her in a secret, biopic. Another option could be Shania Twain. It could also be referring to the hard life of being famous.

Everything Has Changed

This song features Ed Sheeran, who I had also never heard of. I like this one too. The harmonies aren't as pretty and smooth as 'The Last Time.' This one basically screams Conor Kennedy. It sucks though that she bought a $4.5 million home down the street from him, and now they are reportedly split...

Starlight

This one is obviously about Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, Conor's grandparents, written from her (Ethel's) perspective as an ode to young love. 
I really like this one. It's sweet.

Begin Again

This one could refer to Will Anderson, but most likely it's about Conor Kennedy, referring back to Gyllenhaal in the beginning. I really like this one too. 

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BONUS SONGS (deluxe edition) 
I love the bonus songs!!! These are so classic Taylor and I keep them on repeat. 

The Moment I Knew

This one is blatantly about Gyllenhaal. He didn't show up for Taylor's 21st birthday party. She knew it was over. This one is so sad. I adore the chorus.

 

Come Back... Be Here

This one is probably about Gyllenhaal too.
Love it.

Girl at Home

Perhaps Styles or Jonas. Very catchy and I really like it.  

Red (original demo recording)
Eh. I like the album version better. 

State of Grace (acoustic) 
 Oh goodness, I am obsessed with this one. 

Treacherous (original demo recording)
Eh. It's not much different from the album version.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My favorites?
Red is probably my favorite favorite.
State of Grace

State of Grace (acoustic)
 I Knew You Were Trouble 
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Begin Again 
Come Back..Be Here
Girl At Home. 
The Moment I Knew 
Treacherous 

Least favorites?

Sad Beautiful Tragic. It's pretty but just so slow and sad.

The Lucky One. I don't cuss. I thought Taylor didn't either. 

Berry's Demise

Berry College is going to get a football team. I am not happy, by any means. Martha Berry is probably rolling in her grave. She did NOT want a football team! 

What are they thinking adding one!? Geez. 

So the decision to add football apparently was a longtime coming. We have to keep up with Shorter, who added football a couple years ago. The tornado that ripped through campus in April 2011 knocked down many trees. It gave them the perfect excuse to chop down more, some that had been standing since Martha was alive, in order to make room to build a stadium. Once the 'official' decision to add football had been approved, detailed plans for the stadium. its location, a new tennis court area, and a moved gatehouse came out within days. Oh yes, this has been in the works, for a very long time. 

Football is absolutely going to ruin Berry. I love Berry but right now, all I can think of is how glad I am that I will be gone by the time this mess gets started!! I'll be graduating Spring 2013 and it's supposed to start that fall. Yikes. 

The worst part? They're naming the stadium 'Valhalla.' In order to do that, they are going to RENAME Valhalla in Krannert. I am so mad. It's bad enough to add football and ruin the pretty campus and the college's reputation. But to change things that already exist, just so they can be given to football? 

That's outrageous. And stupid. 

They want to take this

 

and this 

 and turn it into this.

  

 

RED

Finally! Taylor Swift's new album has finally been released. 

I bought it at walmart because of their special offer. For $14, you get the cd, a 96 page magazine, a poster, 4 guitar picks, and a postcard. 

 Front cover

 

 Front inside cover

Back inside cover

Guitar picks

 

 Poster

Should I?

Should I go ahead and register for the GRE? Even though I'm not ready yet?? 

The scores are good for five years and everyone keeps saying 

that I should take it soon...

WikiPremed?

I stumbled upon a link to this website called WikiPremed and had to check it out. I'm still not entirely sure exactly what it is because I haven't poked around the website much yet. I think it's generally an MCAT prep website.

Here is a link.

A Great Find

Recently I came across this article. Just had to share!

How will doctors handle the flood of newly insured patients?

by Albert Fuchs, MD on September 5th, 2012 in Policy

 

If you think health care is expensive now, 

wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.
-P.J. O’Rourke

I distinctly remember that in first grade I had an idea of breathtaking wisdom and profundity. Candy should be free. You may have had a similar thought at the same age. This idea was supported by an incontrovertible rationale, namely that I really liked candy. Tragically, it only took a moment for my parents to expose a flaw in my otherwise revolutionary scheme. They suggested that if candy were free, no one would bother making candy. All candy makers would do something else that allowed them to make a living. Thus exposed to the painful realities of life, I put the thought out of my head for about forty years.

But now I realize that modern bureaucracy makes my vision more possible than ever. Candy makers obviously won’t work for nothing, but they could be paid to give away candy by a national program (Candycare or maybe the Affordable Candy Act). Employees through their work could contract with third party payers (like Blue Candy) to pay for their candy needs. Thus candy would still be free to the consumer and no first grader would ever have to be denied his gummy bears.

Complications may still arise in this ingenious scheme. Prices, after all, play a critical role in marketplaces. They reflect the resources consumed and risks taken in producing a product. They force consumers to make important decisions about what they need and what they can do without. And they encourage conservation. The only reason we don’t all buy the most expensive product in any class of products (cars, houses, shoes, whatever) is because we’d rather do something else with the money we save. Prices also give producers a powerful incentive to improve quantity and keep prices low, that is they cause competition between producers.

In the absence of prices, all these details become corrupted in our otherwise idyllic candy utopia. Customers would demand more candy than they ever ate before. They may simply eat more candy, but much would just go to waste. If it’s free, no one will stop to think about whether they really want another Snickers bar. Attention to quality would also decline for two reasons. Consumers would not be able to pay more for better candy, so they would have to be satisfied with whatever they got. And candy makers would no longer have to compete since they would suddenly have all the business they could handle.

There would be a dramatic imbalance between supply and the very high demand. Economists call this imbalance a shortage. Long lines would form at candy stores and supplies would not last until the end of the day. Lots of people who previously were content paying for their candy would now not be able to get any. And though the costs to the consumer would be zero, the cost to society would keep escalating as candy makers would consume ever more resources trying to meet a bottomless demand. In a few years candy would become both mediocre and, for society, disastrously expensive. Sounds familiar?

Healthcare in general, and especially primary care, is operating in exactly such a system. I’ve been writing for years about the shortage of primary care doctors that will happen as the baby boom ages. But with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) looming in 2014 the shortage promises to worsen dramatically and is receiving some media attention.

An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal warns that 30 million people will acquire health plans starting in 2014. The article predicts “the result will be gridlock.” Waits for care will lengthen, and many practices will close to new patients. The author predicts that concierge medicine will grow rapidly as patients flock to doctors who promise them attention and access. I urge you to read the very sobering article.

A recent Medical Economics article asks how an influx of 30 million patients will impact primary care. New physicians certainly will not be trained in time. The article suggests various bureaucratic solutions and states “nurse practitioners know they are about to be elevated in the national healthcare dialogue.” This is jargon for “patients should not expect to see a doctor.” The article warns that in Massachusetts, a leader in experimenting with universal health insurance, only half of primary care practices are accepting new patients.

Finally, The Doctor’s Company, a medical malpractice insurance company recently released a survey of 5,000 physicians to measure doctors’ opinions and thoughts about the coming ACA implementation. 60% of respondents thought that the increased patient volume will hurt the level of care they can provide. 43% said they are thinking about retiring in the next five years. And nine out of ten said they would discourage friends and family members from pursuing a career in medicine.

Sooner or later we will be forced to rediscover the credo that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Shifting costs from one person to another doesn’t lower costs. A central plan to make something affordable always makes it unaffordable.

Until then, patients should find a primary care doctor who they really like. They should do so right now. And they should ask frankly how he or she plans to handle the coming wave of newly-insured patients. And now that I’m thinking of it, they should buy him some candy.

Albert Fuchs is an internal medicine physician 

who blogs at his self-titled site, Albert Fuchs, MD.

source: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/09/doctors-handle-flood-newly-insured-patients.html