Great taste, less filling

Well, clearly I am not updating my blog daily. I don't think I'm good at doing anything daily. Not even sleeping. Sure I get some amount of sleep daily, but it's not consistent in quality or quantity. Wait -- OK, I do shower daily. I guess I'm OK at the morning routine -- if only because it's the one time in the day where sheer routine is a necessary substitute for any brain power. If only I could go to work at 11am, then I could build the blog into my morning routine.

Anyway. So I've quoted a beer commercial. It kind of sums up a lot of the times I've spent here with these kids in the house, talking about absolutely nothing over a pint, or two, or more. It's fun, but then I wake up the next day and I realize I still feel empty. The most real times here have been when I've hung out with the Wobbrocks, with my relatives who came from Vancouver to visit, with my housemates and neighbors when we talk about the things we struggle with, like drugs or people dying or our thoughts on God. I feel sad for my housemates. I'm sure on some level we all struggle with our meaning and purpose and fulfilment. If the 20s is what they're living out, then I'm glad I'm spending mine in school. (Although, I could've done with just one backpacking trip through Europe...)

James surprised me with flowers at the house today(!). (No, of course he didn't come out here himself, although that would've been really great.) It was so comforting to have a visible reminder of how all my important relationships are still there, just waiting for me back home. John Creasy said once in church that at the end of life, people really just care about two things: that they were loved well, and that they loved others well.

Rain on my parade

Today I did not have a conversation with one person in Seattle until I got to work at 8pm. Yup, that's the kind of day I've had.

Julia is mad at me because I off-handedly mentioned that I had drinks with my colleagues after work, you know, an impromptu thing. She responded with indignation: "You know I wanted to meet a med student. I told you to call me if you were going out. Geez I can't believe you didn't call me! And here I am being so nice to you." I rolled my eyes: "geez you are so borderline." Then she proceeded to yell at Shane (other housemate) about not cleaning up around the house. The next day she and Brandon have a shouting match about turning the central heating down and she gets mad at him for calling her names. She hasn't spoken to me since. Maybe I should be the bigger person and apologize to her despite not doing anything wrong (well, OK, I called names too), but why does she have to take everything so personally? I'm not motivated to apologize -- I'm leaving in 8 days.

Today was a UW holiday and I stayed at home until it was time to take call at the hospital. I haven't seen any of the housemates today besides Julia who now treats me as a persona non grata. I know Shane is visiting his girlfriend in Portland after work. I have no idea where any of the other housemates are. At home I listened to NPR avidly for the sound of other (intelligent) human voices.

The hospital I take call at is a different one than the one where I normally go to work, and it is my first time taking the bus there. But halfway there, the driver announces it's going somewhere I've never heard of and if I want to go downtown I should get off, so in a panic I get off the bus. Only to realize minutes later that this place I've never heard of is right by the hospital and I should've stayed on the bus. I look at my bus schedule and the next bus I should take is at least another half hour. So I'm standing at the stop and it's raining and cold, and I wonder if there is any reason to go take call when no one is even expecting me, except the intern on call could use some help and my resident (who is not even going to be there) suggested it. This is when I decide to call Krista in Pittsburgh. It was so nice to hear a friendly voice.

A joke: Works of sheer genius

Fun And Jokes with Morals..: Math genius...

oh man, I miss math... I especially love the joke at the end.

The Real World: Seattle, or Hey, I didn't sign up to live in a reality TV show!

Every show has a cast of characters:

Julia: UW (pronounced U-dub) senior from the bay area of California whose parents co-own the house with Alison Wobbrock's parents. She is about to do an internship in Poland where her family is from. Likes: Europe, Europeans. Dislikes: Americans, and UW students in particular. I hear about these topics a LOT. I also hear a lot about the "fat" she has around her waist (we're the same size -- which means triple the wardrobe for me!), as well as how her ex-boyfriend won't leave her alone. I met her about 5 days before she could legally drink, 2 years after she had started drinking illegally, and 2 days before I started realizing that those drama queens on reality TV weren't actors after all. Don't get me wrong, she means well and while she may be annoying at times, at least she talks to me on a regular basis. We must be chums by now, judging by the way she interrupts my phone conversations with James like a kid sister (he calls her the Peanut Gallery). And she actually invites me when she goes out, even if it is to get hammered at the local college bar where the patrons are half as old as they look and the drinks are twice as strong. Um, yeah, that's what they tell me anyway.

Shane: The only other person besides me who goes to work and doesn't carry a fake ID. He is about my age and is an equipment mechanic. A self-described "dirtbag" among women, but around his housemates he is more of a harmless flirt (Yes James, I said harmless). Besides, he has a girlfriend and he seems serious about her anyhow. Probably the only person I genuinely enjoy talking to in the house. Oh, and he likes his music with the bass waaay up.

Brandon: A sophomore desparately in need of a haircut and shave, yet who manages to cuddle on the couch with a different girl each weekend. Eats his meals at odd hours, such as 4pm and 11pm. Loves football and alcohol. Not sure what else though, since he doesn't even talk to me unless I talk first. He's a sociology major, which I actually find really cool, but I'm afraid of talking to him about it lest I start to sound like his mom.

Olga: Another sophomore whom until recently I had only seen in passing, plus/minus boyfriend. She lives in the room next to me, but keeps her door closed. After we finally got to exchange more than 5 words, she seems well, kind of normal. And nice. She likes to clean, which makes her an ideal housemate because she does things like offer to vacuum my room and wash my darks with hers. And she just came out of her room to show me a funny website about cats, of which she owns one.

There is one other housemate, Halley. I've seen her and said hello, but that's really it. She lives in the basement along with the guys and is also a sophomore at UW.

And then there's me: straight-laced Bible-reading med student from big city San Fran, but who has grown soft from being in the midwest. I guess I'm back in college now. In any case, I sure am getting re-educated!

p.s. I miss all you yinzers.

Welcome to Seattle

I'll write more as soon as I find a safe place to hide.