If I'm not studying or watching TV one can find me playing Family Feud; I'm getting ready for the Family Feud competition for symposium!

Here are a few of the songs I've been listening to on the radio since I've been home because let's face it the Champbana radio stations aren't that quick to update there music rotations:

• Nelly featuring Tim McGraw (link on previous post as well)
• Britney Spears (I don't really like her music but I agree with the words in this song)
• Usher
• Josh Groban
• Ryan Cabrera
• more coming soon

I'm in the midst of my Thanksgiving break and what am I doing...studying! Urgh!! I have a Pathology exam the Wednesday I return from break & 20% of it is cummulative. I'm wondering if he'll put Primary & Secondary Amyloidosis on the exam again? Oh well, I guess its just nice to not be sitting in a dull & dreary lecture hall from 9am-4pm, minus the lunch hour. Just so I don't forget the wonderful sounds of my professors' voices I decided to listen to them on my digital recorder while on break...actually I do this anyways because certain professors have WAY TO MUCH java in the morning and talk pretty fast! My java drinking doesn't have my fingers up @ 9am & ready to write furiously.

I finished my last Bacteriology skills test Friday by identifying 2 unknown bacteria based on colony morphology, Gram stain, and growth/color change on special media. I must admit I did quite well but it wasn't without my extreme perinoia getting the best of me. Most people who know me pretty well know I stress quite a bit. This skills test was no exception:

• I kept rechecking to make sure the labeled tops of the petri dishes were on the correct culture.
• I always held my breath when opening the plates...yet my cultures still got contaminated?!
• I made sure all of my plates were taped so the top & bottom of each plate never got seperated.
• I checked the answers I circled over & over again to make sure my A organism & B organism were circled correctly.
• Even after I turned my sheet in I wanted to make sure I had labeled my sample # correctly (I already checked that 15 times before I handed it in).
• I saved everything I did...just in case!

I have previously taken a stress class to help me deal with my stress test anxiety & it has helped but there are certain exams that still stress me out, especially when a decent amount of points are riding on them and 1 stupid mistake can screw it all up! This last exam I could chalk it up to me being just my anal self. I have realized the only one putting pressure on me is me and I need to give myself a break because @ least I made it into vet shool!

So, 2 more exams have come & pass but unfortunately I didn't do very well on one of them. Oh well, I guess it just means I have to study harded and/or differently.

I have decided to make a list of things a vet student (@ least from UIUC vet school) should've learned before graduating:

1. Vet school professors simply throw all kinds of sh** at you and they hope some of it sticks! (Physiology)
2. There are NO SYNAPSES in the dorsal root ganglion!!! (Neurobiology)
3. No animal should die without being given corticosteroids for treatment! (Pharmacology)
4. Heparin is responsible for basophil & mast cell granules staining blue! (Pathology)
5. Its alright to be formicating with fellow vet students or professors in a barn! (Parasitology)
6. Lice is the plural form of louse. (Parasitology)
7. Layers of the adrenal glands & what they secrete: GFR=SSS..."the deeper you go the better it gets." [Zona glomerulosa --> mineralocorticoids (i.e. salt); Zona fasiculata --> glucocorticoids (i.e. sugar); Zona reticularis --> sex steroids]

I'll be adding to this list as the years go by. If you have any to add let me know.

According to Ask Jeeves, this is the definition of friend:

• Friend (n.) One who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect, and affection that he seeks his society and welfare; a wellwisher; an intimate associate; sometimes, an attendant.(n.) One not inimical or hostile; one not a foe or enemy; also, one of the same nation, party, kin, etc., whose friendly feelings may be assumed. The word is some times used as a term of friendly address.(n.) One who looks propitiously on a cause, an institution, a project, and the like; a favorer; a promoter; as, a friend to commerce, to poetry, to an institution.(n.) One of a religious sect characterized by disuse of outward rites and an ordained ministry, by simplicity of dress and speech, and esp. by opposition to war and a desire to live at peace with all men. They are popularly called Quakers.(n.) A paramour of either sex.(v. t.) To act as the friend of; to favor; to countenance; to befriend.

Webster's definition is:

• 1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : ACQUAINTANCE2 a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group3 : one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)4 : a favored companion5 capitalized : a member of a Christian sect that stresses Inner Light, rejects sacraments and an ordained ministry, and opposes war -- called also Quaker

The reason I look these up is that lately I have been thinking about whether or not I'm truly considered anyone's "friend" or for that matter anyone's "best friend." Sure we all have people we regularly see & chat with but when are they considered "friends?" Besides my pets I'm not sure if I'm really anyone's "best friend." What really is the criteria for a "best friend?" Is this criteria subjective or objective? Is friendship an unspoken thing that you should just know? No, this entry doesn't mean I have low self-esteem it just means I wonder how & why people classify others the way they do. This post is also not to be offensive, especially to those that do consider me their "friend."

If you're in the mood to play a game that is just a bit bizzare try this. It was sent to me via e-mail & it is rated R for what in my opinion is violence. The cows will explode if you don't milk them or if you milk them too much their heads explode. Also, some little elf comes along & kills the cows.

Today is election day, did you vote? My fellow vet students & I have been discussing the whole presidential election process the past few days and we have had noted a few "quirks" in the system:

1. Everyone mentions how important it is to vote, yet I'm sure a lot of people feel that their vote is really not all that important in the states where it has already been declared as either a democratic stronghold or a republican stronghold. Could this be why approx. half of our country's population is even registered to vote?
2. The electoral count should not be what declares a candidate the winner but instead it should be the popular vote. If everyone is equal than so should our votes be. If the popular vote is what declares the candidate a winner would more people vote?

I would answer yes to both the questions I posed & I would love to see them answered in my lifetime as well as a female presidential candidate. I also would love to see the 18-29 year old demographic that votes be higher than 17%!

Make sure to check this website to see who got the crap slapped out of them the most!

Well, Halloween came & went; it was rather uneventful. I just got my Epidemiology midterm score & Pharm exam #2 score; I did fine on both. It was a little unsettling though that my Epi midterm was only 25 questions. I have had the past week free of exams so I have been basking in it by watching DVD's, television, & going out with friends. It won't last long though because I have 2 exams next week.

Now onto a burning issue at vet school, at least for some of the female students, eye candy. We are not talking about the hottest actors or our fellow classmates but instead about professors/interns/residents. The topic of "cute" professors came up in our school newsletter. It was triggered by having an attractive male professor for the second year's pharm class; Let's just say the topic of parasympathomimetics is not what kept the female students awake in class. All the second years' professors up to this point have been slightly older in age and while they're intellect is quite attractive, their "looks" is not what has been keeping students attentive/interested or awake in class. The newsletter listed a few interns and residents that were good looking but if you don't have anytime to go over to the teaching hospital you have no clue who any of them are. Well, here is a link to a website with a picture of one of the interns mentioned in the article; You need to scroll to the bottom of the page to see him. He is no longer blonde but still just as good looking. He was noted by several female students as a doctor they wouldn't mind getting examined by! Hmmm, he is an intern now that I have heard is trying for residency in small animal surgery here.......let's keep our fingers crossed he gets it!