Final Exam

Guess what guys! I got my hands on the final exam. Check it out:

The Final Exam

Instructions: Read each question carefully. Answer all questions. Time Limit: 4 hours. Begin immediately.

1. History

Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to the present day, concentrating especially, but not exclusively, on its social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Be brief, concise, and specific.

2. Medicine

You have been provided with a razor blade, a piece of gauze, and a bottle of scotch. Remove your appendix. Do not suture until your work has been inspected. You have 15 minutes.

3. Public Speaking

Twenty-five hundred riot-crazed aborigines are storming the classroom. Calm them. You may use any ancient language except Latin or Greek.

4. Biology

Create life. Estimate the differences in subsequent human culture if this form of life had developed 500 million years earlier, with special attention to its probable effect on the English parliamentary system. Prove your thesis.

5. Music

Write a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with flute and drum. You will find a piano under your seat.

6. Psychology

Based on your degree of knowledge of their works, evaluate the emotional stability, degree of adjustment, and repressed frustrations of each of the following: Alexander of Aphrodisias, Rameses II, Gregory of Nicea, Hammurabi. Support your evaluations with quotations from each man's work, making appropriate references. It is not necessary to translate.

7. Sociology

Estimate the sociological problems which might accompany the end of the world. Construct an experiment to test your theory.

8. Management Science

Define management. Define science. How do they relate? Why? Create a generalized algorithm to optimize all managerial decisions. Assuming an 1130 CPU supporting 50 terminals, each terminal to activate your algorithm; design the communications interface and all necessary control programs.

9. Engineering

The disassembled parts of a high-powered rifle have been placed in a box on your desk. You will also find an instruction manual, printed in Swahili. In ten minutes a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room. Take whatever action you feel is appropriate. Be prepared to justify your decision.

10. Economics

Develop a realistic plan for refinancing the national debt. Trace the possible effects of your plan in the following areas: Cubism, the Donatist controversy, the wave theory of light. Outline a method for preventing these effects. Criticize this method from all possible points of view. Point out the deficiencies in your point of view, as demonstrated in your answer to the last question.

11. Political Science

There is a red telephone on the desk beside you. Start World War III. Report at length on its socio-political effects, if any.

12. Epistemology

Take a position for or against truth. Prove the validity of your position.

13. Physics

Explain the nature of matter. Include in your answer an evaluation of the impact of the development of mathematics on science.

14. Philosophy

Sketch the development of human thought; estimate its significance. Compare with the development of any other kind of thought.

15. General Knowledge

Describe in detail. Be objective and specific.

16. Extra Credit

Define the universe. Give three examples.

Election Day 2004

Today was one of the more exciting days of my life. I had my first chance to translate the doctor's words to a Persian patient. Too bad the guy was deaf. Next I saw my first intubation. First we visited the patient, who seemed just fine. She had a hip replacement done last week and had recovered and she was going to be sent home tomorrow. Well, two hours after we saw her, we got a page that she was experiencing extreme shortness of breath. So we dashed back to her room in a different building and sure enough she was gasping for air. We sent her to the ICU and followed her down there and settled her in. Her surgeon came in along her nurses and respiratory therapy (and a high school student who was doing her first day in respiratory therapy for clinical rotations). The patient was sedated and the surgeon started to intubate. Now, I'm only familiar with intubation from ER where it only takes about 5 seconds. It is very different in real life. The surgeon placed the tube down her throat and the patient's gag reflex kicked in, causing her to vomit. Once she did that, the air way clogged with vomit, so the surgeon called for suction. The tube has to be placed between the 2 vocal cords so the airway has to be clear enough for the surgeon to know where to place the tube. The airway was cleared, the tube was placed, and the surgeon manually pumped oxygen. Instantly I saw the oxygen saturation jump from 64% to 99%. This revealed to me the miracle of medicine: if the patient had lived in another time, lack of oxygen would have immediately equaled death. But the combination of quick action, communication (via pager, etc), medical technology, and the genuine teamwork between health professionals, her life was saved. We still don't know why she had trouble breathing, but hopefully I'll find out when I go back to work on Sunday. Finally, when I returned home to Plano, I am happy to say that I voted. I am the first person in my family to vote, in fact I am the first to be eligible to do so. I made my voice heard, I broke my silence, and I performed my civic duty. May the best man win. God bless America.

Boo! Did I scare you?

Happy Halloween (and Fall Back)!! Yes, it's my favorite holiday here again. This year I was a cat (yes, I know, again). I was tempted to wear an M on my costume and be the MCAT, but I got too lazy. It seems my hands and my mind act at different speeds. I got this thing called Sonic PrimeTime so I've been burning all sorts of TV shows onto DVD. It's been great. I love possession (haha, it's a Halloween pun!). It's fun to give out candy to all the cute kids that come up to our door. They were all like, ooo kitty!! It totally reminded me of Boo from Monsters, Inc, which I burned on DVD today from when they showed it on TV last night. Snow cones, anyone? That always cracks me up. I spent all day writing my history paper on Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. I really like her stuff. Maybe I'll work her into my senior thesis. I've also got my physics homework and A&P lab practical to work on. Gee, ain't I lucky? At least midterm season's over. Now it's registration time. I meet with my advisor tomorrow, so I should be hangin in the lounge from 12-1:30 if you wanna say hi.

My Turn

Today was my turn to get embarrassed in the aforementioned class. My professor was talking about existentialism and that famous quote, "Hell is other people." Then he looked at me and said, "Let's just say Maryam is my hell." I said, "I hope not." Then he said, "OK then, let me just ask you, what do you say to other people when they ask about me?" I said, "As a person or as a professor?" He said however. I said, "Well, I would say you're knowledgeable." Then he said, "See what I would say is that all professors are frauds, so being knowledgeable may not be a good thing." I, of course, started with the nervous laughter. Then my professor said, "OK, so let's say your friends want to tell you what I think of you. You should cover your ears and say, 'I don't want to hear it. The professor is my hell.' And when other people want to tell me what Maryam thinks of me, I'll...well, actually I like what she has to say about me so I don't mind." OK, the whole class was thoroughly confused, and I was a little blushy.

Later on in class, I supplented our discussion of "The Stranger" by talking about the original French title "L'Etranger." So at the end of class, the professor was talking about something and in the middle of it I thought I heard him say, "I know you're French, Maryam." Everybody in class turned and looked at me, including a piqued Cute Frenchboy. I was confused. After class, my professor came up to me and apologized for putting me on the spot. I told him I found it to be "quite funny." I went to my next class and asked one of my friends, "Did the professor call me French?" She said that she had heard that too and thought it was weird that he said that. I said, "Maybe when I said I was Persian he though I said Parisienne." Then she laughed and said, "Maybe he said, 'Pardon my French, Maryam.' That sounded reasonable (even though it made no sense in context), and I let the matter pass.

What a Cutie!

I had a dream last night that someone else proclaimed his love for me while my crush did nothing. Well, that made me interested in what would happen when I saw him today. He came into class a little late. I started talking in class early on because I like to see his reaction to what I have to say. Today he was nodding, turning up the corner of his mouth into a grin, and saying "yes, yes, absolutely." It was soo hot!! The rest of class, however, he was pretty quiet with sort of a blank expression. The professor used me as an example for different things, and my crush smiled and laughed along. Well, then, 5 min to the end of class, the professor asked a question. Right at that moment my crush gets up to leave the room for something. Then the professor said, "Oh, you're leaving right now!!" Well, then the cutie got all embarrassed and turned back around and sat down. Then the professor started apologizing to him for embarrassing him and the cutie turned bright red. It was hilarious!! The class started laughing and he was covering his face in shame. It was so great cuz he was so embarrassed and he hadn't done anything wrong. Then one of my friends in the class was like, "it's ok, man, don't worry about it" in that tough macho way. Well, it turned out that the Cute Frenchboy had a cold and he was out of Kleenex and was going to get a new one. OK, so there's nothing shameful in that and it explains his uncharacteristic quietness. But after class he goes up to the professor and apologizes for attempting to step out of class to get a Kleenex. What a gentleman!! It was all I could do to contain myself. He's just so classy and intelligent. Dang, I wish I had a Kleenex to give him.

Find Romance No Matter How Busy You Are

OK, so I was thinking about him all night and now that the chains are broken and I've come out of my cave into the sunlight I still don't know what to do. I thought about sending him an email with some lame excuse related to our class, but that just seems so lame. See, my whole life (when I was in the cave) since I couldn't communicate directly I used all sorts of indirect means. In middle school, it was passing notes, in high school instant messaging, etc. Now I'm in college, I'm an adult, and I should be able to go up to a guy I'm interested in and say, "I like you, do you like me?" If I send him a stupid email about class, I'm just hiding behind something again. I really wish he'd make the first move. This is so nervewracking. I wonder what it's going to be like when I see him tomorrow.

Hasta La Vista, Mind-forged Manacles!!

Ladies and gentlemen, the shackles are removed and I am a free woman. One of the biggest obstacles of my life is gone and I'm free. I can no longer blame this thing for not moving forward in my life. But now what do I do? I have this freedom and I want to use and I know who to use it on, but how? I need advice. Email me if you've got some (or you want to find out what I'm talking about anyway).

Ramadan Mubarak

Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan. Getting up early for work has made getting up for Sahar a breeze. This is the first year I'm participating where Ramadan was started for the Daylight Savings Time change (Fall Back). So we're not getting up as early but we're not breaking our fast until around 7pm. I actually kind of like that better. It works better with my class schedule, that's for sure.

Queer, the affection you feel for a stranger!

It was as though his spirit and mine had momentarily succeeded in bridging the gulf of language and tradition and meeting in utter intimacy. I hoped he liked me as much as I liked him. But I also knew that to retain my first impression of him I must not see him again.

~~Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell

First Midterm aka Turning Point

Today was my first midterm of year, and it was in my class with Cute Frenchboy. I crossed paths with him on my way to class, and we shared this smile moment thing. Then we went to class and talked to each other before the midterm. It was kind of the first time we've ever talked to each other directly. It was the first time I heard his voice without him first being called on my the professor. It was really...nice. He was funny and smart and everything I had hoped he'd be. It's kind of exciting. When the professor passed out the midterm he made a joke and we laughed. OK cool thing: when the professor was reading out the directions, my mind was sort of on Cute Frenchboy so I didn't catch what he said. So I asked him to repeat that and he did. Then a little while later, Cute Frenchboy said out loud, "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening to anything you just said. Can you say it again?" Everybody lauged. Was the reason he didn't listen the same reason I didn't listen, was it because he was thinking of me? Hmm...Luckily I refocused and hopefully aced the midterm.

I'm back!!

Didya miss me? I haven't been able to post for a while since I've been so bogged with down with school, work, and a million other things. OK, so let's catch up on my life since I last posted: I wore the scarves around my neck for a while, but I grew to love my scars as a badge of courage and now display them prominently, plus they're fading. I've already turned in 3 papers and taken 2 tests so far. I got an A on my first test in Social Psych, so hopefully the rest of the term will be as bountiful. My online class is going great, as are all my other classes. The kids at school are cool too, and I'm making some new friends. It's nice to break away from the premeds for a while.

Today, I bought a car!! It's a black 2005 Civic EX. The insurance company is paying 7000, my dad is paying 3000, and I'm paying the rest (10000). Yup, your little girl is growing up. God-willing I'll have this car for a long time and stay safe in it.

I like this French boy in my class. I'm trying to get up the nerve to talk to him. He has the cutest accent! Somebody told me he was faking it though, and that he likes to play mind games. I'm gonna be positive and just think that he's more intelligent than most people, but that we could connect on a deep level. In class discussion, he gets really passionate and starts talking with his hands. The whole class is just mesmerized when he speaks. Did I mention that he's really cute?

Scar Tissue

I woke up this morning to find tons of scar tissue on my throat and a big black bruise on my chest from the seatbelt. The scar tissue makes it hurt to chew or talk, and it hurts like a mother when I yawn. I spent the day on the phone with the insurance company, calling the office about missing work, and receiving some get-well calls from my coworkers. I also emailed my professors about missing class today, and they were very supportive of my staying home and getting better. Luckily the labor day weekend will keep from getting too behind in my school work, and I've been pretty good about emailing assignments and discussion ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to go to my one class on Tuesday and return to normal schedules on Wednesday.

Collision

I was in a car accident today. I was driving down Plano Parkway, going through a green light, when a City of Plano garbage truck swerved in front of me. To avoid crashing into it, I swerved into the traffic light. My airbags deployed and my windshield shattered. The broken glass cut up my throat and I inhaled the fumes released from the airbag. Witnesses came up to me and helped me out of the car. They told me that my throat was bleeding. I was so scared; I didn't know what to do. My car was totaled. I called my dad and then the police arrived. I told the officer what happened, and she called an ambulance for me. I had witnesses vouching for my case. The parademics put a brace on my neck and strapped me to a board. They took me to Medical Center of Plano ER. They strapped me to the bed; I couldn't even get up to use the restroom. Then I had X-rays done and a CT scan. When they saw I was okay, they cleaned me up and sent me home after spending 4 hrs in the hospital. It was such a horrific experience. I'm so lucky to be alive.

Phelpsie's Coming Here!!

OMG, yall, Michael Phelps is coming to Dallas!!! It's with the Disney Swim with the Stars tour (www.swimwiththestars.com). He's coming to Southlake with Ian Crocker and Lenny Krazelberg (his roomie in Athens). Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!!!! The bad news is, the tickets don't go on sale until 2 hrs before the show starts! Can you believe the line that's gonna be there to get tickets? I gotta figure out a way to go there. Oh, if only they could have come to SMU and used our natatorium. (There's a rumor that they trained their pre-Olympics). One way or another I'm gonna get to Phelpsie.

It Takes Real Courage to Desert Your Post and Then Attack a Wounded Vet

Read this very awesome open letter
"When you're big in Tehran"

School's been so busy that I haven't been able to post. I went to the Metro Mustangs meeting yesterday. I'm running for Vice-President, so vote for me! My web class starts Monday, but I have to read all 400+ pages of Emile Zola's Germinal for Wednesday. Ain't life grand? I never had such a demand made of me in an English course, who would think it would happen in a CF/History course? The Olympics is drawing to a close, and I'm sad. I loved the sense of unity I felt with the world and the inspiration to be the best and achieve my dreams. I'll get a DVD of it, if it comes out. I know they've already released the gymnastics on DVD. We're finishing up the Canterbury Tales in Brit Lit 1. Thank God, I hate Chaucer. Such a waste of time. I'm not working next week, so hopefully I can use the extra 10 hours to play catch-up...or sleep.

What's the best fall fashion trend for you?

Bows

Your style couldn't get much sweeter. You enjoy looking feminine, so girly dresses, blouses, skirts, and accessories are your favorite pieces. Be on the look out for embellished versions of your favorite things this fall—camisoles, cardigans, belts, necklaces, and shoes will all be adorned with bows. Try buying ribbon at a fabric store and tying it around the waist of your sweater or jacket, and match the trend with pretty floral pieces or decorative brooches and pins.

You might also like Winter Floral.

This result courtesty of Seventeen.com.

Congrats, Phelpsie!!

Congratulations to Michael Phelps on winning 6 gold medals in Athens!! He is definitely the greatest Olympian, in my humble opinion. I love this guy!! What other playa would be smart enough to know that he could let a rival swim in a relay in his place while he sits in the stands and gets a medal without swimming the actual race? Man, that's my boy!! With every race, he inspires me to be the best and never give up in my own race to fulfill my dreams. Plus, he's from Baltimore, home of the greatest medical school in the world, Johns Hopkins. On my way to work in the mornings, I pass this billboard on the Tollway that features him in an ad for Omega watches. It just gives me such a boost as if my job is a prelimary race for the final that's up ahead. Gosh, he's just such an inspiration. I feel like watching him race has changed my life. He's so humble, cute, fit, kind, determined, and a team player. Congratulations, Phelpsie, you've made me proud!!

Jamie Kennedy's SMU Experiment

After classes yesterday, I had lunch with some friends and head back home. I relaxed until around 4:30 when I grabbed my sis and we head back to SMU. I swung by the bookstore and picked up an essay, a book, and a course pack. The course pack was $40!! I'm gonna just photocopy all of it and return it. That's way too much. We got to SMU at 5:30, but found out they weren't gonna do the Taste Dallas carnival until after Jamie's show. So we head over to Snyder Plaza to find food, but there wouldn't have been enough time to sit down at a restaurant since the show started at 6:30. We came back to SMU (and a better parking spot) and had some Chick-fil-a. Then we went to the show and sat with Ric.

The opening act came out first. He was this very large man who was not very funny. He basically got booed off the stage and people kept yelling, "You're not funny, put on Jamie!!" Then Jamie came on. Everyone got excited. The first half of his show was really rolling-on-the-ground funny. But then the second half came. See, I go to a pretty conservative school, and the second half was all sex jokes...graphic sex jokes. Nobody laughed. It was dead silent. The worst part was when he brought out this rapper and together they wrapped about the greatest of the "left tit." And then he told all the ladies to get up and shake their left tits. Everyone looked around to see who would get up and no one did. So then Jamie kind of made the "cut it out" motion with his hand and said good night and left. I think he should have checked out his audience first and just kept making jokes like his first half.

Afterwards, we went to the Taste Dallas Carnival. Everyone was scrambling for free T-shirts. I grabbed one and a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I missed Maggiano's Tiramisu, but I got to try a lemon cookie. The response to the pizza from Cafe Nostra was amazing too. Kiss FM was there but weren't gonna give away anything for a while except for Napolean Dynamite posters and chips. We head back home at 8:30 happy and satisfied. It's not often that we get to do things alone together, and luckily this night was worth the trip.

First Day

So my first day of school went pretty well. I went to work and got out at 11:30. When I got to school, it was raining and I had no umbrella. Yeah, didn't look so cool right then. When I got in the lounge I was so happy to see all my friends. Then I got really happy because now are school has a Subway!! The only downside is they got rid of the Pizzeria (they had great pasta) and the deli (they had great panini). So now my options are Subway or Chick-fil-a. Ah, sweet capitalism. I got a couple, "wow Maryam you look really different" type comments throughout the day, which was kinda cool.

My first class, Victorian Genders, was interesting. The professor had sent out an email telling everyone to bring the course pack to class for discussion. The thing is the bookstore doesn't carry it. So she asked, how many of you don't have the course pack? and everyone raised their hand. It was really funny.

So we got out of class 20 min. early. Then I went threading with my new found time and head home for a 15 min break. Then I head to UTD for my physics lab. The lab is taught by a TA, not a professor, which is new for me. He seems nice.

The coolest thing was that I went in thinking that I wouldn't know anyone in there, but I did know someone. This one girl from my high school who's half-Persian half-American. I was talking to my mom on the cell phone and she turned a corner and said, "I thought I heard someone speaking Farsi." She just transfered to UTD from UT and her older sister just started Baylor Med after graduating from MIT. I was like, thank God I have a good lab partner. She's good at math, so that's good for me. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good as today...and no more rain!

JKX

Oh my gosh! Jamie Kennedy is coming to my school Friday night. I am so there!!! I think I'll bring my sister. This is gonna be outtasite!!

In other news, I gota haircut today. It's pretty much just a clean up of the last one I got. I also found out that I have Physics lab tomorrow after all, so my schedule tomorrow will be like this:

6:45-11:30 work at the hospital
12:30-2 pm English at SMU
4-7 pm Physics lab at UTD

Quelle Excitee, n'est-ce pas? My English teacher already emailed me the syllabus. Ah, good times are to be had by all. Enjoy the last day of summer, ya'll and I'll see you in school tomorrow.

Let's Get Ready to Tumble

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been glued to the Olympics and working since the games began. Today's been my first day off work in 7 days, and I spent it at Baylor where my mom was having surgery. We're home now and she's ok, but it was a long procedure. The thing I like most about the Olympics is that it inspires me to be the best and really focus on perfection. That Michael Phelps, he sure is something. I also like how the Olympics let's us forget about politics, well it did until the Iranians got involved. See, the reigning judo world champion is an Iranian; he was actually the flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremonies. When it came out that he would have to compete against an Israeli in the Olympics, the Iranian government said it was against their policy for any of its athletes to compete with "Zionists." So they forced him to gain weight so that he would be disqualified at the weigh-in. It was either that or publicly pull out so he chose the quieter path. (The same thing happened with the Morrocco soccer team at the 1968 Olympics). The thing is, even the Israeli team agreed that he was a better judo-er and would most likely have won gold. The Israeli publicist went on to say how he feels sorry for the poor guy cuz now he's lost that chance. I do too. I think that kind of behavior goes completely against what the Olympics stands for: putting aside political differences for 2 1/2 weeks and focusing on things that nations have in common, like athletic prowess.

Should you date your guy friend?

Think about it

Take more time to figure out what's up with your guy friend—it's unclear whether he wants to stay just friends or if he wants more. If you're not ready to have an honest discussion about your relationship potential, flirt with him and see how he responds. Go out of your way to spend extra time with him and let him know you want him around—if he has feelings for you, it will make him more comfortable showing them. If he seems reluctant or turns down your attempts to get closer, you know you're meant to be friends.

Are you too nice?

Nice Enough

You're approachable and friendly without coming across as a pushover, which will win you respect and make people feel comfortable around you. You know when to be polite, but when someone upsets you, you're not afraid to stand up for yourself—a true friend would never hold that against you. There is such a thing as being too nice, and you're great at judging where to draw the line.

Kerry unveils one-point plan for better America
I've been training 2 girls at work all week. They're doing a great job; I'm very proud of them. I like having protegees. My professor for the A&P web class I'm taking at CCCC emailed me last night that she updated her website. I checked out the assignment requirements and they sound pretty doable with my schedule.

Grab Life by the Ventricles

Today was the last day of Tax Free Weekend here in the great state of Texas. Yesterday I bought my first Abercrombie and Fitch shirt. It's pink with blue letters spelling the store's name. Today I bought 2 jeans, one Z. Cavaricci and one American Eagle. Since I lost 20 pounds over the summer clothes shopping has been so much more fun. I can't wait to wear all my back to school stuff at school next week. Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my being a scribe. I'm celebrating by training 2 new girls at work. Talk about karma. BTW, Ouch!!

Incoming

Slowly but surely my textbooks are coming in. I've thought about reading them, but I'm so immersed in Reading Lolita in Tehran that I want to finish it first. It's #40 in the Amazon.com sales rank! It's so good; I highly recommend it. Today was my sisters' first day of school. It's just a little reminder to enjoy my last 2 weeks of summer while I still can. They were very excited when they came home and it looks like they're going to have a fantastic year. My youngest sister is in the 8th grade so it's her last year of middle school and my other sister is a high school senior, so this is her last year of grade school period. It's a pretty exciting time in their lives. As for me, I'm about to embark on my most important year of college. I'm a little freaked out, but I'm trying to keep a cool head about the whole 20 hrs + 10 hrs of work thing. People have been calling me to get together, but I've been so swamped with work that I won't be able to see them until school starts. I'll be glad when the weekend gets here.

Jaw Dropper

Prepare to be amazed. Oh my gosh, Will, are you okay? I actually saw an accident today on the Tollway. This huge truck was literally upside down, and there were ambulances and cops everywhere. Pretty freaky stuff.

Erotomania

Today I got up at 5:30 to go to work and found my car, house, and front yard vandalized in a way reminiscent of an ambiguous scene in To Sir with Love. Disgusted I took off for work using my mom's Tolltag (I'll get my own soon). I thought there would be a Walnut Hill exit, but there isn't south-bound. So I got off at NW Highway and made a U-turn. I got to work where some stuff happened that I don't want to go into. Then I went to the SMU bookstore to get some ISBN numbers. It was a very ALIAS covert op. I waited in line to buy a student planner when I ran into Tiffany and Sam. That was pretty cool. Then I head on the Tollway and enjoyed fulfilling my need for speed. When I got home I punched in all the ISBNs. My history class has 13 books, while one of English classes has 7 and the other English has 1. Methinks this is crap. I watched He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, which was so good. You must see this movie; it is awesome!!

SMU Guide

Check out what the SMU Guide has to say about a Commuter's Wish List and dropping PreMed. OK, I have never seen those "commuter guys" in the lounge. I bet you they're just frat-house boys wishing they were cool enough to be commuters.

Book Shopping

I went ahead and bought a bunch of books for school online. So far books for 5 classes has totaled $200 because I make proper use of online bookstores. I decided to hold off on getting the books for Social and Intellectual history of Europe just because there are so many and you never know how many will actually be covered in the class, etc. I've been in the situation before where I bought more books than I needed. My Brit Lit 1 class requires the Norton Anthology of English Lit Vol 1, which is 3000+ pages long and weighs so much it costs extra to ship. So I did some investigating and found that it is available split up into 3 books so that I don't have to carry the whole thing at once. I called up the publisher's customer service department to make sure that the page numbers matched up in the 2 versions. She confirmed that they did and was ecstatic. You don't know how many horror stories there are of students and their Nortons: stubbing their toes on them, getting knocked unconscious when it fell off a bookshelf, losing them because they don't fit in a bag, and the back strain. But I'm a smarty pants who likes to make life easy on herself, so I found a way to beat the system. HAHA!!

Extreme Makeover

Hey y'all, how do you like my blog makeover? Now I know what you're thinking: Didn't the old comments disappear when you changed the template? But I thought of that before I changed it: I copy and pasted the comments from Comment This to the actual body of the posts. HaHa!! So now I'm free to switch up my templates without losing the comments and I can use Blogger's comments. Now if only I could figure out how to add links to my sidebar...

Hi everyone! Today I got up early to visit my O Chem professor. I bought him a chocolate bundt cake from Corner Bakery as a thank you for being so great this summer. I told him my story about my O Chem odyssey with Dr. Biehl and then my professor mentioned how he (my professor) was on the Health Professions Advisory Committee of UTD. He said that he thought there was nothing wrong with taking concurrent courses at 2 universities since UTD and SMU are considered pretty much equal in the eyes of med schools. He also said that he would be happy to write me a recommendation letter in the spring. Yippee!! Incidentally, his class is the first college science lecture class I've made an A in (I've made A's in labs). Right now my science GPA is 3.1. I calculated that if I get an A in Physics 1 and 2 + labs and my A&P online course I'll have a 3.4 science GPA come med school app time! (most people strive for a 3.0 sci GPA. I'm so excited about all this stuff. I'm really turning my grades around. I'm shooting for a 4.0 this term. Tomorrow I head back to work. I think I may be training someone, but I've been gone for 2 months so I'll see how it goes. I'm currently in the market for books. Here are the ones my fall classes require.

Fall 2004 Textbooks

CF 3314
Readings include:
1) Roland Stromberg, European Intellectual History since 1789; half.com 16.79
2) Albert Camus, The Stranger; half.com 3.99
3) Edmund Gosse, Father and Son; half.com 5.78
4) Heda Kovaly, Under a Cruel Star; half.com 6.90
5) J. D. Watson, The Double Helix; amazon 3.50
6) Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon; amazon 3.64
7) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own;
8) Emile Zola, Germinal;
9) Robert Graves, Goodby to All That;
10) Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz;
11) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto;
12) George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.
ENGL 3305

Texts: Lunsford and Connors, EasyWriter;

Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. I (7th edition);

Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

ENGL 3341

Texts: C. Brontë, Jane Eyre;

E. Brontë, Wuthering Heights,

Gaskell, North and South;

Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles;

Ibsen, A Doll’s House;

Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays;

Course reader with selected poems, essays, and contemporary criticism.
Psyc 3341
Textbooks:
Brehm, S.S., Kassin, S.M., and Fein, S. (2001). Social Psychology, Fifth Edition. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
PHYS 1301
Physics, 6th edition, by Cutnell & Johnson
BIOL 2404
Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology by Elaine Marieb, current edition.


On : 7/25/2004 3:08:21 AM persianguy (www) said:

Hey, good job with the grades! Maybe you could find a decent husband, if you weren't so damned....

Good job. Keep it up!

On : 7/25/2004 10:54:24 AM gp (www) said:

haha.. persianguy..

what class is homage to catalonia for? thats a fantastic read. looks like a great class.

Maryam: It's for Social and Intellectual History of Europe

OMG, y'all I took my O Chem 2 final exam today, and I just got my scores back. I totally kicked some Organic ass--I got an A in the course!!! Eat my shorts, Dr. Biehl. He said I'd never succeed, well he can just kiss my ass. Woohoo!! God bless my O Chem teacher, Dr. Haines. I only failed one of his tests and that's because he was out of town and we didn't learn the material, so he dropped it. He's so awesome; I definitely want to take BioChem with him when I'm a senior. I'm taking tomorrow off then heading to work Friday-Sunday. I'm so happy!!!!


On : 7/21/2004 6:42:23 PM diego (www) said:

awesome. nothing better than sticking it to someone who says you wouldn't be able to succeed at something....oh the memories of AP Computer Sci II, my wonderful teacher who said I would have a difficult time keeping up....

On : 7/21/2004 7:51:53 PM Sammy (www) said:

Congrats on your really awesome grade!...hmmm...and A....I wonder what's that like?.....

No, seriously, I really am wondering! =)

On : 7/22/2004 2:15:04 PM Maryam (www) said:

Thanks guys; y'all are so awesome. Sometimes it seems like a lot of people try to tell me I'm not good enough. In 10th grade, I made it to TX state science fair, but my Chem teacher told me not to go because I didn't stand a chance. She literally said I shouldn't try because I wouldn't win. I went to the science fair and won a Special Award from Conservation International. I rubbed it in her face when I came back. At least I know I can count on y'all for encouragement. Group hug!

This asshole has been crank calling my sister all day. The thing is my sister has been gone all day so I've been answering the calls. He says really disgusting things about her. His number doesn't show up on caller ID and I've tried star 69. I hate how I can't do anything. I want to protect from this jerk. Once she saw him in Wal-Mart, and my mom could tell she knew this boy. My mom drilled her and she admitted that he was the crank caller. Now that I heard what he said on the phone I wish I had known it was him at the store so that I could have strangled him. I remember when I was in 7th grade and this group of girls crank called me and my mom used to the Caller ID to call them back. She asked to speak to their dad and told him what they had done. The dad was a great guy and said the same sort of stuff had happened to him when he was a kid and he never wanted his daughter to be like that. He assured us that she would be punished. The next day those girls were like, "Hey now she's grounded and it's your fault." I said, "No it's her fault for cranking me. She got what she deserved. Maybe you'll think twice before you mess with me."

I have been in a European mood ever since seeing L'Auberge espagnole, a French film about a group of students from many different countries who share an apartment in Barcelona. That Spanish lisp is so cute. Last night I had a dream that I was in EuroTrip, which is weird because I've never seen that movie and haven't heard about it in over a year. I hooked up my new computer to the cable TV. The computer has XP media player, so I've been using it's TIVO-like feature to tape a bunch of stuff. Cool beans!


On : 7/17/2004 12:20:51 PM gp (www) said:

that movie is humorously truthful. all of those characters were in my life, down to the guitarist that playing "no woman, no cry". i saw it when i was living the same life.. it isnt my type of movie, but at the time it was really funny.

i saw a short film that abbas kiarostami did. i think i mentioned him to you before but you didnt know him. he's the foremost art director in iran. i wonder if your parents know him? im curious as to how art directors are received worldwide. i guess you can gauge this based on how many art directors there are in a country. not many coming out of iran (or the us).

Hookaholics Blog I hope I'm not one of them.

BTW, je ne comprends pas.


On : 7/15/2004 3:35:25 PM gp (www) said:

como se llama sex?

On : 7/15/2004 5:53:15 PM Maryam (www) said:

"As sex is called?"

Wow, now I really don't know what's going on. I'm gonna click my heels 3 times and say, "I wish I was more learned...especially en espanol."

On : 7/15/2004 5:57:55 PM Will (www) said:

Or czech?
:P

Last night I went to a graduation party for one of my friends. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors from the University of Texas. She's the one whose brother goes to SMU law. She's very sweet, and I've known her for years, ever since first grade of Farsi school when I was really in 6th grade at American school. I reconnected with many people I saw at that wedding I went to (the grad girl sat at my table there) and caught up with a LOT of Persian gossip. Man, a lot of shiitake mushrooms have gone down. Also, one of my friends announced that she's engaged! He's a Saudi Arabian business student at UTD (ooh, exotic). The party was held at Kasra restaurant (home of the 2 hr wait for kabob, and last night was no exception). 4 hours into the party they decided to bust out the ghalyoons (unexplicably known as hookahs to my American audience; will I ever find out why?). Everybody was smoking it. My mom said no to me trying it, but then I went over to my dad, and he shoved it in my mouth. So I smoked for the first time in front of >100 people. Honestly, I didn't like it that much. My mouth felt sore afterwards. My mom started telling me about how I could get Hepatitis from the ghalyoon because I had shared the pipe with the entire party, and that sorta creeped me out. But I'm still alive...for now.

Yesterday I saw King Arthur. The movie raised issues current to today's political climate (religious fanatics torturing and destroying people's lives, occupation by a world power, conflict between the occupiers and the occupied based on different faiths, etc.). That aspect of the film reminded of TH White's motivation behind writing The Once and Future King. White wanted to relate the legend of King Arthur to the post-WW2 political climate. If the film had focused more on those aspects of it, it would have been more interesting. But Guinivere's character brought up a whole host of new questions: The Knights have been soldiers for 15 years, but Guinivere has been locked in a dungeon for a long time, tortured and starved. How is she able to fight just as well, if not better, than them? Who are the tribesman that she gathers and how does she have the authority to gather them? (I doubt they would just listen to girl). Why is Guinivere naked throughout the entire film? When ever my sister would see Guinivere she'd say "What the hell? Isn't it supposed to be cold out there? It's snowing, everyone is wearing fur, and she's naked!" I don't think Guinivere's blue skin came from war paint. The poor girl was freezing her leather-strapped boobs off.

The film claims to follow the true origins of King Arthur, thus not following the legend at all. Some parts of the movie do follow the truth (the Sarmations did bury their dead with swords in their graves, Arthur did unite Britons after the Romans left Britain, and he did defeat the Saxons). But for the most part, saying that this story is the true origins was just an excuse to grab those characters and put them in a different plot. In real life, there was no Lancelot, Galahad, or Merlin. Lancelot and Galahad were added by the French in the literary tradition of courtly love. The round table was also later added by the same writer who created the "Sword in the Stone" story. Arthur had 3 wives, one of which was named Gwenifayr, so some people think that's Guinivere. But she wasn't a Xena warrior princess. While saying this movie is much closer to the true origins would be a fair statement, to say it is the absolute truth would be false. Of course, if we ignore all that (because, after all, it is just a movie) and ask the question, "Is it as good movie that's worth seeing?" I would say that if you want to see a good King Arthur move, go rent Merlin, Camelot, or First Knight. If you just like knights, go see A Knight's Tale. King Arthur is not a great movie. It's gets boring at times. If I were you, I'd wait for it to come out on video or TV. I don't think it was worth my money. The legends were written because the truth was too boring.

I also saw Paycheck, starring Ben "I want to have your babies" Affleck. Now that was a great movie, like all John Woo moves are. It was fantastic and exciting. It kind of reminded me of The Bourne Identity. This is a really good movie, and I recommend it. I still don't like Uma Thurman. For some reason, all the movies try to make her seem glamorous and beautiful when she's neither of those things. She's not even that great an actress. But Paycheck is great and if Ben hadn't gotten stupid and romped with J. Lo it would have done really well at the box office and garnered a sequel. Stupid J. Lo and her kiss of death.



On : 7/10/2004 9:42:13 PM Will (www) said:

How can a man who did not exist unite Britain? Then defeat the saxons, things that happend more than a millenia apart. There is no "true" tale of king arthur is is ALL a legend, a welsh legend, not british.

But it sounds like I would enjoy this film, if only for the smile factor. Your review has made me want to see it even more. :P


On : 7/11/2004 1:37:27 AM Maryam (www) said:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4186/Arthur/htmlpages/kingarthur.html

That's a great site that compares Arthurian history and Arthurian literature/legend.

On : 7/11/2004 4:27:57 PM Will (www) said:

Sorry, but a geocities page is not acceptable evidence. Even if it were, the page states:
A conclusion can probably not be made on this subject because the evidence is just too sketchy...we suffer from too little reliable information.
Fairy tales.


On : 7/11/2004 6:20:16 PM Maryam (www) said:

I never said it was acceptable evidence, or evidence at all for that matter. Why do you want to make it sound like I'm wrong when I didn't make a claim to begin with? I'm not an Arthurian or a historian, nor did I ever say I was. The film claims to tell the truth based on Arthurian history. I'm familiar with Arthurian history only by the limited attention it is given in my English courses. The attention given to it is limited because the history itself is limited. I personally only care about how the legend changed throughout literary history (from Malory to Tennyson to White).

On : 7/24/2004 10:31:15 PM Sammy (www) said:

What?!! King Arthur isn't real?!?!?! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, but I must respectfully disagree with your view on John Woo. MI and MI2 were sadly disappointing and disgraceful to the viewers of the TV series...or maybe this utter dislike of John Woo results in a subconscious hatred and annoyance of Tom Cruise...no, I must hold Woo responsible for those horrid movies...I still can't stand Tom Cruise, but I shall save that for another day!...nevertheless, I shall respect your viewpoint of Woo movies and shall go back to believing in Arthur legends! =)

Interesting photo of a Mannequin

Funny Joke:The Devil and Bush

So Kerry picked Edwards. Yea!! Edwards is so cute, which is important because this is nothing but a beauty pageant. Kerry made a wise move because if Dems agreed they don't like Bush, but not that they like Kerry. Having Edwards on the ticket helps balance the Democratic ballot. I still need to see Fahrenheit 9/11. Maybe this weekend. I took by 3rd O Chem test today. Maybe I'll break 83 this time.



On : 7/7/2004 9:52:25 AM Will (www) said:

Fahrenheit 9/11 is crap. I enjoy a fresh look at the establishment as much as the next guy, even more so, i am sure. But moore is just as bad as every other sensationalist out there. He appeals to emotions rather than fact. Far to often he uses "libral numbers" such as ... "the gulf war's are the most bloody conflicts in history" Of course he is refering to the Iran/Iraq War, using their body count to make an erroneous point.. Thats a soft issue, based ever so loosely in fact, he goes farther and actually denies evidence many times. In the new movie he interviews several congressmen to ask them why their families are not enlisted ... whoops he found some who were . While he airs the initial "confrontation" he omits the part where the congressmen say that their families are serving in Iraq. And even denies this in the voice over.

The worst moment of motion picture history. Bowling for columbine, When he sinisterizes the ICBMs rolling down the same streets children play on, Rolling down the road as children sleep. While i like his violence is in the system idea, his over the top theatrics really weaken his points and cause him to bend his "facts" too much.

On : 7/7/2004 3:40:39 PM gp (www) said:

my two cents.. probably worth even less with growing inflation:
what's great about moore is that he realizes its sensationalism and exploits it. he makes his films idiot proof (though ive only seen one so i cant say that). for that very reason he plays on emotion, while compounding it with facts (though minimally in most cases). i dont like moore, but i will defend this movie, as i think even a close-minded individual might take a second look at their views, which is probably important. the mass amounts of fan-fare it has received is strange. especially with more factual documentaries (the unseen war, fog of war) on similar subjects which came out in months past.

but really, im sick of hearing left, right and centred views on this movie. it compounds the fact evermore and gives it more media than it deserves. i cant even imagine what kind of publicity it gets or got on tv. oh, and now that you mentioned such a great image, i have to see bowling for columbine..

On : 7/7/2004 6:09:37 PM Maryam (www) said:

It's a movie. It's art. Art is emotion.

Moore has an agenda. He's not presenting a balanced look at the Bush administration and then asking the audience to come to its own conclusions. Before the opening credits roll he has already decided for us which side to be on. He has to use leftist sensationalism in order to further his goal: the removal of President Bush from office in November. Every movie has to have a villian, and Moore casts Bush in that role. Try not to take it too seriously; it's just a movie.

On : 7/7/2004 11:10:28 PM Will (www) said:

its not a movie, its a message. One that people beleive in, by depricating the message he depricates the people who beleive in it. Or even worse, he misleads the people.

On : 7/9/2004 12:51:17 PM gp (www) said:

you do have a point. i wish i knew what his motive was, because it does seem self-serving, but then again hes not the typical middle-upper class liberal. i think he just loves this country and he'd rather change it to meet his demands than leave. whats the best way to do it? better than becoming a politician (or terrorist), is to make movies about his message. more people pay attention to movies than they do politicians. and i think people trust movies more than they do politicians. im beginning to sound like im moore's biggest fan. anyway... like i said before, we're creating more fanfare with this argle bargle. so we should stop and let nature (and the antithesis: journalists) take their course on this film.

I Am Going To Burn (Harpers.org)

Happy 4th of July everyone! Eat lots of hot dogs and don't let the fireworks make you deaf and blind.


On : 7/4/2004 10:14:16 PM diego (www) said:

lol. deaf and blind? what did you say???

On : 7/5/2004 3:19:29 PM Maryam (www) said:

I mean the boom from the fireworks combined with the possible blinding light they emit. I watched the fireworks at Gleneagles from the safe distance of my backyard. (And yes, I am joking. I'm not really afraid of fireworks deafening and blinding me.)

On : 7/5/2004 8:32:43 PM diego (www) said:

lol, i was making an inference to being struck deaf and blind by the fireworks....by pretending to act deaf (what did you say)?

sarcasm doesnt work as well over the net i guess.

On : 7/5/2004 9:04:16 PM Maryam (www) said:

Oh, now I get it! Good one, D.

I am officially registered for Fall 2004 at 3 seperate institutions. I'll be taking 12 hrs at SMU, 4 hrs at UTD, and 4 hrs at CCCC. My CCCC course is online, so I'll only have to drive down there twice for my tests. I'll be working 10 hrs a week at the hospital as well so you can see how precious my time will be next term. In order to prevent complete and other exhaustion, I am currently in the market for a good energy drink. Right now I'm sort of between Sugar-Free Red Bull ($30/case) and Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng ($10/case). Of course, there's always Diet Coke ($5/case), but I don't want all those acids in my stomach every morning. If y'all know about any other ones (like Monster, etc.) I would really appreciate it. I've never been a big straight-up coffee drinker so I think energy drinks would be a better way to go.

In other news, my grandma went back to Los Angeles. We all miss her and my mom took us shopping to sort of get our minds off of her not being with us. At Norstrom Rack I found a black Fendi handbag for $200! I had to get it right away, and now I have given it a good home. Where else can you get a real Fendi for 1/2 off?



On : 7/3/2004 2:37:09 PM gp (www) said:

why not drink tea? try yerba mate for a nice caffeine free alternative (go boulder). oh shit, the mexican ice cream/fruit stand is outside. gotta run.

On : 7/3/2004 2:38:24 PM gp (www) said:

oh.. and about fendi - rome if you know where to go.

On : 7/4/2004 11:20:02 AM Will K (www) said:

$200 for a purse, tsk tsk.
I hope pete didnt miss the mobile mexicana.

On : 7/4/2004 9:41:31 PM diego (www) said:

when the purse is worth more than what's inside the purse, you have problems :P

crazy girls.... j/k.

On : 7/6/2004 7:28:20 PM diego (www) said:

oh btw...nordstrom rack rules.

Saddam Hussein was arraigned today in Iraq and charged with war crimes. I find Saddam to have been very entertaining during the arraignment. I mean, he really knows how to put on a show for the cameras. I thought his animation when the Kuwait invasion was mentioned to be particularly amusing. I think the real trial will be equally entertaining. Let the OJ fever commence.



On : 7/1/2004 8:05:20 PM diego (www) said:

the man is delirious.

On : 7/1/2004 10:51:16 PM Maryam (www) said:

It was like watching a train wreck. He's willing to say anything to save his ass.

On : 7/2/2004 1:25:19 AM helen (www) said:

Hi, Maryam! Didn't read your comment on Omar's lj till now. I'm just visiting your site. ^_^

On : 7/2/2004 6:30:58 PM Maryam (www) said:

Hi Helen! IM me sometime. My sn is chaeymaey.

On : 7/3/2004 10:48:31 PM persianguy (www) said:

Did you see all the charges against him? Did you see Iran missing from it? For God's sakes, they have the Kuwait-invasion on there, but they forget the what...one million martyred from his invasion of Iran?

On : 7/3/2004 10:53:34 PM Maryam (www) said:

I thought the invasion of Iran was the 5th charge...I just looked it up and you're right! They didn't charge him with the Iran-Iraq war. Amrikayeaeh pedarsookhteh, they just didn't want to call Iranians victims. If the Kuwaitis are victims, then the Iranians are too.

On : 7/4/2004 5:16:37 PM gp (www) said:

i guess it depends on who is writing the charge.... sigh

Mom threatens 'Chuck E. Cheese'
MACON, Ga., June 29 (UPI) -- A mother angry that a Macon, Ga., Chuck E. Cheese character wasn't paying enough attention to her child, allegedly threw a pizza at the character.

The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph reported Tuesday the 17-year-old girl dressed as Chuck E. Cheese was also allegedly threatened by the mother.

The unidentified angry mother threatened to "whip" the girl when she changed out of the costume -- a gray cartoon-like rodent with large front teeth.

Police said no charges have been filed.

--

Copyright 2004 by United Press International

Paper claims woman gave birth to frog
TEHERAN, Iran, June 27 (UPI) -- An Iranian newspaper reported Sunday the story of a woman who claims to have given birth to a frog.

The BBC reported Iranian newspaper Etemaad printed that the creature was believed to have grown from larva to an adult frog inside her body. The paper quotes medical experts as saying there are human characteristics to the animal.

It has been speculated that the unnamed woman unknowingly picked up the larva while she was swimming in a dirty pool, the BBC said.

In the 17th Century, Catharina Geisslerin, known as "the toad-vomiting woman" of Germany, claimed to have incubated amphibians inside of her body. However, when she died in 1662, doctors found no evidence animals had ever lived inside her body.

--

Copyright 2004 by United Press International.

Here's a more complete article on this weird event.


On : 6/28/2004 7:17:11 PM diego (www) said:

you're people are weird

I got a new computer! It's a Sony Vaio, one of the new black ones with the "water cooling system." The only problem we've been having is that we want to network it with the other 2 computers we have. We've been having a lot of trouble, so if any of y'all know how to do wireless networking I would love it if you could help me (oh please, oh please, oh please!). We called Linksys troubleshooting and guess where they're located: India! You'd think a 1-800 number would at least be in the US.



On : 6/28/2004 7:17:48 PM diego (www) said:

i can help you out. send me an email or IM me to let me know what the problem is.

On : 6/29/2004 12:56:05 AM gp (www) said:

i forget what they call it, but all companies are doing this... tech support overseas sourcing (not what they call it) to india and bangladesh. sun and ibm did it.. why not linksys? a lot of people here are jobless now. whats to do...

On : 6/29/2004 5:57:32 PM diego (www) said:

the word you're looking for is outsourcing, gp. Dell made headlines because of outsorcing too. I had a first-hand encounter with their India tech support one week. It took about 16 hours of phone calls for them to send over a new hard disk for the PC I was troubleshooting.

On : 6/29/2004 7:47:43 PM gp (www) said:

its not outsourcing. outsourcing is when a company "leases" their employees as consultants.. this is something different.

On : 6/29/2004 9:00:48 PM Will K (www) said:

pete, I am sorry you are incorrect. :P
Outsourcing is when a company replaces a previously inhouse division with an outside service.

On : 6/29/2004 10:39:16 PM Maryam (www) said:

I'll settle this impartially: Webster's definition of outsourcing is "the practice of subcontracting manufacturing work to outside and especially foreign or nonunion companies." Interpret that as you see fit.

On : 6/30/2004 7:06:32 PM diego (www) said:

so did you ever work out your wireless network problems?

On : 6/30/2004 8:39:39 PM Maryam (www) said:

Oh, yeah I did. Thanks for your offer, Diego.

On : 7/2/2004 3:56:00 AM gp (www) said:

offshore outsourcing (or offshoring) was what i was looking for. and yes i was mistaken.

On : 7/2/2004 6:32:05 PM Maryam (www) said:

I love a man who can admit when he's wrong. It shows strength. You get a big hug from me, gp.

I found this in Blogger news when I logged in today. Here's to Iranian female bloggers!:

So Farsi So Good

Blogging boom gives Iranian women a voice: "Take one exasperated Iranian woman. Add a computer. Hook it up to the internet. 'And you have a voice in a country where it's very hard to be heard ...'" Nice! Maybe that should be in our tour.
– Biz [6/23/2004 11:59:05 AM]

Speaking of Iranian women, I did see The Circle and Secret Ballot. They're both films that aren't that great as movies, but they do raise some important issues. Of course, these issues are handled much better in other films. Secret Ballot was the worse of the two. It moved very slowly. I literally fast-forwarded through scenes to get to the dialogue. The main issue raised in this film is that although Iranian women have to ask their husbands permission to do everything else, voting is the one decision that she can make on her own independent of her husband. There were several women in the film who were covered Afghan-burka style, which the filmmaker meant to signify as being the truly oppressed women, not the ballot-official who was just wearing a scarf and chador. There's also one point where a 12 yr old girl asks to vote. The ballot-official says that you have to be 16 to vote. The girl's mom says, "Hey if she's old enough to marry at 12, she should be old enough to vote." You can see the look of shock on the ballot-official's face and you she wants to say, "If you're 12, you shouldn't be getting married anyway," but she holds her peace and politely says that she must follow the law. Secret Ballot is one of several Iranian films that seeks to expose the backwardness of the tribes in southern Iran. A much better film that does this in a very entertaining way is Aroos Atash (the Bride of Fire). The Circle, however, seeks to expose the oppression of women in the city, thus it was banned. The idea here is that the government is helpless against ancient traditions in the tribes but they themselves have cause the suffering in cities. No government wants to be told that they have done that, so these films are banned. The Circle also lags at many points (too many long closeups) and in the end nothing is resolved. You don't find out what happens to any of the characters, or what happened to them before the film started. You're sort of just given a snapshot of a couple of hours in their lives. I would recommend this film if you want to know more about how women are really treated in Iranian cities. I don't recommend it if you're looking for excitement or entertainment. It's more art-house than that.

I took my second O Chem test yesterday. I think it went ok (knock on wood), but I won't find out how I did until Monday. I've been reading up on this Bio class I'm taking at CCCC this fall. It's an online course called Anatomy and Physiology Basic. The web courses go really fast so I'll have to up at 8am Monday to register. If I do that, it means that next term I'll be taking 20 hrs at 3 different schools. Let the good times roll.


On : 6/27/2004 9:55:34 PM Samwise Tangee (www) said:

oh, if only Engineering classes could be taken online!....ah, but again, 'tis the life I've chosen! Congrats in advance on your very awesome O Chem grade that I know you're going to get!! =)

On : 6/27/2004 10:06:20 PM Maryam (www) said:

Oh, Sam, you're so sweet! Thank you in advance (I hope, I hope, I hope!).

How Iranian are you?

My score: 28

21-30: You've probably been living in the West for most of your life. You speak Persian with a slight accent but you're in touch with your culture. You think that there are attitudes in the West where you think are more suitable than your own and you try and mix yourself a bit. You're conscious that your not fully Iranian nor fully 'Xa'reji'. You sometimes wonder where you really belong in the world. You may have been to Iran a few times and enjoyed it but since you've lived in the West for so long you can never really go back.

The First Letter Analysis

Mine says:

M You are emotional and intense. When involved in a relationship, you throw your entire being into it. Nothing stops you; there are no holds barred. You are all-consuming and crave someone who is equally passionate and intense. You believe in total sexual freedom. You are willing to try anything and everything. Your supply of sexual energy is inexhaustible. You also enjoy mothering your mate.

Today's film: Snow Man (Adam Barfi). This film is about an Iranian man living in Turkey who's trying to get into America. To achieve his goal, he must dress as a woman. It was banned in Iran (cross-dressing is not considered to be appropriate behavior plus the film addresses the desirability of women who wear hijab). The film was multi-lingual as well: Farsi, English, and Turkish are spoken throughout. I linked y'all to the page that offers it with English subtitles if y'all are interested. It was very funny and truly showed what life is like for an Iranian in Turkey working to get the US visa (I'm speaking from personal experience as I have been in that situation myself). Also, here's a link to Bringing Down the House of Sand and Fog.



On : 6/23/2004 9:39:30 PM Samwise Tangee (www) said:

hey, I scored a 4 on that Iranian quiz!....... = | I'm, uh, sort of at a loss on what to do with it, though. Maybe I'd better remain a proud man of Chinese descent. Besides, EVERYBODY knows that everyone came from China, and as they left, they became "barbarians!" =) ...yes, I know, I will be slapped sooner or later...anywho, you know, my ancestors were royalty, I believe it was during during the Han dynasty! ...till my ancestor, who was an emissary to the emperor, decided to build a tower around his governing city instead of a Buddha...oh well!

On : 6/24/2004 5:04:32 PM prettydoc (www) said:

Sam, we share a common bond of having powerful royal ancestors until they screwed themselves over. Be proud of your dysfunctional ancestors! Oh, Sam, I would be happy to make you an honorary Iranian, but then I don't know if that would be a big honor, haha. I say just be proud of who you are, and we are all so proud of you, Sam.

On : 6/24/2004 11:37:27 PM gp (www) said:

i saw khandahar last night. i believe it was directed by an iranian.. but it was a documentary* about an afghan woman traveling in afghanistan during the taliban regime. not a great movie, but a good view of women in islam.

* not really a documentary, but filmed like a documentary and with horrible acting.

On : 6/25/2004 12:45:37 AM Sammy (www) said:

Hey, I just confirmed my ancestral history with my dad...it turns out my ancestor/emissary to the emperor was actually quite innovative building bridges across rivers and hard-to-traverse areas (only more efficient and faster than the high five construction...but I'll save that soapbox for another day!). However, building bridges were apparently frowned upon during that oh-so-entrepreneur-friendly administration, and was given the boot from Peking (Beijing) to the Fujian province, specifically the city of Xiamen, a treaty port-city that was opened after the British victory of the Opium War...that's government for you!...But in a sense, I'm happy (one might say thankful to God) that they were kicked out, as during the hostile takeover of our Commie "friends" it was easier for my grandparents to escape to the magical islands of the Philippines...interestingly enough, my great-grandpappy was a well respected doctor, who did charitable wonders for the poverty-stricken community, and to this day, the entire city still remembers him and will treat the Tan as if we were royalty

...all in all, ancestors are cool, and I want to be one when I grow up...oh, right..there's the whole getting married and having children and grand children part...bah! minor details!

Sorry!....maybe I shouldn't be commenting on people's blogs at 12:48 in the morning anymore

On : 6/25/2004 10:57:10 AM prettydoc (www) said:

gp, my parents saw Kandahar and they strongly disliked it as a film so I never got to see it. Sam, very cool history lesson. You're very diplomatic when in charge so of course you're a royal. My royal ancestor was a prince who ruled Mashhad (essentially founded the city as we know it today). He built the first school there as well as other infrastructure. His children continued to rule until the fall of the Qajar Dynasty in, I believe, 1929. But I still get to keep the title of Princess so that's pretty cool.

I watched 2 Iranian films today. The first was Bread, Love, and Motorcycle 1000(Naan, eshgh, va motor hezar). It was about a woman who's forced to marry a mechanic to get her inheritance. It was an excellent film and very funny. The second was Pastry Girl (Dokhtareh Sheerny Foroosh). It was also very good. It was about a man and woman who want to get married, but everytime they make it to the alter the girl's mom and the guy's dad start fighting and call off the wedding. By the time the film starts they have already been to the alter 8 times. There are 4 more movies left to get through.

Last night we went to Kasra Resaurant for some Persian cuisine. It opened on Tuesday and hasn't done any advertising. When we got into the parking lot and were in the process of parking our Expedition, this guy in the car behind us got out and starting saying, "You nearly hit me, motherfucker. Get out of your fucking car!" My dad just stuck his head out and said, "Sorry, I just couldn't see you" and stayed right where he was. The guy came up behind our car and kept yelling and I slumped in my chair because you never know what the other guy has in his car (reference the season finale of ER). The guy saw we weren't in the mood to deal with him and drove off. We went in the restaurant and ordered. The restaurant was beautiful and had live music (piano and violin). Half an hour later our food still hadn't arrived. My dad called a waiter over and asked him about the delay. The waiter said, "Well, have you ordered?" and my dad said, "Yeah, 1/2 hr ago." The grill is fully visible throughout the restaurant and we could see that it was empty. The waiter came back and said, "The chef just put the meat on the grill." My dad said, "He just put it on now?" The waiter said, "Uh, I mean it's been on..." My dad said, "Tell me the truth." The guy said, "Um, your food will be right out." Five minutes later another waiter came by and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but we've been out of Kabob Barg (steak kabob) so it takes us some time to make it. We have had so many orders all day and we've been having to make everything from scratch. I apologize but it will be out soon." We offered to change our order, but the guy said that it wouldn't be necessary. He then brought out some complimentary salad to tide us over. Well, 1/2 hr later the food finally comes out. What they did was give everyone their own plate of rice and then placed the kabob on large dishes in the center of the table, so it's sort of family-style. The kabob wasn't really that great, it was just OK. But we were so hungry we just ate everything. After dinner, we walked over to Talar Andishe, a small Persian cafe that also rents out movies and sells CDs and books (it's owned by J&J photography). It's located to doors down from Kasra. We rented 7 films (including The Circle and Secret Ballot) and talked to the owner who was saying how Kasra's owner had told him that he had purposely not advertised because he wanted to work the kinks out the business first. The Kasra owner was shocked that this many people had come to his restaurant after being open for only 3 days. He simply hadn't made enough food or bought enough ingredients. When we came home we felt obliged to see one movie, so we chose The Stranger (Gharibeh), about a guy who's forced into retirement by his company so he goes from job to job until he's finally screwed by his used car salesman brother-in-law.

Defensive driving was fun. About 1/2 the people there had gone to my high school (albeit graduating after me) and 1/2 of those people had just graduated last month. The rest of the people there had children who were in the same circumstances, so we could all share our Plano West experiences. The instructor had been a PISD bus driver so she had plenty of stories too. In fact, the whole class seemed like one big 6 hr storytime that was chockful of breaks. My first break I head over to Eckerd and grabbed Lemon flavored Infusion Water by Arizona. Then during the lunch break I walked over to Grandy's and had a Grilled chicken platter with green beans, corn, and coleslaw. As I was eating the green beans I realized that there was bacon in them! Totally freaked out, I brushed them aside and started scouring my corn to see what kind of porky surprise was awaiting me. Luckily my corn and cole slaw were safe. What kind of freaks puts bacon in the green beans! Well, my Grandy's lunch wasn't that great anyways. I should have gone to Burger King. See, Classic Driving School is an institution in the adolescence of all West Plano-ites. During Driver's Ed everyone would make trecks to Eckerd's and Grandy's (some girls even went to Sally Beauty Supply to buy nail polish and would give each other manicures during the second half of class). And while attending Karen Dillard's College Prep (which I regrettably did not) they often partied at Burger King or Dunkin Donuts. Ditto while at Haggard Public Library. These are definitely staples of a teen's life in West Plano, so it was totally retro for me to go to Classic for my defensive driving class.


On : 6/20/2004 5:24:04 PM diego (www) said:

ugh....i got a ticket last week on the way back from UTD (that school is frickin cursed)....unfortunately defensive driving won't be an option for me....i'll write some more about it later this week once i have all the info.

Twins break same arm, same way, same day

LONDON, June 18 (UPI) -- Identical 2-year-old British twins reportedly to broke their left arms in the same place on the same slide on the same day.

Now, Mitchell and Elliott Cocks have matching plaster casts to go with their matching clothes and haircuts, the Daily Express said.

After Elliott tripped over the base of the backyard slide doctors found he had broken his left arm. Mitchell, who had fallen off the slide earlier, complained of his left arm hurting and it was discovered also broken.

"I couldn't believe it," Sarah Cocks, the boys' mother, said.

Meanwhile, brother Kristian, 12, is also in plaster after breaking a foot last week. He'd only just had a cast removed after falling off his bike and breaking his arm.

--

Copyright 2004 by United Press International.

"Summer is the O.C. character you resemble most. Like Summer, you thrive on drama. You love to spend hours talking on the phone and you'll always do your part to keep a juicy rumor going. In your relationships you love the thrill of the chase, and are most interested in guys you see as challenges. Although you like to be the center of attention, you're not always as sure of yourself as you let on."

Click on Summer's picture to see which OC character you most resemble, courtesy of Seventeen magazine.

Another quiz: What is your theme song?

"God is a DJ" by Pink

"You love to have a good time, no matter what, and that's why Pink's party anthem is your theme song. You love being the center of attention and consider life your personal dance floor. Your top priority is to make the most of life, which for you means having as much fun as possible. Because of your contagious sunshiny personality you're always surrounded by a big group of friends—but they'd still love you even if you weren't always the life of the party!"

I've decided that if I was in the Simple Life, I'd be Paris, my sister would be Nicole, and my other sister would be Tinkerbell. That show's so funny even though it's pretty phony. As soon as I got to class today I started studying for the quiz and of course not listening to the epoxide lecture. Half way through class the professor said that he was going to make the quiz a take-home quiz. The students started saying, "Oh no, I studied all night for this!" I wanted to tell them all to shut up because if take-home quizzes are an option, I want to maximize the take-home quizzes. Then he said. "Don't be surprised if there's an in-class quiz on Monday." We're all like, ya gotta be kidding me. The thing is, when there's a quiz everything sorta stops and you put all your energy into it. Well, I was just glad that I taped my shows last night (although I did manage to squeeze in Sex and The City). Ah, thank goodness for timer record.



On : 6/18/2004 7:00:00 PM gp (www) said:

these quizes are the bane of my existance. a pox on quiz master's house.

my theme song? southern hospitality by ludacris..
no, i think probably something by flaming lips
or maybe some of the unreleased material from the flying jewfish.
or blood of abraham - the niggas, the jews

oh well.. no one will realize im sarcastic and no one will realize why my choices are so ridiculous. leave it to beaver.. giddy'up.

On : 6/18/2004 8:04:38 PM prettydoc (www) said:

I think your theme song should be "For Pete's Sake" by the Monkees: Love is understanding, don't you know that this is true, love is understanding, it's in everything we do. In this generation, in this loving time, in this generation, we will make the world shine. We were born to love one another, this is something we all need. We were born to love one another, this must be what we're going to be. And what we have to be is free.

On : 6/20/2004 4:49:03 PM gp (www) said:

are you accusing me of being fake?

On : 6/20/2004 8:46:15 PM prettydoc (www) said:

gp, I would never. I love you far too dearly.

I picked up dinner at Pei Wei tonight. After I ordered my Mongolian Beef with Brown Rice the clerk asked for my name to put it on the order. I told her and then I went and sat down to wait. She walked over to another clerk who was a guy and said, "That girl's name is Maryam. Do you know her?" The guy was like, "Who?" She says, "That girl over there with the Mongolian beef order her name is Maryam. Do you know her?" The guy says, "What makes you think that I would know her?" The girl says, "Because you seem to know all the pretty girls who come here and I wanted to know if you knew that one too." The guys says, "No, I don't know her, but I want to." Y'all, alls I gots to say is DAAAAAMMMMMMNNNNNN!!!


On : 6/16/2004 9:08:19 PM diego (www) said:

nice.

On : 6/16/2004 11:26:21 PM prettydoc (www) said:

I know, I was like, where's my tape recorder? haha, mos def a cool moment.

On : 6/17/2004 12:25:16 PM gp (www) said:

ha. nice. how could you hear them? mongolian beef is the deal on wheels.. i used to order that. pure gold.

On : 6/17/2004 2:08:01 PM prettydoc (www) said:

I was in the to-go section, so basically I was sitting right in front of them. Since it's a loud place they had to scream to hear each other. Yeah, I'm the only one in my family that likes Mongolian beef. I'm trying to convert them, but it's a lost cause. They're garlic brocolli chicken people.

I got an 83 on my O Chem test. Yay!!!! I have proved to myself that I can do it and I'm going to go farther. I have a quiz tomorrow over alcohol (tee hee) so I'll be studying. But there's a lot of great TV tonight: The Simple Life 2, Quintuplets, Bonus Simple Life 2, Method and Red, Newlyweds season premiere, and The Ashlee Simpson Show. I watched Sex and the City on TBS last night. I love how this is edited so I don't have to be embarrassed to watch it with my sisters. I used to always have to watch it alone in hotel rooms (don't ask). God bless TBS editing, courtesy of Marie Shirtnleeve wife of Rich Shirtnleeve of Kidd Kraddick in the morning fame. It's on tonight too as part of their "5 nights of great sex" marathon, but I want to watch the Simpson sisters premieres on MTV. We'll see how this all plays out. So me and flashcards in front of the tube...don't you just love summer?

Still haven't gotten my O Chem test back. I hope I did well. I spent all day in Frisco yesterday. I hit Sam Moon, TJ Maxx, and Ross. I mid a midday stop at the Starbucks in SuperTarget and grabbed an Izze Sparkling Grapefruit Juice instead of my unusual unsweetened black Iced Tea Lemonade. It was fantabulous!! I ended my day in Frisco with a grilled chicken sandwich with cinnamon apples at the Cotton Patch Cafe and a hot glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut. MMmmm, yumsters! I went threading today and the threader said, "Wow you just keep losing weight. Are you still just dieting?" I told her about how I started exercising too this past month and she was like, "so how much have you lost?" I told her it was 17 lbs and she's like, "wow, good for you girl!" How's that for a self-esteem boost?


On : 6/15/2004 9:47:14 PM diego (www) said:

awesome. keep up the good work with the diet.

Studyin hard for my first O Chem test tomorrow. My elliptical machine broke for the 3rd time, so 3 strikes and it's out. That means I'll have to work out at UTD after my test. I must make an A. Peace out.

Tonight we had some people over. They're the son and daughter of one of my dad's best friends in college. They grew up in Holland but go to college here at TWU and TCU. When my dad was in Holland he stayed with them and when they're dad came here he always stayed with us. I've only seen the kids twice before but each time we always get along really great and have a good time. We like each other very much. The son is beautiful and is one of the 4 guys I know that can stop traffic with their good looks. The daughter is equally stunning and my age (her bro is 21). We got along great tonight as we always do and I exchanged cell numbers and email addresses with the sister and look forward to getting together with her for lunch or the movies. They're really two of the most genuine people I know and I'm glad they're in DFW.


On : 6/12/2004 10:00:39 PM diego (www) said:

come on maryam, aren't you gonna introduce me to this girl? i can tell ya if she's really hot.

On : 6/13/2004 12:02:04 AM prettydoc (www) said:

Anytime, man. I'll hook you up.

On : 6/13/2004 5:45:49 PM diego (www) said:

that's what i'm talkin about

Last night was very MidEast: Turkish food, Arabic dance, and Iranian movie. We head down to Inwood village in anticipation of the highest grossing (and most controversial) film in Iranian history, Marmoolak (The Lizard). We first went to Cafe Istanbul, which is right behind the Inwood theater for some Turkish cuisine. They had great Beef Shishkabob but the Lamb was too greasy. I really enjoyed dinner. In the middle of our meal, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant had a bellydancer! She was very fit (thank God!) and was very talented. She could take a coin and move it around with her stomach muscles. Then she could lie down and put too teacups on her stomach, one full one empty. She then could pour the tea from one cup to the other without spilling using just her stomach muscles! Then she told a guy to drink from the cup while she still had it on her belly. It was great fun. She even danced to Ojos Asi! Finally, we head over to the Inwood theater to catch the film. It was by far one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! I have never laughed this hard during an Iranian film that wasn't a "Samad Agha" film or "Italia Italia." It was HI-larious! I loved the references to Spiderman and Quentin Tarantino, plus all the sexual references. Half of the laughter came from how the audience didn't expect to find those kinds of things in an Iranian film (the film was banned in Iran because of them), the other half came because they were genuinely funny. I don't know how much an American audience can appreciate this film though, but I would still encourage people to see one of the few great Iranian comedies.

I got my O Chem quiz back: 95 baby! Can you believe I actually got an A? I was so psyched that when he gave it back to me I immediately ran out of class and called my mom. She was like, thank God you called because it was all I was thinking about. This score has really made me confident about the test on Monday, but I'm still studying hard. As a reward, we all went to the best Persian restaurant in Dallas, Giovanni's. Yes the name is Italian because they serve both Italian and Persian cuisine. Well we all got Kabob Soltanis and we were stuffed. Then my sisters and I headed to the movies and watched Harry Potter. It was great; way better than the first 2. I have a strong dislike for the 2nd film, but this one rocked. Cuaron's style is much darker than Columbus's, which was a big factor in why I liked it. Also, Harry actually got pissed off in this movie and guys just look hot when that happens. I mean, when they're not POed at you, of course. Hermione was as cute as ever. I love that girl, she reminds me of myself. Emma Thompson was not used enough, but her scenes were great too. Too bad her ex Kenneth Branaugh wasn't in this one. The new Prof. Dumbeldor was not as compelling as Richard Harris and didn't seem as wise. He was more like a silly old coot than a Yoda-like mentor. We miss you Richard, whereever you are. I watched the MTV Movie Awards. They were lame. At least I got to see Adam Brody.


On : 6/12/2004 10:01:54 PM diego (www) said:

i liked the movie alot. having cuaron (viva mexico!) direct it was a great call. i liked the darkness and it was awesome how harry got pissed off at the beginning. ah, teenage angst.

On : 6/13/2004 12:04:57 AM prettydoc (www) said:

Too bad they didn't use the Lindsay Lohan on SNL technique, haha. My sister and I made some dirty Harry Potter jokes during the movie, but I'll tell you those in private.

I got my quiz back. I got a 44. Yeah, I'll be dropping that one. OK, at least I won't need to know that stuff on any tests or our final. On today's quiz his multiple choice questions were all from last year's test 1. Thank God I studied it so I know I got those right. But the last question (worth 25 pts) was to find the structure using IR, MS, and NMR. Get this: I misplaced the OH! I didn't realize this until I got home, a good 3 hrs too late. DAMMIT!!! I really hope he just takes off no more than 5 since I showed a whole bunch of my work and he said that he grants partial credit. One of the questions had to do with the IR frequency of C-N, but there is no IR frequency of C-N in our book, so I used C=N's frequency. I hope that was right. (Crosses fingers) Oh, I just checked; I am right. Yes!!

The past week's Boondocks I like all the Iraq ones. The other two strips just aren't that funny.
Oh, here are some from the week before that that are also very good.

In other news, I took my first O Chem quiz today. My professor prefaced it by stating that this quiz would only count if it would help our average. Otherwise he would drop it and not count it as our one quiz drop. That's because our quiz was over O Chem 1, another course altogether. I think I did well on it though, knock on wood. I'll find out tomorrow when I take my second quiz over IR, MS, and NMR, or as I like to call it "alphabet soup."

These are my confessions...

Today in class my professor informed me that we would have a quiz tomorrow over O Chem 1, another quiz Wednesday over Ch. 12-13, and a test Monday over Ch. 12,13, and 10. Ah, now I remember why I dislike O Chem so much: the stress! Everything just happens so fast in that class. I went to Macaroni Grill for lunch (yay!). One of my friends who graduated from Columbia this year is going to tour Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua with her sister (my first best friend [from my deep, dark past] who happens to have the same name as me). I think it would be cool to do something like that. Hopefully I can travel somewhere someday sans the parental units. That would be fun. This student loan business is such a drag. Why does my school have to cost so much? I'm thinking of changing my little webpage message from "Hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race" to "these are my confessions..." What do y'all think?

Read this. It's absolutely fabulous. I've been a fan of Ms. X's X-rated O Chem site for quite a while now (I'm even using it to study for my quiz Tuesday), and I'm pleased to see that she now has a personal statement section to her site. Keep up the good work, Ms. X.


On : 6/7/2004 11:49:04 AM paranoid (www) said:

awesome

Former President Ronald Reagan Dies at 93
While I never fully agreed with his policies (I'm what you may call a "bleeding heart liberal"), I always appreciated Reagan's status as "The Great Communicator." He knew how to please his audience and was always ready with the words his people needed to hear. His delivery was impeccable and his phrases timeless. I think no matter what your political ideology you can agree that he was a likable popular figure with certain moments that can bring a smile to your face ("Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"). I have a feeling that President Bush will milk his association with Reagan for all that it's worth this election year, however. As they say, that's politics.

I got my financial aid statement today. I hate how the grants just decrease as the years go by. I also went to a scribe meeting at work and somehow got stuck working tomorrow morning. I guess it's not too bad. I am ashamed at myself for wasting 2 hrs today watching TV when I should have been studying. I will stop and spend the rest of the night studying. Really, I will...


On : 6/5/2004 7:18:19 PM gp (www) said:

hey.. thank the stars you live in texas instead of here.. grant money is almost nonexistant and tuition is going up for residence and non-residence.. basically all the state schools in colorado are going to have private tuition within five years if things dont shapen up.

I got my first speeding ticket today. I was leaving UTD and was on Floyd Rd. There were 2 cops on motorbikes waiting for people to come by so that they could stop them. When I was stopped the cop told me that I was going 40 in a 30. I told him I didn't see a sign (I hadn't) but he said he had to give me a ticket anyway. Right then the other cop stopped somebody else behind me. The cop told me w/ defensive driving I can get this off my record. That's nice. As soon as I left he stopped somebody else. My mom was a little mad, but she said she understood how Richardson PD can be (we used to live there). Now I have to "wait till my father gets home." That'll be fun. I saw that Persian guy from my lab at the UTD bookstore today. He's taking Physics (just like the rest of the premed class of 2006). He was wearing head to toe SMU gear, which I thought was a tad on the tacky side. I had a dream last night that starred Thomas Ian Nicholas and this one Persian guy I used to like who's now dating one of my friends. Hmm, if only I'd had a dream about getting a speeding ticket...


On : 6/3/2004 9:27:40 PM diego (www) said:

the only ticket i've gotten so far, i got at UTD. took a left turn illegaly. what made it illegal was the time of day that i took it at. bah. luckily it was the UTD police and i only had to pay a 30 buck fine.

On : 6/3/2004 11:04:02 PM prettydoc (www) said:

What's up with UTD and traffic tickets?

Ever since my grandma came it's been a world of 24/7 Iranian satellite TV. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet of music videos and "doctors" touting the next snake oil, uh I mean "vitamins that cure cancer." Those satellite channels used to be guilty pleasures, but now they're just annoying. To be clear, only one of these channels is actually from Iran. The rest are based in LA, thus the music videos featuring strippers pole-dancing. I was talking to my grandma and mid-conversation she says, "Wow, you look just like Jessica Simpson." Y'all may be surprised, but this isn't the first time I've been told that. Usually, though, it's attributed to my body shape. I was pretty surprised that my grandma knew who Jessica was, but then she started talking about the Kobe Bryant case and I was blown away. So she called me Jessica the rest of the day, which is weird cuz my sister calls me Mandy because she says I'm just like Mandy Moore. In 10th grade, everyone said I was "sooo Jennifer Lopez" and in 12th grade everybody said I was "soo Shakira." So just give me Britney's bod and Christina's voice, and I'm a certified pop star!


On : 6/6/2004 3:42:36 AM persianguy (www) said:

Agha Shabkhez' channel is ok. I don't like much Iranian TV channels, most of them are run by the monafeeghs (hypocrites). However, I do like Al-Manar, ITN, and Pars.

Iranians Face Crackdown on 'Immoral' Behavior

Our guest star this month is...my grandma! (What, you were expecting Brad Pitt?) She's my mom's mom and she arrived tonight at 6pm from sunny Los Angeles where she's been staying with my aunt and uncles for the past few months. I think we can show her a good time here. I started my O Chem 2 class today. The professor seems nice. He's really into BioChem and he said that he often uses medical examples because he knows that the majority of his students are pre-health. The thing is, he incorporates the powerpoints my previous teacher used with his own. Pretty strange considering those powerpoints were made by a professor at Richland Community College. Hmm... Well, at least I don't have to get a new textbook. At UTD the students have to buy their own scantrons (huh?) so I head over to the bookstore to pick those up and got a sweet UTD folder with Hawaiian flowers on it. I thought it was perfect for summer school. I also discovered Diet Snapple and picked up a bottle of Lemon Iced Tea. It really hit the spot as I made the trek to my car. My plan this week is get a parking tag and a student ID card so that I can use the Activity Center. I think I'm gonna like my new school.



On : 6/2/2004 4:31:04 PM Will K (www) said:

SMU students have to buy their own scantrons too.
I watched ... "Iran, Veiled Appearances" last night. Farsi is silly. Revolution is cool :P

On : 6/2/2004 7:09:32 PM gp (www) said:

one more question about children of heaven... is there some symbolism to the name? or is it just because they were nice kids?

On : 6/2/2004 7:44:45 PM prettydoc (www) said:

I've never heard of "Iran, Veiled Appearances." Is it a documentary? Ah revolution; it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. gp, I think there is symbolism behind the title of Children of Heaven because the Iranian movies that came out at that time that featured kids were all metaphors for the Iranian struggle under the current government. I'm not sure what the exact true meaning of the title is, but Majidi himself said that the film is symbolic of something else. There's a lot of theories out there, and I think there are some sites devoted to explaining the film.

On : 6/2/2004 10:21:02 PM Will K (www) said:

That post was at least two paragraphs. :P
Please correct.

On : 6/2/2004 11:51:53 PM prettydoc (www) said:

Right after you learn how to spell "learning" and "tomorrow."