Glass Half Full, but Leaking

I got accepted to the University of Louisville for medical school, which mean Plan B and C don't need to be started. But then when I told my lab about this, the South Asian post-doc said, "Too bad you didn't go to Sweden. They train some of the best doctors."

Yeah, that Swedish application was a bitch to complete to begin with.

A Convenient Truth

I was contemplating getting up to grab a beer from the kitchen when I realized that I had a bottle of wine, a bottle of whiskey and somehow, a bottle of tequila on my desk.

They're all unopened and I was mainly going to use them as gifts/bribes, but still, it's a weird coincidence.

Five Years in ESL for this?

I've been in Boston too long.

The catalysis for this conclusion comes from some conversations I've had around town, the first when I went to a Walgreen's that was all decked out in Red Sox championship gear.

JML:'Cuse me, mam. Ya know when they gonna get any Celtics geah in heah?
Excuse me, madam. Do you know when there will be any Celtics gear in this here establishment?
Store Clerk: No, but you'd think it would be soon.
JML: Yeaah, I juhst thot it would be heah now, with Sahx season ovah.
Yes, I just thought it would be here now with Sox season over.
JML's brain: Ok, who just spoke?

I've been noticing that lately I can relatively imitate the Boston accent with ease - replacing R's with Ah's, making D's sound like T's, elongating I's to sound like EE's, sounding like Ted Kennedy. At first I did this to get around Boston easier and secretly taunt Bostonians with their loss of the letter R as every New Yorker and Jon Stewart does.

Me at Dunkin Donuts:
One Year Ago -
JML: Could I get medium coffee, with cream and sugar?
Dunkin Donuts Person: Wat?
Now -
JML: Can I get a regulaah coffee, lahge?
Can I get a coffee with cream and two sugars, large?
Dunkin Donuts Person: Suah thing, suh.
Sure thing, sir.

Now, I don't now if I'm talking like this to local Bostonians just to communicate better with them or out of habit, which is the worse case scenario.

JML: (Getting into a taxi) Thanks, suh. Can I get ta da cohnah of Union Pahk and Tremont?
Can I get to the corner of Union Park and Tremont?
Taxi Driver: Vehy good, suh. Not that fah.
JML: Yeah, I coulda walked, but it's wicked cald.
Yes, I could have walked, but it's wicked cold.
JML's brain: Why the hell are you speaking like Elmer Fudd?

I've noticed I don't talk like this among people outside of Boston, so I think if I extricate myself from the New England area, my ability to speak will return to normal. Hopefully. But if you here me say the word "idear," kick me.

Non Symposia

There are times I forget that I'm not at UChicago anymore and that people don't want to get, or normally just can't get analytical. Case in point, a conversation I had with my neighbors, Prithi and Sarah. Prithi is planning on moving out of Boston soon and Sarah needs a roommate.

"Yeah, I just need to find one of those cats who inherited lots of money from an old lady to be my new roommate and pay half the rent," Sarah.
"But if the cat got everything in the old woman's will, wouldn't they have gotten the house too?" Me.
"Joel, don't destroy Sarah's dream. She wasn't thinking that far into it," Prithi.

Yeah, so I was accused of raining on her parade. Well, UofC people do that, often it seems.

Ennui and Ninjas

Nothing today particularly happened. I went to work, I burned worms, I went to Pharmacology lecture and I picked up dry cleaning. No eccentric dreams or romantic overtures dashed by reality. Really boring... even with trying to watch ninjas.

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Thus proof I am alive. And hunting those ninjas. Damn those stealth bastards!