Solid Geekery

So I’m in medical school right now, and because I’m an excellent student and an upstanding citizen, the time I spend procrastinating is directly proportional to my stress level.  Which is bad for … obvious reasons.  But it’s good because it gives me an opportunity to read up on my latest obsession, aptly called: my Obsession of the Week.  So, children, gather round and I will tell you what I know.  I’ll also try to convince how awesomely correct my opinions are.  Refreshments may follow.

I love soap operas.  I love the internet.  In the last month, I discovered that when their powers combine, it’s like a more entertaining Captain Planet, but instead of beating on a forest-leveling Hoggish Greedly, it’s completely pummeling my study habits. For your consideration:  Imaginary Bitches, a fun web series which also happens to star All My Children’s Bianca (Eden Riegel).

Why you should watch it:

Imaginary Bitches is an excellent series about how a single girl (Riegel) copes when all her friends are in serious relationships.  Spoiler Alert: She invents new, sort of awesome, really bitchy, friends instead.

It’s a smart series, created by Riegel’s husband, Andrew Miller, and starring a whole host of other, completely awesome actors, including Elizabeth Hendrickson (ex-Maggie, from AMC!) and Jessalyn Gilsig (from Friday Night Lights and Heroes!).

Within each episode, the show touches on the themes of loneliness, self-discovery, and mild schizophrenia, all while being completely charming.  But the real reason to watch the show is because it’s incredibly funny.  The show has some of the most most amazing, vaguely offensive one-liners I’ve ever heard, and Riegel’s delivery makes them even better. My personal favorite uses the word “smegma” (which by it’s very existence, I’m certain, makes the world a more icky place).

The 13 episode 1st season just came out on DVD last week.  You should support them so they can make more episodes because right now I’m in IB withdrawal something harsh.

The less entertaining but equally long-winded reason of why I started watching it:

I recently started watching All My Children again because of the return of the lovable Bianca, notable as Erica Kane’s daughter, as well as “the first lead character on a major daytime drama to be a lesbian.”  (Fun fact: Bianca and Maggie were best friends, then sort-of-but-not-really-more-than-friends, then an off-screen official couple, then they off-screen broke up, and then Bianca on-screen refused to reconcile, which was sort of a bummer.)  And in even more awesome news, Bianca’s new girlfriend Reese is played by Tamara Braun, who was one half of her own supercouple as Carly on General Hospital.

Because I’m sort of obsessive like that, I caught up on the last month of tense, tornado-filled story-line of Pine Valley.  And in my never-ending quest to avoid learning about beta-blockers, I opened up Google, searching for the whys and wherefores of Braun’s arrival.  (Reading about contract negotiations and who’s in and who’s out is fascinating and slightly depressing.)  Eventually, I came across an article pimping out the Imaginary Bitches DVD.

So I, of course, immediately watched the entire season.  And the bonus blogs.  And cast interviews.  (Whatever, that’s completely normal.)

Fun fact numero dos: In an interview, Eden Riegel cited Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog and The Guild as two shows she loved.  She is also jealous of Felicia Day, “because she’s, like, living the internet dream.”  This makes me love Riegel even more.  (In case you missed the memo: Felicia Day is, in fact, completely awesome.)

And in other news:  If you were wondering whether you could re-live the entire Frankie storyline (Frankie was Maggie’s identical twin and also Bianca’s girlfriend), or the Maggie gets abused storyline, or both in one day:  It’s completely possible, thanks to YouTube and the sincere determination to avoid studying.

So yeah:

Imaginary Bitches.  Watch it, love it, live it.

(Wishful thinking:  If they start up the 2nd season while Riegel’s still in NYC shooting for All My Children, that means there’s a chance Susan Lucci could be on it.  Killer, right?!)

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I know I haven’t written in awhile, I’ve been busy. But that’s what happens to graduate students, especially ones who realize that they can’t milk their stipend for all eternity. Write a dissertation before I go? Was that part of the deal? Sigh.

Even graduate students need a little humor in their lives, and Yahoo News does a great job of finding photos to do just that:

This dog was dressed a scuba diver for a dog show. I can’t even get my dog to wear the devil ears I bought for him at Halloween.

But does he really scuba dive?

Maybe his outfit is just for show, but if you click here, you will see why cats can actually be better than dogs.

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contrive; realistic; expansive

Let us pretend that the subject of persuasion is love.

Curious of whether there is a majority preference for how love is articulated.  Would it be more welcoming if delivered with flowers, poetry, and chocolates?  Or with bravado and importance?  Or as a challenge to your current mode of acceptance of love?

…to be cont’d

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Note to self, don’t make tired or tempting purchases because something is on sale. Like today I ended up buying something that was primarily for erectile dysfunction and another for easing menopausal symptoms.

But I did try them! So far, the one for erectile dysfunction, Muira Puama liquid extract, gave me a mild initial jolt which lasted five minutes. I was less focus and started having blurry vision thereafter. As for the one for menopause, Sage Leaf tablets, actually put me at ease. I feel calmer and the effects is liken to taking 600mg of ibuprofen.

Nuprofen is pretty ineffective as ibuprofen goes. Taking two advil provides more noticeable relief in terms of easing of tension headaches and general muscle-aches than two tabs of nuprofen for the same dosage per tab.

Paramecedol is great as a pain reliever but does nothing to relieve aches and general tensions. For headaches it works very similar to excedrin without the noticeable caffeine kick.

For asthma, it is good to avoid foods and environments that tend to trigger it. I think sometimes it is not necessarily dust but the molds which carry some protein that triggers allergy reactions and potential asthma attacks. Long hikes are also not recommended for mild-medium asthma sufferers.

Currently i am wondering what good is mucus to the body? I seem to be producing at lot of those at certain times even when i don’t have a cold or flu or sore throat. Will be doing some research on that and write an update, but perhaps someone will have their notes to share

Final note, sensitive types should already know that generics don’t match up to the brand and it may be more than a mere placebo effect. See below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120882069010332969.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today

PS: the part II to the love discussion is currently in progress.

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