you're the heart that i call home

Hey everyone,


Not been doing much since I wrote last.  Started my BSc on Monday, it's not been so bad so far.  My flat is finally tidy, I sorted out my files from the first three years.  I watched The Nanny Diaries, with Scarlett Johansson (I have no idea how to spell that).  For a long time, I've always thought of Scarlett as a very Marilyn like actress, without the drama in her life.  She can look like Marilyn, and she is a good actress, although how I know this without watching any of her films is a little weird.  So I thought I'd rectify this situation and watch one of her films.  The Nanny Diaries was cute, it made me cry at the end and it shows you that sometimes you just need to escape reality to realise who you are and what you want from life.


Went to see District 9 yesterday at the cinema.. I know there were rave reviews because it was something different, the mockumentary style and handheld camera use is relatively novel in cinema world.  I was scared, typical, by the violence... it was a little bit excessive to be honest.  But to be fair, if you had an alien hand, you'd try to get rid of it too. Especially if you've spent ages trying to evict the aliens from District 9.  Yes, you would.  And it glamourised swearing a little bit too much I think.  Yes, it made it more real but I just thought it was a bit over the top.


So it went well at the beginning, Wikus tries to evict aliens, sometimes it works.. then one alien realises that he needs 24 hours notice... Wikus confiscates some black liquid that takes a very long time to distill and accidentally gets some on him.  So it slowly transforms him into an alien.  I DID like it, I just didn't buy the whole "please make me human again, I know it's going to take three years, yes take me to the mothership.... but I'm going to sacrifice myself for you Christopher so you and your son can go to the mothership without me".


Wikus reallllly wanted to become human again, so that he could see his wife Tanya again.  And he begins to empathise with the aliens, especially after his encounter with that Nigerian leader.  But ultimately, he makes a huge sacrifice as he becomes wholly alien at the end. Christopher and his son did not truly recognise the sacrifice he made, they just go to the mothership without rescuing any of the other aliens, who all move to District 10.  Wikus does not get to see Tanya anymore.  Christopher's son doesn't even stick up for Wikus, even though I thought they were bonding.  Wikus' mobile phone lasts a lot longer than any normal phone would do, especially if you've been running a lot and changing clothes, moving about lots and falling lots.


And the whole language thing.  We're going to have to get pretty smart to be able to understand alien language, which wholly seems to be based on phonetic sounds and recognising different sounds and their intonations.


BUT I know what it does do.  It paves the way for a possible District 10.


It highlighted the theme of xenophobia exceptionally well I thought, with the clear hostility towards the aliens and forcing them to pay lots of money for cat food, moving them into shacks and then evicting them.. But when all is said and done, it was a good film, sure it had plotholes but I liked it.  It wasn't just for pure CGI glory and shoot out violence.  I liked the undertones of segregation and prejudice.


I've not dyed my hair yet, for lack of time and lack of decision making.


Found out a couple of things recently, not really sure how much detail to go into here.  But needless to say, I let my heart rule over my head more than I should do.  I just go into things based on my feelings and instincts, I judge a lot of things by how I would feel personally in that situation or what I would do, instead of going for the most logical thing.  And I think, well if someone said something about me, I think I would like to know.  I would rather know and deal with it, rather than not know and wonder "what if".  Do you understand what I mean?  I think I'd rather be upset by something, which someone could have prevented by not telling me, because then I would at least know and come to terms with it.


But sometimes it is a good thing with the heart ruling over head thing.  It helps me.


But knowing something when you gained information when you should not have i.e. reading someone's facebook messages is not right.  One of my friends is trying to woo a girl, unsuccessfully so it seems.  And the only reason he knows it is thusfar unsuccessful is because he guessed her facebook password and then continues to read her mail.  Shocking.


I have a crazy amount of suture thread and sterile gloves, and syringes and cannulas.  I sorted out my stuff today, there is lots of it.  And there are lots of loose suture threads still left at home: when surgeons suture internally, a lot of the time they just use instruments and the follow technique, without use of a needle.  And for some reason, I have loads.  Maybe I can give them to my OSCE tutees.  Assuming I get some.


Oh.  I also got History of Medicine.  Several people have commented how they didn't expect me to pick a specialist course.  And it made me feel a bit... unsure because a project sounds interesting, but I know I want to do HoM.  There will be time to publish later, but no time later to learn about history of medicine.  And I have made it one of my goals before 30 to get something published.  So I will do it.


Oh yes, what is this new A* for A Level system?  When is it introduced?  I think it is a great idea, but also a bad idea.  It further discriminates university applications, who can see the breakdown of marks anyway.  So many people get A's now so I know something further is needed.  But surely, to get into university, it doesn't matter how many A's you get, especially if you want to study a course that is oversubscribed (which is what all the A Level success/failure stories seem to be about), it is about the application.  So sure, you can have 10 A's but that doesn't mean you can get into Oxford or Cambridge.  You need to be a good all round person too.


What else can I ramble about?  As part of my very rare attempt to educate readers in my style of music preference listening, I've been looking on youtube for a video that a) won't get taken down because of copyrights and b) that reflects positively on my music tastes.  So here we go.