Dateline 12/26

Christmas came and passed uneventfully. I went to church, rounding out the second of my two yearly appearances. In family news, one of my cousins got engaged and no body died this year, so things are going well there.
As far as gifts go, I got a folding chair*, a towel set*, two light and finder keyrings*, an eyeglass washer, books*, exercise pants (3 sizes too big)*, underwear, a dress shirt, jeans, a music trivia DVD game, a Family Guy DVD, cash, and gift certificates to Circuit City and Staples. At circuit city, I just got some headphones and blank CD's, and I will probably exchange the chair and the towels (both of which I already have) for some more clothes. Not bad overall, considering that the only person in my immediate family who buys gifts is my mother and she is notoriously bad at it. As evidenced by the above list, extended family did not disappoint either. I feel bad because the only gifts I gave was a sheet set and a bathroom shelving unit (that didn't fit) to my parents (they recently remodeled their bathroom and bedroom). I also gave my sister a bottle of rum and she jumped around and hugged me, but I kind of felt guilty about that one(it is technically a crime, afterall). I guess at this point in my life, it is alright to receive a lot more than I give.




*returned and exchanged (also one of the keyrings)

For the record : 2006 goals

For the record, and in no particular order, here are my goals for 2006:

• get a college degree
• get a long-term, full time job or enroll in graduate school
• choose a career path
• live someplace that is not owned by my parents or a university
• invest in the stock market
• pay off at least 10% of my student loans
• travel outside North America
• enter into a serious relationship
• publish a scientific article

Should be an interesting year

Opinion - Rules for gift buying

Christmas has come and past, and once again I have come to relize that buying presents is not as easy as getting them. Here are some tips to gift buying (all of which have been violated recently by my immediate family.)

1. Don't buy someone something that they already have. If you see something that you think is a great gift, just look or ask someone else if the person you are buying for already has the item. This may sound simple but this would have prempted about half my mother's gift buying.

2. Consider the person's interests and don't buy something in a subject that they don't like. This is especially important for books, music and movies. If you are buying music for someone who likes country western, do not buy them a Led Zepplin compilation. If you do not know what the person likes, get a gift certificate or something else.

3. Don't buy someone a present that pushes an agenda. The last gift a conservative person wants is a book making fun of their opinions. People aren't going to be changed by a gift so don't try.

4. Dont ask someone to confirm a gift if you have a good idea. This just gives the gift away and ruins the surprise. Clever phrasing of the question does not help. Don't mention what you are buying to someone before they get it under any circumstances.

5. Don't give the same gift twice in a row. No matter how good a gift it was the first time and even if the person could use another one. It just isn't as good the second time around.

6. Don't give a gift that you expect to be shared with you. Maybe I am just a greedy person but this one just really annoys me when people give you something that they expect to use.

7. Don't give a gift certificate for a store that does not have a location where the recipient lives. Happens every year. I have better things to do around new years than spend gift certificates to local stores that I have no other chance to use.

8. Do be original and go for a surprise. (Good Surprise) Always the way to go.

Dateline 12/18

Well, it has been an interesting semester. I have just been to busy to write any entries to this page. Now that it is over, I will reflect on where my life is at the moment.

I finished applying to medical schools in September. So far about half have rejected me, the rest have simply not said anything. This situation does not look good. To finance medical school (if I get in) I am looking to get a military scholarship, hopefully with the air force. The military prospects look good, I passed the physical and said the right things, yet I still need to get into a school first.

The main thing that has been taking up my time recently has been my Sr. project. I am working in the image processing lab at the Boston Medical Center's Radiology Dept on a system that will date the brain from an MRI scan. It is actually a very complicated and time consuming project that will involve basic research to quantify the effects of aging of the brain and use these results for analysis. I have been putting 10 hrs a week on it and plan to at least double that next semester. It is on schedule at the moment and I have been getting good feedback on it so far. Unfortunately, the other demands of Sr. project class such as entrepreneurship seminars and presentations have been taking up even more of my time. The time seems to be well spent however, as I got high marks on my presentation and the Department chair gave a good grade on the proposal. Some other entry will describe the project in more detail.

My other class work went well and I should be in line for one of my better semesters when the grades clear next week. Medical imaging was an interesting class and Logic and Infectious diseases were both very easy. I hope that the grades will be good …

The only other things I have been doing his semester are my boring work-study job at the fitness room and helping plan events for the pre-medical society. Both endeavors have been uneventful and time-consuming, pretty much as I expected. Anyway, I need some sleep…