Something else for y'all to read

While facebooking today (by the way when is that word going to be added to the English language dictionary? Soon I hope, the red underlining is annoying on Word) I noticed that the most popular favorite movie picked by those in the MedU Ohio network is Old School. What? Now don’t get me wrong, that is a really funny movie, I totally enjoyed it and I’ll watch it over and over again, but its not my favorite movie, its probably not in my top 50 favorite movies. What kind of people put that as their favorite movie on their facebook profile? The answer is: a lot of people. At the MedU Ohio network it’s the number one picked movie. Is it really that great? I don’t know but for me, a comedy could never be my favorite movie. I love comedies just as much as the next guy, but its just a comedy and there are always new comedies coming out every year, but a really good movie, a really good movie, a movie that really grabbed a hold of you and wouldn’t let go and gave you goose bumps, a movie like that only comes around once ever 5-10 years, and surely these are not comedies, are they? At least I think not. But I think this just might be an issue of personal preference. I mean, maybe, just maybe, I like epic movies, drama, and action, more than I like comedies. I do like comedies, I love watching movies that make me laugh my freaking ass off. Superbad was freaking hilarious, and Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, and Old School, are all really funny movies. However, as I glace up from my laptop and look over at my DVD collection I realize that of those 200 or so movies that I have accumulated over the last 7 years, I would say only 12 are comedies. That’s only 6%. So I guess the point is (ha, a point, is there ever a point) that I don’t consider comedies to be great movies, for me they are just entertainment, something to make me laugh and enjoy with my friends, but not great movie material. However there are exceptions. There are comedies that I consider to be great movies, and would even go as far is including them in my top 50 movies of all time. I would have to say that The Big Lebowski would definitely qualify, I like that move a whole of a lot better than I like Old School. The movie is not just funny, its brilliant, and they just could never make a movie like that again, I mean it’s a classic. Old School is not, and I doubt that it ever will be.

On How We Insult Our Guests

When you invite someone to be your guest, are you going to insult them when they come, especially if they come for the first time, never having visited you before? I am talking about the president of Columbia University. As I am sure some of you have heard, the Iranian president, our mortal enemy, made a visit to America a couple of days ago. He is here to speak at the UN, however, he was invited by the Columbian University to come and come and do a Q & A session. Columbia got a lot of heat from the press and from all sorts of people, denouncing their decision to have such a tyrant and our worst enemy to come and be treated with such honor as doing a Q & A at Columbia. We can’t treat tyrants with such honor. But we did invite him, and he did accept and he did come. Having already arrived at such as step, was it really necessary to insult the man in our own country, on our turf? Aren’t there more appropriate times and places to protest and denounce this terrible man? Please, do not misunderstand me, I am not a fan of Ahmadinejhad. Not even close. Just like most people, I too realize the man is an idiot, the man is ignorant, the man is a tyrant, and the man is probably dangerous. However, this is not the point. The point is, Columbia University, offered an invitation to him, to come and do a Q & A session, during which anybody could ask anything, there was no script, and Ahmadinejhad agreed to this, (I mean if nothing else, the man has courage, to walk into a lions den like that, takes courage) was insulting him in the introduction really necessary or appropriate? Some people say that to invite someone into your home and then disrespect them is the ultimate low; you don’t do that even to your enemy. In the middle ages when two countries would go to war, when you invited your enemy to come into your camp for negotiations or whatever, it was understand by all, that the other would be treated with respect. Well what kind of an example are we setting to the world when we invite a nation’s president to come and answer questions and we can’t even introduce him without insulting him? Why not just stab him in the heart then? Here you go you piece of shit, we hate you and now you going to die! I mean, why stop with the insults? The president of Columbia was the host and he insulted his guest, literally calling him, among other things, a "cruel and petty dictator" as well as “astonishingly uneducated." All true, but still, was it necessary, was it appropriate for the setting in which it happened? I do not think it was, I think the Columbia president should be ashamed, he made our country look bad, and even their country would have treated our President Bush (who actually is a retard) with more respect had he came to do a Q & A session at Tehran University, even though they hate Bush just as much as we hate Ahmadinejhad. I say this because I know Middle east culture, and in the Middle East you treat your guest with the greatest respect and hospitality, even if they are your enemy. Once again, I think inviting Ahmadinejhad to speak at Columbia was a big mistake, but insulting him was an even bigger mistake, and once again we have shown the world that we are no better then anyone else and not the moral beacon of the world that we always seem to think we are.

Tired and Hungry

It’s a Saturday night, it’s about close to 7 pm right now, I’m in the library and Elvis comes up and says “what are you up to?” I stop typing and talk to him for a while and I ask him if he is going to go to dinner with me and Tahir, he says he already ate. I jump off my seat and I grab him by the shoulders and shake him and say “Elviiiis! What is the matter with you!!!” We both have a laugh and he says “I can’t study while I’m hungry man!” I tell him he needs to start buying powerbars and he asks me if they fill you up and I tell him they get the job done for a couple of hours, then he finally leaves and I return to my typing. So where was I? Oh yes. It’s a Saturday night, a little after 7pm, I’m at the library, I’m tired, I’m hungry and I am just plain pissed off. The last 48 hours I haven’t really slept much and it doesn’t look like I’ll get much more than that in the next 48. Five weeks worth of diseases and immune system and we don’t even get a single day off to study for this exam. Man, am I hungry. Why don’t I go eat? Well I’m waiting for a friend. He is a Muslim and its Ramadan so he has to fast and he has to eat only at a certain time, so I got wait for his ass because I don’t want to eat by myself and he is my friend and I enjoy his company. I thought I had it rough studying for this test, but that is nothing compared to what he is going through, being hungry all the time and having to study for this test. How the hell can you concentrate on the notes when you are hungry all the time? I’m hungry right now and I can’t concentrate, that’s why I came over to this computer to write something down, because I can’t think when I’m hungry. I’m also tired. Oh so very very tired. I want a bed. A nice warm bed that is so soft and so nice and I could sleep forever and not worry about having to do x-amount of lectures before Monday. Not to mention all the case studies and the lab, and the independent projects I haven’t gone over yet. I probably sound like I’m complaining, but I don’t think I’m complaining, I’m just typing down how I’m feeling right now. And I feel tired, hungry, and….well, hungry. Got to get eat now. Take care of yourselves and each other…

I'm going to pull a Lehmann

Yeah, so I'd like to get some feedback, so if you could answer these poll questions, that would be just great. Oh and just to make something clear, I write these blogs mostly for myself, I find it to be kind of like meditation in which I mean that it helps me clear my mind and see things in a different perspective. With that said, I would be liar if I claimed that to be the only reason I write blogs, so go ahead and give me your feedback yo!

Do you enjoy reading my blogs? Yes, I love them! Yes, they are great! Yes, I do! View Results

How often do you visit this blog? Everyday Every other day Once a week Once a month View Results

Who the hell are you? Friend Enemy Stranger Secret Admirer View Results

Do you own a laptop? Yes No View Results

Should I keep writing blogs? Yes you are talented! Yes its worth my time! Yes its something! No please stop. No you suck. No you are horrible. View Results

Another Strange Dream

I woke up from a strange dream this morning. I’ve been having weird dreams often lately. In this one, I am some place I don’t remember now where it was, but I decide to get up and to the restroom. I get to the restroom and I wash my hands and I get a paper towel to dry my hands and I am about to throw the paper towel into the waste basket when I realize that the waste basket is full of my clothes, clothes that I own. I am thinking, who the hell threw out my clothes, I need those. So I start going through the waste basket, taking out my clothes, discovering more of them, and taking them out. Other men come into the bathroom during this time, and when they come up to wash their hands, they just look at me wierd and in disgust. Like they are thinking “why are you taking all that garbage you hobo.” I ignore their staring, I take my clothes, and I walk out, and I wake up.

I am an uncle! Or second uncle, or whatever you call it.

That’s right. My cousin Anya, who lives in Russia, gave birth to a baby boy today, so that makes me an uncle in my culture. It is so strange, I remember the days when we were all kids like it was yesterday. Me, Anya and her younger brother Vova, we were like the three musketeers. We always played together and we got into all sorts of adventures and trouble together. Now we are grown up and are far apart. I'm in medical school, Anya is a mommy, and Vova is a rock star, life is so sad. I really miss my cousins. But I am so happy that I have a nephew. I’ve never been an uncle before, this is kind of cool. I bet I will make a great uncle. Too bad I live half way around the world and probably won’t meet my nephew for a long time. Well, I can’t have everything I desire. Here is a picture of my cousin Anya and her husband Yannis. I don’t have a picture of my nephew yet, I hope to get one soon.

A lame excuse for a car accident

Today, while driving to school, I decided to take Heatherdown to get to Glendale instead of taking Glendale itself because Glendale has a lot of work on it and its slower that way. So I take Healtherdown and I make a left on Byrne and I approach Glendale and I am supposed to take a right to get to school. I see the car in front of me taking a right and as I slow down I look to my left to make sure no car is coming and when I see I am safe I hit the gas and only then look in front of me (dumbass) and the car I thought already made that right turn was right there in front of me still waiting. Immediately I hit the brakes but I was too late and I bumped into her. Shit I say. I put on my emergency lights and I come out of the car to talk to what turned out to be a girl, a nursing student at our school. She looks all scared and I am laughing saying “shit, sorry about that.” I look at where I hit her and there is nothing there, not even a scratch, because I didn’t hit her that hard at all, it was just a bump. My car has nothing on it as well. “Well, that was close, no harm done?” I said, because really there was no harm done at all. “Oh God, that was so scary, “she says, almost crying. “I have to call my daddy,” she says. What the hell, there is not even a scratch, what are you calling your daddy for? So she calls her daddy, and the idiot tells her she needs to call the cops and get a police report. Fuck. So we wait there for like 10 minutes while the cop shows up. Who when he gets out of his car looks very pissed off when he sees absolutely no damage on either vehicle. He writes his freaking report for like 20 minutes, and then lets her go, and when he was letting me go, he says that he won’t give anybody a citation since there was no injury or damage at all, and tells me the girl wasted all of our time. Anyway, so I missed half of my first lecture this morning all because I was driving to school, listening to the Beatles and not paying enough attention to what is going on around me. Shame on me.

I freaking love Scarface

What you lookin' at? You all a bunch of fuckin' assholes. You know why? You don't have the guts to be what you wanna be? You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fuckin' fingers and say, "That's the bad guy." So... what that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don't have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. The last time you gonna see a bad guy like this again, let me tell you. Come on. Make way for the bad guy. There's a bad guy comin' through! Better get outta his way!

You know what your problem is? You don't got nothing to do with your life. Why don't you get a job? Work with lepers. Blind kids. Anything's gotta be better than lying around all day waiting for me to fuck you.

I never fucked anybody over in my life didn't have it coming to them. You got that? All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one. Do you understand? That piece of shit up there, I never liked him, I never trusted him. For all I know he had me set up and had my friend Angel Fernandez killed. But that's history. I'm here, he's not. Do you wanna go on with me, you say it. You don't, then you make a move.

In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.

Huge Cows, Tall Trees, and Giant Pears

When you’re a kid everything seems big, magical, and interesting. Long time ago when I was just a little kid, back in the old country, before the war, in time of peace, stability and brotherhood, my grandfather and my father decided to take our whole family on a trip to the land of our ancestors. We packed up our stuff and all got into our tiny Russian Djuguli a car smaller then the 2-door cavalier that I drive right now, and we started the drive to Artsakh, the land of our forefathers. The particular village we were going to is called Norshen which translated from Armenian means new village or new town or something like that. This particular village was home to my father’s mother’s side of the family and we still had some land there so we had a place to stay.

What I remember is that once we got there and found our house (or cottage?) we discovered an unpleasant surprise. Not only has our village home deteriorated and broken down due to years and years of neglect, but there in the front yard lying down among the tall grass was a huge cow. “My God, after all these years, it is still alive…” said my grandfather. “That’s not our cow you idiot” shouted grandmother. “It must be lost.” “What the hell is a cow doing on our property?” yelled father. It turned out the cow belonged to our neighbor who figured us all dead and decided to use our lawn for feeding ground for his cow. After some yelling and then some drinking to celebrate our return our friendly neighbor took his cow away and we were able to unpack and settle in.

What is amazing about childhood is how much bigger everything seemed because you were so small. For me, as I try to remember my trip to the village I recall giant trees, huge domesticated animals, and amazing mountains. Now it probably won’t all seem so big but back then to small kid it all seemed so great and extraordinary. Waking up early the next morning I noticed some noise outside and I ran to investigate. I saw the dirt road full of cows leaving the village. “Where are all the cows going babulya?” I asked my grandma. “They are following the herdsman to green pastures where they will graze and enjoy the sunshine.” I was amazed how all the cows knew that they were supposed to follow some man and how they did it obediently. I was even more amazed later that evening when they all returned and every single cow knew which home to return to.

But the most fun I had was another evening when the entire village went to the forest to pick wild fruits and nuts. What seemed like work turned out to be fun and entertaining. All the big and strong man of the village ran up to these huge and tall trees and began to climb up until I could no longer see them and only hear their voices from above as they sang songs and tossed down the picked fruits. The rest of the villagers which were mostly women, children, and the elderly, would also sing as they walked around and tried to catch the fruits and the nuts tossed from above. That was a lot of fun, especially for us kids, as we were running around trying to catch giant pears, apples, and walnuts and store them in our bags. Except I didn’t have a bag of my own, which upset me greatly because I wanted to compete with the other kids and have the fullest bag. “I need a bag momma!!!” I yelled at my mom, but she only told me that I shouldn’t worry because her bag was big enough for the both of us. Obviously she missed the point completely, because for me it wasn’t about the fruit and nuts, it was about beating the other kids in the village. I was very sad when the time came for us to leave this lovely rustic village and return to the polluted oil-industry city where we lived, but as fate would have it, we wouldn’t have to stay there too much longer.