Currently Reading: The Discrete Charm of Charlie Monk

Ok ok, so it's been awhile. Shame and remorse fill my being. What can I say, though - this summer has been crazy with a big ol' C...followed by an equally large RAZY (for those of you who need help putting that together, that's "CRAZY"). Anyway, I am back and now I shall catch you up.

So school is insane. I have literally never in my life been this busy. Projects on top of projects - it's just never ending. As I am typing this I'm staring at the computer screen with unblinking eyes - my ocular functions have shut down on me due to lack of sleep. I have not slept in nearly two days. So why am I taking time to write this post rather than getting some much needed sleep, you ask? Well, I've hit that point where I'm SO tired that I'm not tired. I'm in that zombie-like state where your eyes stay open out of habit and you just lie in bed and think about how tired you are but you can't sleep. Hmmm, maybe I should just read this little paragraph back to myself - not exactly a thrilling string of phrases. So I shall move on...

I just got back from a conference in California - it was a meeting of the Association of Medical Illustrators. Lots of fun and California is just beautiful. I have also become a fan of the California way of changing lanes - you simply drive directly at the chunk of road you want to occupy (no matter how small or filled with other cars it may be) and assume that a space will magically open up on the jam-packed freeway for your oversized SUV.

I did get to see some sights while I was there - went to Santa Barbara one evening (very cool town), and went to the beach in Malibu on Monday. Bought myself some SPF 50 Ocean Potion brand sunscreen and still managed to burn. I think this was due to two factors: 1. my uber-pale skin tone that borders on the line between "cooped up in the lab all the time" Science nerd pasty, and true albino (ok, so I exaggerate a bit, but I do have to buy the lightest makeup on the market, which in Clinique brand is labeled "pale" and in Covergirl brand is more pleasantly titled classic ivory. Needless to say, I buy Covergirl brand). and 2. the Ocean Potion sunscreen, while catchily titled with a rhyming moniker and kicky packaging, seemed a bit too boastful of it's powers. The "GREAT SCENT!!!" turned out to be something along the lines of orange sherbert gone bad and the "SMOOTH, EASY ABSORBING FORMULA!!!" turned out to be sticky and not what I would call "easy absorbing." They should have been more sparing with the exclamation points and a little more liberal with the product testing before selling.

ANYWAY! I'm feeling a tad droopy, so I'm going to go lie in bed for awhile...see if that works... Hope you all are doing well. Cassie, I hope you're loving Colorado!