by Francisco Paramos
I don't have any excuses for not updating--I honestly just didn't feel like it. Blogging doesn't seem as important to me as it used to, and you'll probably come to notice that when you stop doing something you do every day out of a habit. That said, I'm not sure why I'm back here today and typing away. But a lot of things have happened since I've last visited and I might as well share the experiences.
First and foremost...
Yep, as of a really cold and rainy night on December 17, 2010, I have officially graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. The ceremony was relatively short because
a) the majority of students graduate in the spring as opposed to the fall, as is the normal end of the "school year".
b) the department of mathematics and natural sciences is pretty tiny itself, unfortunately. There was only one physics graduate. ONE. Ridiculous.
At least I knew someone there besides the mathematics professor who was there to shake our hands before receiving the diploma from the dean of the department. Except I got a hug from my math professor instead, because he's super duper. Anyway! When my name was called, my family and friends were in the audience with various squeaky toys and horns to cause a ruckus while I was walking back to my seat, the dears.
Christmas was typical, except that we had far fewer presents being passed around than normal because of in house budget cuts (haha), and nothing happened on New Years. I have to admit, if I haven't before, that I'm not much of a celebrator. There's something about holidays that are just so forced. I do not share so much in the festivities... And then for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, when I turned 22, I only just went out to dinner. The food was decent and the dinner was awkward because my mom tried to entice me into a serious conversation about what my goals are for the future. Honestly, I don't actually have any goals, I just have plans that I'm running with because I can't think of anything better to do. If that makes any sense.
I did, however, take some portraits of myself on my 22nd birthday. That seems to be a tradition of mine, like a catalogue of the years. Only I usually fail to label my photos properly and I end up not knowing how old I am in these old photographs. And, new thing for me this year, I'm starting to wear make-up. Not every day or anything, just when I feel like being a little prettier for whatever reason.
There's one thing I won't do, though, and that's wear make-up every day. People will come to expect that face on you and think that it's you so that when you take off the make-up you startle them into thinking you're actually bland. If you don't wear make-up every day, that's how they expect your face, and they'll be pleasantly surprised by a pretty face when you choose it.
But on to more better stuff. I finally got a chance to job shadow with a medical dosimetrist a couple of days ago. I got to witness a CT scan for a prostate cancer: how the patient is lined up with the machine and immobilized, watched the image as they came up on the screen slice by slice that could then create a 3D image of the body. Then those images would be taken to the doctor, who would contour parts of the image where he'd want to dose with radiation. Next they would be handed off to the DOSIMETRISTS who would contour vital parts of the body that would need to be avoided in the beam of radiation, and then come up with the best beam angle to deliver the most radiation dose without damaging too much of the surrounding tissues. I didn't realize how my art skills will actually help me do better in this line of work, but there you have it. All three of my interests combined into one: the human body, math, and art.
Cereally.
Less life changing news: I have two new drawings. I haven't been able to do any floral photography in a while. As it is in fact winter and things appear dead. Meanwhile, dead things aren't as pretty. New drawings in which I probably should have spent more time on the face:
I've also been reading a bunch of bunches of books. I finished Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, as well as the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare: The City of Bones, The City of Ashes, and The City of Glass. Stiefvater's books were pleasant. I liked her version of werewolves, and although there would be a lot of holes, I think she managed to fill them in well enough. They were decent books, and I'm always a sucker for teenage romantic tragedies. Meanwhile, the Mortal Instruments series started off slow and then picked up from book to book, at least for me. Also, while being incredibly predictable, it was still fun to read about Clary, Simon, and Jace, and to successfully predict character revelations hundreds of pages in advance. I'm looking forward to the next additions to both of these series that should be publishing this year, but mainly for some real Clary/Jace action. Yeah, you heard me.
To finish on a most comical note, I was playing the "in bed"/"in my pants" game on instant messenger and ended up with the funniest thing I've ever said ever, in my opinion and Peter's. Who is Peter? The world will never know.
Me: You're lucky you at least have a desk job where you can sneak in a chat window to escape. Me, I make pizzas. What can I do? Look out the window and watch parents holding their kids, pointing at me like I'm some sort of zoo animal in bed.
Peter: Maybe you shouldn't wear a gorilla costume to work anymore? Just a suggestion in bed.
Me: Oh, I've considered wearing a costume to work in my pants.
Peter: What kind of costume in bed?
Me: A chimp costume so that I could scratch my armpits in bed. And the parents will have shocked faces, like, what on earth, you can't scratch your pits, you're making food in my pants! (Haha I think that's the funniest thing I've ever said.)
Peter: lol I agree! And now people are walking past my office thinking I'm crazy for laughing at my monitor in bed.
