soundtrak: oasis :: slide away

- soundtrak: oldie, but a goodie. i don’t know how i feel about oasis’ new album, but i do love the old stuff and i always will.
- my fingernails were a bright orange for most of the week, but then i painted them white again. they’re chipping again, so i think i might go with electric blue. nice.
- i have been involved in this conflict (that i have chosen not to blog about) for the past year and a half now. it’s beginning to swallow up my life; up to 50%. i feel that because i choose not to blog about it, in turn, i haven’t been blogging in general. i still choose not to blog about it, but it’s annoying as hell. i’m frustrated because there seems to be no end in sight and other people are getting involved (and they aren’t going to help) and right now, i’m at the point where i just might curse or fight someone, they really took it there.
- and now is not the time for me to feeling stress; my GRE exams are within the next two weeks. i. do. not. need. this.
- also, with work, we’re starting this huge mouse immunization study. so that would entail that i must become trained in animal handling, especially of the rodent variety. this past week, i was feeling unwell with sinus inflammation and i took off on wednesday (and took my fill of new tyra, maury and a little bit of jerry on the side). i come back on thursday to find that i have animal training in the morning. they also failed to mention that i would have to do the hands-on part. i failed to mention that i don’t touch live rodents, but can dissect dead (very dead) ones… and mice at that. but i tried to suck it up and take it like a (wo)man, but when they pulled out those three huge rats, all i could hear in my head was the boy telling me about his experience with rats, “they’re huge, nasty and ugly… and they bite!” over and over and over again. so when my instructor told me to come over and hold one (mind you, i had backed to the far corner of the room), i calmly said, “no.” and when i say “no” that means, i’m. not. holding. that. live. nasty. rat. period! so i spent the rest of the time watching jan inject, bleed, sedate and eventually kill euthanize the rats and mice. when i got back to lab, i told my boss and he stressed to me the importance of the project and my role specifically (but no pressure… really…). so it looks like i’m going to have to suck it up and do it (especially all those blood smears i’m going to have to do when everybody is going to that conference that i really wanted to go to…). all in the name of science; i need to co-authored somewhere.
- talking about being co-authored… i just might be. some manuscripts are up in the air, but yes! my work will not go in vain!
- i have to admit; i have the hugest crush on josh jackson right now. and not to mention his new tv character is smart as hell (190 IQ?!); the ultimate turn on for me. is it bad that i just watch that show for him? ehh, i don’t care.
- it was funny, i was having this conversation with my mom the other day; how i overlook a guy’s interest in me. apparently, there is quite a long list. i don’t know; my focus is elsewhere.
- also shoutout to aabs on entering her last year in her PhD candidacy. i’m jealous and i wish i were you (i could have been done in ‘09! i could have been a contender!), but i told you it was going to work out!

anyways, i’m off.
peace.

soundtrak: nightmares on wax :: da feelin’

- when i was born, my mom was 22. she was young and fresh to america. when my dad went to school, she stayed home or did odd jobs. as her first child, she didn’t know that in order to spur speech development, one should speak to their child. the child picks up on the inflections and syllables, learning to speak. so, for my first year, she did not talk to me. i didn’t start to talk until i was about four (to add upon the other developmental problems i have). my mom says that i was always quiet since, just watching and observing. i think that’s why i’m so comfortable in silence now; tele-watching tv with T, sitting in the car with jam in the rain, riding the train with mr. unattainable. there’s just something about the stillness, the soft padding of muteness that i love.
- i love the quiet, but i also love the music; wee! new nightmares on wax! click on it. listen to it. love it!
- i have painted my nails electric blue. apparently, it’s the new color for fall. well, navy blue is, but close enough.
- just when i’m about to drop him off the friend list, T just does something amazing to make me fall in love with him all over again. he must have some sort of radar or something… he’s still a jerk sometimes, but i love him.
- work is going good. making progress, experiments working, being appreciated by my peers (i really like that part alot). i keep on hearing stories from my old lab from MD (who has also moved on to another lab); it’s not good. so when i was lamenting to aabs this week about applying to programs again and feeling bad that everyone that i started with (including her! yes you, aabs!) is finishing up. even though i could have changed things, i know things happen for a reason. there were lots of reasons why i had to leave, some that i might go into detail with. maybe.
- one word: football! ‘nough said.

peace.

soundtrak: coldplay :: warning sign

i didn’t see it coming. i never see it coming. i had my worst anxiety attack today; out of 4 total to date. i was more fatigued that usual, waking up late this morning. i already logged in more than 50 hours in lab and i was actually supposed to take today off, but that didn’t work out. i haven’t been sleeping well lately either, which should have tipped me off.

rather than go into all the stresses that caused my attack today, i’ll just talk about the attack itself. everybody is different and has a different experience. usually, my mind starts rushing out of control, which precludes the physical symptoms of an attack. my mind was racing so i tried to do some work to keep me busy (which usually works; i also have a mild case of OCD), but unfortunately (fortunately?) i didn’t have alot of work to do (why was i at work?). this was when i started to experience shortness of breath. almost like hiccups, i would have a couple of rapid breaths, then my breathing would return (try to return) to normal. i was trying to breathe, but i couldn’t. jan came back to the desk area and asked the magic words, “what’s wrong?” it was then i started to hyperventilate for about 10 minutes. jan wanted to call an ambulance, but i told her not to. i could feel myself about to pass out and even after the severe part subsided, i still had residual affects a couple of hours afterward.

we went to lunch and jan asked me why i didn’t tell her about my anxiety. it’s not exactly something i want to broadcast and my attacks have been so far apart, so i don’t really think about them. it’s easier just to make excuses to why i ‘just can’t make it this time” than explain my anxiety. “it explains alot,” jan commented.

in the end, i probably won’t tell anybody about today (except you, of course). i did get checked out and it’s not anything i should take meds for. and i do have coping mechanisms that i use. i’ll just keep on coping the best way i know how.

peace.

soundtrak: adamski :: one of the people

- anytime i find myself/wrestling with my mental health/about this or that or something else/right or wrong/i’ve got to just remember/i am one of the people/one of the people/of planet earth.
- on friday, my brother al thought he dislocated his knee. actually, he has a history of knee dislocation, so when it happened on friday night during rehearsal, he didn’t think anything about it; he would just pop it back in. but that was the problem; his knee wasn’t dislocated and he actually ended up spraining his tendon. i don’t go to the rehearsals anymore (that’s just another long story that i’m not going to get into), so moms and i drove to church to take him to the hospital. thankfully, we were seen quickly and we managed to get out of there just after midnight. he’s doing better; he has a leg brace and crutches. he just so happened to take this monday and tuesday off (how much vacation time does this guy have and why don’t i have that much time?!), so he has time to recuperate.
- i’m currently typing this from work. the internet restrictions here are crazy; i can’t check certain sites or personal email. but they haven’t blocked google docs yet… yet. usually, i’m either busy in an experiment (my boss is very, very eager about our work) or laughing it up with jan, so i don’t have time to be on the computer so much. jan is coming in late this morning and i have to leave early today (for matters that i will not get into), so i cannot start an 8 hour experiment today. but it’s all good; i finally updated my lab notebook to current, cleaned up and did some lab prep.
- i know i don’t talk about alot of things on here. for example, where i’m going today. even though this site is anonymous, when it does come to things that involve my family, i choose not to talk about it here, out of respect for their privacy. i grew up in a home where we didn’t talk about our problems with anyone outside the family. i think there is also a little of kenyan/african/african-american aspects to it as well. unfortunately, alot of the problems that i am experiencing now are due to the fact ‘help’ was never asked for. i was the first in our immediate and extended family to branch out to therapy. it’s crazy to know, to hear and find out of cousins that have experienced severe depression; the stigma of mental illness runs deep despite the obviousness of the state of many of my family members. i will be the first to admit that i have been severely depressed, considered and attempted suicide as well as suffered from anxiety attacks. i don’t know if it’s a result of an imbalance, but i know therapy has helped immensely. despite my sharing of my state, there are things that i still keep very closely to my chest; nobody will ever know. it seems like a heavy burden, but it’s just business as usual.
- anyways, i’m digressing. i haven’t been up to sharing lately, with anyone. i commented this to naj in my bi-yearly email to her. i don’t know if it’s the change in work schedule, my diet, but i feel like i’ve entered this space of solitariness; not necessarily loneliness, but willful isolation. that’s all i can say about that; it’s already hard to explain.
- i always feel i could be more organized with everything, especially my time. i’m pretty organized already (according to my brothers, insanely organized and just insane in general), but i always feel like i’m wasting time. this week, i have to add a couple new routines in my schedule (studying, more reading, more exercise, more sleep) and take a couple out (watching repeat sitcom television, playing sim.s2, staring at the wall watching paint dry). working on it.

peace.

soundtrak: seba :: steel

- first, so i can get it out of the way. this is the 100th post here at the newest reincarnation of delusions of grandeur. it was supposed to be more ‘grandeur’ than this, but life is disappointing sometimes.
- when you accidentally leave the soundtrack of your life, your iPod, at work, it’s always good to have a backup iPod shuffle at home. my early morning workout is saved.
- i love the familiar; i take comfort in it. i repeat the song of the moment over and over again until it becomes ingrained in my brain. i read my favorite books more than thrice, my favorite movies more than that. it’s easy to fall into routine; as humans, we are built this way. over the past couple of weeks, some routines have returned to me and i have welcomed them back. some i’m still trying to change. talking about change, i see it. i don’t want to go into too much detail about it because it’s something that i should keep to myself (and i have only told three people about), but it’s exciting and scary all at the same time. it’s exciting to see what’s coming next, but scary because i’m not quite sure how i’m going to get there. and i have to be patient. *sigh* always patient.
- so i was finishing up some last minute pipetting, talking to jan as she finished some last minute stuff so we could finally leave already. the pipetting was making my tendonitis flare and since i didn’t have my iPod on me (and thus, that’s why it was left at work), i began to sing to ignore the pain… loudly and very off key (which defies the purpose if you can sing, but when i’m tired, it’s the only way). the song… i forgot the name of the song… but i was singing the chorus when jan decided to open the lab door and leave it open, my back to it, furiously pipettng away and singing badly. it was at this time, a man walked by, stopped and stared first at me, then jan with a look on his face, then they both began to laugh. of course, i was completely oblivious to all this until told, but i laughed anyways. i’m sure i’ll pass that guy in the hallway and he’ll look at me like i’m nuts. ha! we laugh waaaaay too much in lab, but jan is really that funny.
- plans for the long weekend: none. can’t i just sleep. actually, ames’ birthday is on thursday and she wants to go bowling…in falls church. woman lives down the street from me, but she wants to go bowling in falls church… the things i do for the people i miss.

that is all.
peace.