Sunday, February 7, 2010

some snow comes to denver


Perhaps slacking on homework can have it's rewards too! I got up early today to polish off my medical terminology homework and woke up to a beautiful snowy morning! The only real sitting place in my apartment is the bar type counter in my kitchen, which just so pleasantly happens to be situated next to a big window.


I've been struggling with liking Denver lately, with the huge lack of my closest friends being the biggest downfall of the city, but I have to say when it snows here my mood is lifted. The nice thing about Denver is that in between snowfalls the weather is pretty temperate, and for the most part the snow melts. Every time we have a new snowfall it's like the first snow of the season, pretty white flakes that cover everything and aren't hiding gray, sloppy, muck underneath it all like in a certain state in which I used to reside. It always feels like the beginning of winter, and since it doesn't drag on (unless you count two days as dragging) it's like the best of both worlds! I didn't expect this kind of winter here. I suppose I didn't really expect much of anything in the three days between deciding to move here and then actually moving here, but I sure do like it. Most times it feels like spring, with a couple of windy fall-like days sprinkled in between days like these.

I've been putting in my time studying medical terminology this semester, and I find it really interesting! It's funny to come across conditions and diseases that people I know have had, and be able to break them down into word parts that mean so much to me now! I keep wanting to pick up the phone and pepper my dad with questions that don't even really mean anything but are illuminating when I put all the pieces together. Mostly I'm writing a little list (my specialty, especially when put on a notecard!) of things like what kind of break Micah's arm was during his skateboarding accident and what kind of plates they put in because I just read about them both, or what kind of treatment my mom had and what type of choices were out there. In my head I liken it to my french studies in which I would sometimes have a realization about a common french phrase that I used everyday and how the actually words broke down in meaning. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but one phrase is "je ne sais pas" meaning "I don't know". I obviously learned that one right away and put it to good use, but one day I realized it wasn't just a mash up phrase, it was in fact just the negative of je sais. Writing that down sounds silly, but I guess I just mean that words, especially medical words, that are just tossed around take on new meaning to me when they are broken down or actually applied to something tangible even if it's just in my little student brain.

2 comments:

Nora said...

did you know that if you google "sideways distractions" your blog will come up? i had to do that because i don't have your blog bookmarked here and i'm dumb with figuring out where it is so i just googled it and there it was! i mean, i guess of COURSE it would pop up, but it was still fun to do. YAY. also, i remember you and your notecards and your ability to memorize, and it's exciting that only can you do really well in that class because you're good at it, but you actually enjoy it and the breaking down of words. congratulations! you are now a big nerd! well you sort of were before but this makes it official. also, the word that i have to type in verify that i am a human in order to post on your blog is "conablom." break THAT word down!

elise said...

ahh! I love it, kinda makes me feel famous! It's funny that the first google article is "fake bacon and a red mohawk"...HA!