Ethical dilemma of the century!

Pat alerted me to the presence of a Regina Spektor cover of Radiohead's No Surprises this morning, which quickly lead me, giddy with excitement, to search for the album online.

It turns out, to my horror, that this track is only available on iTunes. Oh the humanity!

It also turns out that all of the proceeds from purchasing said track will go to Doctors Without Borders. *gasp!*

Ethical dilemma!!!!!

(also thanks to Pat for providing above link)

Do I:

1. Support Doctors Without Borders and download this cool track whilst simultaneously providing some credit (not monetary, but surely they're tracking downloads) to the whore of all the media world, iTunes?

2. Let my distaste for iTunes avert me from supporting Doctors Without Borders and enjoying this fine track?

Answer:

Neither!

I stole the track on the interwebs, then donated $5 directly to Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders..... +$5 = win!

Regina Spektor track.... I have it now = win!

giving the proverbial finger to iTunes... = megawin!

Writing this blog instead of studying biochem.... uh... = lose.

Here is what I have been studying today:

DNA replication, transcription, repair, RNA translation, modification. Protein folding, transport.

Here is how it makes me feel.

Thank you BoingBoing.

Medical School: Month 1

I should be studying right now. At any given time during the day, that's probably a true statement.

I've been in Arizona at Midwestern University for about a month so far and I haven't written about the experience at all yet. So here goes. My first month:

It's been good. It's been really good. In fact, I didn't think I would enjoy school as much as I do. I don't think I've ever enjoyed school this much. Elementary school is a close second.

Elementary school positives:

1. Frequent exercise - recess

2. Fun hands-on activities - arts and crafts

3. Everything is new - you learn it for the first time

Unfortunately, elementary school also involves some really awkward social moments; you have scary teachers, scary sixth graders, and scary bus drivers.

Medical school wins because it has all the positives of elementary school:

1. Gym on campus

2. Fun hands on activities - anatomy dissections and OMM

3. everything is new. (ok maybe not everything - i've taken some of these classes before, but at least it's more in-depth)

But medical school doesn't have any of the awkward social weirdness of elementary school. Everyone here - Midwestern University - are really nice. I've been very impressed with the attitudes of the faculty, staff and students. Faculty are always willing to talk to you outside class, they coordinate their lectures well, and write very straightforward tests.

The only downside is the cost. I'm paying about 50k per year to go to school here. I have no idea how those loans are going to be repaid. The positive of this is that I now have an extremely strong incentive to become a success.

Arizona is nice, I guess. I really haven't had much of a chance to explore. I spend most of my time on campus. I have made a few trips out to Skydive Arizona, and that has been verrry nice. I also went camping with Sarah S. and some new friends. We went hiking in a slot canyon near Page and swam at Lake Powell. Good times.

This is club week on campus. So far I've joined these clubs/organizations:

American Medical Association (turns out the AMA welcomes DOs as well as MDs)

American Osteopathic Association

Emergency Medicine Club

Wilderness Medicine Club

Cycling Club

Triathlon Club

Pediatrics Club

Well that's about it so far. I think I'm doing well. We've only had 3 tests so far and I haven't failed any yet, so I'm on track.