Thanks to everyone who gave their opinion on my last journal. Since then, I've done some math. With my current grades and GPA, I will need to get a 4.0 (that's an A, not an A- which is a 3.7) in every single class I take from now until graduation. Every. Single. Class. I'm not lying, being lazy, or doing myself a disservice by saying that this is impossible. MAYBE if I didn't have work to worry about and my frequent health issues would back off for a couple years, I'd be able to do this. Sadly it just isn't to be. Therefore, I'm going to focus on getting into the local PA program, which has the much more reasonable expectation of a 3.0 GPA. I'm still going to do my utmost to get the highest GPA possible. I'm not using this as a cop out. I'm going to medical school. It's been my dream since my age was in the single digits and I'll get it done if I have to find a fucking country to move to that has med schools that will take me. It'll just take a little longer than expected. Oh well. Life gives you lemons, turn around and sell those fuckers and earn yourself a living.

Edit: Only problem is that the PA program's tuition totals at over $150k. That'll take a long assed time to pay back

Guilt module powering down. Anyways, I do have a question that I'd really like some feedback on. It's looking unlikely that I'll have my GPA up to the absurd 3.7+ that most medical schools require by the time I graduate with my BS in microbiology. At that point, I have 2 options I'm considering.
1: Go on and get my Masters in microbiology and hope my GPA is high enough (if it isn't, repeat with PhD)
2: Get into a PA program and become a physician's assistant for a few years.

Main benefit of getting my Masters in micro would be that the coursework is less intensive, allowing me to work to support myself while going to school and rely less heavily on loans. Main drawback would be that demand for microbiologists isn't incredibly high, especially in my area, so I'd have trouble finding employment in my field that caters to the demented schedule that college would inflict upon me.

On the other hand, getting a PA license would allow me to enter the job market and get relevant experience in the upper-level medical field while earning a pretty nice salary to rid myself of debt and start saving up for the eventual plunge into medical school. The downsides would be that I would have a lot of trouble working for the 2 years I'm in the PA program due to the crazy workload and I might get stuck in the dreaded rut. You know what I mean. I graduate as a PA, get a job, start making good money, and then get sucked into the routine until I'm 60 years old wondering why I never actually made it to medical school. Nothing wrong with making a career out of being a PA, but I really want to have my own practice someday.

Anyways, I'd love feedback on this issue. The final decision is up to me and my discretion of course, but other peoples' opinions may give me some angles or perspectives that I haven't considered. So please, fire away


P.S. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Quanza, Blessed Yule, and all the other things that come around this time of year

...unless I've already made one and forgotten about it, which is entirely possible. Either way, I started off with FA and SoFurry, and then made an Inkbunny account when everybody was telling me that it's gonna become the new FA...then didn't. It's like all the people who think that <insert random MMO here> was going to kill WoW. They didn't. I'm not going to leave because FA had some downtime for some much needed maintenance and upgrades. If what I've heard is correct, they'll be taking it down again soon to finish the process. Oh well, it's something you have to deal with. Nothing in this world lasts forever without upkeep, and FA is getting some.

And for those who are going on about how FA is their primary/only source of income, I have this to say: this should be a very important learning experience. I work per diem, meaning if my job is overstaffed, they'll call me up and cut my hours. It actually happens more than most people would think. My solution is to always have a backup plan. It's my responsibility as a person who has a somewhat unreliable income to make sure I can make ends meet. Anyone who uses FA for a substantial portion of their income should do the same, and not try to blame the site's leadership for it. Not trying to lecture, just my opinion on the matter.

My grandfather was just placed in hospice, with 4-6 months to live. I'm hoping to make it to NJ over winter break to visit him one last time.

Only made it for the last day this year, thanks to school and work and other such fuggery. Spent most of the day with  ablackflamey and his mate  emilanarchy. Overall, for $20 admission, and then another $20 total for lunch and gas, it was money well-spent. Looking forward to next year, when I hope to go the whole 3 days.

School is going fairly well considering that I stupidly took a damn intensive course. All my professors and classmates like me...probably because I'm just such a social butterfly. 6 weeks left of classes with 5 days of that being Veteran's Day/Thanksgiving holiday time, so 25 class days total. The semester went by in a blur. Once I get out of school for the winter break, I'm going to pick up a few projects that I've had shelved for a while, like writing some of these damn stories I promised forever ago. Also have a side project that I'm going to work on a bit. If it turns out well, I may actually tell you what it is.

Another thing: my health. Went to the doctor, as some know, to figure out why I've been feeling so shitty lately. Everything came back normal in my bloodwork except my liver functions, which are abnormally high, meaning my liver is working harder than normal. Since the liver's main function (or at least the one that affects the liver function tests) is to cleanse toxic substances from the blood, and I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, my doctor really wants to know what exactly my liver is cleaning out of my blood. More intensive bloodwork is in the works. I'll post an update if I find anything out.

Finally, nobody has added my 3DS friend code yet, other than a few people who I went and added/asked first. So add me already! Friend code is, again, 0275-8407-9246.

That's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well.

0275-8407-9246

For anyone who can understand the title, the message is clear enough. For those who can't, I'm simply looking for someone who either speaks Japanese or is in a class for it like me to study with. I made the foolish decision of taking an intensive Japanese course and I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the pace. Definitely going with non-intensive in the future. Anyways, if you're interested in talking on skype a couple hours a week and studying together, or failing that, even letting me teach you, as the repetition and answering of questions helps, please respond here and we'll work out some good times.

Apparently some people would like some clarification on my last journal. I admit that I was a bit spare on details, so here's the "tooltips enabled" version. For the past few months, probably since May or so, I have had a problem with feelings of lethargy. It started off as just feeling tired, as though I wasn't sleeping well through the night. As the summer progressed, though, so did my problem. There were even a couple days where I slept for 16-24 hours and stayed in bed for several more than that. Recently, since school started or thereabouts, it has gotten much worse. Most days now I feel as though I'm back in boot camp again, and am completely bone weary all the time. The best way I can describe it is to have you imagine going to a gym and working out for a few hours, then going to help a friend move furniture around, and then going on a brisk 5 mile hike. If you can then picture how you'd feel when you got home, so tired that all you're really capable of doing is collapsing facedown on some horizontal surface, and even the thought of getting up to grab the remote or take a piss is massively upsetting. That's how I feel most of the time, even after I just slept. To me, it sounds like a classic case of hypoactive thyroids. I have several other warning signs as well, such as being overweight in spite of diet or activity level, having an incredibly slow metabolism (I only really eat once a day and shit once every 7-10 days) and the constant urge to sleep. I have a doctor's appointment with my PCP on Monday to try to straighten out whatever this issue is, though I'll probably wind up being referred to an endocrinologist before any solution is found. I hope this clears up any confusion from my last journal.

For the past few months now I've been so lethargic, and it has been getting worse recently. It's now to the point that I can barely drag myself out of bed every day. I just scheduled a doctors appointment to get this figured out. Updates to follow.

I just spent a good hour going through and putting in all sorts of info about my fursona. It includes the species background and overview as well as my dimensions for both feral and anthro forms. This will likely be the prelude to a personal backstory/backstory series. I have the reference info posted under my adult ref sheet. If anyone feels anything is missing or needs clarification, please respond via comment either on this journal or under the submission. Here is the link. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7552759/ Enjoy!

Japanese - 2 weeks after school started, I can say with quite a bit of confidence that I have finally memorized all hiragana. Now on to katakana. Aside from learning an entirely new writing system that is composed of several hundred "letters," Japanese is actually proving to be pretty easy. Compared to French, I'm picking it up at a very rapid pace. It gives me confidence that I'll be speaking Japanese fluently by the time I graduate.

Biology - I've been made a TA in my biology class. It's just general bio since UMass won't take my AP credits, but I already have my biology degree. I figured that if I can't get much out of the class, I might as well help other people pass. There are a few things I'm picking up from the class though. One of our main topics is stem cells, which is something that none of my previous bio classes really got into. It's a fascinating topic and is making redoing general bio worthwhile.

Math - I'm dropping my math class, since my advisor made an oversight and put me into Math 104, which is what I just passed in the spring. I'm still looking for a class I can pick up instead.

Race Relations - This class is beyond offensive. It's a class entirely focused on expounding how evil white people are. The class description gave me an entirely different impression regarding what the class would be about, but the professor is tainting the entire course. It would be like letting a hardcore feminazi teach male studies, or a chauvinist teach female studies. He's even gone so far as to say that white males in America are directly responsible for the Nazi policies on race. This is my last Social Science credit that I need for my degree, so I guess I'm just going to have to deal with my disgust and just push through the semester.

In other news, my mother just got married on Saturday, giving me a stepfather for the first time in my life. She's been! in an on/off relationship with this guy for 30 years, so the theme of the wedding was "It's about damn time!" Thankfully, since she's been with him for so long, I know him pretty well. While he isn't what I'd call a role model, he's not a bad guy. It was nice to see my mother so happy. She was glowing while they were saying their vows. She's been single most of her life, so it's nice that she finally has someone. It makes me feel better about leaving her for college.

Last thing...since I got some extra money from my tuition, I'm looking to get a commission or two. I made a post on the FA forums, but it's been pending moderator approval since yesterday. If anyone is, or knows of, an artist who will be willing to draw herm feral dragon sex for a fairly reasonable price, please tell me.

First, moving. Not much to update. Done moving, living in my new place, and honestly not noticing a huge difference. My mother still calls me and nags via phone, so for all of you out there who think moving out on your own is freedom, guess again...there is no escape.

As for school, I've officially enrolled in classes. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my short days, with only one class from 9:15 to 10:45. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'll be in school from 10am until 4:30pm. Add to that my work and homework and I'm pretty full up for the fall semester. The tradeoff for having such a busy schedule is that I will be earning 17 credits this semester, so it's worth the work.

That's about all for now. I'll probably make another journal in about a month bitching about how busy I am.

Well, I'm moving into my new place this Sunday. Finally going to be out on my own after 7 years of adulthood. I'm excited about actually having true privacy and independence.

My great uncle Fran has just been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Since he's already compromised after a protracted fight with prostate cancer (which just went into remission ironically) the disease moved quickly through his systems. He can barely move and doctors are giving him 2-4 weeks to live. I probably won't be on much immediately after he passes. I was much closer to him than my previous great uncle who passed.

Well I got into a new apartment. Moving out and living on my own for the first time. About damn time too in my opinion. I'll probably be moved within 2-3 weeks. I'll be in South Hadley MA now

I'm having a problem in WoW... As of right now, I have 3 90's, 1 89, 3 87's, 1 86, 1 85, 1 67, and 1 53. I know, I've been playing way too long. Anyways, I have all these characters, most of which are right on the brink of the level cap, and I have nothing to do with them. I log in, do the daily profession cooldowns, grind some quests on one of my not-capped toons, then log off.

I no longer raid or do battlegrounds or anything that someone with 3 cap level characters should be doing. I think the main reason is a lack of friends. The main people I used to raid with stopped playing years ago, hence my never entering a single raid since WotLK. I used to run random battlegrounds, but I find myself frustrated by having so many shameless asshats with me. I need some friends to play with, and I can think of no better place to look than the furry fandom (fucking shoot me).

Anywho, all my characters are alliance (fucking deal with it). I'm on the Draka server. My RealID email is coreyb06@yahoo.com. Shoot me a friend request if you want to do some things together at some point. I know that my being alliance immediately disqualifies 90% of the fandom. Before the worgen came out, all the furries wanted to be the furry race and rolled tauren. My feelings on tauren are that I don't play with my food. Anyways, enough I've-been-up-for-22-straight-hours rambling. Send me friend requests. DUU EET!

Got my magic piece of college paper in the mail

Well this illness I have is getting worse...much much worse. I have no voice to speak of, my ears still feel clogged, and I've started coughing so bad that you'd think my lungs were trying to escape and fly away. No idea what I have, but I was dubious about the "sinus infection" explanation my doctor gave me. Now I'm contemplating going to the ER because I might drown in my own mucus if I wait until next week for another doctors appointment.

Even though the first things to be affected were my ears and throat, and I just started having sinus issues yesterday, the doctor says sinus infection. Not complaining though. I got some strong meds that actually allow me to breathe freely and, since I'm not draining into my throat, have stopped the horrible hacking cough that's been plaguing me. The cough felt like a sandblaster on my throat, which is now feeling better in the lull. My ears, however, still feel like cotton balls were loaded into an assault rifle and shot into my ear canal. Oh well, can't fix everything at once. This diagnosis (if accurate) is also good for all those I've been around, as sinus infections aren't really easy to transmit to others.

So I'm back from my trip after 13 days. Unfortunately I caught some bug or other that's giving me ear and throat aches and a fever. Won't be on skype for a day or two.

Details are set. I'll be leaving South Carolina by car on 6/6. Thus far, this is the list of people who are interested in having me stop by.

 xinnova2 and  legndcar1

 falcons

 leafy_greens


and possibly  ersis


I'm not planning to be back home until 6/15, so there is still room in my itinerary. If anyone else wants me to stop by and say hello, tell me BEFORE the 21st of this month. At that point, I'll set my plans in stone.

As some of you already know, I've had a recurring (as in never went away) rash on my right index and middle finger since mid-October. I saw a dermatologist in December, being of the opinion that 2 months is too long for any normal rash. The doctor looked at it and said it was dyshidrotic eczema. What it looks like is dozens of tiny water blisters forming deep under the skin. Eventually there are so many of them that the upper layers of skin are no longer attached to the lower layers, so the upper layers slough off. I then have a raw patch of exposed dermis that takes a couple weeks to heal. Once healed, the cycle begins again. Now, 4 months after the initial diagnosis and with the problem slowly getting worse (it's now on my left index finger as well) I decided to take a look under my microscope at some of the clear fluid that oozes from the blisters. What I saw was bacteria. An ass load of flagellated cocci or bacillus swimming around, attaching to my cells, and then my cells would shrivel. I stared at and marveled at the sight for about half an hour, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Now I'm in a bad position. Most people know that doctors like to stick by their diagnoses like preachers stick by the Bible. This becomes even worse when you go after them and say that they're wrong. Problem is that's the only dermatologist who takes my insurance anywhere nearby. So now I have a choice. A. Bury another $100-$200 into a different dermatologist that won't be covered by my insurance (and risk the same answer as the first guy). B. Spend $100-$200 on the supplies I'd need to accurately culture and identify the organism myself, then go confront my dermatologist with a pre-packaged diagnosis and demand treatment for it before my fucking hand rots off.

Opinions?

3 weeks from today, I'll be gradjimacating and getting my AS degree. So looking forward to summer "break" I can taste it. Gonna try to work 4 12hr shifts a week through most of the summer...build up some extra cash. Mostly though, I really just want the chance to enjoy some of my leisure activities freely.

In other news, 5 of my 6 pets are doing well. Jury's still out over Rex. Bending over backwards to try to provide for his every need, but he's very lethargic and unwilling to do much except sleep. If anyone knows why a savannah monitor would act like that and could give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it.

These are the pics from the reptile expo yesterday. I'll be putting them into scraps. I also have pics of my new pets. Those will be last to be uploaded. Enjoy

At the upcoming reptile expo, I think I'm going to get a breeding pair and see if I can have them pop out some eggs. I'm also interested in it as a study in genetics. I hope to get 2 double recessive morphs with different alleles to see how many different morphs I can make. As such, unless I begin working with some local breeders/collectors, I may find myself with extra babies.

Before people get all butthurt at me, let me elaborate. I will NOT breed the snakes this year, since it's currently breeding season and I want to give them time to acclimate to their new home. If I successfully breed them and get a clutch (probably 8-15 animals) I will NOT breed them again until I have homed all of the hatchlings, minus any I intend to keep. See? Responsible dragon is responsible. I'm not going to create hundreds of babies and have nowhere to put them, thereby putting myself and them in a bad position.

Anyways, back to the point. I will, once I start breeding the snakes, post pictures of them and maybe give some of them away to people for only the price of shipping.

Eggses usually hatch around mid-July thru early August, so early summer of 2014 look for baby snake pics.