The Oscars are so boring, predictable, and repetitive that they actually legitimize the MTV Movie Awards.

So Maurice Hinchey says that Rove was responsible for the infamous CBS Memos. In order to pull that off, Rove would need to be a genius. There's no way a human could mastermind something so devious and so brilliant and so perfectly executed without leaving a paper trail, recorded memos, emails, something.

Then I realized I might be onto something. So I called up Hinchey's people to look into it for me, and they found me this picture of Karl Rove:



Karl Rove eh? More like Karl RoveBOT! Now this explains everything - how Bush got elected, how they leaked the memos, how they created the Swift Boat Vets out of thin air. How he masterminded 9/11, how they rigged the polls, how they smeared Kerry, how Bush had the "bulge" in that infamous debate! It all makes sense!

And for the record, I think it is important that I make charges like this and take this risk. It's my job and I'm proud to do it. And what is most tragic here is that I have more "evidence" than does Hinchey.

At work lately I've been beta-ing the latest version of OS X; OS 10.4, Tiger. There are a few features in it that I absolutely love, including Spotlight (For PC people, think Google's Desktop Search Tool, in realtime, integrated with the OS). Though Dashboard doesn't strike me as intrinsically useful for my purposes, I still find 10.4's extra menu features (Dashboard, Expose, etc) as cool add-ins. Having that capability means at some point I may find a use for it. I also find 10.4's Finder (all OS X Finders) as finally having browsing capacity like that of Windows Explorer.

It's making me ponder putting a little more Apple in my life. I've got a 20 gig iPod and I'm wanting on the Shuffle. However, to put more Apple in my life would be to put an Apple PC on my desk. Up until now I've thought of a G5 as the only option for me (I don't want to replace my KB, mouse, monitor) but now there's the mac mini. I'd like a more powerful computer, but I might take a mini at some point (plus, it has got a little OC and upgrade capacity).

Getting more Apple means getting less Microsoft, and for a long time I've been a Microsoft sympathizer. I don't see them as the world's most evil software empire. The problem is that I see their difficulty. Because people don't like them for their sometimes-unfair business practices, their operating system is bound to be exploited by those who dislike them. Adding to the fervor is the widespread distribution of Windows, which means that spyware/adware writers will focus on you. All it takes is one hole for an exploit. The problem though, is that Windows is just too holey. This story might just be the straw that broke the camel's back. Having a hole in an operating system so deep that the only fix is to reformat is inexcusable.

Goodbye Windows, Hello UNIX?
So I just bought my new PC, and I'm not completely willing to replace it yet. Heck, my PC cost a bunch as it is, so it's not going to be replaced. All that remains then is to replace my OS. And all that remains until OS X is released for x86 processors (PLEEEEZEEEE Stevie) is Linux. I have a 64 bit version of SuSE 9.1 I'm looking at installing (and yes, I have an Athlon 64). The bootloader wasn't superkeen on working last install, but it was probably a configuration error on my end. The problem with switching for me is that UNIX comes with a bunch of commands I need to learn. If Unix responded to DOS commands, I'd be all set, but learning a whole new list naturally makes me hesitant. And I would like command-line access to whatever OS I'm running.

If Microsoft is losing a customer like me, one who's been a user since 3.1, and an "IT professional," then how long will it be until they lose Joe Unsavvy, who just lost his financial data for the last 4 years because his daughter downloaded some spyware while innocently looking up lyrics for the new Black Eyed Peas song? My advice for my parents' next PC: Buy a Mac.

You know, even when you're in a fun class, like human sexuality, there's always a guy or girl with a bent to ruin it for you. In this case, it's a she, and she is such a pain in my behind (this is what I get for giving up swearing for Lent). But tonight was a night of just desserts.

The play by play:
We were talking about adolescents and sex today in human sex, and everyone was all "blah blah blah" and by "everyone" I clearly mean "Crazy" as we now call her (the really annoying girl). That's what we call her at work and I'm making that her official nickname to my group. We have a foursome of people that are pretty cool. It's me Kristen this kid Dan and Annie I think her name is, though I honestly don't remember. I'm so bad with names. Anyways, so Crazy was yakking on and on and on about her personal experiences and how 14 year olds are going to have sex out of rebellion even if their parents tell them not to, and finally at the end I wanted to throw my two cents into the pot. So I was like "You know, when you're an adolescent you always feel older than you are. Like 'Oh I'm 16, that's only 2 years from 18, I can do what I want because I'm an adult,' because that's all you know. But like Dr. Provost said, if you're the parent, you're going to be the one taking care of your child's baby..." And then Crazy cut in and spouts "Oh if you're old enough to have a baby you're old enough to support it." And at that point, having listened to her for 3 hours spouting utter nonsense, I grew intense and sternly said "You're going to put a CHILD into POVERTY??" And I'm fairly certain my eyes bulged out of my head, and Dr. Provost cut me off and gave me the "calm down" gesture. It was hilarious. The whole class was in a veritable uproar. You would not believe how hard everyone was laughing and simultaneously shocked. I'm definitely the first person to ever raise my voice to a level that scared people. Luckily, time was then up. But at the end of class I could not stop laughing and the whole class was like "wow I hate her, good job" and "are you going to defend the title next week? I'll bring the gloves."

However, the funniest moment was when Provost gave out questionaires about how you respond to things that kids do (a group exercise), and one was "what do you do if your young child enjoys touching himself." And I said, "well you treat it like a phase and try to remove it from the kid's behavior, outside the house." And she replied with (because she knew she could do this to me), "so that means you should stop masturbating?" Well at that point the whole class burst out laughing. And then retorted still laughing hard, "no no no I mean in public - like if I was masturbating right now wouldn't that be bad?" Well, Provost's face turned as red as her sweater, and so did mine and we started laughing so hard we were crying. It was hilarious. I mean I sat physically crying, tears rolling down my face laughing. And every time we looked at each other it just worse. College rocks, it's going to suck when I leave. It's awesome to have professors that mess around like that, and have the freedom to do it right back.

I could write a book on how to get into medical school, all while having never actually gotten into medical school. So far I'm down 0/7, without interviews out with 3 schools remaining. Considering everything how late it is in the acceptance season, it looks like I'm not going to be accepted anywhere.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the next year of my life. Talk about frustration.

It's not like I don't have any options. I can reapply to allopathic schools, only this time cover the osteopathic route (which I should have done this time) and apply to some PA programs too. And there's also the graduate school route, or I could do the PhD light and get my Masters and then teach high school.

The thing is, both are on my list of things I'd like to do - teach and be an M.D.. I know I want to be a doctor, I mean after all that's the path I've chosen, but I'm still not sure what to do with my life, especially right now. There's the issue of working etc this summer. I mean getting rejected from a bunch of places without so much as an interview really makes me wonder about the possibility of my being accepted in the first place. And while persistance is a quality trait, there's also stupidity. Applying to medical school is so expensive that doing it a second time might completely bankrupt me (I took out a loan to do it this time). And of course, if I choose to drop the MD and go for my PhD, what does that say about me as a person? Does that make me a quitter? To a large and scary extent it makes me think that it does. Would this just be me taking the easy way out? It seems like I might have to live out the rest of my life wondering what "could have been." But then some things just aren't in the cards. What do I know?

I just know that I'm capable of bigger and better things than I'm doing now and I want to get out and do them. I just don't know who will take me. I don't get it - I mean I should be marketable. But then, you can't make a life out of "shoulds."