Often

Often, I begin writing/drafting/brainstorming my posts by typing "Sometimes", after which I erase it and think about how the concept I was going to describe occurs more often than sometimes.

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Sometimes, I wonder about how I ended up here. Here might be north western Philadelphia, medical school, America, an hour from home, Christian, (not) tired, ethnically Chinese, or 2 AM. How did this happen??, I wonder to myself. In just a few of those circumstances, I wonder why?, but not usually. I've realized that when people ask me "Why?", I typically respond by answering instead the question of "How?"

An actual conversation I had with a teacher in high school when she grew frustrated with my snide comments:
"Why are you here today?"
"Because I got on the bus this morning."

I did answer her question.

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I've always contemplated being a writer. Actually, I've really contemplated and still hope to have a career where I can do my work and have left the mental capacity to go home and be a writer. I don't want to write to support myself, because that would mean pressure on my writing.

This reminds me of something that my roommate has often said jokingly recently: "Pressure makes diamonds." I had a friend in elementary school who once picked up a piece of anthracite coal on a field trip to a mine after learning that diamonds form in coal seams under extreme pressure, and proceeded to demonstrate by squeezing the chunk tightly in his hands, saying that he might have it ready by the 7th grade.

Let's not kid ourselves here. Pressure makes diamonds, but people don't make pressure that makes diamonds. If I ever have anybody tell me when I'm under pressure that pressure makes diamonds, I'm going to thrust some coal into their hands and say "go ahead".

* * *

Having a Bible is great, but it doesn't do you much good if you don't use it.

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Don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry. Seriously, you'll save money. In both the following instances, I only needed to buy milk and bread.

Here's when I went shopping after I ate:

LV WHL MILK - 2.17
SOFT HNY WHT - 2.79

Total Cost: 3.86 (I have a savings card)

Here's when I went shopping before I ate:

LV WHL MILK - 2.21
SOFT HNY WHT - 2.99
YAMS - 1.36
H&S OCN LIFT - 4.99
BAR SPAGHETTI - 1.59
AC SPAGHETTI - 0.99
BAR SPAGHETTI - 1.59
BAR SPAGHETTI - 1.59
BAR FARFALLE - 1.59
BAR FARFALLE - 1.59
BAR SPAGHETTI - 1.59
BAR FARFALLE - 1.59

Total Cost: 18.17 (Again, savings card)

Why did I buy so much pasta? Did I really need 2 lbs of yams?? Also, can anybody tell me what "H&S OCN LIFT" is??? I made this purchase more than a month ago and now I have absolutely no idea what I bought for five dollars.

In addition, why didn't I buy any spaghetti sauce?

* * *

Can we agree that the opposite of a "smart phone" is a "dumb phone"? I just want to be able to refer to my phone as a dumb phone.

"Can you check the address?"
"Sorry, I have a dumb phone."
"...What?"

Or even better, perhaps a "differently-abled" phone. I think I have heard that term to be a more politically correct one.

"Can you check the address?"
"Sorry, I have a differently-abled phone."
"You have an iPhone?"

iPhone users: I'll just let that soak in for a while. If you don't understand, I'm sure there's an app for that.