dysphoria

dysphoria can be defined as a negative or aversive emotional state, and right now i'm feeling quite a bit of negativity and aversion. as i sit here, in a pulmonary hypertension lecture, i contemplate how i've already heard all the information given in this lecture at least twice before, and that's just for this block (respiratory disease). with so many time constraints imposed upon us by the school of medicine, one must wonder, "why in the hell are we going over this material for the 3rd time?" is it because of poor coordination of course materials? check. is it because they're trying to pound this information into our heads? also, check. then why is it that some lectures, with immensely more complex material, bombard us, students, with 2-2.5 hours worth of material squeezed into a 50 minute lecture, and we only see that material once? who the hell knows. not too mention that it's about 80 something degrees in this lecture hall. hot and humid. my nostrils are stopped up as we speak, and it would be quite the social/professional faux pas, if i were to step out and not return. hell, i breath of fresh air would be so welcome right now, and cool crisp air is only a few steps away...

and that's just one part. i've gotten to the point that i usually get to where i start to despise all the people i've previously been ambivalent about. let me preface that statement with a description of how i generally view people. when i meet someone, i usually place them into one of the following categories "i like that person" or "i'm ambivalent." most people are filed under the latter. rare is the day when i meet someone whom i immediately i decide that i don't like. still, over time people can be moved from one category to another. if moved into the "i don't like" category i generally try to avoid that person. however, being stuck in a room full of people for hours on end every day it's kind of hard to avoid seeing a person i don't like. not that seeing the person per se is bad, just the thoughts engendered. example: yesterday i'm in class, and i make a couple of comments about Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer, former WWE superstar), and one of the chicks in the class, presumably she's chinese, goes and says, "i'm getting offended..." at which point everyone looks at her like she's an idiot. 1st of all, how do you get a person's name confused with a reference to a country? idiot. do you ever hear parisiens getting offended at the mention of paris hilton's name? and secondly, how are you getting offended? either you are or you aren't. i despise dumbasses with a passion. they make me want to commit physical acts of violence...

all of that on top of having to deal with a delusional ex gf who can't seem to get past the sad (or not so sad) fact that our relationship is over. not even going to get into that...

thank goodness the lecture just ended.

A Pimp Named Jojo

many people don't know this story, but i feel it needs to be told. it's a tale set in a simple town called fayetteville, of my run-in with the legendary pimp, a pimp named jojo. now i know a lot of you are already asking yourselves, "what makes jojo so legendary?" and to answer that question, one must first take a look at what it is to be a pimp. so here's your generic pimp checklist:

1) long hair (permed)

2) manicured fingernails

3) pimpalicious suit (including gators), OR any pimped out threads (and fly footwear)

4)excessive use of the word "bitch"

5) hoes.

duly note that the fifth point of the checklist is a paradoxically secondary parameter, i.e. the first four points can precipitate the fifth; however, (5) hoes is necessitated inherently in what we should say is in all actuality "pimp-hood." now let's have a look at where jojo fits in on the checklist:

5) hoes.

and that's it. HOWEVER, jojo was 6'8", 360 lbs of impressiveness with a mind to match, and ridiculously good looking (the latter is purely hearsay). so now you're wondering how and where do i fit into the story, and the proceeding will appropriately answer that query...

it all starts with my going to richmond (aka river city), virginia for the summer. it wasn't too memorable, judging by how little recollection i have of my time spent in richmond, but i guess that's another story entirely. anyway, the summer ends, and it's time for me to make the trek back to tha shel (otherwise known as "shelby"), and instead driving me back down to tha shel as previously agreed, my grandfather elects to send me back home by public transportation, specifically by way of the greyhound. i suppose this is a good time to mention that at the time, i'm only 12 years old. nevertheless, i'm smart, brave, and resourceful... most of the time, but you could never tell me any differently. that is not then, at least. so i hop on the bus to make my trek back home, much to the dismay of my fretful mother, and boy did that end in quite the tongue lashing of my grandfather (a little chronologically out of place at this point in the story but keep in mind that it did indeed happen). now i'm on the bus, expecting to get home in about 4.5 hours when i notice that the bus isn't going in the usual direction that i had taken by car on previous trips, so i get a little worried. i ask the bus driver, "uhh, aren't we going to charlotte?" to which the driver replies, "hahaha, no. i'm going to fayetteville. you can transfer there." great. so now, i'm 12, traveling on a bus full of strangers, stuck in a seat between a really fat old woman and the wall of the potty, and headed to a city i've never been to before. but no worries: i'm smart, brave, and resourceful (if need be). after a few hours, we finally get to fayetteville. i go and inquire about the bus to charlotte, only to be told that the next bus that leaves for charlotte is in another 4 and a 1/2 hours. just fcucking great. i don't know if you've ever been to the main bus station in fayetteville, but it's a bit dodgy if i don't say so myself. so i look around, and there are quite a few (and by that i mean predominantly) suspect characters lurking around, or at least it seems that way to my beginning-to-be-frightened 12 year old mind. i start recalling stories of defenseless youths getting raped, kidnapped and tortured, outright killed by sick old men. i rush to the phones and call my mom, but by the time she would make it to fayetteville, the bus would be leaving, so it's just as well that i wait for the bus. i find the open seat closest to the ticket counter and try to look as inconspicuous as possible.

now here's where the action begins, about 30 minutes into my wait at fayetteville greyhound station, and who arrives, bombastically making an entrance? none other than a pimp named jojo, all 6'8", 360 lbs. he comes in, and you can't help but to notice, as he blots out the sunlight coming through the doors. he looks around, and spots what he's looking for: one of his hoes. "you know i been out, and you ain't came to see me!?!" all heads turn and come in sync with jojo's line of sight, coming to rest on a platinum blond BOMBSHELL. i kid you not: 5'11", long legs, long lustrous platinum blond (natural) hair, huge tits, and gorgeous face. she replies "i was goin ta see my bruther..." to which jojo replies, "naw, bitch. you don't make a move without jojo knowing. you don't make a move without the permission of jojo. you know who tha hell i am!..." at this point jojo is taking steps toward said ho, and bystanders are furtively taking steps away and for good reason. jojo continues to talk and stalk towards the ho, he gets within 5 yards, and she finally stands up from her chair. the area, by the way, is clear of any other soul. blondie turns as if to walk away, and jojo lunges out, landing a big foot right between the ass cheeks of the blond, bombshell of a ho. and WOW, she goes sprawling to the ground a good 5 feet away. it's stark quiet by this point except for the vociferous haranguing being given by jojo the pimp to his ho. by this time the greyhound security, who seemingly comes out of nowhere, has started to get interested in the situation. there are two of them, and one named... hell i don't remember, but let's call him curtis for reference sake. "aight nah, jojo. that's enough." intercedes curtis as he takes steps toward jojo, his partner meekly in tow.

"that's ENOUGH!?! you don't make a move without my say so in this town. I'M JOJO!!!"

"i know, i know. but let's calm down jojo. let's calm down"

apparently, telling a quasi giant pimp in mid rampage to calm down, is not the right thing to do. at this time the security guards are pretty close to jojo (i really don't know what the hell they thought they might do), blondie is crawling her way back to standing position, and jojo is glaring at security, eyes shifting back and forth between security and blondie. then 3 events happen in rapid progression:

1) security tries to lay hands on jojo in an attempt to lead him towards the doorway

2) jojo manhandles security, tossing both men effortlessly to the ground like old toys on Christmas morning

3) blondie gets to her feet and tried to run in the opposite direction as jojo.

jojo then proceeds to run down blondie, grab her by the hair and shirt and literally drag her out of the bus station, ripping her top in the process. in some random craziness, the blond ho's titties happen to pop out, and all the male eyes in the place are riveted, as they see titties sliding evenly towards the exit/entrance. all the female mouths are hanging open, aghast at the scene. the security guards are lying helplessly on the ground, defeated with looks of utter dejection on their faces and powerless to do anything.

i must say the whole experience was both exhilarating and terribly frightening at the same time, yet it made the whole experience worth it. i made it home, safe and sound, with a little more knowledge of how the world works. i don't exactly know the background story of the blond and jojo, still, rumor has it that the blond ho was never seen again...

(well not at least in that bus station)

and that, my friends, is the story of a pimp named jojo

SATC

it seems the nation is divided... i come to this conclusion after having discussed the film with several friends of mine. given that i don't know any other guys who've actually seen the movie, only one of my friends actually thought the movie was really good. needless to say, she's not the very best at making appraisals of film, seeing as how she said that "fashion" was one of the reasons that sex and the city was so good.

so with the discussion in mind, i went to my favorite movie rating web site, and what do i see but a flabbergasting 4.8 rating for sex and the city. women say sex and the city was a "perfect" movie, men say it was a "piece of [expletive deleted]". actually, i would say ALL the voting has been skewed. women voted too highly for the film, and men voted to lowly (i suppose that's the word i'm looking for). I personally rated the film as a 6. I was certainly shocked to have seen the 4.8 rating until i looked at the voting demographics where so many more men had voted. looking at the 66 voters of the top 1000, who voted for the film, the mean was close to a 6, if you make adjustments. it's clear the film does not deserve a 1... on the other hand, neither does it deserve a 10. i mean really, as a movie the script was too predictable, the plot was lacking in creativity, and it was simply overextended. granted the "fashion" aspect may have been a factor for some women to have thought so highly of the film, but fashion is not what makes a movie...