I've got to admit, it's getting better..

This week has been quite eventful, to say the least! I'll start back on Wednesday. It was one of my friend Liz's birthday, so we went out to a middle eastern restaurant on the Loop. For those of you that don't know, the Loop is a cool college-y street with a bunch of cool shops, restaurants and such that's about a half a mile or mile from campus. The restaurant was really good and it was fun to get off campus!
We would have stayed later and enjoyed the Loop, but I had to be back at 8:30 for my final EST interview, which was a doozy. Everyone was told to meet at an auditorium near the library, then we were put into groups of 4 and marched to the bottom of Brookings Hall (which is the iconic castle looking building that WashU is famous for). Waiting for us were a four or five EST members, a stretcher and a couple of large bags. We were told that essentially we were going on a mock call, and that although no medical knowledge was required, we would make the team or be cut based on how we performed. So the first team was told to pick up their equipment and get ready. Without warning, the medics that were waiting for us yelled "GO", and started yelling at the first group to hurry up. As we watched the first group sprint up the stairs up to Brookings, we were a little worried.
When it was finally my 4 person team's turn, we all grabbed the gear quickly and started sprinting. The medics ran with us, yelling at us to go faster, and move as a team. Sufficiently intimidated, we sprinted into Brookings quad, where we saw thirty or so people in a semi-circle with six or seven people laying in the middle. We sprinted over to them, all while the people in the circle screamed at us to hurry up, that people were dying, help them, save them, etc. We ran over and tried to talk to the people in the middle, trying to help them however we could, but it was really to no avail. There was nothing we could do so I tried to just comfort them, all while thirty people were screaming at me. Suddenly, one of the senior medics screams "STOP STOP STOP! What are you people doing! This is supposed to be a medic team. You're neither acting as a team nor helping people. You, you're off the team." And just like that one of our four person team was out. And the thirty people began screaming at us again. After what seemed like hours, another medic screams "STOP! You aren't even trying to help these people! How do you expect us to save people's lives with behavior like this! Take this bag" as he threw a bag into the middle of us, "and use the tools inside it." Everyone in the semicircle then started screaming to open the bag and use our tools. Upon opening the bag we realized that inside were three EST shirts, and we had made the team. Immediately all the medics start cheering and hugging us. It was all very relieving and awesome to know I had made the team!
Apparently of 300+ applicants, I was one of 18 chosen (not to brag or anything...). The guy that was kicked off during the third "interview" was just a decoy, and an effective one at that. It was all very very exciting and fun to start meeting the people on the team. Evidently, most of them know our names already, and know literally everything we put on our application and talked about in our interviews. It was creepy at first when everybody on the team knew my name, but it was kind of endearing.
The next couple of days were fun just relaxing and hanging out with the few people that were still on the floor (literally more than half of my floor left for fall break, which only really amounted to Friday off). Saturday was great fun, because after working for a while, me, Josh (my RA) and five other kids from my floor drove to Forest Park and went paddleboating. Then afterwards Josh invited me and two other guys out to dinner with his friend, so we got a fantastic Italian dinner on the Hill for pretty cheap, and then Ted Drews for dessert!
So overall I think that this week has made up for the last couple. Especially because I'm feeling so much better!
Know I've got an essay to finish and the first EST meeting to go to tonight, so that's all for now!
Love love love!
-Brendan

Third Show!

Hey all! I finally have my shows uploaded to somewhere where y'all can access them and download/listen them. They should just be in mp3, so whatever windows media player/itunes will work to play them. Hopefully the downloads aren't limited or anything but I don't know... But anyways, if you want to listen to my radio show in all it's awkward glory, here's the link to do so. Just go to the link and SCROLL DOWN. At the bottom it says Download Link: 10-12-2010.mp3 or whatever the file name is. Click that, NOT the other 20 buttons that say download... those are all ads.

Here's yesterdays show (10/12/10)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gvpmjw
And the playlist

Mountain Man How'm I Doin'
John Lee Hooker The Waterfront
Iron & Wine Sodom, South Georgia
Joshua Radin Star Mile
Jenny Lewis Acid Tongue
Owen Playin' Possum For a Peek
Modest Mouse Perfect Disguise [BBC Radio]
Gustav & The Seasick Sailors Distant Mornings
Caribou Hello Hammerheads
Theodore Abilene
Megafaun Carolina Day
Robert Ellis Cemetery
John Coltrane Bass Blues

Then for 2 weeks ago, (9/27/10)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/22hgt3

Nat King Cole: Unforgettable
Citizen Cope: Salvation
Bear Ceusel: Saw It Beating
...Rocky Votolato: Tinfoil Hats
Minature Tigers: Dino Damage
The Senate: Skeleton Line
Dreamend: My Old Brittle Bones
Sarah Jaffe: Stay With Me
Glen Hansard: Leave
Ryan Adams: Amy
Nick Drake: Place To Be
The Shins: A Comet Appears
Elliot Smith: Angel In The Snow
John Coltrane: Dealin’

Bad Week (part 1)

The last week or so has been kind of rough. It started last Thursday with a physics test, then an essay due and my EST 2nd round interview on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were spent studying for a psych test on Monday, and a chem test on Tuesday. Not to mention a physics lab on Tuesday and a chem lab on Thursday. So all in all it's been a rough week.
The tests were all fairly straight forward. The physics test went quite well, and I ended up getting a 92% which I was very happy with. The psych test went surprisingly well, considering that I had gone to the Vampire Weekend concert (WHICH WAS AWESOME) the night before. But a friend on my floor had sat me down and essentially tested/quizzed me for a couple hours after the concert which helped immensely. The chemistry test was a bear. Rumors had been circulating for a while about how hard the test was supposed to be. Supposedly last year, the average on the first test was a 31%. So all of us were nervous for good reason. As a floor a bunch of us studied together for a long time the night before, and all of us commented how we had never had to study quite like this an exam. The test itself was hard. An hour and a half, and most people I talked to didn't finish. I worked fast, and was able to write down something for each problem which was an accomplishment in itself. I ended up getting a 76%, which was good considering the average was 64%, and an A was a 75% and above!
The EST interview was... interesting. It was set up to have 3 rooms. The first room was a big semi circle of people, everybody laughing and very casual. The room was filled with good karma and general good vibes. Then after 15 minutes or so, they called me out and took me to the second room, which was polar opposite. It was a small, dimly lit room, where everybody was in suits. They didn't introduce themselves, and all their questions were very negative. I knew they were trying to play good cop/bad cop, and intimidate us to see how we'd hold up under pressure, but it was still not a very fun interview. I tried my best to stay positive and friendly, and in the end it worked out. Yesterday, after refreshing my email for the whole week, I finally got an email, and I got called back to a 3rd interview!
But that's about it for the good news. On Wednesday I was feeling pretty crummy, and then Thursday I felt terrible. I ended up deciding not to go to classes, and go to student health services (SHS) and get myself checked out. Turns out I have mono. And a sinus infection. AND I found out that triceratops don't exist. Or rather were never real. So all in all, Thursday was a bad day.
Luckily, SHS was able to call a local pharmacy that delivers to the dorms, and so I got some sudafed, prescription strength ibuprofen, and some nasal spray. Good times!
Today I feel pretty crappy, and literally stayed in bed till 12. Slowly but steadily I'll get better. The real bummer was that this weekend is a huge free concert that's put on twice a week called WILD (Walk In, Lay Down), so I'll be stuck sleeping in the dorms while everybody else is off having fun. But, as my RA said, there are still 7 more!

Anyways, that's the major (long overdue) update.
Miss and love everybody!
-Brendan