Happiness.

MSN had an article about the 5 secrets to happiness. Here they are, by Ed Diener, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He totes these boost our immunity and cut our risk of heart disease. Interestingly, regular sex raises your IgA by 30%.

1. Laughter- improves circulation.
   
2. Love- better cholesterol, fewer CV risks and better weight.
   
3. Determination- active coping skills have better NK cell function.
   
4. Expressiveness- Women who bottle up their feelings are four times more likely to pass away for any reason in a ten year period. Doesn't affect men the same way.
   
5. Pleasure- self-explanatory ;).
   

H-town

I didn't know that I actually liked Houston until I left it for a while. I know that whenever I go home, to good ole zapata, that I'll miss Houston. I'll miss the 24 hours fast food places. The grocery stores that remain open after 9pm. Places to hang out, grab a drink with people our age, catch a movie, rent a movie... The different cultures and their different neighborhoods. You can catch a play or visit a museum. You can live here for years and years and have yet to visit all the museums. You can go to the park (Hermann or Memorial or one of the various dog parks) or visit the zoo.

I just thought the city was smoggy, and humid, and full of pot holes. But apparently, I like it.

Duke.

I'm in North Carolina right now. I'm interviewing at Duke University and Univ of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. And there are two things that amaze and confuse me.

1. Everyone's white. I interviewed with three blondes, a brunette and myself. It seemed like people found it interesting that I was obviously Mexican (last name). After I would introduce myself, the next question was usually "where are you from?" And then, "do you speak Spanish?" Do I have a nopal on my forehead? Does my English have a Spanish accent? Am I brown? (ask me about the brown comment later) I'm not really offended as much as I am taken aback. I'm surprised. I've been living in Texas for about 18 years now. I've been surrounded by Mexicans almost all my life. I've forgotten what it feels like to be a minority. I've probably never known what it feels like to be a minority. We make up 4% of the population here.

2. The trees. Durham has a population of close to 200,000. But I'm like "Where are all the people?" All I see is these 'supposed' Highways and these trees. Gonzo and Peter suggested I name the trees and live amongst them as a family. I think they wanted to use me as a psychiatric specimen. I hear there's a good First Break Psychosis Center around here...

Where are the mesquites, laureles, sage brush and nopales?

More Beans.

Crap, I left beans in the crock pot on high while I went out last night. They ran out of water and burned. Darnit. This is gonna have to be a bean-free environment from now on.

Oh, speaking of beaners, check out this pic. Another cousin... Beaner.

Beaners.

The apartment smells good now. I've been burning coffee scented incense and now my apartment smells good :)

It's a Boy!

Here's my itty bitty new baby cousin. He was born yesterday.

Name: Arturo Javier Martinez, Jr.
Weight: 8lbs 10oz.
Length: 20 in.
Born Wed, Dec 7th at 7:55pm
at Laredo, TX

Old Friendster Entries.

I decided to change my blog to prevent all those emails friendster would send out each time I made an entry... http://sonygee.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/

I was going to cut and paste my friendster blog entries into this one but that started taking too long. I lost interest. Then, I started looking for the FULL HOUSE house. I just came back from a trip to San Francisco. I missed the part of the tour where the tour guide pointed out the home because I was lost. "FULL HOUSE house--" I did not know what she was saying. I also saw the Rice A Roni hill. I can't find it again though. I don't know where it was. However, I can point out Marilyn Manson's old home, the painted ladies and a bunch of other landmarks. If my medical school career goes amuck, I can always be a tour guide.

Well, I found the house. It looks like all other SF houses. However, here's a link to the song. Come on, sing along, I know you know the words.

http://www.tvland.com/theme_songs/themeSongsPopup.jhtml?id=16

So, what's new with me? Well, my aunt just had a baby. She's 27 1/2, just a year and a half older than me. Looks like I'm next in the line up. At least I have my graduation coming up to distract my family members from noticing that I'm completely and utterly useless, i mean single. They'll have this baby around for a while to play with so they won't notice.

A friend of mine is getting divorced. That's a fun topic for me. They were together for seven years, lived together the last year and were married for a month! I decided to call him Ross. His hearing is the 14th.

Okay, a crazy thing happened. I was gone from my apartment that I share with my brother and he had several mini-disasters. Okay maybe just one--he burnt a pot of beans. (Yes, we're beaners.) The apartment smells. What is he gonna do if I leave?