My tale of freedom

So the exams finished, I'm doing my project, which requires lots of reading, which i haven't even done a quarter of. I'm someone else's desk at my 'work' I like to call it, eating my lunch, listening to youtube songs, and reminiscing about how I was this time last year.

Anyway, I promised myself I'd make a blog post not about exams or manga for once, so I'll chat about the extracurricular things I've been up to:

1. March the 8th I saw Miss. Kon, we had Pad thai! We had chrysanthemum tea! It was amazing, more of a sedative than a beverage. The teapot it came in was see through and you could actually see the flowers swirling around in the hot yellow water, it was probably the most exciting tea I've ever had, second only to Miss. Noozi's fruit iced tea.

2. 9th of March I got to see Miss. Short Fuse in her natural habitat, I was finally face to face with the uni friends that she constantly talks about, I'd prefer if she transferred the insufferable affection she has for her friends to her friends, because I'm tired of having the brunt of it all. I don't mind hearing about them, but the extent that she talks of them is really beyond excessive. Well, It was her birthday, I was most graciously invited to her birthday dinner considering it wouldn't have happened if I didn't step into her social-fear and actually ask permission from our father. She has a very large set of friends, and I hate to disappoint her (i secretly love to), but I didn't like most of them. I suppose it was due to the fact that I knew everything about every single waking hour of her friends lives. It was like an unsuspecting person being introduced to their uninterested stalker. Or maybe it was prior prejudice I harboured due to how often Miss. Short fuse talks of them, maybe it was even jealousy, but it was certain that some of them I disliked because of the atrocious things I'd already heard of them from Miss. Short Fuse herself, what astonishes me most, is that she remains sociable with the same abominable people, she knows this, and she's stupid because of it.

3. 10th March I went to visit my old Uni buildings, even though I'm in the same university, I'm miles away at different campuses and I felt a stronger sense of loss of belonging, that's the sad part of attaching your self to a foundation; you have to break away, and i always end up losing more than I gained. The good bit was that i got to see old friends, which always brings a smile.

4. 12th March, I attended an Orchestra showing, the music played were some of the most amazing music I've every heard and it was all pursued for due to another set of Miss. Short Fuse's friends, despite my love for the music played, I was, at the end of the day, an escort to be present for the return home journey. funny thing was that there was an ISOC event the same day, same time, and I didn't feel any inclination to go at all. Glad I didn't, I don't like being part of a status quo, as horrible as that sounds in regard to the make shift community of Muslim students that i belong to, that's the truth, I am myself, not an obliging member of a group.

5. 13th march, was Miss. Nodi's birthday dinner/Miss. Eyebrow's leaving dinner. As usual, we created a significant amount of noise. so much noise, that we were actually 'shushed' by an annonymous person from another table. The prime discussion was on playing devil's advocate on my homophobia, then poured on the questions from my neighbouring friends of 'what if this person was gay..' We also stumbled upon a dead lookalike of Jonny Depp in a Jack Sparrow outfit.. he was really a spitting image, if not slightly larger than the real thing. never the less, it was a truly wonderful day, on of my best this year. Because it had nearly all my oldest and dearest friends surrounding one, long table, chattering away by volcanic force. We had a pit stop at this super candy shop which had... everything, and I mean everything, it was a miniature williwonker's chocolate factory.

6. 14th March, I think I've decided I don't like wedding, I love segregated weddings, which was what I attended to on this day, but I saw some older ladies moving in rather... provocative ways, one even stood on a table. As you can imagine (try not to) such a sight really did put me off weddings, but thankfully not my appetite (the food was yummy).

7. 21st March, This day was rather momentous for me as it was the day I discovered my Egyptian roots... sorta. I and Miss. Pain in the Ass went to a sort of network event for 2nd and 3rd generation Egyptians in the UK, it was hosted by the Egyptian consulate and I had no idea such an organisation even existed. Well, now they know that young Egyptians do exist too. For the first time in my life I felt like I belonged somewhere, there were other half Egyptians too, and it was nice talking about hour feelings on returning to Egypt. The organisers were a bit cheesy as most Arabs are, and the middle aged women were pretty much all match makers. In fact the event did seem a bit like a 19th century ball, except there was no dancing and all the boys stuck to themselves, while the girls did likewise. One guy did come up to me, and he said the most random thing, asking me if I was some girl on a bus that went to Manchester university. I had to admire the person's courage considering I was surrounded by girls, but he really should have planned for something else in case said girl said 'no', which I did. I wanted to burst out laughing as he practically crawled away.

8. 28the March: I and the sisters decided to go to a charity event called 'Draw a smile'. Surprising as this may be there were significant disadvantages to this. Firstly, the event was organised and hosted by an ex-school mate, I shan't name names, but he doesn't exactly have a clean reputation, despite him never meeting me, I know some details of his personal life I'd rather not have known. Secondly, the entire event was aimed at Egyptians, which meant being surrounded by Arabs which is something I just can't do. But i got to practice the week before by being at the consulate and it paid off... I ignored virtually everyone there. thirdly most of the event was extortionate auctioning, so crap things like a 3abaaya got sold for $150. They even auctioned cakes... they really needed to get better ideas. The main host (same as the organiser) was so annoying in the fact that every two words he spoke was followed by a pause... it got soooooooo irritating! The good news is that I got to see Miss. Hard shopper her mother and sister. I also bought some baklawa, which i got an allergic reaction to later that night.

April: quite a few things have happenned, I don't want to go into detail as i really should be getting back to work, but in summary: I fasted 2 days and nearly fell as a result of hypotension. My grandmother had a few parathyroid glands removed in a surgery performed by my cousin's husband. We all had dinner when my uncle suddenly dropped by our house from Egypt and next thing I knew I had 4 hours to clean the house, we had a delicious barbecue and I actually enjoyed babysitting the kids this time, though I got a bit worried about the knowledge of swear words the 9 year old boy had. My grandma is now fine and walking and doing everything she used to do, which is pretty strange considering she thought she was going to die before the operation. My great aunt from Luton came over the day after the barbecue to visit the 'invalid' and I got to cook Fasulya.

Overall, it's been a mad month.

Manga of the Month- March

I have taken an interest in a certain sci-fi-ish manga called 'Heads'. As both a medical scientist and Neuroscientist I took this manga with a huge pinch of salt. It is about a young man who undergoes a partial brain transplant after being shot at a bank robbery. Okay, so when I first read the blurb I was like O..M..G... this was because just a few weeks earlier I got into a heated conversation about how impossible a brain transplant is with a fellow neuroscientist student (Mr. Exam Superhero) who has a stubborn belief that brain transplants will, someday, be possible.

There's just too many issues that accompanies the remote idea of a brain transplant, among the physiological problems such as connecting the white matter tracts, invading the skull without breaking it in order to fit in a brain, connecting the blood vessels, preventing a stroke, preventing tissue rejection and autoimmune encephalitis, matching tissue types, preserving the brain structure, preventing tissue damage or necrosis in transit and finally: maintaing the memory, personality, talents and capabilities of the patient.

That's beside the numerous ethical issues, like whose brain will be donated, is it okay to use cadaveric brain, rejuvenating a dead man's brain (sounds like something from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) and entering preternatural boundaries (issues of the soul, life and death).

Brain transplants are not just a fictional thing, there have been previous studies done on embryonic tissue and stem cells in order to transplant them, some with success. The therapeutic possibilities are endless! Dementia (Fronto-temporal dementia, Pick's Disease, schizophrenia and others), neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinsonism, ALS, Huntington's, TSE and others) and neurological function (such as attention, cognition, intellectual capacity, executive function, co-ordination and many others) could be treated and restored.

A load of bull perhaps? Maybe, I personally believe that brain transplants are impossible purely on religious belief, it is impossible to bring someone back after they have died, that is, when their soul has left their body, not simply their hart stopping. It would be playing god which simply is not possible. Even if a brain transplant were to be successful in term of grafting, I doubt it would ever be successful in terms of bringing the personality back.

The only thing worse than dying is living forever.

Back to 'Heads', it brings about a lot of these issues and also considers the public eye. But it is still very early for me to give a blow by blow analysis of the story. All I can say is that it holds a vast amount of promise and I look forward to seeing how it develops. I can see a glimmer of multiple personality disorder coming out from the initial drawings; this sinister feeling that there are two people in one mind, which could damn well actually happen in a brain transplant, that's IF there could ever be a brain transplant.

The drawing style tends to realism, so you could tell just by glancing that it's not some teen rubbish, there is plenty of detail and is certainly worth a look, but this manga cannot be held in esteem for it's drawings, I have seen better talent. But still, the drawing is good.

I'm rather worried as it is the first Horror manga I've attempted, nothing gruesome has come yet, but I know my stomach and it's pretty weak when it comes to horror and suspense. But I'll be brave and stake it out for the sake of medical insight!
Dessa rating: 7/10 but definitely worth a read.

Exam status

Number of exams done: 3
Number of exams to do: 0
Emotional state: Grieved, happy, sad, in denial.
Physical state: feet cracking, tired, headache, breathing again.
Procrasinaional level: 0
Number of days to freedom: 0
Neurological state: depleted.

OMGAAAAAAAAAAAAD!

Days left to freedom: 1
Procrastination level: 207

Exam Status 2

Exams done: 2
Exams to do: 1
Emotional relieved: Relieved, Beyond caring.
Physical state: Aching brain, floppy wrist, sleep deprived.
Procrastination level: 23.
Days left to freedom: 3
Neurological state: Twisted.

Exam status

Number of exams done: 1
Number of exams to do: 2
Emotional report: Stretched, Demented, Scared.
Physical state: Exhausted, dellusional.
Procrastination level: 11 and rising
Days left to freedom: 7
Neurological state: Fried.