Ghost in the peanut

Yesterday I figured out that lying down to sleep mid-afternoon is not only a great way to blow off the whole rest of the afternoon, it's also a great way to make sure you can't get to sleep that night. For some reason I had the word "anisocoria" whizzing round in my head too. Does that ever happen to you? It happens to me all the time. I'll hear or read a strange, novel word and for the next few days it just zings round inside my head.

Sometimes, especially when I'm trying to get to sleep, it's as if the word is a weight on the end of a piece of string. It swings round every couple of seconds and whacks me right in the head. ANISOCORIA! And in between I can feel the tension in that string - feel it twist and buzz through the air. ANISOCORIA! It's incredibly annoying, let me tell you.

If the word is really tenacious it can stick for years. I've had the phrase "loya jurga" stuck in my head since late 2001 when the US invaded Afghanistan. I think it's some kind of tribal council, and I can't even remember if that's how you spell it, but it's such a nice round euphonious word that I think I'll always have it close by in my head. It's like rolling a smooth cool pebble around in my mouth.

One thing that studying medicine is really great for (oh yeah, you can make sick people well again, so that's two things!) is that your vocab really picks up. This is great for Scrabble. I played the word "talus" the other day. Sweet! I'd never heard of the talus (ie: ankle bone) until a few weeks ago but now there it is on my board. I don't think I'll be playing "anisocoria" any time soon though. It's a bit long.

Oh, and one more thing to mention. I find that while I'm studying the brain I find myself straining to actually feel my brain doing stuff. For example, I'll be reading about the basal ganglia and I'll be sitting there half convincing myself that when I wiggle my fingers, I can feel a little buzzy zap go rushing from one part of my brain to another and eventually down my spine and out through my arm.

Another great game to play is to try to surprise yourself by wiggling your fingers unexpectedly. I sit there for a while staring at my un-wiggling fingers, thinking, "no, no, no, no, no, no, n-YES!- but really I did that on purpose so it doesn't count". You should try it right now, it's a blast. In fact, I think it could be the underground street hit of 2009. Get in early.

Anyway, that's probably more insight than you really needed into how my mind works. I'd just like to qualify all of the above with the following points:

1. I've got exams next week so I'm quite stressed.
2. I'm a terrible procrastinator so I'm quite bored.
3. I do exaggerate an awful lot.
4. I have a hard-earned reputation for eccentricity that must be maintained.

Thanks for reading.