4.    The autistic. These are the ones glued to their notebooks/journals, their novels or the internet and are oblivious to the outside world. For today, I have (again) flamboyant techie downloading songs and videos. He reports that he has taken my suggestion last time on searching for Alexandra Burke and has since become a fan. It’s cool to sit beside these people. I’m almost always assured that no sound will be coming from them nor from their laptops.

5.    The weirdos. There was one who would tap the table loudly when the ADHD creatures become rambunctious. Or the one who actually had the gall to stand in front of the ADHD creatures with arms crossed and just stare at them. (weird).

But my favorite weirdo is not really that big of a weirdo. Daffy and I called him Old Man Tony, a 40 year-old dude whom Daf met while reviewing for the boards some 7 years ago. Old Man Tony wants to be a doctor someday, which was why he was reading an assortment of medical books. That would’ve been admirable, except that he has been doing this for 3 years – the amount of time he should’ve spent in medical school! Instead, he has been slaving away at these books so that by the time he reads them in med school, it would be easy for him. And by easy, that means he’d be topping the class.

Any doctor or medical student will tell you that this is not a guarantee.

Our impression of Old Man Tony is the classmate who always wants to get ahead in the game, would not be a team player, and would keep vital info from his colleagues someday. In other words, the classmate you wouldn’t want to have.

What made him weird, furthermore, was that he kept studying without actually finding out that the cut off age for NMAT (at that time) was 35! Imagine the look of defeat in his face!

“Sorry to burst your bubble, dude, but you’re little too late.”

We don’t know if he was able to make it to med school for whatever loophole he found. If he was, here’s a tribute to Old Man Tony, our favorite weirdo and (in my mind and Daffy’s) the iconic Starbucks Katipunan tambay with a mission!

I guess one would argue that if you do not want to be affected by all these personalities while studying, then proceed to the library immediately. However, all these apply to the libraries as well because the library is just the cafe minus the coffee. And that cafes are libraries minus the reminders of being quiet (which fall on deaf ears sometimes anyway.)

Well, back to mah books. (Oh yeah, today I’m both the studious/nerd and the autistic techie).

Once again, I thought that studying in a cafe would do wonders for me. It did.

However, what’s interesting today is my encounter with the usual people who hang out (tambay) in a cafe. I forgot all about them. I have encountered them countless times during the different stages of being a med student.

I have learned to examine the area first, identify these personalities, before I settle on a place where it will be beneficial for me. And I do this quickly. I guess I also do this without noticing that I do this.

These are the usual tambays with a mission:
(Note: Those who came in to unwind and those posers have been taken out of the list.)

1.    The quasi-studious creature. These are those who think they have the biggest brains in the whole of the cafe. Some go to the extent of pretending to pass by the studious creatures’ table so they can peek at what said studious creature is reading. That, or the fact that they talk loudly at 90 decibels is enough to make anyone make patol.  My friend, Daffy, even said that she once encountered some of them who even talk aloud about what they’re reading and how difficult their subject is. If she were immature enough to make patol, she would have told them, “Iho, you’re studying Biochemistry. That’s freshman medicine level. I’m reviewing for the boards.”

In my case, “Iha, you’re talking about Anatomy. That’s freshman level medicine. I’m a doctor and I’m reading just for fun.”

2.    The really studious creature. Also known as “the other studious creature/nerd besides me”. These people I can tolerate – whether they are the humble types or they be the loud ones with “(School) College of Law” emblazoned on their jackets, “(School) College of Medicine on their shirts, or whatever telling sign they have that makes them brainier than the average cafe tambay. I respect these people simply because they are those who are as focused and as unaffected as me… until our attention wanes and we observe the other quasi-studious creatures in the cafe. When one studious/nerd meets eye-to-eye with a fellow nerd, we know we have met a friend despite the lack of verbal communication. And that’s already enough to make friends. (We nerds have our own language).

3.    The ADHD creatures. These talk too much and at a volume where the whole of the cafe can hear, allowing the irritated bloggers to make a post about them. For today, I had a couple of college girls deliberate on whether or not they will have to continue on with medicine after graduating from college. Apparently, the two are so pessimistic about medicine that I can’t decide whether to smack them in the head for being so cynical or applaud them for bailing out early at a lifetime commitment. (Please understand that I was trying to study, hence, the low tolerance level).

(to be continued)

Hi guys! It’s a bit late, but I would never forget to acknowledge you guys! Thanks again!

My top droppers for March:

How to make money on the internet

The Vegan Lifestyle

Easy Bingo

My Ark Full of Worry-Free Thoughts 3.0

HealthEagle

Steve v4.7

Article Marketing Methods

My Financial Recovery

See, Hear and Feel

Over a Cup of BARAKO

Note the color coordinated boots!

This video was posted by youtuber cmgaviola (but later found out it was taken off, so I’m reposting it from youtuber fhay17)

Here comes my top droppers:

Make Money on the Internet

Over a Cup of BARAKO

HealthEagle

Health News

Viewpoint Publication

Doing Business

Wren’s Wings

Steve v4.7

CafeTeen.biz

Fermentedly Challenged

Thank you!

Been a month (I think) since I signed up at Entrecard and I’m seriously getting addicted!… Here, I would like to acknowledge my top EC droppers.

Thanks so much!

Over a Cup of BARAKO

HealthEagle

Kitchen Retro

Viewpoint Publication

Use it or Lose it

Steve v4.7

Step Away From The Cake

Justin Germino

Hollow.Whispers

World Through Coloured Glasses

Wanna make your own?

Here’s how to do it. Go to:

1. quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

3. flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Got this from Joshua Blankenship.

And here’s the original photo by zubillaga61.

So what’s your CD like?

This new category will list whatever it is I discover or stumble upon during my break time, or anything anyone recommends that I think is either interesting or worthy to waste your break time on. Cause we really deserve a break once in a while.

1. First up is for them budding artists and the frustrated types as well. Click here. I initially had my eyebrows raised when my comp said that it was done loading the site. I was ready to close the tab, dragged my mouse toward the close button when I saw it happen. I won’t spoil the surprise for you!

2. When I want to listen to the radio, I usually tune into eradioportal, Yahoo Launch, or webradiointernational. I’m adding one to the list: Musicovery, an interactive and customised webradio. You can find music that will match your mood. Choices range from funk to jazz, range of years or a specific year, and how fast your choice of tempo. Rating the songs enables the program to personalize it for you. The great thing about this is that you are able to discover more artists (who happen to appeal to your musical taste) who would otherwise would have not been in your listening range.

Oh, and it’s also accessible through mobile phones, but I have yet to try it.

3. Finally, something for those who are so bored that they would settle for anything easy on the eyes.  Create your own snowflake will do just that – provide you with a cheap thrill.

That’s it for now. Till next week!