Amazing Weekend

I can't believe its almost over. Having 4 days off has been great - I've been able to recharge, and my stress level is basically zero.

I saw Dimmu Borgir last night. They are absolutely wonderful live. One of the opening bands (I never caught their name) was pretty terrible, but Enslaved was great. I hadn't heard of them before, but they're similar to Dimmu - very melodic, basically distorted classical. And they SING. Best of all, they're also from Norway, and the vocalist's accent was so thick. In between songs he'd say something, and I'd expect the next line out of his mouth to be "My lungs unsbuzzle the air from the earth, as I can breathe... it. Period." Which probably makes absolutely no sense to 99% of the people reading this, but the 1% that gets it is going to be thinking the exact same thing when they see them play in Colorado. (Hint - its from the cartoon I named my dog after.) Anyway, Dimmu's show was amazing. Some of the more melodic keyboard parts got drowned out in the mix, but their light show was very impressive, and with the exception of the keys, they almost sound just like the album live. I left the show with a scratchy voice from screaming, a sore neck from headbanging, seeing spots from the light show, and ringing ears. It was so worth it.



I must say, though, it is so bizarre to go to a metal show and not know a single person there. I kind of feel like in Colorado, the metal scene was my second family. If it was a local band playing, I'd probably know at least 50% of the crowd, and for a big show like this, I'd still probably know at least 20 people who showed up. It definitely hit me at the show yesterday, and made me feel really homesick.

I've also been doing "productive" stuff this weekend. On our final exams, in addition to the same written and practical portions we've had before, we have a new part called the ACT, or "Assessment of Critical Thinking." Basically, we're presented with a case (similar to the ones we've had during the block) that describes a scenario, and gives us some clinical values, and we have to decide which two options from a list it's the most likely to be, describe the pathophysiology of those disease processes, and write about which tests we would use to rule in or rule out those diagnoses. I've been spending most of the weekend laying the groundwork to prepare for it. I'm feeling decently confident about it, but at the same time, feel like there's no real way to be completely prepared for it.

One more week of actual classes, then finals. After that, assuming I make it through ok, I'll be 1/8th of the way done with vet school!