I need to remember this organization, later.

Well, I just got done registering for Spring semester at the U of Az. I'll be taking Chemestry (lecture and lab), and making another stab at Trigonometry.

I have to come up with about $300, for tuition, fees, and books.

Ugh.

On the other hand, if I can get my bio classes out of the way this summer, I can enroll in nursing classes at Pima in the fall. No, it's not really what I wanted, but it'll give me a chance to get away from computers... finally... and at least be working in the medical field.

From there, I might seek a Nurse Practitioner's certificate instead of an MD. It depends how long it takes me to get to the place where I'll be eligable for it.

And... American Nurses can work in England.

So, after some talking, I (think) I managed to lay to rest most of the concerns about the Hogwarts game for sundaygames, and we're going to go with it. It won't happen for about a month, but already hamner and I are psyched up for it.

I sent a bunch of questions to wednesdayschild (the Lovely and Brilliant Grace (Yes, thank you, I do know her name is Lucy)) about schooling in England. I think she's my only regular reader who happens to also be English... if I'm mistaken, feel free to chime in with whatever you have to say about the English school system.

I was thinking (again) over the last few days, about living in England. I'd really like to spend at least a year or three in London, I believe.

I'm just not sure how to get there from here.

Welcome to this special edition of Love Letters from Deep Space, with your host, everybody's favorite Letch and Perv, Cowboy R!

Thank you, thank you. Please relax, look around, and make sure you take the time to fill out the poll.

We here in Deep Space have recently received some letters from readers which have us a little concerned, and we want to take a few moments to address the issues they've raised.

childofsnow writes, "I had coffee with Cowboy R! What a sweetie!"

Well, yes, thank you, I blush, but it's true. Of course, that's not really a concern, it's just a comment, but I bring it up at the begining for to illustrate a point.

perlandia and conifur have both expressed concern over the garments they wear, because of things that Cowboy R has written in the last week or so.

nekojin helpfully points out that Cowboy R is a letch and a pervert! Thank you, Prudence! I'll remember that, the next time you wear a translucent shirt with a leopard print bra!

Ladies, the truth is, Cowboy R is a letch and a pervert... in a very gentlemanly way. Cowboy R would be appalled if he found out that OAT knew he was obsessed about her body, and her underwear.

Cowboy R does think that it's often, maybe even usually, the case that he can tell if a woman is wearing a brassiere. There are visible lines created in the overgarment by such underwear, and Cowboy R notices these pretty much as a matter of course.

Sometimes, a woman will wear something which lets her bra straps show. When this happens (as was the case with OAT this morning), Cowboy R generally presumes that the rest of the garment is the same color, and draws the conclusion that OAT is wearing a black bra today. This pleases Cowboy R, because he feels as if he has seen something forbiden, something secret and maybe a little taboo, and he goes away feeling delightfully pervy.

Only once has Cowboy R actually seen OAT's breast, and that left him virtually speechless for the rest of the week. We stumbled upon him curled up in the corner, muttering "Booooooooooobs!" and drooling.

So please, do not be concerned that Cowboy R, or any other man for that matter, is equiped with X-ray eyes. It is simply that Cowboy R actually looks at people, and sees things that give him clues to other things.

Last but not least, we come to a letter from ticcia, who writes, "Cowboy R rocks my world, and I want to lick his..."

Oh.

Oh, my.

That wasn't the letter we intended to read, at all.

Er... the letter we actually intended to read is from irnbruise, who lives in New York City. (Why didn't I know all these beautiful women in New York City when I lived in New York City?)

irnbruise asks, "What are the differences in standardization [of Medical education] in North America and Europe?"

In the United States, a prospective doctor goes to college, and earns a batchelor's degree in a subject which may or may not be directly related to medicine. (Cowboy R, for instance, is reading English). They take a number of classes which are required by medical school admissions boards, including basic chemestry, physics, and genetics, as well as some fairly difficult math.

They then apply to medical school, and spend an average of three years completing medical training and earning the coveted M.D. They then serve an internship (another three to five yers, depending on specialty), and possibly a residency.

In the United Kingdom, (at least, as I understand it from my reading), a prospective physician gets accepted to a medical college straight out of high school, and does the equivelent of a combined B.S. / M.D. program, earning a BS, and the right to practice medicine as a general practitioner.

They then persue further degrees, according to their specialties.

Aparently, the differences are such that medical graduates from the UK have trouble finding internship / residency in the US, and it's very difficult for an M.D. candidate from the USA to get into UK medical programs.

Also aparently, once you've finished all this, making the transition from practicing medicine in either area to the other is fairly simple... you just can't piecemeal take a part of it here, and a part of it there... and I'm not ready to live in London for the next ten years.

The mail came.

I got a postgraduate catalogue from King's College, London, University of London.

It would be so cool to study in London, to live in the UK for a couple of years.

But if I did, I'd be really wreaking havoc with my chances of ever practicing medicine in the US.

The US and Canada have compatable systems of medical schooling. If you go to medical school in either country, you can practice in the other without difficulty.

The UK and the rest of the EU have worked out a similar deal.

I wonder how long it will be, before the North American and European systems are standardized, so to speak?

My parents want me to go up to Phoenix this weekend and "babysit" my grandmother, who has Alzheimer's Disease, so they can get away for a little while.

Glad to do it.

Well, it turns out that the UK's system of medical schooling is completely different from the USA's. So different as to necessitate jumping through a whole additional series of hoops that I really don't care to try and jump through.

Maybe if I'd come to this straight out of high school, having done well there, I'd feel differently. But I'm not straight out of high school, and anyway, I didn't do well there.

So no college in London. Damn.

Steve Martin did a movie called The Man With Two Brains, in which he plays a doctor looking for a host body for the brain of his beloved. Cowboy R isn't nearly that sophisticated; when he says he's of two minds about something, what he really means is that he has an initial, not very nice thought, then feels guilty, and has another, nicer thought to compensate.

When you get right down to it, Cowboy R's kind of bitchy.

You ask for a case in point? You would like an illustration? I would like nothing better than to give you one. This morning, Cowboy R walked into his class a little late, as he'd decided to walk to school today, instead of taking the bus.

Well, late as in, later than he normally gets there, not as in, late after the bell rang late.

Anyway, he came in, sat down, and was amused to see a group of cute female students clustered around Kate, who was giving out the answers Cowboy R had given her on Saturday, as if they were her own inspired ideas.

Now, as mentioned, Cowboy R is of two minds about this. Mind 1 says: Bitch! How dare you pass that crap out without giving credit! And why don't they come ask me!?

Cowboy R then feels guilty about this, and Mind 2 speaks out. It says: Well, as long as the answers are getting out, and getting discussed, and people are seeing where they come from and maybe picking up how to answer questions like that, isn't that the important thing?

So, there you have it. An example.

Cowboy R will now stop talking about himself in the third person.

Yesterday, I rented a couple of movies at Casa, took them home, watched them. The first was Ghost World wich was a little bit slow in some places, but was overall pretty good. I think the bus at the end is a visual metaphor for death.

The second movie was Perfect Blue, a Japanese animated movie that just rocked. It's sort of what you'd get if Hitchcock and Miyazaki sat down together to make a film. Psychodrama. Murder. Head-fuck.

I'm still hearing the tag-line in my head. "Excuse me... who are you?"

I found a cool link this morning, Hanson's Guide to Foreign Medical Colleges, which has me thinking about London again. It'd be cool to study Medicine in London, I think. I'm going to look into it, figure out if I can find the money, figure out how hard it will be for me to study abroad and then come back to the US and practice, that kind of thing.

It's not movin' down the road, but it still makes my wanderlust ease a little.