for the past 3 days i've practically been a snivelling nose on a pair of legs. i've been using tissues at the rate of 1 packet per hour during lectures, and as a result my nose has swollen so as to obliterate the greater part of my body. i feel real sexaaaaaye, rawr.

in the spirit of things, i made the decision to only appear for physio prac late in the afternoon, bypassing whatever morning lectures were supposed to have been had. which was just as well, because i hear that our class rep lifeng decided to flash the mugshot i submitted for our matric card in front of the whole LT. what a great way to warm everybody up to helping me with next year's medicine DnD! and so i have to say that my decision was probably the best one i've made in ages, because i would have been even more mortified if i was around whilst the public embarrasment was taking place. whoever came up with the idea of passport photos: death be thy fate!

on tuesday i finally got to watch The Prestige, which i found disturbing in many ways: 1. everybody knows that clones cannot be born through magnetic fields 2. everybody knows that clones are not created in seconds 3. even if you could create a clone as such, everybody knows that clones are only genetically identical and do not bear the same personalities or shared memories. PEOPLE, THIS IS A MAJOR PLOT FLAW! i was so caught up with the incredulousness of the 'real magic' that i regret to report that much of hugh jackman's appearances were lost on me, although i did feel fleeting sadness to see him limping around after the trapdoor sabotage. mark says that christian bale was the Hunk of the show; i disagree. i think he looks too normal, and lacks the smolder factor of hugh jackman. likewise, nobody can come close to our dear friend johnny depp, who apparently is either recently married or soontobemarried :( nonetheless the cast was generally pleasant on the eyes, and i like piper perapo! and apart from a few creepy blind men and severed fingers and the freakiest ending shot ever, i think it's a rather clever movie overall. but you have to piece together all the flashbacks to appreciate the twists at the end, so you don't get to leave your brain at the door and enjoy the show. therefore, a bad choice if you're trying to destress before exams!

oh and today, we looked at the abdominal viscera after lunch. cirrhotic livers look gross, as do black lungs, which have totally reinforced in me the message that ALCOHOL AND SMOKING KILL. there are faster and more cost-effective ways to go, such as carbon monoxide inhalation, so i see no reason for people to carry on paying big bucks to overload their systems with carcinogens. don't they know it's disgusting??? also, in the course of the practical i happened to stand opposite joshua, who was zealously flicking about pieces of liver and spleen with the almost maniacal look which i suppose smart people get when they finger the organs of dead people. i had to remind him that i would never forgive him if so much as a drop of cadaverjuice landed on me or my clothes, which is my standing warning to all friends who hang around me in the dissection hall. hygiene is priority, after all.