On violence and hate

I don't usually like to get "political", but what's another voice in a sea of opinions?

Three things happened this week:

1. I was never a devoted fan or follower of Christina Grimmie but I was just as shocked as the next person to learn that she was shot and killed by some deranged fan who showed up to her concert with at least one gun.

2. Some dude walked into a gay dance club and shot and killed and injured a bunch of people. Trump accepted thank-yous from no one. A short time later, another man was caught before launching his plan of attack at a pride celebration or something.

3. A patient walked into our office wearing a green t-shirt that said "BAN ISLAM"; and not only did it say "BAN ISLAM" - on the front along with "BAN ISLAM" was an acrostic poem with adjectives that spelled ISLAM (can't remember it all - S was "SUICIDAL", L was "LYING", A was "ANTI-SOCIAL"); there was also something on the back as well but, again I can't remember. It was a terrible shirt anyway.

Three things to take away from all this:

1. There has to be gun control. Any argument against this is bullshit. I really don't understand how many people don't see that by providing easy access to guns pretty much allows the possibility of a person with a gun doing terrible things with it. Yes, there are other factors that go into these mass shootings like mental illness, or terrorism, but if you just take guns out of the equation, then there would be fewer shootings. How did I come to this conclusion? It took several pages of equations that almost got me kicked off a flight, but essentially: NO GUNS = NOTHING TO SHOOT PEOPLE WITH.

2. Anyone can commit and act of terror. Yes, the majority of it has been carried out by individuals who have some radicalized interpretation of Islamic faith, but this does not mean people with other religious beliefs or backgrounds aren't dangerous either. This also does not mean that every Islamic person is a terrorist. You just can't generalize like that. Each and every person is different and to assume they are one way based on how another person acts is incredibly wrong. So, Donald Trump, go trample over a pile of Legos.

3. You'd think Canadians were all friendly and peaceful, BUT, like I said above you can't generalize. And this guy who walked into our clinic shows exactly why. I honestly can't believe there are people in this country who support such idiotic ideas. "ISLAM" isn't the problem. ISIS is. The idea of banning a whole religion because of a small group of people is as unfair as that time the one kid in your grade 3 class didn't do his homework and so the teacher gave you all extra homework.

Sigh. That t-shirt was a disaster. That acrostic poem was the probably stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life.

The world is a terrible place right now and I don't know why I'm still here.

Also, if Trump becomes president, you can probably expect to see me at the Canada-US border, adding eighty more stories to this wall he wants to build.

Epuris: one year later...

Hello. It's me.

I'd forgotten that I had a blog and how it used to be

When I had time

To blog.

They say optometry school is easy

But it ain't been a breeze...

Got five exams

To study for,

But I'm running out of time...

Disclaimer: I started writing this post during the middle of exams, so my rendition of Hello doesn't apply anymore. But I'd say that's pretty decent song re-writing, eh?

Anyways. Hello! It's been over a year since I started taking Epuris, and if you've been following along, I've been off it since the end of September 2015; so I thought I'd post a little update for all of those who've been checking in to read about my experience.

Here's my background story: I'm pretty sure my acne started around grade 6, and I have a clear memory of having a really bad pimple on my chin in grade 7 when my crush spontaneously told me "You have a really big pimple" and I tried to pass it off as a bug bite. It continued on in high school, and then university where I started noticing that a) my breakouts loosely followed my menstrual cycle and b) it got really, really bad during the summer months. So in the fall or winter of 2014, my family doctor sent off a referral for me to see a dermatologist, and I got in to see her in February 2015, after getting started on birth control pills. And after some blood tests, I was given my first prescription for Epuris in April.

My experience was not terrible. My skin was naturally very, very oily, so Epuris' drying effect didn't desiccate my skin too much. My lips however did get very, very chapped, and the corners of my lips did crack a couple of times too. I also experience some moodiness at first when I started, but that subsided after a couple of weeks. And the last symptom I experienced was muscle pain in my back, between my shoulders - at the same time I'm not too sure whether that was entirely attributable to Epuris, or if it was me and my posture at work, because even since stopping Epuris in October, the back pain still hasn't gone away.

So how's my skin now? I'm still not entirely happy with it because I still have scarring, redness in some areas, and my face still gets shiny in the middle of the day. However, I'm satisfied with what Epuris did for my acne. I still do get pimples - most likely from stress and lack of sleep, with school going on - but they haven't been large, cystic or painful; and I haven't broken out badly (at most, I've had four pimples on my face at once! I mean, that kinda sounds like a lot, but compared to the amount I had on my face at once before, four is a really good number).

My routine has pretty much stayed the same - I still use the same makeup remover and face cleanser. I moisturize with a mattifying day cream, which admittedly doesn't do quite a great job at keeping me matte, but I like it for the SPF (I also use it as my night cream because I'm lazy - there are no negative side effects of too much SPF, right?). I also exfoliate at least once a week to promote skin cell turnover. For the occasional zit that pops up, I've been using a sample of NeoStrata's clarifying solution containing 2% salicylic acid, which I sadly don't have a picture for, but it has been effective, so I'm considering getting the full size product.

TL;DR: my experience with Epuris was great. I still get the occasional pimple here or there, but I'd say Epuris did it's job. Here's a selfie to show that despite the scarring and redness, there's nothing a Snapchat filter and good lighting can't fix!

Cheers!

Myers Briggs test 2016

Personality tests are always interesting. It's always fun to read the analyses and see how closely (or not) they actually line up with my personality as I see it. I took the Myers Briggs test on some random website today out of pure boredom and procrastination and my resulting personality type was different than when I first took the test a couple of years ago and last year.

ISFJ - Introverted, Sensation, Feeling, Judging

Dependable, considerate, and loyal to those closest to you, you have a firm grasp of the factual realities that lie before you as well as an eye for detail, each of which make you naturally gravitate towards others and their emotional needs. Nurturing and attentive, you tend to be quick to assume responsibility and to help out as soon as you see some task that could aid others. Though your surroundings rarely notice it, you tend to carry a lot of responsibility. All too often it is only when you are missing that others notice the immense effort that you usually put in to make sure everything around you is running properly and that everyone is looked after and feels at ease. Conscientious, thorough, and perhaps a bit perfectionistic, you are not one to impulsively chase after new and uncertain prospects before having finished the endeavor at hand. You tend to find a deep sense of satisfaction in working hard to achieve your goals and in selflessly supporting others, demonstrating that you care through your actions and preferring to lead by your quiet, dignified example.

The first time I took this quiz (it was a different quiz that took waaaaaaaaay longer, but last I checked, the quiz was no longer free to take or something), I got INTJ. And last year when I took it, I got ISTJ.

I'm evolving! I'm a feeling, more common-sensed individual now! Introvert has never been a surprise, and I don't think I'll ever grow out of that. As for judging... I don't know how to explain that.

Anyhow, quick post for the sake of posting; but also because I wanted that blurb on my blog for reference. You can take the quiz here, if you want. Or do you think these things are bogus?