XXVI : Self

I don't remember what I did for Halloween Freshman year. I think I just stayed in my dorm and studied for exams. When I think about what freshman year was like, I think of "study study study. get good grades. study study." Too depressing. And then, every year, I see people with all this make-up on, and I wonder, can I put on make-up too? Why not try it out? So, I made Halloween a reason for me to try on some make-up. Sophomore year, I turned out like this:

Tried strange make-up. Sure, I've tried putting on make-up many times before, but I never ventured outside with it on before. I don't think I've even let my family see what I've tried before. A shower always came straight after. So, this year, I decided to properly put on make-up. See if I could pull it off naturally. I tried during the summer, nothing dramatic:

Just makes my eyes look bigger. I was also playing with my new camera by taking that picture. yay. So, for Halloween this year, I went a little further, though I think the lighting erased the purple eyeshadow I had on. It's there though:

I wonder why I let myself follow other's expectations of me. It bothers me when people are shocked and say, "Melody! That's so unlike you!" or have that tone. I'm just expressing how I feel and want to be at the moment. Why should I let it bother me so much? In fact, I should be even more proud that they get a shock. Lets me know that you get a bit more of who I really am, and not who you think I am. I am more open than most seem to think. Or, am I just deceiving myself? Who knows.

I'll just continue surprising people as I still try to find out what Melody's style is. The huge range is too fascinating! I can try almost anything. [notice the ALMOST]

Well then, Happy (yet another) Halloween!

XXV : Value

Remember that Value of Time quote a while ago? Part of it played out. After work today, which was around 6:30pm, I walked to the tram stop to wait for the Route B line. After standing for about 2 minutes, a man crosses the road ahead of me and comes in my direction. He's got the short stature, black glasses, laptop bag, Asian-professor-like look and when I look up, he asks "Was that the Union Station tram?" I nodded and said yeah. And he darts after it. I thought, lucky that there's a red light right now, maybe he'll make it. And the bus drivers are nice people. They'll stop to let you in even if you're not at the tram stop. Anyway, I continue waiting for my tram to come. But I'm sad to say, he did not make it to the Union Station tram in time. He came back saying "if only I were 5 minutes earlier! I could have made it on that tram." I really need to meet more people. All I could respond was "awww..." But I decided to start a short conversation. I asked him, "how often does the tram come?" And I got a really detailed reply, which had a bit of complaining entwined with it, but all good. He said, "Every hour. So the next one will be at 7, and my train leaves at 7. The next train is at 8pm. This sucks." hahaha. yeah, when I say short conversation, I really mean a short conversation.

Anyway, it was interesting that I chatted with some strangers today. I heard Linty bike passed and when I looked toward the voice, I thought I saw her, so I shouted "LINTY!!!" but she continued on. A girl next to me who had just got off her phone commented, "I don't think she heard you. People on bikes never hear anything." Yeah, I don't think people on bikes focus on their surroundings much. Hence, bike accidents with pedestrians (?! stop confusing us with your swerving maneuvers, thinking you can avoid us walkers who go in a straightish line!) and cars. I wonder, do people on bikes pay less attention to the road or people walking? ... so dangerous out there.

All the more to value each second. Or each moment, pleasant or unpleasant at the time. They're all different.

XXIV : Mix

Seriously, every time I return to work at the pharmacy, I learn something new. There was one time, my co-worker (who actually works there full time) told me to watch this one lady who had just entered the pharmacy. "Go watch her. She steals," she told me. My mind went blank. What did you say? I watched the lady as she moved down the aisles and stopped in front of the toothpaste. She reached for this one brand I wasn't familiar with and smiled, "My friend! I found you, my friend!" in that voice many movies portray old witches to have-- old, nasally-ish, and that hint of trickery. I had no idea what to do! As long as she didn't decide to walk toward the exit with her "friend," I didn't have to do anything but watch her. Another co-worker walked in and took over the position of watching this person, so I returned to the register. But wow, what would I have done? I know my voice isn't powerful enough to push anyone to listen... but maybe I could have made her leave her "friend." ... who knows.

Anyway, today, something else happened. It was close to closing time (6pm) and I was helping this one patient who called in to have her prescription filled. The thing is, when prescriptions are sent over from USC's Health Center, the pharmacists don't fill them automatically because some people never pick them up (but we keep all the prescriptions forever anyway). I don't know why the physicians there tell the patients that they can "just go to the pharmacy and pick up your medicine" without telling them the part about having to wait for us to fill them after you've told us you were at the Health Center. whatever. Health Center and pharmacy lack of communication. It's not that big of a deal, just a few people go "What? You don't have it ready?" yeah. anyway, on to what happened today. I was searching for this one name, First Last, which when I looked up in the system, was there and her prescription was processed and completed today. The pharmacists remember filling her prescription. But where was it? We had no idea. And then a lady called with the name "First MID Last"! The first and last name were the same!!! What was complicated was that though their birthdates are clearly different, the computer system does not distinguish them when it prints out the medication form to be put on the medicine. Coincidentally, both of them had called in to have their prescriptions done today, and they were both from the Health Center. And the lady over the phone (the one with the MID name to) had picked up the non-MID lady's medicine. yikes. Being inexperienced, I gave specific details on what was going on ("your prescription was accidentally given to another person with the same name as you... but the pharmacist is working on yours right now. So it'll be a few minutes.") when I should have just gave a general idea. A pharmacist gave me the tip later when we were all finished ("instead of telling them that their prescriptions were given to someone else, next time just say that there was bit of a mix up and the pharmacist is now filling the prescription for you"). wow. sounds so much better. heh

So, communication skills need to be worked on. Best way, in my mind, is to make mistakes (and hope that people don't take it badly). I wonder, which gives a more positive image: making mistakes and learning from them? or learning about what to do in each situation by observing others and not making those mistakes? hmmm... guess it depends on what the situation is... which seems to be what the answer is usually for many many questions.

Mix and mingle!! It's like what happens in cooking with no recipe in mind. You mix random items that you think will taste good together and you try it. Sometimes it's a success, and sometimes it's, well, interesting.


(four?) raspberries and (1? granny smith) apples. DELICIOUS