Movie Review:
Troy
I went to a newly released
movie for the first time in like over half a year! whoohoo!
Although... my friend-girls wouldn't allow me to make fun of any of the
pretty (or gorgeous as one put it) people in the movie. No fun at
all.
Overall, even reading reviews didn't prepare me for the gross departures from the Iliad. So, even though it was a fairly entertaining flick, the plot wasn't particularly gripping... the characters weren't quite interesting enough (eg Achilles, too deep compared to the Iliad, a little under-deep for an engrossing movie)... the epic battles lacked something (the charge of the riders of Rohan got my heart pumping, but thousands of Greeks and Trojans running at each other didn't do much)... and some of their cameos of important mythological figures (eg Aeneas) just hilighted the gross departures from rather than captured any of the grandiosity of myth.
Best Representation:
The Achilles one-on-one
fight scenes. With the choreography, body posturing, and sheeng!
of his sword once in a while, the movie really created a sense of cold,
invincibility around him. In contrast, Hector was kind of weak for
the greatest Trojan warrior.
Funniest (or most pitiful)
Moment:
Patroclus having a temper
tandrum. "But MOM!!!! I wanna go play!!! Everyone
else's moms let THEM play!!! It's MY sword!!! You NEVER let
me do ANYTHING!!!!"
Fun Inclusions:
The classicly bad British
accent of all ancient civilizations. The classic box suite
seats for the club owner and general manager (ie King Priam, his chief
lieutenants and a bunch of sad women) while watching the action.
Biggest Omission:
The battle at the Greek
ships. I can remember vivid images in the Iliad of the Greek
ships burning in the black of night while a desperate battle raged around...
and in the middle is Achilles (or Ajax? I forget) literally leaping ship
to ship to fend off the pressing Trojans.
Best Change of Pace:
Sean Bean cast as a intrinsically
strong character for once. He usually just gets cast as a relative
simpleton (eg Patriot Games, Lord of the Rings). At least this time
he's supposed to be brains of the Greek army.
Just a Pretty Face:
Paris's reassurances to
Helen really weren't that reassuring... "Let's run away... I can hunt deer
and rabbit!"... "What does it matter if Agammemnon and Menelaus
will stop at nothing to have us dead and the whole world attacks and burns
Troy to the ground... I love you."
Just a Pretty Behind:
My friend-girls seemed fairly
satisfied by the Brad Pitt nudity scenes.
Best Line from Movie Reviews
I've read:
Mike LaSalle, San Francisco
Chronicle
"It is also not for people
who have contemplated Helen of Troy and wondered at a face that could launch
a thousand ships. The Helen of Troy we get here, as played by Diane Kruger,
looks more like Helen of Troy, N.Y. -- a pretty girl who could easily launch
a paddle boat, maybe, or a couple of canoes, but that's about all"
May 14, 2004
Parting Thoughts on Psychiatry:
Just took my SHELF exam.
It was relatively easy -- I mean, everyone on the test was either completely
normal or schizophrenic... kind of annoying actually that I got like four
questions in a row where the answer was "Normal behavior." Still
a good handful that I didn't know the answer to... ah, we'll see.
It'd be nice to get Honors for once...
So tonight, either v-ball or Troy... apparently some of my friend-girls want to go lust after Brad Pitt's muscular butt...
Well. Not much to say about it. Entered Psych pretty uncomfortable around people, left it still pretty uncomfortable. Better appreciation of psychiatry and better handle on all those drugs. More convinced that every other person is crazy or has a personality disorder.
Best part of the rotation was just the mental and physical break. Having a CA bud-day visit and being able to go back for my bro's wedding -- I really had a great month and a half... lots of sleep and afternoon naps too...
thankfully, my attendings weren't too uptight... especially the last one, who seemed to enjoy making fun of us in his thick, South Asian accent... such as, "Why are you asking me this? I'm going to kill you."
Next Up:
Obstetrics and Gynecology.
I'm on AHEC, so I'm out in Tiffin... a rural community about an hour from
here. Not very thrilled about that rotation... err... I will do enough
pelvic exams as an ER doc as it is... I can go without 6 weeks of it...
hopefully, most of the patients will prefer not having a male medical student
during their exams... although my attending doc is a male already...
so I will be trying to use the time to study-up for my upcoming ER rotations
in CA, working on my personal statement and CV, my research project write-up,
and working out...
I actually CAN'T WAIT to go back to CA for my away rotations. Even though it might not have been the best application decision to do both of my away ER rotations in CA... I'm REALLY REALLY excited... I get really happy -- just thinking about it!... just to be able to hang out and fellowship with my closest friends on the planet for about a month+... I can't believe I've been away from SoCal for about 5 years now... geez...
okay, time to eat some celebratory
ice cream... maybe take a celebratory nap too...
May 13, 2004
I'm reeeeaaally struggling to make use of these last few hours I've got to study... this Lakers-Spurs game getting good too... Wow. What a crazy shot by Duncan. Wow. What a crazy shot by Fischer.
Unsexy:
Saying that I might have
a personality disorder. Oops. heehee
More Sexy:
I think I've determined
one of my ministry callings. I think I feel led to serve at an Asian
American church in the future, specifically with the high schoolers or
college. Since UCSD, there have been two major ethno-cultural ministry
pulls: 1) Multi-ethnic church where I could be an active part
in racial reconciliation and 2) Asian American church where I could
help with second+ generational issues in such a community. Sorry
InterVarsity, #1 pretty much has been eliminated since I've been in the
MidWest. I've had plenty of opportunities to expose some of my midwestern
brothers and sisters in Christ to their cultural biases and stereotypes,
but have found myself more annoyed and irritated to the point of avoidance
than motivated and moved to loving confrontation. I don't think I
have the patience enough to put up with gross cultural ignorance to be
an edifying influence at a church where I'm a minority. This doesn't
rule out a multi-ethnic church in the future, but definitely lower on the
interest list. On the other hand, through discussions with some of
my buds in CA about some of the issues that their church youth and young
adults face at their Asian American churches... I feel really really drawn
to those environments... One generally taboo issue in Asian American culture,
sexuality, particularly draws my personal concern, because as taboo, I
think it's often under- or superficially addressed in AA churches.
In this case, as a physician, I think I'll be in the unique position of
having the secular credentials, at least, to gain credibility with the
youth, church leadership, and parents (as long as they don't ask me where
I got my degrees... "MCO? Oh, Ohio State?" "Uh, sure."
ha ha) if I were to lead an open discussion about the topic with the youth.
Super Sexy:
Our goofy psych attending
(eg one of his parting comments today was "I've had worse nincompoops
before.")
wrote up our clinical evaluations for us today. In reference to my
getting kissed by a patient (still gives me uncomfortable shivers thinking
about it), he wrote: "He is able to gain rapport with patients in
a brief amount of time and is very attentive to their needs."
May 12, 2004
Hypochondriasis:
As I've been studying Psych
a lot for my exam on Friday, I've done quite a bit of self-analysis...
Kind of disturbing to realize that some things you might have done are described in textbooks. For example, one novel defense mechanism that I've used is Reaction Formation = Adopting opposite attitudes to avoid unacceptable emotions. Once upon a time, my ex-gf was engaging in activities that I had some strong reservations about. In retrospect, instead of really engaging my feelings about the issue, I reacted by swinging some of my own specific behaviors to the opposite extreme of hers. Pretty strange to think about it.... I think I use Splitting, too = Categorizing people (or even the same person at different times) as either 'all good' or 'all bad' because of intolerance of ambiguity.
I also think that if I headed towards psychosis, I'd definitely have Cluster C Personality Disorder traits... eg Obsessive-Compulsive and Dependent... although Cluster B traits aren't bad either, like Narcissistic and Borderline...
Did I mention that I think I might have sleep apnea or some other sleeping disorder? I don't have any of the risk factors (eg snoring, obese, fatty neck, etc), but boy, do I sleep a lot... and man, studying, food, and lectures really knock me out...
Also, I was thinking about this -- I've always thought (by introspection and empirical evidence) that I've got an addictive personality. So, for example, I never allow myself to drink alone (although this has left a number of good beers untouched in my refrigerator for close to a year now) just because I'm afraid of opening opportunities for potential abuse. Anyhow, I figured out a biochemical rational for my possibly irrational fear. =)
One of the theories of genetic addiction is that certain substances trigger "reward" pathways in people to different extents. For example, while E will give people the same euphoria, people will react much differently to the same stimulus. Just like any other substance like al-kee-hol, a number of people can use it socially, a number will abuse it, and a number will be suffer from addiction. One of a friend's friends apparently has tried all sorts of substances (even Peyote) just to try them out, but apparently never has been psychologically or physically addicted to any particular substance. On the other hand, another friend, of whom I may hold the highest esteem of any peer I've met in my life, can't touch alcohol anymore because he really can't stop himself. Scary.
This applies to me in this way. As most of you know, I'm a pretty chill guy. I just don't get euphoric, or maybe more precisely emotionally rewarded, by too many things... I can think of a few... like a really intense game of volleyball... watching my Sharks in playoff hockey... listening to really good live choral music, especially Masses... being in love... having a great conversation with a really hot girl... rollercoasters... snowboarding and mountain biking aren't bad... guitar is kind of hit or miss... violin never did anything for me... SO... I think whenever I DO find, consciously or not, the relatively rare activity that really triggers my brain reward pathways in whatever way, it's particularly difficult for me to stop whatever it is I'm doing. Here's a weird example. I developed this really bad habit of kind of combing my hair (when it wasn't spiked)... I'd just do it subconsciously and end up pulling out a lot of hair... weird, I know. Anyways, so as I've had my hair spiked for about two years now, I really haven't been able to do it -- dude, if I mess with my hair at all, it turns from spikey and cool... to fuzzy and FOBy. However, when I was due for a haircut recently, I actually caught myself doing that stupid combing thing again! ugg! Means I really need some self-applied behavioral therapy (would actually consider seeing a psychologist for help with it) when my hairstyle changes. How frustrating. QED I have a personality prone to addictions.
Gee I'm smart. =)
Gee I'm bored of studying. =P
Exodus:
Makes me sad. Since
I took a year off, almost all of my close friends who are graduating have
left Toledo. So many movies I want to see, but my #1 movie buddies
are all gone. I suppose the only solice I have is that I'll be out
of town (CA here I come!) so much next year, it won't matter too much...
although the Fall may be tough since I'll have a plethora of alone time
while studying for Step II.
4th Year Schedule:
Got my schedule lined up
for the 1st half of the year...
early July -- Orthopedic
Surgery (2 weeks)
mid-July to mid-August --
Emergency Medicine at USC/LAC, hangin' with my peeps in SoCal
late-August to late-Sept
-- Emergency Medicine at Highland/Alameeda County, hangin' in the 'hood
in Oak-town
Oct -- General Internal
Medicine, studying, taking the Step II 'clinical skills' exam (ie the NBME-wants-to-suck-out-more-money-from-med-students-exam)
Nov -- Independent Studies
(ie lounging), studying, taking Step II 'clinical knowledge' exam (a doozie),
Opthamology (2 weeks)
Dec -- couple weeks off,
midwest and east coast interviews, head back to CA for winter break+
Cologne:
Any of you ladies have any
suggestions? I've lacked cologne for far too long. Since my
sense of smell is terrible, I can't really tell if I stink or not.
So I think I need to prophylactically protect other people from my stink.
I'm taking suggestions... although I like cleaner scents like, of those
I've tried recently, Cool Water and Perry Ellis... although one of my primary
fashion consultants has informed me that Cool Water = High School Prom.
oops. probably matches my maturity, though. =)
May 11, 2004
Annoying Car:
Newest problem = a/c fans
are stuck. Never really noticed this before since my heat was usually
on the Window Defrost setting for the past 6 months. But, anyways,
first really noticed that the air vents weren't putting out air for whatever
reason while driving with the self-appointed Queen of Overpacking.
Puzzled, but didn't think much of it (as seems to be the case with most
issues in my life) until today... 'cause it's actually been WARM around
here for the past couple days... so, actually had to use my a/c... after
pushing all the buttons, I've found that the fans don't switch around anymore...
they're stuck on the window defrosting outlets...
Irony and Air Pollution:
Since it's been warm, I've
been able to study outside at coffee shops for the first time since last
summer... Ah, life is full of irony, though... I sucked up
more second-hand smoke in the three hours I was sitting outside of Beaner's
yesterday than I had the entire winter.
Hockey Classmate:
Turns out the med student
that I'm rotating with played on the nat'l champ Michigan hockey teams
back with Marty Turco, Brendan Morrison, and Jeff Jillson... pretty neat
stuff. He didn't play regularly, but just to make that team... and
play with those guys is something else.
Wish I Saw It:
Apparently, this weekend,
one of our schizophrenic patients got pretty upset with the attending physician.
So, even though the MD doesn't work on weekends, he had some issues with
him and decided that he had to express himself... After arguing with the
nurses for a bit, he proceeded to vault himself over the nurses' station...
run to the corner MD's office... and urinate all over his desk.
Dangerous:
Clothing on Sale.
Just went to the mall to browse eyeglasses at Lenscrafters (going to get
my Rx fixed this weekend). Ended up buying some Doc Marten shoes
and BR half-zips that were on sale. There were some other neat shirts
at BR, but I can hold off on that for a bit to look around for coupons...
Rebounding:
Make that 3 of 4 that don't
fit my stereotype. Thanks for the reply KH, but I still don't understand.
=P
May 9, 2004
Great Dream:
It's amazing how much energy
I get from great dreams... Doesn't happen very often, but once in a while...
Last night, I really couldn't get to bed. Probably from sleeping
in Saturday and then passing out briefly while studying after dinner.
Anyways, ended up getting up around 230am, playing some gui-tar, and listening
to some Rich Mullins, before getting back to bed around 330am. Didn't
sleep all that well, actually, 'cause was particularly bothered by my upstairs
neighbor who likes to leave his TV on all night, every night. But,
my last dream was GREAT. Can't disclose the content other than it
was perfectly G-rated, and ended kind of weird when I woke up... but,man,
I've been totally awake all day long... even with a pretty uninteresting
Mother's Day sermon at church, studying, and overall hot and humid weather...
haven't been sluggish at all, which is pretty remarkable considering I'm
an aspiring narcoleptic... I need to try to prime my dreams about
the same material more often. =)
Girls and Tough Work in
the Paint:
Don't know why I was thinking
about this today... How do girls rebound so fast? I can think of
3 women, specifically, who, after ending a long-term relationship (>3 years),
hooked up with a new body within a couple weeks/months. The resulting
relationships have been surprisingly stable since. Most puzzling
to me is that 2 of these 3 don't fit my stereotype of girls prone to rebound
relationships. ie They aren't shallow, emotionally unstable,
or dumb. They're actually quite the opposite. So, that leads
to the question... How can girls seemingly leave relationships with years
of personal investment at the drop of a hat, and then not only start anew
so quickly, but make their new relationship work? Apparently, my
assumption that they're shallow, dumb, and emotionally fickle doesn't fit
very precisely. Is it because they have less of a sense of personal
loyalty to their partner in contrast to men? Some postulate that
women tend to live longer than men, post-spouse death, because their emotional
and personal attachments are spread more broadly among family and friends
than men. Is it because their emotional departure from a relationship
starts much earlier than a man's? Maybe? That kind of ties
into the first hypothesis. Anyways, I don't get it. This, plus
some baggage from my last relationship, kind of makes me nervous about
my next relationship -- I mean, how trustworthy will she be if she (by
nature?) can just pick up and leave in a heartbeat? What a headache.
Surgery Grade:
High Pass. I got unanimous
Clinical Commendations (highest clinical evaluation possible) from all
my attending surgeons, but my SHELF exam score brought my grade down.
I got about the same raw score as past exams, and my percentile was like
63% or something... less than the 75% needed for an Honors grade.
What a pain in the a**.
Casinos and the Navy:
Hey casino-man. Sign
your stinkin' contract already. Don't be a stick-in-the-mud, think
of the big picture and long-term.
May 7, 2004
Friends:
Did anyone else notice that
the finale was very Victorian in values? ie After a number of plot
twists and confounding circumstances, the aspiring-to-be-independent woman
realizes the folly and emptiness of her life/career ambitions, and rejects
all to return to be with her man. A kind of curious thing since we're
supposed to be in a Post-Modern era. Kind of says something about
current American pop culture values. From what I read, the Sex
in the City finale was a bit more contemporary, though not Modern,
in its concluding events.
May 5, 2004
SHARKS WIN!!!!!!
SJ Sharks beat the Colorado Avs 3-1 to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.
I ended up watching the game at Arnie's last night. Met this fellow who just moved here from Colorado. Nice guy. Shared some Toledo-survival info including where to shop, where to get authentic Asian food (ie not in Toledo), where to hear good live jazz, etc... I think we were the only two people watching the game. Not many people out at the sports bar on a tuesday night anways. I might have been making the most noise there... those Sharks playoff games really get me worked up. I was jumping out of my seat with each goal.
Great game. Considering that last Sharks playoff game I watched was when Teemu missed a game-typing, open-net wrap-around vs Colorado in game 7 a couple years ago, this was really nice... but man, Colorado always makes me nervous... they missed a number of great scoring chances and Nabby let several pucks slip through... even with the ton of scoring chances SJ got, Damphousse, Goc, and Cheechoo had to make GREAT shots to beat Abeischer... but, overall, it was all pretty hard on the nerves... even with the lead the whole game... especially when the Fish started hanging back the last five minutes, dropping their aggressive fore-check, basically letting Colorado waltz into their own end...
whew.
Next up: Calgary Flames.
Tough series. I'm not ready to predict who'll win. Sutter teams
are always tough to beat (take it from a Shark fan) -- they play hard,
disciplined, and play really tough D. Kiprusoff's been dominant the
whole season, and solid during the playoffs. Conroy-Ignila-Gelinas
has been good. It also makes me nervous that Sutter will know the
Sharks very well since he only coached that team for like 5-6 years.
May 4, 2004
Emotional Trauma:
After over 2 1/2 years since
my last kiss... the waiting ended... today, this big dude at the mental
hospital got me in a bear hug and gave me a wet, sloppy kiss on my left
neck and ear...
Dios mio.
I can't even remember the conversation leading up to it.
The other med student and I were just hanging out at one table with one schizophrenic girl and this bipolar guy...
And then he lunged at me...
got me in the bear hug...
and started kissing me...
I was paralyzed...
overpowered...
I thought for a moment he was going for my lips...
Thank God he didn't...
it took me a couple minutes...
until I recovered from being stunned...
and had the vindictive sense to tell him to kiss the other med student, too...
he took off running and escaped though...
leaving just me...
to bear the shame...
and humiliation...
I feel violated.
Help.
4th Year Masterplan:
Sent out my application
for my visiting elective in Glasgow, Scotland today. Apparently will
find out about that in August sometime...
May 2, 2004
Wedding Winning Bets in Bold Italics below.
Wedding Wrap-Up:
It was really nice.
I'm really happy for my bro and Elaine. And, my in-laws are a pretty
fun bunch.
1) Weirdest moment
= Cindy K and Lisa Y (friends from UCSD) showed up to my brother's wedding.
I never thought that Elaine might know Cindy at Xilinx. And, Cindy
never quite made the connection besides wondering, "How many Lungs can
there be in the Bay Area?" This is all besides the fact that Lisa
doesn't live in CA anymore. Crazy girls. It was neat catching
up with them, as strange as it was seeing them.
2) No drama.
My nephews were well-behaved and everyone seemed to be in a good enough
mood.
3) My mom was well-composed.
Apparently, fear of ruining makeup overruled any surges of emotion.
She was nervous enough though. She was booking it down the aisle
as I was trying to escort her at a moderate pace... wouldn't even stop
for the cameraman.
4) The reception was
fun enough talking with my cousins, Jennifer (daughter of family friends),
Cindy and Lisa, and in-laws. Dinner afterwards was pretty dull.
These aforementioned family friends tend to only ask different permutations
of the question, "So, how much money are you going to make as a doctor?"
5) Despite a Cap n'
Coke before the wedding, a Guinness and two glasses of wine during dinner,
and funny in-laws, I didn't do anything to disgrace the family. In
fact, don't even have any goofy photos to show for the EtOH and occasion.
Would have helped if my dinner table were more fun. Oh well.
6) Terence and Elaine
really paid attention to some really neat details in the ceremony.
Example, they had the gathering stand at the entrance of the crucifix instead
of waiting for the entrance of the bride. The music was excellent.
Really great food too.
7) Unfortunate finances-driven
omission = reception dancing. I always like the first dance between
the bride and groom, and bride and father.
8) Unfortunate decorum-driven
omission = no smashing of wedding cake on groom/bride.
9) Unfortunate personnel-driven
omission = didn't have any body to go have a reflective drink with after
everything was done around 1100pm.
10) Most meaninful
thing I accomplished was teaching my cousins how to taste wine.
11) Second most meaningful
thing I accomplished was getting better at using some of the features of
my digital camera.
12) I still hate being
in pictures.
13) My mother is silly.
Apparently, when my brother told my mom that I was staying at his place
this past weekend, she didn't know or forgot that he and Elaine already
had plans to stay at a hotel during their wedding night. In understandable
exasperation, my mother said something like, "Terence! It's not right
for Derrick to be staying with you on your wedding night!" As astute
as he was, he quickly picked up on the misinformation. Although the
more amusing response would have been, "Don't worry. I bought him
earplugs.," he instead very calmly explained that he and Elaine were staying
at a hotel, while Matt (his best man) and I were using his condo.
Here are a handful of photos
from the wedding day.
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April 28, 2004
Crazy Midwestern weather:
We had snow flurries yesterday.
The OC:
They mentioned Wayfarers'
Chapel as a wedding site... I think I went to a wedding there... nice place...
weird religion. Hey, seeing the preview, I did go to a wedding
there... pretty chapel. Think you need like a reservation like over
a year ahead of time... and a big wad of cash.
Brother's Wedding:
Heading back home on Friday
for my brother's wedding on Saturday. Pretty exciting... and weird...
First time since junior high I've really seen any of my extended family...
Actually kind of nervous. Not very sure how I fit in to the whole
extended family dynamic. It was always pretty easy being (almost)
the youngest family member, 'cause all that entailed was being the quiet,
obedient, and eat my food while rest of the family yapped away... blah
blah blah... yadda yadda yadda... well, now that I'm not quite a kid anymore,
I'm not exactly sure what that means as far as my social-family-cultural
expectations. Kind a weird position since I'm also the only one in
my age range in my family. I've got a handful of older cousins mid-thirites
to forties, and then my two younger cousins from Cupertino (about 17, 21
yo) I'm certainly pretty tired of filling the personality-less role I used
to have. Well, this will be interesting anyways. I think my
game plan is to talk to my uncles/aunts as little as possible and hang
out with my younger cousins because they make me laugh.
Wedding betting lines:
I will hate being
in wedding party photos
5:1
I will be the best-looking
guy in those photos (just say no to mop-haircuts) 100:1
Mom will be crying
100:1
Mom will be weeping
25:1
Mom will be weeping, inconsolably
5:1
Dad will shed a tear
1:50
Dad will cry
1:100
Walking my parents down
the aisle will be one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life --
100:1
I will fall asleep during
the wedding ceremony
1:10
I will feel nauseous seeing
my brother kiss my future sis-in-law
1:2
Wedding reception will be
dry (not counting champagne)
1000000:1
I'll be bored during
the reception
1:2
I will resort to studying
Psychiatry during the reception
1:10
There will be some drama
in my family
1:5
I will embarrass the family
name in front of my in-laws
1:20
There will be a woman
+/- 3 years of me at the wedding
1:2
There will be an eligible
woman +/- 3 years of me at the wedding
1:20
I'll be daydreaming
about eligible women +/- 3 years of me
100:1
April 26, 2004
Sorry. Long time since my last blog entry. A friend visited and so I took a mini-vacation in the middle of Psych. =) Man, had a GREAT time. Don't think I've had that much fun out here in a long time... I'll see if there's any pics worth posting as I sort out mine and my friend sends some...
Went to Red Wings game 1 vs. Calgary. Kind a bummer of a game to go to... felt bad that this game was my friend's first Red Wings experience... All I remember was while I was fiddling around with my new digital camera as overtime started (since I figured it was going to be a long night)... briefly looking up... seeing Nilson all alone at the left side of the net... then him shelfing a beautiful shot glove side on Cujo... All I could think was, "Damn that was fast" and "Wow. That was a great shot."
Ended up heading to Chicago for the weekend. Tried to give my buddy a taste of Chicago.
Did the Miracle Mile/Michigan Ave shopping thing. Once again, Virgin Megastore was the bane of my wallet... it's just impossible for me to go into that store and not buy anything... not only do they have great stuff, but they always seem to have great stuff on sale... I picked up several electronica (MOS, Gatecrasher) mixes that they were trying to clear from their inventory. Had to exercise great restraint to stop from picking up stuff at BR, Express, and Kenneth Cole... My superego was particularly strong that day... =(
For food, went to Billy Goat Tavern of SNL fame and had a cheezeborger. Tried to go to Demon Dogs, famed chi-dog spot (GO if you get the chance, it's only temporarily survived an El line expansion project), but it was closed (830pm on a Sat! how ridiculous!) when we stopped by. That may have been the biggest disappointment of the Chicago trip. But, we did have some great pizza. My friend's first Chicago deep-dish pizza was at Rannelli's in Lincoln Park. Which, by the way, had a pretty good selection of imports. We both had a McEwan's IPA. Very tasty. Surprisingly, not as hoppy a flavor as other IPAs I've had.
Saw "Deemed Indecent by the FCC" at Second City, e.t.c Stage. Hilarious show. Some really random humor... although some bits were hit-and-miss... Went to my favorite Chicago jazz club Andy's. Been hooked since the first time I went -- real casual, laid-back... affordable eats, drinks, and covers... live jazz, every day of the week. Also tried to run around and hit some main spots in the Art Institute of Chicago. I fortunate to have found a Rosetti that I happened to know something about. Their impressionist collection was really striking to me for some reason this time around, even though this was my second time through that section of the museum.
Checked out Parkwood Church, an Asian American church in Chicago established by some InterVarsity staffers in the late '90's in order to fill a need in the Midwest of a growing Asian American Christian population that didn't have a culturally optimal venue of ministry... It was a bit disappointing only because I heard the original IV leaders talk with great passion about their vision and purpose back at Urbana '96, and the church is going through a very difficult leadership transition period right now (ie senior pastor search)... The service itself, likely due to the current personnel shake-up, was kind of disjointed, which unfortunately didn't help facilitating worship.
Finally, did a drive-by tour of Notre Dame University to check out Touchdown Jesus. That's always worth seeing. =)
Even without all the stuff
we did, it was really just a great time hanging out with my buddy.
April 19, 2004
Interesting (?) Reflection:
While I'm waiting for my
laundry to dry, I've been trying to pull out any possible interesting thought
about Psychiatry since I realize I really haven't said all that much in
recent weeks... it's been that mind-numbingly relaxing...
So here's something... We've seen a handful of schizophrenic patients with very vivid hallucinations (auditory and visual) of spiritual/religious content. Although this isn't something I wasn't expecting or haven't seen before, it makes me pause to consider my beliefs regarding the existance and tangible manifestation of the supernatural. As a Christian, I certainly believe in the supernatural... an unseen spiritual world that can interact with and influence our natural state. I think, empirically, there's enough really goofy and weird s*** out there that would give me a fairly open mind to the existence of a spiritual world, Christian or not. However, psychiatry provides substantial scientific basis for a lot of phenomena out there... neurochemical imbalances in schizophrenia causing hallucinations... hypnosis and other forms of suggestion that cause people to act weird. Although this may invalidate the validity of certain spiritual experiences (I'm thinking here of bizarre charismatic church stuff, and curses like 'el ojo' or 'the jin'), I think it's definitely positive. From the Christian standpoint, we don't want to mistake a human or natural phenomena for true deus ex machina. However, this does cause a certain dilemma of not having total confidence in being able to discern psychiatric illness from the influence of a supernatural force. Although I'm comfortable erring on the former side, it still leaves me a bit uneasy that such a conflict... or overlap... or tension in these beliefs exists.
Overall, as entertaining as crazy people can be, I still don't like psych... they weird me out too much...
Toledo Exodus:
I'm kind of sad. One
of my friends just moved back to Cleveland this past weekend. By
the end of this month, most of my buds from my former med school class
will be gone. An extra bummer because I'd been able to hang out with
them a lot more (by med school standards at least) this past year since
they'd all been fourth years...
Fleecing:
I just paid $1410 for my
USMLE Step 2 exams. About $1000 was for the new Clinical Skills test.
What a rip-off.
Movies:
Spellbound
-- documentary about one of the Nationaal Spelling Bees several years back.
It's HILARIOUS.
Big Fish --
Decent movie. I'd say it's a renter. Possibly good date movie.
You'll either be charmed by the fantasy or be trying to drive a pencil
through your skull as the movie plods along.
TV:
The OC --
Why are all the characters moving to cities that start with the letter
'P'? And shouldn't the show be more about the high school kids than
the adults?
The Bachelor
-- The Michigan med student wins my resspect for turning down the dumb jock.
She was too nice about it. She should have just stated the obvious...
he really didn't need to be let down easy... come on... he had like 25
random women pining for a piece of his..........
The Apprentice
finale -- That was kind of weird. Remind me to not have
Donald Trump as the MC of my wedding. Was that the SNL set/studio?
Hockey:
Come on Vancouver!
I want to see the Wings vs. Avs this week... not the Flames...
Darryl Sutter's teams are tough, but pretty boring to watch... take it
from a Sharks fan.
April 15, 2004
Good Reference: State
of the Healthcare in the United States
The Institute of Medicine
is a DC healthcare think-tank comprised of medical, public health, sociology,
and economics experts in the US. Based on the state of health in
the US it unequivocally recommends universal healthcare. They
state relatively succinctly, what most people involved in health care have
known for years. It has the full reports available for download.
Psychiatry Clerkship:
Not much going. pretty
boring, but still enjoying zoning out. Crazy people are either hilarious
or depressing to listen to... kind of a emotional rollercoaster sometimes.
Not motivated at all to study. Been taking care of other stuff like
buying a new
digital camera (the old one followed me into the Rio Grande last year),
away elective applications to UM
and USC,
research stuff, cleaning, catching up on my Alias The OC and Apprentice,
working out for the first time in months, hanging out......
A friend is coming out to visit next week, and as long as the Red Wings don't blow it vs the Preds, we're going to Game 1 of Round 2!!!! I got some tics off of eBay... decent price... about 15% above cost... the seat orientation is pretty good (not that many affordable lower level or center ice seats), but they're pretty high... I think second to last row... heh
This is novel. The
first Vietnamese restaurant in Toledo opened a couple weeks ago.
I've been twice. Met one of the owners... fairly authentic stuff,
but pretty expensive for what you get... like a $6 bowl of pho I got had
maybe 1/4 of the amount of meat I would get in CA... the bun and spring
rolls weren't much more impressive... they were good enough to add in tripe
at my request though. mmmmm... tasty... they also have that
vietnamese coffee, so that'll be very nice when I start cramming
for my next exam...
April 11, 2004
I visited Ogden
Church in Adrian, MI today with that girl I met at v-ball. Neat
church. Kind of out of the way... 40 minutes into cornfields... but,
it was good. I'll have to go back sometime this month on a non-Easter
Sunday. This girl's family invited me over for lunch. Even
though it was a bit uncomfortable (I talked to this girl for about 10 minutes
total and then invited over for lunch -- pretty fast, eh?), I realized
that 1) I really don't know all that many Christian families (most of my
friends' are fragmented spiritually) and that just observing the family
dynamic would be something of an edifying experience and 2) figured it
may be good 'meeting-the-family' practice for the future. This family
was hilarious! they were constantly ripping on each other... or actually,
ripping on this girl most of the time... ha ha... I spent most of
the time listening and laughing... partially because the family is quite...
uh... white... and I'm... quite... not white... plus, figured it wasn't
really my place to try and control any conversation since I was the random
guest. It was overall a good time.
April 8, 2004
Current Rotation:
Adult Outpatient Psychiatry, MCO
I've self-declared an official
week-long mental break. I refuse to do any studying, reading, or
time on anything other than PLAY. =) I REALLY need the break
from Surgery...
Western Regional SAEM
Meeting:
It was AWESOME. I
had such a great time. My presentation went well, and I got several
positive comments afterwards. Got the chance to meet a lot of faculty
and program directors from all over the west coast -- highland, ohsu, usc,
uci.
Overall, it was a big confidence booster and motivation refresher. Just to interact with a lot of EM docs who were all very approachable and available, and all loved their careers and academics was an inspiration to be around. It really rejuvenated me mentally and emotionally. The greatest comment I got was from one faculty member who said, "Apply to ____ next year. We really need someone like you in our program." God, I was floored... You just can't imagine what it felt like to get some real validation... for what it felt like the first time in years... after busting my ass for so long and getting so little payoff...
I hung out with these UCI guys Saturday night. Had some GREAT Japanese food (with Sapporo and sake), and then went bar-hopping in SF. They were totally insane! I actually don't think I've laughed that hard in years! I went in as the backup DD. Ended up having to step up... even though I'd drank more that night than I'd ever had before... but, I figured I was okay since by the last hour we were out, I was pretty bored. Driving back across the Bay Bridge, there was me driving, one guy snoring, one guy slumped over his shoulder belt, and two pretty faded. At one point I looked in my rear view mirror and saw like a line of cars behind me. I thought, "that's weird, I wonder why everyone's driving so slow..." Soon, it all became clear when two red, flashing lights went on. S***. So I got pulled over, I said, "Sorry officer, I was going 58 (in a 50)" "It wasn't that. We thought we picked up some weaving." So they made me get out, follow the moving pencil, close my eyes and not fall over, stand on one foot... blah blah blah... Well, I passed. =) Figured that out when the cop waved off the tow truck (thank god), even before he broke out the breathalyzer.... but, even after I did it, the guy wouldn't tell me what my level was. How lame. That was a first, anyhow.
Also, bar-hopping, some drunk girl thought I was cute and kept on having me dance with her. Um, unfortunately she wasn't that hot -- if some total drunk, stranger-girl is aggressive enough to pull me out to dance, she's gotta be hot. Actually, overall I was kind of disappointed at the lack of eye-candy in SF... coming from Toledo...... ah, so sad...
NHL Playoff Preview (belated):
Best Series: Ottawa
v Toronto
Compared
to all these other series, you can't beat the tradition, rivalry, and Canadien-ness
of
this one. The teams are well-matched, and every game should be intense.
Other Good Ones: New
Jersey v Philadelphia, Dallas v Colorado
Dark Horse Series:
Calgary v Vancouver
If
the winner of this series gets on a roll, they'll be the Anaheim of this
year's playoffs.
The Boys in Teal: San
Jose v St Louis
Tough
draw for my Sharks, but they're too well rounded and been too consistent
to be beat by an underachieving St. Louis squad.
Obituary: Patrick
Ledden, PhD
Former Muir College Provost
(UCSD), Mathematics professor. I took his James Joyce seminar and
he wrote me a recommendation for medical school. Felt kind of weird
reading his obituary in the UCSD alumni news mag. Not that I knew
him all that well, but he was one of my faculty role models in college.
The enduring image was of him at the university-wide commencement ceremony.
In contrast to Provost Bond (Revelle) was sitting with perfect posture,
and the Roosevelt Provost equally stiff and serious... there was Provost
Jordan (Warren) and Provost Ledden leaning back in their chairs... very
chill, and occasionally swapping the odd joke. I was drawn to him
because of his very relaxed and confident demeanor. In the few meetings
I had with him, he was encouraging and reinforcing. He seemed to
love teaching and interacting with students of all levels. I think
most impressively, for me, he seemed to perfectly embody the true liberal
arts mentality to me -- a professor of mathematics, teaching James Joyce,
and personally involved in and advocating education. All this with
a unassuming, but firm confidence. It was a pleasure and blessing
to learn and to know Dr. Patrick Ledden.