Hair

Today I found a little time to get a much-needed haircut. The problem I've faced recently is this: Do I go back to the cheap and familiar hair place where half of my haircuts have been mediocre or bad? Or branch out to a (probably) more expensive salon where I will be out of my comfort zone and have no assurance of satisfaction? After going back and forth on this for the last few haircuts and never getting the courage to choose another shop, I called 'A Shear Encounter II' and set up an appointment this morning during a cancelled class.

After walking in and being introduced to my new stylist, my mind was put to ease as she acknowledged the difficulties my hair presents in cutting. We talked for a while about what would work what wouldn't, and why, and then she took me to the sinks at the back to get my shampooing on. Instead of going back to my chair for the remainder of the cut, she asked me to follow her towards a side room. I followed, dumbly.

She asked me to sit for a moment in what looked like a feminine dentist chair. I acquiesced, waiting for her to explain what was about to happen. Pulling out a tiny paintbrush she declared, "I'm going to wax your eyebrows. Don't worry, you'll still look like a man."

I am accustomed to my bushy, overgrown eyebrows. People have occasionally suggested I tweeze or wax my eyebrows, but I have never relented because I haven't trusted what the result would be. I figured, "If not now, when?" So, after confirming that she wasn't charging me extra to tame my brow, I assented.

She leapt (figuratively) to work...

"That wasn't so bad was it?" It actually wasn't terrible. She was done in less than a minute.

The cut went smoothly, and I left, happy to have a relatively inexpensive haircut that I was fully pleased with (perhaps the first time since moving here I have really felt satisfied). As I drove back to campus, I looked in the rearview mirror and saw the red skin on my forehead beaming brazenly for all to see.

[Sorry, No Photo Available]

This only made it slightly embarrassing to explain when I got to my lab a few minutes later. "So I was looking for a new place to get my hair cut and next thing I know..."

The "Saturday Morning Special"

I imagined an innovation of flavor a couple weeks ago, but waited until yesterday afternoon before actually creating it. Yesterday worked well for its debut, as Janelle was out of town, which meant that I didn't need to explain myself to her as I prepared this gastronomical exploration.

(Janelle, I promise I'll make you one as soon as you get home. xo)

Step 1: Caramel Coyote Ice Cream

Step 2: Root Beer Dessert Topper

Step 3: Chocolate Syrup

Step 4: Honey Nut Cheerios (For a nutritious appearance)

Step 5: Milk

Step 6: Enjoy!

Driven to Distraction

This week I am trying an experiment. In order to finish my summer research proposal (Due Thursday) and not fail my upcoming Neuroscience exam this Monday morning, and keep reasonably up-to-date in my other classes, I am going to cut out the two most common time-wasting activities: Reading the "news", and playing Lux on my iPhone.

The news for a few reasons. First, I'm mostly reading it to procrastinate. I like the self-educationnews can provide, but that is secondary to my work avoidance. Also, every time divisive topics come up in the news, I find my ability to concentrate completely gone. I feel like I need to read every article as though eventually one of them will eventually will refute the facts I learned in the first article. Divisive political news does not lend itself to learning how the body works (at least not for me). Lastly, the "news" I read seems each day to be less about important world events, and more tech gossip, celebrity gossip, legal gossip and even political gossip. I can't justify that with all the other things I need to do.

Lux, a knockoff version of Risk, is available as a free version for the iPhone, which I have played relentlessly (to Janelle's, and my own, dismay). I openly use it as a coping mechanism for stress. It is completely ineffective though, as even after having won the game three times in a row, I still crave world domination just as fiercely as when I started. "Lux! I delete you!"
[I am now deleting this off my phone. You'll just have to trust me about that.]

I do sometimes need a break from the books, but I am determined to do that through more productive means. It's getting nicer so I might even try taking walk or two in our wetland trail. I don't know if I'll have time, but going for a run would be nice too. Any other suggestions for a quick (<10 minute) study break/stress buster?

Burnout...

I have finished my third week back since Spring Break, and I'm not sure exactly why, but yesterday at about 5pm my brain decided there was nothing more it cared to do. Granted, Friday was a long day to cap off a long week. In retrospect I was probably burning myself out getting through what I was doing, but now that it is the weekend and I know I have no tests until a week from Monday, I can't seem to focus or keep on task at all.

I've pretty much given myself a pass for tonight, although I may try to read a few things for school. I just feel discouraged, distracted, and unmotivated. Oh, and stressed out. I hope it doesn't take me long to get back to normal.

Soundtrack to a Medical Education

I wanted to share the 15 songs that, so far, have saved my sanity and my GPA here at Midwestern University. After five months of studying, I have listened to these songs for over 116 hours (Yeah, I figured it out. What's it to ya?). For me, they provide the right balance of being interesting, having undistracting beats, and occasionally waking me a bit when I'm feeling dozy. For your enjoyment I present my studying soundtrack:

1. Mike Mills - Air
2. Lovers' Carvings - Bibio
3. No Distance Left To Run - Blur
4. Letters from the Sky - Civil Twilight
5. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie
6. Your Heart Is An Empty Room - Death Cab For Cutie
7. Transatlanticism - Death Cab For Cutie
8. Blind - Hercules and Love Affair
9. Bulletproof - La Roux
10. Gimme Sympathy - Metric
11. Knights Of Cydonia - Muse
12. Just - Radiohead
13. Buildings & Mountains - The Republic Tigers
14. Take Me To The Riot - Stars
15. Night Windows - The Weakerthans

Directions: 1) Listen, 2) Succeed, 3) Repeat.

The only other track that might be stealing my attention is "Brown Noise Loop" on the album White Noise Loops for Sleep. No music - it is just muffled noise sounds that keep you from paying attention to other sounds (like when people are laughing in the quiet study room, ahem), but it may been the best $0.99 I've spent in some time.

A Great Start

Last night I took my first one-on-one medical history in a simulated clinic setting. There was an actor portraying a patient with whom I interacted as though I were the doctor. I wanted to do a great job because it was my very first time in this role, but the first thing I did was knock the clock off the wall by closing the door too forcefully, leaving a pile of broken glass on the exam room floor and a no-longer-functional clock on the counter for housekeeping to replace.

I'm not a doctor yet, but I'm off to a great start.

Last Weekend (Classes start Monday)

Today is my last Saturday before starting my first classes of med school. Orientation is over, I have my school supplies, and now I'm simply waiting for the assignments to start flowing. A few people have asked how I feel right now, so I will share what it feels like to be in my shoes.

Generally speaking, the time leading up to the start of classes is an exercise in extremes of confidence. The individuals in our entering class are accustomed to being above average through most of their educations, and we are now coming to recognize to different degrees that our former perspectives on our relative intelligence are now outdated. At the same time, we are all hard workers, dedicated to becoming physicians, prepared as well as we could prepare for the next several years of learning.

At certain times I feel like I have some indistinct advantage over my peers; usually after reflecting on some marvelous former accomplishments, astute observations, or my sheer willpower to succeed. Then I recall failures, missed chances, and my heretofore untested ability to master over twenty credit hours a quarter, where getting 70% means failing a class -- thoughts that usually bring my confidence crashing back to the floor. Suddenly my school's 95% pass rate doesn't look as easy as it sounds.

In the end, all that is left to do is rationally think through what I've gotten myself tied up into. I know that in general terms, I am not inferior to my classmates in intelligence, work ethic, dedication nor stamina. I feel at peace with my decision to come here and with the work it will require to be successful, and I have everything I need in order to achieve that success.

In short it feels like I about to jump off the high platform, knowing that at least nineteen out of twenty people survive the fall just fine.

Welcome to Chicago

It's been a few days since I've had a chance to blog and I figure, with classes starting this Monday, it's now or never.

First, we made it. It took a total of 24 hours in the rental truck with my mom and Brittany driving our car right behind us. We got to Downers Grove on Wednesday evening and have been incredibly impressed with our entire experience thus far. Our place is lovely in a quiet, beautiful neighborhood. We are a block or two from Main Street, which is filled with great shops, restaurants, a bowling alley, a beautiful old single-screen theatre, and an express train to downtown Chicago. Tonight I went running and found out we even have fireflies! Not so few that you never see them, but not so many that they lose their novelty. We've got great neighbors who have made us very welcome, we had help getting our place put together very well (our curtains are now hanging!) and we feel right at home.

I'm two days into my schools' orientation (four days of long boring lectures of things that are important to know, but boring to learn). I hear it is better than classes, so I'm trying to avoid being ungrateful. Our class of 200 is also getting to know one another. It will be nice to get to know everyone a little better.

One thing that has been especially nice is to start feeling even closer to my awesome wife. I have been quite impressed with her and feel like she will become an even larger part of my life through this whole experience we're sharing. I am truly grateful we are doing this together. Now we just need those educations.

Looking for that Receipt

Like many married couples, Janelle always wants it warmer than what I like. This means that as summer heats up, I get unbearably hot, and Janelle becomes happier. To help appease me as summer starts arriving we decided to use a Wal-Mart gift card we'd been saving and buy a fan. When it broke only a few days after we got it, I was disappointed, but not terribly so, since I knew we could get a full refund.

I unplugged the fan and asked Janelle for the receipt.

"You haven't taken out the recycling yet, right?" she asked.

"Why? Did you throw it out?"

"Yeah, I am pretty sure I did, but at least we still have it, right? It is just somewhere in our recycling."

Knowing that it just as well could have been me who tossed the receipt, I earnestly went to work this morning going through our entire garbage bag of recycling, item by item, looking for our receipt. Is it in this old olive can?, nope. Maybe stuffed in the macaroni box? Nope.

With boxes, cans and papers spread over the floor and counters, it was nowhere to be found. I called Janelle again. "Are you sure you put it in the recycling?"

"Well, not entirely. You probably won't like what I'm going to tell you, but It might be on the kitchen table in a stack of papers."

Sure enough, my baby was right. The receipt had been right there the entire time (while I was sorting through our recycling just inches away).

Armed with my receipt, I was able to return our fan for the refund. Now if only I could find a good, reliable fan.

Swine Flu: Thoughts from the Microbiology Lab

Swine Flu Strikes! 

This new strain of the flu has taken over the headlines. Its discovery is so recent that we don't know much about its geography, how dangerous it is, and whether it is dying down or flaring up. As a microbiology lab employee, I figured I'd share a little about this crazy new virus.

Despite how recently this strain was discovered, here is a little bit of what we do know about Swine Flu (AKA Pig Flu). 

It does seem to be new
   Genetic testing indicates that this virus is "triply recombinant" (meaning it has DNA from three animals, that normally isn't in the flu). Besides its normal Flu DNA, it has Human DNA, Pig DNA, and Bird DNA (which has led us in the lab to start calling it 'Pete's Dragon Flu').

It is treatable
   If, knock on wood, you do end up getting the flu, all is not lost (so far the deaths in Mexico you've been getting all worked up about are all in patients who didn't know there even was such a thing as Pig Flu).  Now that  the alarm has been raised, your doctor will be considering the possibility of Pig Flu if you do get flu-like symptoms. In the tiny chance that you really get it, this strain has been proven to be susceptible to several antivirals (neuraminidase inhibitors like asoseltamivir and zanamivir).

Its prevalence is very low (for now)
   When start feeling like you've got "the flu," what you actually have is probably one of the viruses that cause the same sorts of "achy-muscle, gong-in-your-head, just-want-to-lay-down, I-can't-breathe" symptoms.  When you feel this way you might have
-Parainfluenza (1, 2 or 3),
   -Adenovirus,
      -Metapneumovirus (MPV),
         -Influenza (A or B -- the flu), or
            -Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
   Since they all feel just as terrible when you are infected, the only way to know what you have is to get lab work done. If the lab determines your virus is actually Influenza A, they will take it to the Health Department and they can tell you what strain it is. If it is actually Flu A:H1N1, sorry, but it might be Swine Flu (which is treatable, remember. Don't give up hope).

In case I haven't calmed your nerves enough, here are some graphs (updated last week) of the prevalence of all the Flu A (top) and Flu B (bottom), in the greater Salt Lake area.

Basically, Flu A (which includes Pig Flu) has petered right out for the year, and Flu B is going down, but still around. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't see this whole Pig Flu thing destroying the world... yet.

Emergency Announcment!

Yep. I'm legal.

My Wife, the Half-Marathoner

1) Janelle's Number & Running Gear (morning of the race)
2) Hundreds gathering for the race just before it started












3) Thousands more pouring out of a Trax car (seriously, the most jam-packed train ride I've ever been on).
4) The official pre-race portrait...












5) Followed by the pre-race couple's portrait (I insisted).
6) Janelle cruising past us at liberty park. Run Janelle, Run!















7) Janelle just after crossing the finish line. That girl in pink was hogging the spotlight, so just look behind her. Janelle is in black.
8) The post-race couple's portrait. Doesn't she look great!

"How can I prove my love for you?"

Although that sounds like the title track for an awesome power ballad, it is actually the phrase that repeats in my mind as I contemplate tomorrow morning's Green Card Interview. Yeah. Talk about pressure.

Apparently there are evil-minded conspirators who treat marriage so lightly that they get married (technically) without having fallen in love. This interview is designed to determine whether Janelle and I are these shallow souls, or whether we are joined in a bona fide marriage of love. Tomorrow morning therefore, it is my task to "prove my love for Janelle" to the government of the United States of America.

I can't imagine it going anything other than smoothly, so I am excited to have it happen and be over with, but part of me still hopes that we have at least a few minor hangups -- just enough to keep it interesting, you know? One thing I've imagined happening a few times over in my head is "forgetting" Janelle's name as I am answering a question, or referring to "that cute young woman that was just in here." Janelle is probably not excited that I have even thought of these things because it will make it more likely to happen. She is probably right too.

I have looked over the types of questions they supposedly ask and can't imagine having a difficult time answering them. I guess that is one of the perks of knowing and loving the person you marry.

Reading in the Park

All day today I have been jealously thinking of my friends and family who haven't spent the entire day locked in a windowless box, like me.
Days like today are about as perfect as I can imagine. It's comfortable, but not hot, with a cool breeze. I have a good book to read. I have time to read, a park to enjoy, and for at least a little while, not a care in the world.

Chicago!

For all those who have not already heard, Janelle and I decided to go to school in Chicago, Illinois!

I am going to be attending Midwestern University's College of Osteopathic Medicine, and my wife, Janelle, will be going to Chicago-Kent School of Law. We still don't know where exactly we will be living, but Downers Grove, IL (the suburb where we'll be living -- I know, downer of a name) seems like a nice area, so I am pretty sure we will be happy with whatever we find.

We will be leaving Salt Lake City for Illinois sometime in mid- to late July. It will be sad to leave all the family and friends we have nearby, but sometimes you just need to take the plunge. We are both pretty excited.

I'm tired and in bed

And I barely have the energy to use my phone.

If this works...

... I am mobile blogging.

SomethingQuil

Yesterday I started feeling sick: exhausted, uncomfortable and grumpy. Knowing that not taking a break would make me feel sicker, I took the evening easy and mostly rested. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night I woke up and could not fall back asleep. Eventually (around 2am) I decided to take something to make me groggy and get rid of the headache I had. I sleepily stumbled to the bathroom and grabbed a NyQuil to sooth me back to sleep.

Only problem: I took the yellow pill instead of the blue one. Yeah, DayQuil.

I realized the mistake almost immediately and ran back to bed. I figured if I could fall back asleep quickly the stimulants might not wake me when they kicked in. My plan almost worked. I managed to fall asleep for a good hour, but after that I was alert and awake (even if I did feel much less sick).

Let me assure you, that will be the last time in a long time that I confuse those two.

Etch-a-sketch

On the last couple days, this piece of artwork has come up a couple times in conversation. I believe it was completed in 2005 on a Sunday morning as I was waiting for church to start. When I finished the picture (which took about 3 hours or so to do) I kept it safe for several month before finally shaking it up.

Since then, I have never undertaken a new etch-a-sketch, because I almost feel like I can't really live up to doing something so great again. Maybe that is true and maybe it isn't, but challenges from friends have started me thinking about giving it another try, whether or not I can make it as awesome as this one.

No More Procrastination

If they didn't give us a deadline I would have kept procrastinating a little longer (I have an insatiable appetite for procrastination). But they did give a deadline and, since I want to be a doctor more than I want to procrastinate, I chose [...drumroll...] the Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Starting in August of next year, Janelle and I will (most likely) be going to Exotic Des Moines, Iowa for a little bit of Edumacating. It might take some getting to love, but I think we feel pretty settled about the whole decision.

Voice I still hear in my head: "Des Moines? Really? Of all the faraway and interesting place with medical schools in the whole world? And you are going to school in Iowa? How did that happen?"