Something in the water?

Is it just me, or is everyone and their mother getting engaged or married of late? I say "and their mother" in all seriousness because given the exponentially expanding group of friends I have who are declaring their eternal love for their partners, I wouldn't even bat an eye if among them, one of their mothers did indeed decide to jump on that bandwagon herself.

Don't get me wrong. I love weddings. This past weekend I had a wonderful time at the very beautiful wedding of my dear friend, Matt, to his lovely longtime girlfriend, Michelle. I had never been to a Catholic ceremony, and I must say, it was truly a spiritual experience. I am of the mind that weddings should be quite ceremonious and spiritual so that the couple can truly experience the intensity of the promise they are making to one another. No offense to my Atheist/Agnostic friends, but I can't imagine getting married in a completely secular ceremony, simply because to me, love itself is a miracle and a gift for which the universe should be thanked. On a more practical note, I think I'm going to have to start a Wedding Guest Fund or something because these people will put me in the poorhouse, what with the gift, the dress, the shoes, the hotel, etc... I'm complaining, but all in good humor. I am honored to be able to attend so many beautiful weddings and witness true love and romance. For those keeping score at home, in the past year I have attended two weddings (merely drops in the vast ocean of weddings flooding the UMass Medical School Class of 2007 in the last few weeks), and could have gone to a third, had that pesky USMLE Step 2 nonsense not gotten in the way last autumn.

All right, enough of that mushy hippie mumbo-jumbo. Mazel tov to my dear friend, Lisa, from college on her engagement! I've never met the lucky man, but he better know how lucky he is!

Behold, the updated 2007-08 Tie-the-Knot Tour:
September 8, 2007 - Marisa and Ed
June 2008 - Lisa and Stew
October 2008 - Laura and Alex

Anyone else? Speak now or forever hold your peace.

The American "justice" system

Okay, so explain to me how a multi-gajillionaire heiress - let's call her Madrid Marriott, for argument's sake - whose major endeavors in life include collecting and discarding small animals, not wearing the same outfit in 365 days or more, and generally acting like a spoiled, self-centered airhead manages to wriggle out of a 45-day sentence for drunk driving, settles for 23 days in "jail," and within 48 hours manages to be released under house arrest for "medical reasons?" Oh, I'm sorry. Did her skin suddenly start breaking out without tons of over-priced products to slather on it? Did her limbs shrivel up in the absence of a new outfit? ¡Pobrecita! I'm sure she'll learn her lesson and never, ever drink and drive again. I'm more than satisfied that she has finally learned to acknowledge there is a whole planet of human beings beyond her own little entourage, and that those human beings can be severely injured or killed by intoxicated drivers. She definitely gets it now.

Meanwhile, a crooked politician who lied about some things he may or may not have said, about people nobody has ever heard of, related to a war that nobody cares about and which should have never been started in the first place, lands himself a 30-month jail sentence. Whew. Now I can sleep at night.

You see now why my decision to become an American citizen was far from easy?

Noo Yawk

It's official - I will be spending September and October in the fair city of New York, first in the Bronx at Weiler Hospital, and then in Manhattan at Beth Israel. I am excited and apprehensive, the same way you become anxious about dumb details like where will I eat lunch? who will I hang out with? what if I can't figure out the subway system? The crazy part is, I'm not that anxious about the actual rotations themselves. At the risk of sounding pompous, that's the easy part - simply because it's the most predictable. There are certain unversalities in the practice of medicine, and especially in Ob/Gyn, that one can rely on. So I bite my nails down to the cuticle worrying about being well-liked and not looking like a tourist. It will also be hard to be in NYC in the midst of MLB play-off madness... I will go armed with my Red Sox hat to ward off evil!

In unrelated news, my friend Amy (who happens to live in Brooklyn, so it's kind of related) has resumed her blogging habit, which is now displayed in my list of links on the right. And speaking of the Web, I recently rediscovered The Political Compass, which I remember doing in college. It does change with the times, so the questions are very relevant. Despite that, I continue to fall in the same quadrant that I belonged to in college: Libertarian left. I coulda told you that.

City mice unite!

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

In memoriam

My deepest condolences to Trish, Sydney, and Tiz as they mourn the sudden loss of their sweet little mutt, Lou.

I'm glad I had the chance to pet him, play with him, and laugh at his goofy, spirited antics. Even though they hadn't had him for very long, he was a cherished member of the Seymour-Tisdell-Straub family, and he will be sorely missed.

Building character

Do you remember the classic Calvin and Hobbes strip about "building character?" Every time Calvin's dad asks him to do a tedious chore, he justifies it as an opportunity to "build character." Well, lately at work, I've been building more character than I ever wanted to. It's kind of a crunch because we're all leaving by the end of June, except for one, so we have to shuffle things around and cover for each other until all the new staff are on board. So between me and Marisa, we will have to juggle six research studies and generally hold down the fort, which is easier said than done. As if that weren't enough, one of the doctors is writing a grant and I'm the one lucky enough to help her with it. *sarcasm alert* It just so happens with the timing of various departures that I'm the most flexible with my availability. Wooo. This would be annoying per se but it's an especially fun treat because this doc is probably one of the most anal retentive, OCD, super-anxious people I know. And trust me, that's saying a lot. The damn thing is due on May 29th, so I'm going to have to channel all my spiritual and meditative powers to stave off a psychotic break. Not to mention the large, stiff drink I'll need that night.

Anyhoo. My latest Netflix rental was Little Miss Sunshine and I absolutely loved it! That's a movie I could have bought at the store and kept. I'm glad Alan Arkin won the Oscar for his role - he was brilliant! I wish Steve Carell had won something too, though. He is incredibly talented. The whole story was very well written, acted, and filmed. I love movies like that which are like little glimpses into someone's world, kind of like being a fly on the wall for a little while. There's no big finish, no preachy moral, no melodramatic symbolism. Just a story, plain and simple. Next on the list is Miss Congeniality (pure coincidence that two movies based on beauty pageants are adjacent on my queue, I swear!). I would also like to get to the theater to see Shrek the Third sometime soon.

I also would like to draw your attention to the recent additions to my blog, namely links to my Flickr photos and my del.icio.us page. The former is a wonderful way to post, share, and organize pictures and images. The latter is a very handy place to store all your bookmarks and favorite links which you can then access from any computer. Both are free services (Flickr has the option of a paid account with more features and less advertising) and very easy to sign up for. And, as with most things, it's more fun when your friends are doing it. I haven't uploaded all my pics to Flickr yet, but there are a few from the wedding. The main way I am sharing photos right now is through Facebook, but I've been wanting something more permanent and user-friendly than Snapfish or Shutterfly. Check back often - hopefully I'll have most of my pics up in a few days!

Pics!

These are highlights from Anne and Mike's wedding - more posted on my Facebook page. Good times were had by all :-)

Mr. and Mrs. Kurkulonis/ Dr. and Mr. Garrison




The med school gang


Getting down