Design For Humanity....and dinosaurs. Rawr.

In honor of Lefty's 29th birthday, we ventured out of our normal Wednesday night routine of softball and pizza for a night on the town...and by town I mean an amazing charity concert in Hollywood, CA at Paramount Studios. 

Design for Humanity is an annual concert/art/fashion event put on by Billabong to benefit the Cultivate Foundation.  I'm sure the fashion show and DJ exhibitions were awesome, but I'm not gonna lie: Lefty and I were there for the music.  We were able to watch most of Imagine Dragon's lineup and all of the Lumineer's.  Imagine Dragon's show was awesome and full of energy, but I was most impressed by the Lumineer's.  This Denver, CO based group has a rustic, folksy feel to their music that somehow evokes simple joy in their listeners.  When you listen to them, you don't have a darn clue WHAT you're so happy about, but you also don't care. Very few artists these days actually have the ability to transport a listener out of reality for a bit, but the Lumineers have mastered it.  They're also super cool and down to earth...they even pack up their own equipment at the conclusion of their shows.  Anyway, check them out: http://thelumineers.com/  (My favorite song by them is actually the one that's on the home page of their site.)

The Lumineer's lead singer ended their show saying, "This is the coolest fake city we've ever played in."  I see what he's talking about as Paramount Studios is just that: a fake city.  You see stores, apartments, town homes, banks, and business-looking buildings everywhere, but when you get close up you see that there's NOTHING in the buildings.  SO COOL.  I took this picture of the door to the "Antique shop" there.

ha.

 A couple of days later we celebrated Lefty's ACTUAL birthday day by having a dinosaur party!  We had traditional dinosaur party decor and cake with an adult spin.  So for example, after our guests played a little beer pong they were free to enjoy some funfetti dinosaur birthday cake.  Being that everyone was probably thirsty from the cake, the helped themselves to their cocktail of choice while the Dinosaur pinata was being prepared.  It was a great night and anyone who was here could attest to the fact that Lefty REALLY enjoyed himself - which was really the whole point.  =)

I'll end with that.  Everyone enjoy the Lumineer's and don't forget to tell Lefty how OOOOLD he really is.  <3

He must've liked it...

Because I surely gotta ring on it! 

So for those of you who know me personally, you know that Lefty and I have been engaged for a couple months at this point, but for my, few and far between, loyal, anonymous followers....TADA!!!  I'M ENGAGED! =)

It's taken me a while to post our engagement story for many reasons - the main one being fear that I won't do our story justice.  Just for tonight, I'll throw caution to the wind and finally share the moment that has made May 26th the best day of my life - to date. =)

For friends and blogosphere followers, you'll recall that I met Lefty in Vegas in December of last year and hit the jackpot when we learned that we would be in the same city (Los Angeles) for the remaining days before my return to Florida.  Our first date was Monday, 12/19 and Lefty pulled out all the stops.  He took me to Santa Monica Pier, a Thai restaurant, Westwood, a movie, UCLA's campus & arboretum, and a fantastic sushi restaurant.  A couple weeks after we moved me out to Anaheim we had casually thrown around the idea of recreating our first date.  A month or two came and went as we couldn't find a full day to set aside for this adventure.  Now...we had already had plans to see Chicago at the Pantages theatre in Hollywood (yes, the one starring Christie Brinkley) as that was my V-day gift from Lefty.  The day before our artsy outing, he said, "Hey why don't we leave a little earlier and recreate our first date tomorrow?"  So we did.  We walked around Santa Monica Pier, sat and people watched, ate at Latitude Thai again, and then ventured off to Westwood and UCLA.  Lefty immediately found the arboretum and botanical gardens and we walked around for a bit, soaking in the beauty.  After a while we stumbled upon the bench where we sat and shared our first kiss that day.  We decided to sit and turtle watch for a bit there when Lefty asked me to put his keys in my purse.  I thought it to be a little weird since he had been holding them the whole time, but I figured that guys are just weird sometimes.  When I turned back around he said, "So.  I love you."  I knew then that he was either going to dump me or propose.  Much to my relief he was down on one knee, before I could think another thought, asking me to marry him.  Yes...I cried.  And cried.  And cried.  We hugged and I was speechless, which most of you know is super uncharacteristic of me.  Eventually, he asked for clarification that my tears were a yes and it was official...we were engaged.  =)

The day didn't end there, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the proposal was the highlight of that particular day.  We're getting married this year on December 16th (the date we met) and we couldn't be more excited.  Plans are underway and we're counting down the days.

On The Other Hand....

...I did REALLY enjoy Are You There Vodka?  It's me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler - also a New York Times Bestseller.  Some of you may know Ms. Handler from her late night talk show, Chelsea Lately, on E.  I don't, but I'm tempted to start watching it knowing now how funny, intelligent, and candid she is.  The book contains a selection of memories of her life from when she was a young girl to her current age and fame.  It's got everything!  Misadventures in babysitting, real estate, midgets, boyfriends with stupid hair, and even some fitness!

It's a super easy read that will have you looking a fool.  I was laughing out loud to myself while flying back to CA from Cancun.  (I'm sure everyone thought I had a particularly fortunate form of Tourette's.)

Anyway, use your judgement, but this book gets two big thumbs up from me.  Enjoy!

50 Shades of Blegh

At the risk of pissing off my female readers I'm going to use this opportunity to bash the erotic novel of the moment: Fifty Shades of Grey.  I picked up this New York Times Bestseller from my local (online) Barnes and Nobles after hearing a raving testimonial from my little sister.  My sister started reading the 50 shades trilogy after hearing about it nonstop at work and learning that my mom really liked it. After this, I was sold...  My mom doesn't read a ton of books so for her to complete a book and move on to the sequel really speaks to it's quality. 

264 pages in....  I'm not sure that I'll be able to look any woman in the eye again...ever.  This book is S&M porn...straight up.  I have no moral objection to a woman enjoying her right to be spanked or clamp a man's nipples, but I'll admit - it's not for me.  Now, I could enjoy a good story line and around page 80 or so it did seem like one was certain to develop, so I was willing to draw my attention away from the porn.  I not only wanted to see where it went, but also I DETEST not finishing a novel.  Years ago, I read The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and I never quite got into it, but I'll tell you what....I plugged through that book and about a year and a half later, I was finally finished.  No matter how long it takes and how much it bores me, I will finish the book 99% of the time.

Not so with 50 shades.  I was able to put the sex aside to continue reading, but I was not able to get past the following.

• Anastasia Steele (the protagonist) constantly refers to her sex drive as her inner Goddess.  It was clever (ish) for maybe the first, I don't know, 37 times she referred to her Goddess, but somewhere along the line, I got sick of her saying that her Inner Goddess was beaming, shaking it's little finger, or pouting.  Nice idea, E.L. James, but you need to trust your reader to remember that Ana has an inner Goddess and let it the frick go.  Too much.  

• Christian Grey (the billionaire and S&M addict) springs into phallic action at the very idea of Anastasia biting her bottom lip.  Two things, (1) same as my first complaint....repeated about 20 too many times (only in the first half of the book) and (2)  what man (especially one as experienced) as Mr. Grey can't control himself at such a common facial expression?  

• Ana Steele's first sexual partner was Christian Grey and from the very beginning of their sexual history, she experiences multiple orgasms with every single encounter.  This is just not realistic.  I think that this is irresponsible writing as it's going to set up America's pre-teen population (yes...they're reading this) for disappointment in their future love life.  

• The S&M I'm not going to harp on too much, because, you know...to each his own.  Again, not my thing, but what do I care if all of America secretly wants to be fisted in every oriface? 

To conclude, 50 Shades has accomplished the once impossible achievement of being the 1st book that I was entirely unable to complete.  I know that many women like it and good for them...and E.L. James' retirement home.    I do encourage everyone to do a little research on the book first to make sure it's for them before they spend their money on this book.

That's it. All done.  I feel a bit better now.  For those of you who missed this little gem, courtesy of SNL and of course daily motion:  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqmofb_saturday-night-live-fifty-shades-of-grey_shortfilms

Consumer Report

Today's post is largely a public service announcement to encourage you to be very careful about what you trust in your inbox.  I have an American Express account that I use as my main credit card and therefore I'm very accustomed to seeing emails from them on a regular basis.  They email me with an account snapshot whenever I make a charge.  They email me special offers for "valued cardholders".  Sometime I even get emails from them encouraging me to use my rewards points.  Today though, I got an email that concerned me.  It was an email (in the usual Amex email format) asking for my feedback about my recent call to them.  This call that they claimed I made was to activate my new card...  This made no sense to me as I (1) didn't call them recently, (2) don't have a new card, and (3) don't need a new card until 2015!  My first thought was that someone got a hold of my information, requested a card be sent to them, activated it, and I was about to be in for my own fraudulent card nightmare.  I called Amex customer service to detail this incident and find out just exactly what was going on and it turns out that the email was fraud.  COULD'VE FOOLED ME!  It had an opt out option, my full name as it appears on the credit card, and several links for me to click to respond as I saw fit.  (Luckily, I didn't click on these links.)  I suppose it's possible that whatever page I went to would have asked for all of my information and then my original suspicions would have rang true.  Anyway, the Customer Service Representative asked that I forward the email I received to their security dept so they could follow up and that's what I did.  I'll keep you all posted on what happens.

The point?  BE CAREFUL!  I consider myself very internet savvy and I was almost tricked by this. 

Stay careful my fellow Americans. ;)

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.expandmywealth.com)

California, here I...am!

Nope, not on vacation this time.  This time I actually LIVE here.  For those of you who don't know, I took a medical leave of absence from school this past February and about a month and a half later made a cross country drive with my love ("Lefty" from former posts) to live with him in beautiful Southern California.  His home....SCRATCH THAT...Our home is a three bedroom, two bathroom house in Anaheim, CA.  There's a nice, spacious kitchen for cooking and a huge comfy couch for lounging.  Not to mention a wonderful man who invited me to be a part of it. 

Living in CA has certainly had it's ups and downs, though I'll admit it's mostly ups. =)  The main downer has to do with my job situation.  I got here (safely) on April 3rd and had a full time job with a 2 hour (round trip) train commute waiting for me the very next day. I was EXHAUSTED from the four day cross country drive, but thrilled to have reliable employment ready to go.  Sad thing was that the pharmacy I had gotten a job at was super shady.  They were paying me cash out of the register, never verified my HIPAA certifications, and were just letting me chill (unsupervised) next to vicodin without ever doing a background check or drug test on me.  I knew it was weird from the start and it turned out my hunch was right.  After about a week they were like, yea we needed help catching us up, but we're good now thanks.  They then handed me my pay and that was that.  =/  Since then, I've been searching for jobs like crazy.  There's not a whole lot available to me here, but I have gotten 2 weekly babysitting gigs and I'm teaching piano to two kids weekly.  It's not the M-F 9-5 that I was hoping for, but thankfully it is getting me by.  Also, Lefty is able to take care of me while I look for a job and do these spot babysitting jobs. =)

The ups.  Well for one, there's Lefty.  Now there's a man that any girl would be insane to let out of her life.  His kindness and care for me was something that I wasn't good at accepting at first as it was so unprecedented in my life.  I never knew that there was someone like him in the world for me.  He can tell by my eyes whether or not I'm genuinely happy and  if I'm not he does everything in his power to fix it.  He brings me flowers from the Farmer's Market some Friday's for no reason.  Just to show he cares.  Even though he knows it means I'm going to pay less attention to him...he encourages me to study.  He makes me want to make something of myself.  He makes me want to be selfless.  If you're reading this, Lefty, I love you babe. =)

Other ups, there's my crew!!  Yep!  I'm living within 45 minutes of The Designer, The Director, The Politician, The Filmographer, and The Baker.  I've gotten to see them fairly often and it's been wonderful.  Parties, game night, poker night, you name it...we do it.  It's nice to have a piece of home with me here in this foreign area. Of course, I'll always have Lefty, but it's nice to have something else of my own here.

The only other down I can think of: I miss my friends and family.  A lot.  In fact, I'm looking for cheap tickets now to go back at the beginning of June!  Yay!

Finally....we'll end on an up....I've met a ton of nice people here.  Lefty's friends have now evolved into my friends as well.  We can joke, laugh, and chill....even without Lefty.  (Although it's always better when we're together.)  =)

I still feel like this is just the beginning of my California adventure.  I'll keep you guys posted on the ride. 

This made me smile today =)

Actual writings from hospital charts

1 . The patient refused autopsy. 2. The patient has no previous history of suicides. 3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital. 4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night. 5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year. 6. On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared. 7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed. 8 The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993. 9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission. 10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful. 11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch. 12. She is numb from her toes down. 13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home. 14. The skin was moist and dry. 15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches. 16. Patient was alert and unresponsive. 17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid. 18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce. 19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy. 20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation. 21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized. 22 The lab test indicated abnormal lover function. 23. Skin: somewhat pale but present. 24. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor. 25. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

Just Do It

As any of you who are reading this know, I don't understand finance or government.  Put these together (kind of) and you'll have something I don't understand even more: The Economy.  The rock I live under isn't all that huge though...I know enough to know that the US economy isn't doing so hot.  Imagine my shock when my preceptor shared an article with me today detailing how much the top ten causes of death cost America.  1.1 TRILLION DOLLARS.  TRILLION!   US dollars... Not rials.  1.1 trillion of the one dollar bills we waste every day.  I can't even count that high....and I'm smart!  ish. 

If you're interested in reading the whole article you can access it here, but for those who want to hear me complain a little bit, feel free to read on about theme right here and now....

Top Ten Causes of Death in the United States

1.  Heart Disease - $190 BILLION spent annually.
2 . Cancer - $227 BILLION annually
3.  Chronic Lung Disease - $65 billion annually
4.  Strokes  - $34 billion annually
5.  Accidents - $308 BILLION annually
6.  Alzheimer's - $70 billion annually
7.  Diabetes Mellitus - $112 billion annually
8.  Renal Disease - $61 billion annually
9.  Pneumonia and the Flu - $40 billion annually
10.  Suicide - $36 billion annually annually

Now, from a medical standpoint, that rank doesn't surprise me.  What does is the fact that MANY of them are at least somewhat preventable.  I know what a lot of you will say:  "Well, med student, not everyone can afford health care and education."  True story.  However, can everyone afford to get off their lazy butts and go for a walk 30 minutes a day?  Yes.  Yes they can.  Unless they have no legs...they are exempt from my rant.  (In fact, they probably support my rant bc I can almost guarantee that they would love to run on a nice healthy pair of legs should they become available.)

Ok so let's think about this:  Heart Disease, Chronic Lung Disease, Cancer, Strokes, Diabetes Mellitus.....these are 4 out of the 10 causes of death.  The incidence of these diseases in our population is rising annually, thanks to fast food convenience and the invention of the comfy couch.  I'll admit that all 4 of those could be an idiopathic or an inherited disease in a patient, however that's not usually the case.  It's the patient who doesn't know what a vegetable is or who has never gone for a walk to anywhere but the fridge.  There is something we can do about this, people!  Let's move!

A little more on strokes.  If I have to hear about 1 more woman of child bearing age who is on OCPs (birth control) and SMOKING one more time...I'm gonna.....ROLL MY EYES SUPER FREAKIN HARD since there's nothing else I can do.  The sad truth is you tell the patient, you will get a blood clot and it can kill you if it dislodges and that doesn't speak louder than the addiction.  It's chemical...I understand it's hard, but it's been done.  Freakin do it.

Pneumonia/flu, Alzheimer's, and Renal Disease....  Ok, I'll leave them alone...

The one that surprised me the most was suicide.  Suicides cost the US Economy $36 billion dollars.  Seriously?  Honestly, suicide is a very sensitive topic for me, but I'm gonna get out of my comfort zone for a second to talk about it because this is just ridiculous.  I know, life is hard and people may not understand what any one person is going through at a certain point in their life.  However, I want to challenge any of you to try and find just one person who doesn't care enough to try and help you through your problem.  Sometimes all it take is you saying you problem out loud to realize that the solution isn't taking yourself away from the world and the people who love you.  Anyone who reads this, I welcome comments and if you want to talk, leave your email address and I'll get in touch with you...  Or if it's not me you want to talk to, I have extensive access to resources for someone who can help you.  

I'm not trying to say that every person who has ever died has done something wrong.  All I'm suggesting is that we help ourselves, each other, and I guess the economy by encouraging each other to practice good preventative medicine:  eat well, exercise hard, sleep, talk, and love.  I know I have room to grow in this....hope some of you will join me!

Shit med students say...

The Bride to Be (in response to me telling her that my cough STILL isn't better): Didn't they give you antibiotics?
Me: They did.  Didn't work.
The Bride to Be: Oh then go back!
Me: I will. On  Monday.  I'm partially benig stupid for not going now, but I'm like 60% afraid they'll put mme in the hospital, say I have pneumonia, and not let me take the test on Monday.  There's no way I'm taking this test any way other than multiple choice.
The Bride to Be: Shit med students say.

Here's the quick and dirty version of what's going on right now....  Wherever I'm at in 10 minutes is where I'm stopping to get back to studying...so if there's an abrupt cut off, you know why.

First of all, I should let you all know that I've never had a problem with anyone saying "quick and dirty" before.  It's usually said during med school reviews and in class when teachers or course coordinators are about to give us some high yield material to study for exams.  Ex) Quick and Dirty Metabolic Acidosis/Alkalosis....means that we're gonna learn that real well in 5 minutes or less.  A very good thing.  HOWEVER, one of my favorite professors used it this week in such a way that I can never look at the phrase the same way again.  "The quick and dirty pelvis."  *blank stare....giggle....vomit*  (Unfortunately for society, a bunch of my female classmates can relate to this ailment...OHHHHHHHH! snap. jk)

Anyway, school is meh.  I have been coughing up a storm for the last 2 -2.5 weeks.  I was told I have post nasal drip at a CVS minute clinic, but $90 later, it turns out I have bronchitis.  This does not bode well for focused studying or deep sleep, sadly.  Also, I have a boy on the brain (more on that later...).  Long story short, I've lost all sense of focus and discipline and I feel screwed.  I'm gonna probably go to the doctor again tomorrow and see if we can nip this in the bud. Afterwards I'm gonna have to kick it into high gear to make up for the atrocity that will be tomorrow's exams.  I was talking to a classmate today though and I feel a little less concerned bc apparently non-medically sick and non-lovesick people are in the same predicament that I'm in .  I hate that other people feel this way too, but at least it's good to not feel alone in this.  In any case, I'm totally prepared to kick some serious renal/endo/neuro butt for the finals to salvage my grades if need be.

It's good to be in love.  It really does suit me.  For those of you who I haven't spoken to (or who have gotten sick of listening to me), I met a guy...who we will call "lefty"...  (For you medical nerds who want to know what a lovesick loser I am....lefty is for left ventricle.  You figure out the rest and feel free to make fun of me at your leisure.)    I met him at a bar in the NY, NY in Las Vegas.  (A story that we will undoubtedly have to change when we have kids...)  He was the cute guy at the bar who I had to meet.  Once I did we danced and talked for hours.  (Mostly talking, but still a lot of dancing.)  By the end of the night it came up that he works in LA (where I would be for the following few days) and he asked me to lunch for the following Monday.  Turned out, he was able to take off work for the day and show me around LA.  We went to Santa Monica Pier, got Thai food (bc I told him it was my favorite), toured UCLA's campus and botanical gardens, walked around Westwood and then caught the new Sherlock Holmes flick.  It was AMAZING.  It was so chill, yet so exciting.  Of course there were a couple of embarrassing moments, as there should be for any first date.  There was the part where I joked that this SUV was gonna hit his car in its attempt to parallel park....and it did.  There was another time when I found out that I didn't know that "prawn" is another name for shrimp.  *Face palm*  All in all, it was a great day.  The day didn't end there though bc for the rest of the night he hung out with me and my LA loves.  I was glad to see them get along.  It was most important to me that my graphic designer and le director like him and they really seem to so that's great.  Long story short....we spent most of the rest of the week together, I bawled my eyes out at the airport when I left, and then a few days after I left, we decided we were gonna give this a shot.  I'm so glad we did.  He came down last weekend to see me and it was just wonderful.  I can't wait to see him again...just 6 more days!  Yep.  It's good to be in love.

Okay ten minutes up.  Miss you guys!  I'll be better about writing again now!  muah!