The Giant Desk

This is the kind of desk a person needs in medical school. Enough room to spread out computer, books, pens, flashcards, binder....all of the above at once. I'll have to post later when the desk is in that state and all broken in.

The Kind of Happiness You Can Stand On

Okay, that's not a saying. But.....I found this little (medium-sized, actually) rug being sold by a couple that will be moving to Seattle for residency. They were very nice and had a nice apartment with nice furniture. I brought this rug home and set it up under my coffee table, and have been basking in its glow ever since.


Isn't it lovely? It is supposed to be faux-Persian, but it makes me think of the Southwest desert. In reality it's from Ikea, but whatever it is, it makes my apartment feel more home-y. And I haven't been this happy since, well.....since I bought my vacuum cleaner. (see post: The Kind of Happiness You Can Vacuum With)

P.S. You can see the "before" picture in the Apartment Tour blog.
P.P.S. There isn't really a post: The Kind of Happiness You Can Vacuum With

Proudest Day of Med School

Awhile ago during CFM week, we were learning to do Neuro exams on each other with our supervisor, Dr. Fine. It was at this time that I received some unexpected praise far exceeding anything I have had so far in Med School, or may have yet. Unfortunately, the praise was for something I literally have no control over: my reflexes. I guess it could be argued that a person has some control over muscle tone that might have an impact on the amount of response generated by a reflexive muscular contraction, but my muscle tone would not be considered fantastic, especially in comparison with my 23-year-old classmates'. I thought it was a joke the first time Dr. Fine praised my reflexes, but he continued to do it and to have others practice on me, and he seemed genuinely pleased and fascinated by it.


I still wasn't quite sure of how serious he was about it, as he is a rather subtle man, but later in the day, when we met again, he struck up a conversation with me about my "excellent reflexes," in which he asked me about dance and whether I missed it. I was a little taken aback that, still, he was talking about the reflexes. But for a moment, I felt like my old self again. People who know me outside of a "dance" setting have never related to me as those who know me in it. I don't know why. I took it for granted for a long time, as I had simply made it my place in the world. Then, I left it and felt somehow like a stranger again. Until the neuro exam, when I had a brief taste of what it is like to be that self.

A part of me was sad that the most positive response I've elicited from anyone about anything I've done at med school was a reflex, probably related to a former life. But I couldn't help feeling the positivity and basking in its warmth, like the presence of an old friend I loved but ignored during former days.

It was a bittersweet reunion.

Books

Last book I finished: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

Last book I am proud to have finished: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Book I will never finish, despite reading it for the rest of my life: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease

Book I am reading now: The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese

Book I most relate to: Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary