Attention 11:55 PM

Rutenberg, J. (2008,July 31) "McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch" The New York Times

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It's hard for me to understand the logic taking place within McCain's HQ these days. Trying to attack his opponent with adds featuring out of control pop stars is so daft that only a septuagenarian can find them "hard hitting." And to try to paint Obama as "making the election all about him" seems bizarre. Perhaps he is guilty of being arrogant, but, if I remember correctly, the whole point is to draw attention to yourself during a campaign. Perhaps I've been watching different news programs, but that's really all candidates do, try to make every issue about what they think and feel.

I think what McCain is having a little trouble with right now is the fact that no one really cares what he is doing. I don't care that he's riding around in a golf cart with George H.W. Bush, or that he can't grasp why Viagra is covered by insurance but birth control is not. He's like that kid with behavioral disorder that keeps fidgeting in his seat, waving his arms over his head. "Look at me, look at me!" He's shouting. "I've got ideas about the economy! I've got experience! I'm not too old! I'm in touch! I use the youtube!"

If you ask me this sort of behavior is what's going to kill McCain. His whinny attitude towards his opponent's public success makes him the loser by default. He's already crying and the fight hasn't even really started yet. If McCain wants to have a chance, perhaps he could take a page from his opponent and start acting a little more presidential and less like a really really old 5th grader.

Randy Pausch and The Last Lecture 11:48 AM

Parker-Pope, T. (2008, July 25) "Randy Pausch, best known for his "Last Lecture," has died from pancreatic cancer." The New York Times

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Professor Randy Pausch died today after a bout with pancreatic cancer. For those unfamiliar with the man, he was a Carnegie Mellon Professor who, upon receiving his cancer diagnosis went on to write a best selling book based on his famed "last lecture" at Mellon, outlining his views on living life to the fullest. You can watch his last lecture here.

I had the privilege of seeing his lecture one morning in the midst of a two week testing marathon in med school. Needless to say his words put things into perspective. You don't finish the lecture feeling bad or guilty for the way you attack challenges, rather, you're re energized. The man truly set a standard for living that we all can only hope of achieving.

Urban Farmers 9:55 PM

Severson, K. (2008, July 22) "A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss." The New York Times

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This article resonated with me because I've been in a particularly productive mood over the past few days. I'm not so enamored by the idea of someone else planting a garden for you, though in an age where people would rather speak to a cause with their pocketbook it's not a terrible idea. I think that there is value in planting gardens in urban areas where they not only provide beauty, but then healthy food to show for the months of toil. Certainly the idea is in no way unique; many have walked past countless empty lots in the city and wondered if it could be put to better use.

I am reminded of Frank Lloyd Wright's Broadacre City plan, where urban areas are flattened and all you need to sustain yourself can be found on one acre of land. Though I doubt we will all embrace this suburban utopia, it is nice to envision every once and awhile.

BWH Research Finds Formal Art Observation Training Improves Medical Students’ Visual Literacy and Diagnostic Skills

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A Harvard study has found that students improve their clinical skills during the basic physical examination by studying art. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as an art major turned medical student and something that I've written about in the past. This study certainly strengthens the argument that a medical education is in dire need of the humanities. And it certainly offers convincing evidence to those who believe that humanities or social science requirements for medical school entry serve no purpose.

When will clinicians understand the full power of observation? I find it hard to believe that it could really take a Harvard study to prove that learning to critically look at art has a generalized effect in specialties such as radiology and pathology that, if anything, border on an art form.

Giant Squid 12:05 PM

I'm watching this video of a giant squid dissection. When it was alive it was over 12 meters long. That's over 36 feet, over 432 inches, and over 24 cubits (I don't discriminate against ancient peoples).

After seeing the video my fellow lab RAs responded by saying "It would probably taste great fried."

Scott, S. (2008, July 2) "China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo" The New York Times

Link here

This article was hard to stomach. To think that US "interogation techniques" were lifted directly from a report on chineese POW torture methods shows a lack of effort on our government's part to scrutinize its own documents. The gist is that the US military at Guantánamo has been using a chart that was taken from a report made by interviewing former POWs in Korea in 1957. The name of the report is "Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance." The only change that has been made in the last 51 years was the title.

As if the current administration needed any more nails in the coffin.

Procrastinating through life 4:14 PM

Ah summer. To be correct, the last summer that I will ever officially have "off" as a student. From here on out the real world will consume 12 months a year except for widely held national and religious holidays (sorry Kazimierz Pułaski). So I've taken some time to run around on the beach, and a little time to watch daytime television, and now work is in gear and I'll be sitting in an office watching the sun rise in the sky, pass overhead, and set from my tinted window.


Yes, I am spending a significant portion of my last summer off working in a lab. And even though the workload is drastically reduced from the semester grind, I'm still sitting on my butt 8 hours a day rather than enjoying one last flirt with childhood. Really the more work experiences I have, the more that I realize people don't actually "do" a whole lot at work. I mean compared to school, where class was at least engaging, work involves a lot of self-directed work that rarely gets our undivided attention. So as a result, people just sit around a lot of the day in a climate controlled, industrial carpeted cubicle staring with tired eyes at the sun making its way across the sky.

Maybe therein lies the lesson. Rather than sitting locked in the musky office, we should find ways to escape and better our existence. Therefore, I recommend that a company makes life-like (non-sex) dolls that we can put in our cubicles. Perhaps they can even be programed to say a few things or rub their faces with discontent. With the dummies in place we can heed the call of the ice cream truck we hear outside or even build a sand castle or two.

Ah yes, procrastination at its finest.