ChaiTeaLatte

A FEW YEARS AGO, CHICAGO O'HARE, POSSIBLY AL FRANKEN?

The moving walkways always freak me out. I am never sure of the etiquette - stand to the side, right or left? Walk, don't walk? I'm tired, dragging my luggage behind me (blue tourister on wheels). I turn and see a man, about my height, in a brown suit and round glasses. Curly hair. Is that Al Franken, I think? Cause I swear, that is so Al Franken. I can't help staring and he stares back. The walkways move and we glide past each other.

IOWA, 1982, THE CIRCLE

We lived on a circle (a little cul-de-sac) which had four houses on it, each directly facing the center. A circle of grass in the middle, lined by cement curb and containing a street lamp, served as a meeting place for the kids who lived there. Little factions formed, loosely. Boys against girls, older kids against younger kids, glamorous visiting cousins causing a shifting of alliances. On summer evenings, humid and hot with the sound of a train in the distance, we would play tag and catch fireflies. One by one, as the sun set, we would go home to dinners and baths and television carrying our little jealousies and affections with us; as delicate and hesitant as the fireflies we would release into the air from cupped hands.

BEST PART OF BEING A PATHOLOGIST....

that moment when, looking at a difficult case, a little light bulb goes off and you think: aha! I've got it.

AND ALSO...

...when you look at my last post, you realize that my knowledge of the basics of grammar/spelling/punctuation is kinda sketchy. Eh.

PHYSICIANS AND E-MAIL

Oh, and one last thing. A program is being started in Mass where physicians will be reimbursed for e-mailing patients, in an attempt to improve communication. (IGNORE THIS SCREED - RE-READ IT AND IT READS LIKE AN IDIOT'S RAMBLINGS. I BLAME, NOT MYSELF NATURALLY, BUT PATRIARCHY, CAFFEINE AND JUNK FOOD. EVIL JUNK FOOD) While I know this is a good idea in theory, I can't help wondering if this will turn out to be like capitation, which everyone thought was such a good idea when it was first proposed, and then turned out to be a complete and utter horror. Hope not. We'll see, I guess.

UPDATE: In an attempt at being flip, I was too dismissive of the potential of e-mail to improve patient-doctor communication. I do think it will prove to be useful. Read enoch choi's comment below: he has had good experience with using e-mail in his practice. Thanks for the info!

THE REALLY IMPORTANT THING IS.....

You read the papers and see all the news: generally nastiness of man toward man (I mean man in a non-gender specific way so that really should read - general nastiness of person toward person), lost dogs, economic troubles, BBC America showing 'new' episodes of Coupling (now that I have lost interest completely) a year after they aired the last set of episodes. And you think to yourself, what is really important? And I think: shoes.

Comfortable and stylish shoes. The holy grail for working women everywhere. Why, if we can put a man (and I mean that in a gender specific way so that reads just fine, as is) on the moon, can't we design a stylish, strappy, heely, sparkly, just gorgeous, shoe that is comfortable? Is it really so hard, people at NASA?

JAY (AND FAMILY) ARE OK. YEAH!

Lisa has set up a paypal account for Jay (and his family) whose house burned down last week. Everyone is ok and Jay, true to form, was back to blogging practically the next day. Such dedication.

OK, ONE MORE BIT OF PROCRASTINATION

R called and said baby K (who is now actually toddler K) has new favorite toy. It is a toy broom. "She loves sweeping up. Just loves it. She'll cry if you try to take it away from her."
"Well," I said, "All you need is a toy mop and a toy bucket and you guys are set for life. Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
"Very funny. Very funny," says R.

AT WORK

this evening. Had a fine weekend, so I don't mind looking at a few cases on a Sunday evening for an hour or two. Especially if it makes tommorrow run more smoothly, workwise. Things to do: finish looking at the levels I ordered on Friday, type up a consult or two and wander into the resident's room to look for a stray brownie (or, er, two). I mean, c'mon, it is Sunday night. At work.

ROME, 1998, AT CHRISTMASTIME

I____ has an aunt and uncle who live in quite an elegant neighborhood in Rome. On my first visit to Italy, I____ took me to stay with this family. It so happens that the uncle had a big success at work while we were visiting. The whole family gathered in the living room, which was filled with the most beautiful things, and toasted the success with glasses of champagne and small pieces of parmesan, passed around like candy from a box. The champagne was cold and pale golden in color with little bubbles that traveled to the surface with great exuberance. "Chin chin," we said. "Chin chin."