The Voice of America, cont'd

Well, I guess I should follow up on what I said yesterday.

As you probably already know, Javier Colon was the big winner on last night's finale of The Voice.  I'm extremely happy for (and jealous of) him, and I hope this show gives him the exposure and respect he needs to be a successful recording artist.

I guess it's inherent that any competition with a winner must also have a loser, and sadly, that means that Dia Frampton (along with the other two finalists) will have to continue forging a career on their own without the help of Universal Republic Records.  But if Dia gets her own record deal, and I seriously hope she does, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up outselling Javier.  After all, her original song on iTunes outsold his, and I still maintain that her voice is more unique.

On a side note, NBC showed the following preview during The Voice that has piqued my interest:


I like musicals, and I freaking love Steven Spielberg.  I mean, name one movie he's made that isn't amazing.  Okay, other than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  Anyway, I'm not sure what will happen when you put the two together, but I'm willing to spend an hour a week next spring to find out!

The Voice of America

Tonight we find out who wins the first season of The Voice.  Those of you who know me know that I am a sucker for reality competition shows, so it should come as no surprise that I've been following the series regularly.

I've had my eye on Javier Colon, the man with the voice of gold, since the blind audition episodes.  The amount of vocal control he has is unbelievable; he just tears out these riffs as if he were the male version of Christina Aguilera (ironically, his coach is Adam Levine).  But Dia Frampton has been winning me over one performance at a time.  Her voice is uniquely smooth and sincere, and I think I have to pull for her in the finals.  Plus, she's a true artist: check out her rendition of Kanye West's "Heartless," my favorite performance of the entire season.


I'm eager to find out who takes home the big prize tonight.  I'm also eager to share with the producers my ideas for how to improve the show's format by extending the blind audition rounds, changing the way contestants are eliminated in the live rounds, and reformatting the judges' points system in the semi-finals.  So, Mark Burnett, if you happen to be reading this, hit me up, k?

Public Humiliation

Matt deserves it.

With a high of 92°F today, I thought it would be wise to just wear a polo shirt and a pair of shorts to the library to study.  But that was before I found out that the high in the library would only be 42°F.  I was literally shivering in my flip flops (I don't own any boots) as I forged my way through the tundra USMLEWorld practice questions.

But then, a glimmer of hope!  I asked, and Matt affirmed that he would bring a hoodie for me when he came to the library.  Eagerly, I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Until 3pm, when I finally Gchatted him to ask him if he was coming at all.  His response?  I quote: "Too lazy, too far."

By that point, the frostnip on my fingers had turned into frostbite.  In fact, I'm currently typing with my nose.  It's very hard, because we Chinese people have very flat noses.

Matt, why didn't you just tell me earlier so that I could have just gone home and gotten a hoodie for myself!?  You will regret this... [shakes fist in the air]

Snap Back to Reality

Library.  All day.  Every day.  Welcome to my two week vacation.

Old Bay

I had envisioned this weekend being a studyfest, hoping to kick off my two-week intense review for Step 2 CK.  Instead, it turned into a nomfest in Heathsville, VA with Jonesy's family.

Matt, Sean, Lee, and I drove down on Saturday morning to be greeted by a bushel (not a satchel... this is not correct) of crabs waiting to be steamed and devoured.  But before we could treat ourselves to the delicious food, we took one of Jonesy's boats out on the Wicimoco River to see the sights of the Northern Neck.  Not surprisingly, we quickly found out that Jonesy either knew or was related to everyone we met that afternoon.

One of my favorite stops was the newly rebuilt Tiffany Yachts, which is owned and run by some of Jonesy's family.  He took us inside, where we got to see some of the boats they were working on.  Of course, I brought my camera along for the tour.


On our way back, Lee somehow convinced me to try kneeboarding in the river.  I was hesitant at first, since Jonesy warned us that the sea nettles are very unforgiving, and a quick glance at the water confirmed that there were dozens swimming around the boat.  But, being one who finds it very difficult to turn down a dare, I recklessly went ahead and did it.  The first two tries were highly unsuccessful, but when I finally got up and going, it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Best of all, I was never attacked by a sea nettle.  Matt says that it's because the sea nettles were xenophobic.  I could care less if they were racist, I'm just glad I didn't get stung.


By the time I was done playing in the water, it was getting late, so we made our way back to Jonesy's house.  We seasoned the crabs, and while we waited for them to steam, we enjoyed the "appetizer" of Boston butt, baked beans, coleslaw, and cucumber salad that Jonesy's parents had prepared.  Then we attacked the crabs, and I'm sad to report that we weren't able to finish the entire bushel.  Even so, we ate so much that we spent the rest of the night curled up on the sofas and the floor, so full that none of us could muster the energy to do anything more than stare at the television.


Sadly, the fun had to end this morning when we all drove back to Charlottesville.  At least I got to bring some souvenirs back with me.  Jonesy's mom gave us some of her homemade sweet and spicy pickles, which are oh-so-delicious.  Perhaps more randomly, I made Matt stop at a yard sale on our way to Jonesy's (I have a soft spot for yard sales, you see).  It was a good decision: Matt picked up a globe from the early 1990s for $5 and Sean and I both came away with three Marvel Comics superhero glasses for $1 each.


Sure, Sean and I may be geeks, but now we're geeks with Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man pint glasses.  Admit it, you're jealous.

Over and Out

I am officially done with my third year of medical school (finally).  I had to postpone my Internal Medicine Shelf exam last October, and I made it up this morning with the new third year class.  As Lee very accurately put it, "it is the shelf that bites back!"  I didn't even get to finish the test, so hopefully "B" was the answer for all of those questions I didn't get to.  Because that's what I bubbled in at the last minute.

And now to get to work on studying for Step 2 CK.  You know, this kind of work:


Thanks to Lindsay, whose Gchat status I stole this from.  Happy weekend, everybody!

THE FUTURE IS COMING

LOOK AT THIS IT IS SO COOL HOLY CRAP I WANT ONE NOW GIVE IT TO ME!!!!!!!

Potpourri

The new Pediatric interns all came to Morning Report yesterday.  One of our chiefs had them introduce themselves, tell us where they were from, and share their favorite color.  A very fitting beginning to their career in Pediatrics, I must say.  For the record, the top favorite color was blue.

Cool new website: Doggelganger.  Upload a picture of yourself, and Pedigree will match you with a dog in need of adoption who is supposed to look like you.  Does it actually work?  Well, not really, but you should try it for yourself.


Silly me, how could I have forgotten?  I came across another one of my friends' blogs earlier this week, this one by Brandon, who is currently biking across America.  So kewl!

Dream, Come True

So the comma in that title was supposed to infer that it is more of a plea than a statement.

Anyway, I always have awesome dreams, but last night's was extra special.  My obsession with superheroes, my love for action and adventure movies, and the fact that yesterday was Father's Day all came together to form one of the greatest stories of all time.

It's a rainy night in New York City.  A young, blonde-haired woman is being chased down the alley by a good-for-nothing who is trying to steal her purse.  "Spider-Man!" she cries, hoping that the superhero will come save her.  She trips on a sewer grate, loses her balance, and falls.  The thief catches up to her, and as he grabs her handbag, he hears the "thud" of someone landing behind him.  Terrified, he turns around, expecting to see Spider-Man deliver a dose of swift justice.  Instead, he sees Venom, who has bonded once again to Spider-Man, towering over him.  Venom nods curtly at the criminal and lets him go, then takes the woman as a prisoner.

  

This is just the first of many isolated incidents that eventually form a pattern.  The people of New York City realize that their metropolis is no longer safe; Spider-Man is no longer there to protect them.  Instead, the Venom Symbiote has begun kidnapping all of the blonde women and hidden them away somewhere.

Meanwhile, I am hanging out in my apartment with my dad (for some reason played by Paul).  Tired of hearing reports in the news of Venom's unending acts of violence, he decides to take matters into his own hands.  He designs a suit that gives the person who wears it amazing jumping abilities not dissimilar to that of the Daredevil supervillain Leap-Frog as well as the wall-climbing abilities of Magento's henchman Toad.  Considering himself too old and frail to carry out the task, my dad sends me out with the task of bringing Venom to justice.

I hunt Venom for days, scaling the skyscrapers looking for any sign of him.  The kidnappings continue, but I can't find any pattern to them, and a week later, I am still no closer to catching Venom.  Then I have an idea: I find Mary Jane and convince her that she is the only hope we have of ending all this madness.  She agrees to dye her iconic red hair a platinum blonde and to walk brazenly through the streets.  With all of the other blonde women terrified to leave their houses at night, we assure ourselves that it will not take long before Venom attempts to capture her.

Mary Jane leaves her home that night to walk around Central Park.  I hover from a distance, never letting myself be more than one city block from her.  Then out of nowhere, Venom appears!  He's faster than me, and before I can intervene, he grabs Mary Jane and flees into the distance.  I pursue him and find him entering the basement of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, still closed to the public for repairs.  I creep in behind him and find all of the women he has captured hanging from the in cocoons he has created for them.

"Put her down!"  I yell as I spring into action.  Venom flings Mary Jane aside, knocking her unconscious, and then turns to comes at me, mouth agape.  An epic battle begins.

My alarm wakes me up.

Seriously!?  Right now?  Just as the action is about to begin??  I'm assuming that what WOULD have happened if I hadn't abruptly been wrenched out of my beautiful dream is that we would have fought for a really long time, Venom would have overpowered me, Mary Jane would have come to just in time to see him about to kill me, she would have run up to Venom and pleaded with him for mercy and awakened what little there was of Peter Parker inside, Peter Parker would have wrestled control of his body back from the Venom Symbiote, I would have taken advantage of his moment of weakness and knocked him unconscious, Mary Jane and I would have dragged his body to the nearest bell tower, and we would have separated Venom from Spider-Man once and for all.  I'm just mad I didn't get to see it all come to fruition in my dream.  Blast.

Status Update

Alright!  I'm officially done with Phase 1 of the P90X exercise program.  There's a total of three phases that add up to 13 weeks, and as of today, I have finished the first four weeks of it.  And, except for that one day that I skipped, I haven't missed any workouts.  I'm pretty happy with the results so far: I already feel a lot stronger than I did a month ago.  Also, I eat about twice as much as I did a month ago, if that's even possible.

In conclusion, I am the best.

New Week, New Friends

I always get excited when I have new friends joining the blogosphere, and with two of them this week, I'm practically jumping off of the walls.

We'll start with Warren, a recent UVA graduate who is spending his year off in Guatemala while he applies to begin medical school next fall.  I'm particularly excited about this blog because not only is Warren my friend, but I'll also be in Guatemala for two months next year working on my medical Spanish, so it's a nice glimpse into what my future will hold.  Coincidentally, his latest post is about premonitions.

Next we have Harris, who's continuing the trend of my friends starting food blogs.  These are always bittersweet: I love reading the posts and looking at the pictures, but doing so inevitably causes me to become insatiably hungry.  I've been excited about Harris starting a blog all week, because I actually found out about it when I hung out with him last Saturday in Richmond.  He's probably just happy the blog is up so I will stop nagging him about it on Gchat.

Okay, during the 10 minutes it took me to write that post, I ate approximately eight pounds of pita chips and hummus.  WHY IS IT SO DELICIOUS!?

Before and After

Last night, Matt and I were sitting around and drinking some Duck-Rabbit beer while I studied and he read some book about organic food (I dunno, he's weird), when I accidentally spilled some of the beer on the couch.  As I went to the kitchen to get a roll of paper towels, I emitted a disappointed and pathetic whimper.  Matt's response:

Don't cry over spilled milk stout.

It's probably the only funny thing he's said since I've known him, so this is a pretty big deal.

Next Step

My USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills exam "score" came out yesterday.  I put the word score in quotes because, again, you don't actually get a score for this ridiculous test: just a pass/fail.  And, thank the Lord Almighty, I passed, which means I won't have to shell out another trillion dollars to take it again.  In the unfortunate and unlikely event that I failed the exam, I probably would have seriously reconsidered my career in medicine.  Seriously, why does it cost so much money to get certified as a doctor?

So what did I do today to celebrate my pass?  176 USMLEWorld practice questions to prepare for the Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exam I'm taking in exactly three weeks.  Wow, this really never ends, does it?

And the Award Goes to...

I'm not a big fan of awards shows.  Actors, directors, singers, and performers coming together to congratulate each other and pat themselves on the back?  Nah, I think I'll pass.

But my Facebook wall was bombarded with people who had posted clips of Neil Patrick Harris hosting this week's Tony Awards.  A few of the videos made me laugh (out loud), and as a responsible blogger, I felt like I should share them with you.  Trust me, they're worth your time.

The opening number, It's Not Just for Gays Anymore:


The Dueling Duet with Wolverine, I mean Hugh Jackman:


And the closing number, a rap written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail:

Pudding vs. Peanut Butter

I'm spending the next two weeks on Pediatric Gastroenterology with some of the most hilarious doctors in the hospital.  There's never a dull moment in clinic!  Someone is always cracking jokes, which is a good way to lighten the mood when you spend all day talking about something as disgusting as poop.

Actually, it's not so much the poop itself that disgusts me, but the way we describe it.  "What is the consistency of your child's poop?  Is it hard or is it soft?  I'm going to need you to be a little more specific... is it similar to soft serve?  No?  How about peanut butter?  Or pudding?  Or mashed potatoes?"

Gross.

Great Expectations

Now that I'm less than a month away from taking my USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exam, it's time to finally get serious about studying.  Unfortunately, that means it's also time to send Titan home to live with his grandparents.  I called my parents earlier last week to let them know I'd be dropping Titan off on Saturday.  I casually told my mom that I'd be studying pretty hard this upcoming month, and there might be times where I don't feel like cooking myself dinner.  I offered to take any food that she might have sitting around the house that she and my dad didn't want to eat anymore.

Well, I should have known that her style is to go big or go home.  This is what I brought back to Charlottesville with me:


Yes, you are looking at a standard 50-quart wheeled cooler filled with mom nomz.

In exchange for all of the food, her only request was that I get married and produce a grandchild for her by this time next year.  Just kidding, she wants one by the next full moon.

Picture Perfect

This past weekend, Charlottesville hosted the annual (I think?) LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph.  On Friday night, I went to the SHOTS projection, which was a free two-hour presentation of different artists' works set to music and/or narration.  Amongst my favorites were Carolina's Outer Banks by David Alan Harvey, Animal Portraits by Stefanie Mueller, and Little Adults by Anna Skladmann (click on personal / Little Adults to see the works).

David is a member of CouchSurfing, so we ended up hosting a photographer from Virginia Beach named Sean who was in town for the festival.  It was cool to hear about photography from someone who actually does it for a living.  He's worked for a couple of daily newspapers across the country, which basically makes him Peter Parker in my mind.  Jealous!

You know what else makes me jealous?  Seeing people walk up and down the Downtown Mall carrying thousands of dollars worth of photography equipment.  Sure, I wouldn't even know what to do with half of it, but that doesn't mean I don't want it right now.

Wildlife

When I take Titan to the dog park, we frequently wander down to Moore's Creek, which happens to run right through Azalea Park.  Titan loves swimming, and he tends to play more after he's cooled off in the water, especially on hot summer days like the ones we've been having.

Titan and I have been going to the dog park for over two years now, but in all that time, I've never seen any notable wildlife.  Recently, there have been several reports of water moccasins and other snakes laying along the Rivanna Trail that goes by the area.  Even so, I haven't seen a single animal with my own eyes.

That is, until yesterday.  Titan was playing with Max in the shallow part of the creek when he suddenly got out of the water and ran further downstream.  Max eventually galloped back, but Titan was nowhere to be found and wasn't responding to his name.  I walked a little bit further down the trail to find him staring at a beaver, who was swimming back and forth in his water.  Eventually Titan decided to go in after him, but of course as soon as he hit the water, the beaver dived down with a loud THWAP! of his tail, never to resurface around us again.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (shocker, I know).  But I think the aquatic rodent looked something like this:


Anyway, that was a pretty cool experience, cuz I'd never seen a beaver in the wild before.  So cool!

Forgetful Me

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Philadelphia to complete the Clinical Skills portion of my USMLE Step 2 exam.  The journey was fun and largely uneventful, except for the fact that I left my debit card in an ATM there.  So, I had to call Bank of America, cancel my card, and get a new one sent to me.  No big deal.

Earlier this week, I needed some cash, so I stopped by the Bank of America on the Corner.  I withdrew the money I needed and promptly walked away from the ATM.  That was two days ago.  Of course, I didn't realize I had even lost it until this afternoon, and at this particular branch of Bank of America, they dispose of the forgotten cards at the end of each business day.  So, for the second time in less than a month, I need a new debit card.

Moral of the story: don't ever trust Sammas with something that will fit into a wallet.  He will probably lose it.

Second moral of the story: sometimes, in order to secure a ridiculous deal like Rock Band 2 and DJ Hero with all of the equipment included for only $60, you must sacrifice something that is very important to you.  Hopefully, that something is replaceable.

Disposophobia

I'm a bit of a hoarder.  Not to a pathologic state, but I definitely find it hard to throw things away.  And my friends aren't making it any easier on me: I feel especially guilty when I even think about throwing away their wedding invitations.  I know they spend a ton of time designing them and a ton of money actually creating them, so I can never bring myself to toss the cards into the recycling bin (Hiyo!  I'm environmentally conscious), even if the wedding itself has already happened.  Which is why I have a four-inch stack of premium quality paper stuffed inside thick envelopes sitting on my desk.

Aside: can you believe that there's actually a Wikipedia article on the history of wedding invitations?

Well, now that I've actually read the article, I have to also ask: can we go back to announcing weddings by means of a town crier?  That would really save me the turmoil of having to decide whether to keep or get rid of all of these invitations on my desk...

Transformers 2 Manifesto

Paul, I do not like the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Paul, despite your insistence, I have never in my life claimed to like the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

I don't understand why you keep telling people that I enjoy it.

It is untrue.

Despite being a huge box office success, everybody knows that the movie made no sense whatsoever and might actually be the

Worst.

Movie.

Ever.

I have made my opinion of Transformers 2 very clear

In this blog post.

In several conversations.

In every essence of my being.

Let it be known from this day forward that although I despise Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I have not yet given up all hope on director Michael Bay and writer Ehren Kruger, and I continue to hope that the third and allegedly final installation in this action trilogy will deliver the same intensity and wit as the original film.

Camaro.

Interested in writing your own manifesto?  Click here to learn how!

Mutant Mania

I've been laying pretty low during the summer blockbuster season that kicked off with the release of Thor in early May.  But it all changes with X-Men: First Class, which opened this past weekend.  True to its hype, the movie delivered a great storyline, awesome superpowers, and hilarious cameos.  It's everything a fanboy could have wanted and more!


I wish I'd been a little more frugal the past few months, because it looks like I'll be splurging at the theaters every week for at least the next two months.

June 10: Super 8
June 17: Green Lantern
June 24: Cars 2
June 29: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Wednesday release)
July 8: week off (whew!)
July 15: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
July 22: Captain America: The First Avenger
July 29: Cowboys & Aliens (no, I'm not kidding)

Who's with me?  Before you answer that, allow Erik Lehnsherr and me to remind you that if you are not with us, then by definition, you are against us.

For Dear Old UVA

This weekend was Reunions Weekend at UVA, so the grounds were teeming with alumni coming back to celebrate the memories they had made at Mr. Jefferson's University.  Yesterday, the University Singers hosted an alumni sing-in for all former members of our singing groups.  I was looking forward to singing with many of my college friends, but my plans were slightly thwarted when I received a call from our director on Thursday saying that the accompanist had to leave to attend to a family emergency.  I ended up quickly learning the piano music for the many songs we would be rehearsing.

Having never sung together, I thought we did an incredible job on I Was Glad, an anthem recently made popular when it was performed at the Royal Wedding.  We also worked on Ten Thousand Voices and the Hallelujah Chorus.  Of course, no UVA reunion event could be complete without The Good Old Song, which is an a cappella song, meaning I got to sing with the group!


Wahoowa indeed!

Best Elective Ever

This is a public service announcement for fourth years:

Do you want to see really cool procedures?  Do you like working with friendly attendings and house staff?  Do you miss Anatomy dissections?  Do you want to do a rotation where you can learn a lot but still have vacation-like hours?

Try Autopsy!  Seriously, it's awesome.  I'm not at all interested in becoming a pathologist, but it's still fascinating to see how they work and what they do.  Plus, check out my work schedule from this past week:

Monday: vacation
Tuesday: 3:00-3:10pm
Wednesday: 9:15-10:30am
Thursday: 9:00-11:45am
Friday: 12:30-4:00pm

Man, I could really get used to this... but how am I ever going to make it next year as an intern?  "Oh, sorry, I've worked three hours today.  I think it's time for me to go home and watch the French Open."  Yeah, probably not gonna fly.

Hostage Crisis

I was literally trapped at the hospital today.  I had been trying to go home since 3pm, but The Weather Channel kept telling me that it was 94˚F outside but that it felt like 101˚F.  And so I was forced to study in the library until 5:30, when it was finally cool enough to walk home.  And even then, I broke a sweat despite being outside for less than ten minutes.  Why, summer, why??

Since this post is already depressing me, I might as well share this article from Thought Catalog that I saw on somebody's Gchat status (I can't remember whose it was, so I can't give proper credit).  Take a gander; maybe it'll leave you a little nostalgic like it did to me.

Touchscreen

Steph:  They have a hard copy?
Me:  Yep
Steph:  K rhNks-!!!
Me: ...
Steph:  I'm on iPod toucy
Steph:  Touchy
Me:  AHAHAHAHAHAHA
Steph:  It'd
Steph:  It's hard
Steph:  Ibwonder what pol with big thumbsdo
Me:  This is the best conversation I've ever had