Sunshine and Silliness...

Welcome to the Oasis... So I got a fountain from my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas, the Homemedics one that has a colored light inside it... The box claims that you can "create an oasis of light and tranquility in your home." Hm, I could certainly use some light and tranquility in MY home, with all the stress of studying! Carrie suggested I name my apartment, so Sunday (when I was tired of studying) I goofed off and drew a little poster for the wall-- with the welcome, and palm trees, and water, and of course Kitty (my roommate's cat). Cheesy, but I smile every time I see it.

Let's see, what else? Carrie, Jenny and I started our Tuesday movie group with My Big Fat Greek Wedding last night-- loved it! There were some funny family interactions. Personal favorites: Tunia describing her family Christmas to Ian ("my aunt chasing me with the lamb eye on a fork trying to make me eat it because it's good luck"), the greek parents introducing the family ("this is Anita, and Nick, and Nick and Nick, and Nick, and Nicky...")-- and, of course, watching Chris Judd :D

Also last night was the first snowball fight of the winter. (note to self-- picking a snowball fight with a juggler is not a smart move!)

Kirk emailed me with this link, saying "Frodo has failed..." Any Dem/Green/Libertarian LOTR fans will love it!

Hey, once again it's Monday-- I had an exam this morning 7:30am and I work at night.... it's a trend, folks-- next three weeks in fact. (But here's a shout out to Matty, who works 10+ hours pretty much every day, poor kid! He's got it rough.)

This weekend I spent about 7 hours on both Saturday and Sunday looking studious. I did actually study for much of this time... but I admit that some of it was spent talking to Angela and Kelly and Veronica about not wanting to study, or doing OMT on Angela's pesky out-of-place ribs and vertebrae. And I realized that (on the grand scale of time) I spend an inordinate amount of time at Beaners studying for exams.

I also made time for fun stuff-- Jen, Molly, Deena and I went to the Ann Arbor Folk Fest on friday night to see Patty Griffin and others; we grabbed a quick dinner with my brother and his girlfriend too, and then afterwards I showed him how to sew a seam (the beanbag I made has already popped a seam... this is not a good sign, folks) And on Saturday... oh! it was fun! Veronica, Jeff and I went to Cafe Cubano for cuban dance lessons... The restaurant owner is this thin, 5-foot (maaaaybe 5'2") woman with bright orange-red hair who is Cuban-Irish; she was polite (but very confident) at first, but then she started telling us what to do and how to dance... "Listen to the beat," she would say, lulling you into a sense that she was quiet. Then-- "BA! BA! BA!" on the downbeats. Or she would call out, "USE YOUR HIPS" or "PUT YOUR SHOULDERS INTO IT" from the back of the kitchen. She was a taskmistress, don't cross her! But I had so much fun. My hips (actually gluteus maximus and tensor fascia latae) are a bit sore-- I haven't used those dancing muscles in a while!

In the next few weeks I'm busy socially-- this cuban dance, EL singing festival (maybe), tuesday movie nights with Carrie and Jenny, 1920s dance... Yay!

Hm, what else... Oh yeah, Joanna the goofball. See, I have this tendency to leave groceries (especially heavy 12packs of pop) in my car trunk when I don't want to take two trips into my apartment; it works just fine in the summer, I take them out within a week or two, everything's peachy. Well, here in lovely ol' East Lansing it was negative-9 degrees last night... hence, the car trunk turned into a freezer. And pop + freezer = exploding cans. (*siiiiigh*)

I'm EXCITED tonight-- I was at Barnes and Noble studying tonight, and music popped into my head. So I bought a Johnny Cash cd for cheap, and Chucho Valdez (cuban jazz piano w/ drums etc) and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "will the circle be unbroken III" (which I've been waiting to buy since I heard of it). I've got the jazz in now and I'm dancin'-- swiveling the hips like you should with latin dance-- yay social dance with mary zaleta!

I also found out today that ekoostik Hookah is coming to Lansing!!!! I am so there! Kirk, Carrie, Troy, Jen and I went last year and we were so awestruck by them. They've got a sound like Grateful Dead or Phish, and each of the musicians is super talented. I'm having a hard time putting my excitement into words (if using "super" is any indication... I should say "super duper!") So Feb 14 at the Temple Club.

Yesterday in DPR we talked about our patient interviews... I wanted to watch mine first and get it over with. I fidgeted the whole time, because I already knew what would happen on the tape. It was a slooooooow conversation (have you ever talked with a depressed person? it's very slow. you also have to drag out what they're thinking, a lot of times). But my group thought I did a good job; "almost perfect" said my instructor. PHEW!

On NPR today, they reported that Bush released a report called "Apparatus of Lies" to try to convince the leaders of other countries we all need to invade Iraq.

wait... what kind of a title is that???? Is he writing to our political allies or for the NYTimes Bestseller List?? Maybe when his 2004 re-election bid fails, he'll try his hand as a modern fiction writer.

It's all posted! Check out the photo album! Witness my bravery... and the insanity of it all....

Hi hi! So I've had a busy very exciting week. I started out the week already tired-- felt like I had been in school for a month already, I had meetings every day of the week, a work shift, two 8 o'clocks and my first exam. Did I say busy?I wasn't too geeked about all that. On Wednesday, however, I went to a talk in the "Spirituality in Medicine" lecture series; it was not so much about what a pastor does in the hospital, but more about what the patient-- who shares his story-- gives his doctor. "Stories to heal the healer" was the talk. I remember one story he gave: a woman who was so grateful for every day she had, for everyone she met... nine times out of ten she would have a smile on her face when the pastor walked in to the room, despite horrible pain... when she died her husband said that though he felt sad at losing her, it couldn't compare to the joy that he had being her wife every day for thirty years and how honored he was. ... This story made me think about how I could be more grateful in my own life, and how I could share that with others. So the next day I walked with a friend to his car (in the opposite direction from class) just for the chance to talk a little longer with him. And I chatted with random people at the store. I spent time with a friend leaving town (good luck in NY with Americorps, Trina!) and talked with Carrie about philosophy and time and God while we were at Dagwoods bar listening to Texas Swing. And I talked with my older brothers about things going on in our lives. So today I feel good!

Here's another story (and I wish I had Matty's storytelling abilities... I laugh like crazy all through his!)
I have a class called DPR (doctor/patient relationships)-- last semester it was an escape from my other classes-- more a safe place to complain about exams than anything really practical. This semester we put what we already know into practice by interviewing "model patients" (some are students and others are actually actors) and then watching our mistakes on the video tape; and hopefully by the end of the semester we will have improved. It's a class that you really can't fail.

Anyway, my first patient was this past Tuesday-- I walked into the room and said hello, and then started to get to know her; I talk to people all the time, and it's not usually hard. Anyway, this patient seemed to be a bit depressed from all the signs. I asked her a second time if there was anything she wanted to tell the doctor (it's one of the things you do-- ask the patient at least two or three times in different ways to jog their memory) and she then hinted that she was feeling a little suicidal. I don't remember my exact actions, but I think I was good and asked a few gentle questions... hooray for my RA training and experience. I brought the interview to an end and offered some encouraging words, and left.

Down in the KCC I apologized to the next guy who interviewed for making his time harder (he noticed her crying but didn't ask why) and then another guy said "You made her cry?!?" So I started feeling bad about it, and a little worried about the woman. What if she wasn't an actress, one of those that could turn on the tears? I was telling friends about it, and another one said she'd interviewed this same woman-- she had asked the woman running the interviews, and found out the woman was a professional actress!! Phew! So (I hope) I've had the hardest interview yet and the rest of the semester will be easy..... yeah.

So, good news! I finally have pictures from October of me skydiving! It makes me excited to go again in spring! I'm working on the pictures tonight; I hope to post them for your enjoyment soon!!!

So last night I went to my friend Em's apartment for a "late Halloween-slash-early Mardi Gras-slash Tolkien's Eleventy-oneth Birthday Party." Cathy and Robert, Jenni and Rob, Em and Stacey were there (they're of my "Jenni/Josh/Cat/Jo" group from early college life) as well as a bunch of people I just met last night. There was lively conversation-- including fashion, reenacting earlier time periods, "Buffy the Highlander" series that Aaron Spelling would probably be happy to write, horrible puns, and all in all it was quite fun. I was impressed-- three people had sewn their costumes themselves! One guy made a jester hat and a mask! And Robert sewed his tunic and then made a medieval dress for Cat the night before!!
Me, I finally got my wish to dress up as a fairy :) since I missed halloween last fall. I put blue and green eyeshadow on my face and lots of glitter, put ivy leaves in my hair, and made wings. On the way over to Em's, I stopped at the Country Markett for wine coolers; it was fun to see people doing a double-take and then trying not to seem like they were looking. Maybe when the checkout girl asked where I was going that night I should've said "going somewhere? nope, I'm staying in tonight. Why, is there something wrong?" But that would've been just silly :)

Here's something to read while you're waiting for the account of my Grand Adventure... reading the Guardian today I came across this rather interesting observation. The whole article is here but I've included the quote I like best:
"The bombers of the United States Air Force could not be refuelled by the planes of the American navy because - extraordinary, but true - they are not compatible. The Americans relied on British refuelling aircraft to keep their planes in the sky."

This is how our military planners work... how sad is that?

Hey Hey!
Status post grand adventure-- still alive! I had a great time; as predicted, I would sincerely enjoy another break to recover from this one! But I'm glad to be back with my friends too! Some of the statistics from the past few weeks:
number of doctors shadowed: 3
miles in my happy Toyota Corolla: 2600+
family members seen: 9
new towns visited/driven through: Escanaba (yep, saw it in moonlight), Gladstone, Powers, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Asheville (NC)
number of ballparks in Cincinnati when we visited: 3
number of ballparks in Cincinnati 8 hours after we visited: 2
number of new nephews: 1
birthdate/time, weight, name: Jan 3, 6:31am.... 7lb 14oz.... Aidan Gabriel Nigrelli
and...
how geeked am I about Aidan???? off the scale!!

So anyway, I had a great break; hopefully can tell y'all more about what I did on my trip soon (and post pics of Aidan!) (and maybe clarify the point about the ballparks.... NO we did not demolsh one of them on accident. or even on purpose) But it's beddie-bye time.

I just wanted to say hello real quick and to leave you with this Word of the Day, according to Dr. Adtkins' genius conversation tonight on Larry King: it's not "diabetes" and it's not just "obesity".... it's diabesity! ta da! Yes folks, you too can go from MD to businessman to word-maker-upper! Anyway.... night!