"Into the Wild" and Mississippi Mermaid": What's the Common Denominator?

Last night a bunch of my friends and I ventured to Cornell Cinema to watch Sean Penn's directorial effort, "Into the Wild". What a great film. Acting, cinematography, pacing...couple of minor things I didn't like, but they were minor. (Talk to me once you've watched it). It's based on the real life story of a college grad who leaves his dysfunctional family to venture to Alaska...alone. Incredible story, and really brave on this guy's part if you think about it. Cornell Cinema is a great, old school theatre with $4 tickets! Although most films playing there have usually just been released to video, it's a nice place to go to watch movies. Plus they sometimes have filmmakers present the film before it starts. Then I finally watched the french film "Mississippi Mermaid", which I also enjoyed, and was recommended to me by Stephen. It's the movie that "Original Sin" was based on. So if you watch both "Into the Wild" and "Mississippi Mermaid", maybe you'll be able to say what the common "denominator" is in both movies...and it's not a big theme or anything, just a common occurence. Well, it's been rediculously cold up here. Tomorrow we're doing a housecall for behavior: an aggressive cat. So let's hope that's edu-macational.

Why You Should Vaccinate and Not Do That Other Thing....Just Kidding.

Today on behavior we spoke with a woman who wanted to get hints on how to get her cat with cerebellar hypoplasia to use the litter box. So we gave her some suggestions, hopefully they'll work. But why did I call today's blog "Why You Should Vaccinate"? Because cerebellar hypoplasia, or the severe underdevelopment of the cerebellum is caused by Feline Panleukopenia virus, a parvovirus. Cats can get it from contact with bodily fluids from infected cats, or in-utero. If infected in-utero, the kittens that actually survive lack normal cerebellar function and end up looking like this. So who cares about the cerebellum? Well, it's the part of the brain that allows us to coordinate motion. So without it you can move, but motions can be incredibly jerky and uncoordinated especially when you're initiating the motion. So affected cats can make great pets, they can just look a little "special" and they need people who are patient and attentive (but shouldn't all pet owners be?). But to avoid all this, we should all be vaccinating our pets for certain diseases. Speaking of brains, did you know that birds lack sulci or gyri (those "folds" and "grooves" most brains normally have?)on their cerebrums? Ya, don't ask why that person isn't wearing gloves.

My Sunday Emergency Shift: Vertigo, but Not the Movie...

I just got home from one of my two mandatory emergency shifts. Today I had a really cute 14 week-old German Shepherd who came to the hospital because he was unbalanced while walking, he had an ear droop, and he had a head tilt. Long story short, it turned out that he either had central (in the brain) vestibular disease or peripheral (in the ear) vestibular disease. Either can cause dizziness and cause you to feel like the room is spinning. The poor puppy couldn't walk straight and he had vomited this morning. Anyway, yesterday Stacy and I talked wedding planning talk (for her wedding) over lunch yesterday after we hit the gym. The cool thing is that she's having her wedding in Cozumel, so when we take our SCUBA diving trip we can meet with her wedding planner and the whole deal. After lunch Marcus came back and we went out to eat at an Irish restaurant. Last night we watched "The Longest Yard", a football movie with Adam Sandler in it. It was actually entertaining! I usually shy away from football movies because to this day I don't understand football. It's a little amazing to think that an American can get away with not understanding that sport, but I did!

Veterinary Behaviorists: Psychiatry for Animals

I'm currently on the Behavior service. Although they mostly see cases of dog aggression, there are also cases involving inappropriate elimination in cats, and some feather picking birds. Unfortunately I've felt like I lacked adequate training in animal behavior, yet veterinarians are always asked to give advice to their clients regarding their pets' behavior! So I thought it was a great reason to take this rotation. Did you know that there are two FDA approved drugs to treat certain veterinary behavioral issues? One is called Reconcile (fluoxetine), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and the other is Clomicalm (clomipramine), a tricyclic antidepressant. Well, I went to the gym tonight and got some work done, which is great. It's almost the weekend, and if all goes well, I might check out this new Viennese cafe in Ithaca. Stacy and I officially booked our trip to Cozumel! We were very excited. Now I just have to get through the next couple of months...

Mission Biscuit: A No Go

We got back from the gym this morning and I was so excited to try out the recipe for the homemade biscuits and baked eggs. The baked eggs were great...they had spinach, creme, and onions in them, but the biscuits...they didn't rise, they didn't brown...I don't know what happened. So I threw those out, then resorted to Bisquick for biscuits, because we needed them on the side. I love Bisquick, but their biscuits don't cut it. I need to figure out what's happening with that. Next project is the chocolate cake. From reading the recipe, it sounds like it should be fine (I'm much more familiar with baking cakes, cookies, and all that). I just caught up with Koh, a really close friend of mine from way-back-when. I hadn't spoken to him in forever, so I decided to call him since I was not sure about the status of his e-mail usage. Then I watched that indie flick "L.I.E.". Good, but what a downer!

Friday...The Day of Reckoning

Phew! I finished radiology. It was another slow day. But again, I got (extraneous) stuff done. I found a few dive shops in Cozumel that we may use when we go diving. I really wish I had time to dive regularly. Not only do I want more experience, but I would like to have enough diving under my belt to train to use Nitrox and even these new re breathing systems that "clean", reuse, and add more oxygen to the oxygen you breath out of your regulator. The benefits are that it's less wasteful and the bubbles don't scare away the fish. But there are drawbacks, too. Anyway, I really want to do a night dive. I haven't done that before. SCUBA diving is SO much fun, and if you're like me and like to obsess, it's a great way to channel your focus onto monitoring equipment and even your breathing and how it affects your buoyancy (By the way in re breathing systems you can't change your buoyancy the way you can with the traditional non re breathing ones)! Same thing with skydiving and focusing. Well, I guess I'm going to practice some surgical suture patterns, then potentially watch a movie. P.S., for anyone that loves the water, I highly recommend getting certified in SCUBA diving! Oh and P.S.S.: we took a radiograph of a fish today! Nothing is off limits at Cornell! Oh, and finally, the photo for today is from my trip to Roma, back when I was at NYU. I visited a distant relative who worked at a convent associated with the Vaticano. The nuns were so friendly! I was actually looking of a photo of me SCUBA diving, but I couldn't find one, so I instead stumbled upon this one, and thought it would be equally amusing.

Spacing Out...Into Nothingness...

Today was the longest day in radiology! There were NO cases...so we sat around literally doing nothing. My rotation mates and I tried to be pro-active by reviewing some cases together, but after that (which took an hour max)...there was NOTHING! They should have sent us home! Seriously, at one point we were all sitting around in our rounds room spacing out, checking out Netflix, cracking jokes, being bored, and scheming on to hint to the radiologists that we're ready to go home! I mean, damn---the resident even forgot to round with us, and we even paged her! Well at least I got other stuff done. I did study some radiology, but then I researched my presentation, potential accommodations for an externship I plan to do in Michigan, and obsessively checked email throughout the day. Anyway, I watched this french (yes, another french one) film called "Murmur of the Heart". Somewhat disturbing account of a teenage boy reaching maturity. I just finalized my rankings for the internship programs I applied to...and once you do that, you can't change them! So I held my breath as a clicked on the "submit" key, but it's good it's over with. They're due tomorrow. The rest, I guess, is out of my hands. My agenda tomorrow (while in radiology): Finalize my trip to Cozumel, Mexico so Stacy and I can book the trip when she's back from Hawaii.

Southern Comforts

Marcus brought home a copy of the magazine "Gourmet". The last time I had a subscription to it was YEARS ago, but damn, do they have great recipes. Marcus wants to get a subscription. This month's issue talks about southern cooking....YUM. I found a recipe for homemade biscuits and baked eggs in ramekins. So that's my weekend project. Then there's this crazy sounding chocolate cake recipe, so that's on for sometime in the next few weeks. The frosting is butter based, which is good, because I really love buttercream frostings...those without butter as a base, for the most part just are not rich or satisfying! I just watched two hours of "Law and Order: SVU", and now I'm watching another! I love that show, especially the characters on it. Personal favorites are Detective Stabler and Dr. Huang, the psychiatrist. Stabler is so intense and so enraged all the time, I love it. Did you know he was Freakshow in "Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle"??? Today's my brother in law's seventeenth birthday, so Junior if you're reading this: gratis pa fodlsedagen. Speaking of the Swedish folk, have you seen that AT&T commercial with the tall blond guy named Sven? It's a pretty amusing commercial (maybe Marcus and I find it amusing because Marcus is Swedish), but that Sven guy, in my opinion, is very Swedish-like, and the accent definitely is reminiscent of many of my in-laws (and Marcus).

Back to Winter

It's all snowy and cold again...but it IS winter...I Spoke with Stacy who's currently on vacation in Hawaii. Very nice! Did you know that the flag to the side of this text is the Hawaiian flag? I didn't! Today was kind of slow in radiology. That's okay. I've decided to start researching my senior seminar topic, Aspergillosis in a Moluccan Cockatoo. Senior seminar is a a presentation that every graduating senior veterinary student has to present to the veterinary school. It's based on a case you were involved in, as well as the pathophysiology and current literature regarding the topic. Mine's in the spring, but why not get started, right? Other than that, I'm looking forward to another week of short working hours. Which means I can go to the gym, get some more movies in, and work on my every growing list of "personal projects". Ha ha. I did get some sewing in yesterday, though, which was good!

What Are You Doing Here?

Saturday! Yes! Marcus and I went to the gym this morning, then I had homemade oatmeal. Terry-a taught me a nice trick...cook the oatmeal with soy milk. It turns out creamier, and you don't really need to add sugar or honey. So I rocked the soy milk today. I just watched the 1987 french flick "Au Revoir Les Enfants". It was a good, depressing movie. Recommended! It's about a Catholic boys' boarding school in France during World War II that secretly hides Jewish students. I also practiced my suture patterns and I'm trying to learn how to "palm" my surgical instruments, which is a way of handling them so that you're more dexterous in surgery. Of course, they don't teach us that method here at Cornell. I found this interesting website with photographs of ancient Roman surgical instruments. Pretty cool. Tonight we're eating dinner for the first time at my favorite brunch spot up here, the Elizabeth Restaurant. Marcus told me this really funny story about a Polish man who went to a brothel and found out his wife was working there. My thought is, no one can really be mad in that situation! We started watching that USA series "Monk". It's pretty entertaining. It's a comedy series about an ex detective that works as a consultant for the San Francisco Police Department. He's incredibly anal retentive, which to some degree I can relate to.

Lessons Learned in the Past Few Days

I'm back from my whirlwind tour to NYC. I finished all my internship interviews, so now I have to rank my choices, and then my veterinary destiny will be placed in the hands of the match deities. On the fun side though, I got to talk to some friends (Lauren and Stephen) and we caught up on some stuff. Then I went to dinner with Terry-a and Saifra at Josie's, this organic eatery. It was so nice to be back in the city, wearing knee high boots, and being with friends. I've been holding this back from my blog for months now, but Terry-a is pregnant! Due date is March 23rd. Very exciting!!! I can't wait to spend time with this baby. Now that Terry-a's expecting, she's gotten a hold of all this new information regarding the world of pregnancy. For example, did you know that there's a place called The Breastchester? I kid you not. It's a one stop shopping type thing for all things breast feeding. Apparently there's also a brand or store called My Brest Friend, and oh, the ever timeless Upper Breast Side. I mean who the freak knew??? Speaking of strange information, I stumbled upon a disturbing dating website for married people seeking dates. Woah. Well, I'm going to watch a little TV or maybe watch one of my Netflix movies that's arrived. P.S. did you hear about the two men in NYC who brought the body of their dead friend to a check cashing place to try to get his social security money??? There's an article about in in the New York Times.

Monday

Well, today was my first day in radiology. It was pretty chill. So I welcome it for that reason and because I would really like to brush up on my skills in that department! We got out early, so I went walking outside, since it was close to 60 degrees F! Can you say disturbing?! Speaking of global warming and general issues that affect us all, I stumbled across this jewelry company based in New York that specializes in worldly causes. Not everything is super cute, but I really like some of the bracelets and rings they have. This evening I'm going to chill out, then pack because I'm heading to New York again for a 48 hour whirlwind visit to interview at two more hospitals. I'll briefly get to see Terry-a again, since I'm crashing at her place. And probably Saifra, since we're supposed to grab dinner with her. Other than that, Marcus is stuck in Chicago because of a flight cancellation. But he'll be home in a few hours. Once these interviews are done, I will have new frontiers to conquer: return to the gym on a regular basis, book the SCUBA diving trip to Cozumel with Stacy, work on my senior seminar (a case based presentation for the veterinary school), relax, potentially bring Twinkie to the vet for a check up, and conquer the world! AAAHHHHHH!!!!! Oh, and watch crazy films, of course. Yesterday I went to brunch with Stacy and I mentioned how the majority of my friends are in interracial relationships and how interesting it is...Stacy asked if that's why I'm friends with them or is it that I'm attracted to individuals who are open to all types of people? It's the latter, I know, which is a beautiful thing. By the way, although many of my friends are in interracial relationships these days, my first biracial friend is Stacy---someone who I just met a few years ago. That's sort of funny, because when we became friends it dawned on me that finally I had someone that could relate to me about certain things! Anyway, I've referred to a website in previous blogs that talks about the legalization of interracial relationships in 1967. Today I found a summary regarding the multiracial movement. It's interesting to read about the history behind it, and the challenges surrounding biracial people and the census, health issues, and laws affecting biracial people.

Crash, Recharge, and Recover

The past few weeks have been draining! Luckily I have 6 weeks coming up that will be perfect for recharging. Aside from a few interviews, I'll be on less challenging services like radiology and behavior. So I can get back to the gym, sleeping more, and all that fun stuff. Then I have two weeks free! Orthopedics has been fun. I've been learning a lot about surgery, which is always good. Tonight one of my patients, a cute sausage dog (Dachshund) named Luke is going home. He had a slipped disc. Tomorrow after I'm finished with morning treatments, I'm going to brunch...yes! When I came home this morning, I watched the french film "Ma Vie En Rose", which was a whimsical, but pensive movie about a 7 year old boy who believes he's a girl trapped in a boy's body. Then I watched "Private Property", another french movie, about a divorced mother, her two adult sons who won't move out, and how she tries to move on with her life in spite of it. Good. I've been watching tons of french movies lately, and in most of them I've noticed that the living rooms have a huge bookshelf, taking up an entire wall. I really want one of those! I've really gotten into them. If we can't find a place that has one of those, maybe this one from Room and Board will be a decent stand in...