Hemi-Nares

For about four weeks last month, I did not breathe out of my right nostril. My favorite nostril. A consolidation of mucus had set up shop in such a way as to impede the passage, rendering it airtight and largely useless. I had thought briefly about trying to take an icepick to the front of my face in an effort to create a drain - but it seemed like that would be playing right into the... Thing's... hand.

Anyway, the fire alarm went off the other morning and woke me up abruptly, and a quick inhale burst the thing out. When I say 'burst the thing out', what I felt was some ancient evil had stirred from the deep dark. It was kinda icky, but I feel better now. This is the triumphant return of a two-nostril breather!


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High Phrase

I'm doing a brief stint in Neurology. It is sufficiently brief that nobody really takes the time to think of specific tasks that are good for students to do, because they don't really expect us to be around long enough to count on us. So mostly I get to do a lot of exhibition exams (that would be like an exhibition game in baseball, not any other meaning of the word associated with a convention hall or nudity). We also have a lot of symposia. This is where everyone sits around a table and draws things on the whiteboard.

It helps us learn.


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A Maze... with Ghosts

I think this pretty much captures the crux of it.


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Se7en

People with working nervous systems can do all sorts of wondrous things. Talk, walk, differential calculus - you name it. One thing you ought to be able to do is recognize a number if I draw it with my finger on your palm. Unless I do it confusing. For example, 6 and 9 are tricky if you don't know which way I'm drawing it. We were also specifically told to steer away from 7 - I can't imagine why.

Bottom line, if you ever hit your head and are reduced to blind guessing, don't guess 6, 7, or 9. Full disclosure, I usually lead with a 4.


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Farm Phree?

Another edition of notebook drawings today, as I'm still trying to corral my limited time into effective studying for the shelf and an ess-load of financial aid silliness that remains to be documented. Did you know that taxes have to be filed every year?

That said, I have now completed my last FAFSA ever (barring any freakouts) - which kind of feels like a bubble bath for the part of my brain that gets headaches when confronted with such chores.

The drawing came from our intersession on professionalism. We were promised "a slide or two on dealing with pharmaceutical companies". The above slide did not appear. Come to think of it, I can't really remember the ones that did. Suffice it to say, don't take their cash. Or pens. And if you do, tell everyone about it.


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Options

Too busy to actually draw things pretty - I have needed to multitask. So here's one I did while ostensibly listening to someone else talk. Basically, I think we as a species are giving up on our placentas too early. Might it be that there's still some use left in it? It sops up nutrients for the better part of a year, who says it can't go for a few more? At the very least, I think people should be given the option to try it.


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Connusumate Professional

Pretty tired today - still recovering from a behemoth of a call night. I think I delivered, helped deliver, or watched 7 deliveries. I say 'think' because I'm really having trouble remembering what happened between midnight and 02:00. There were a lot of H&Ps involved... I remember that much. In any case, the take-away lesson is that if you feel like you're in labor during the Superbowl, just go to the hospital. Don't wait until after the game. We have TVs.

We recently took a day off as a class (psych - we still had to preround) to talk about professionalism. Above is what I drew on the back of one of the feedback forms. I stand by it. Han would have gotten the job done last night, even if it meant not sleeping.

Or hiding in his cargo bay. Wait, could any of my L&D problems be solved by hiding in a cargo bay?


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Ova and Parasites

I repeatedly cannot believe that nobody seems to be working on a baby-bowl - basically a fishtank that you can grow an embryo in. Basically, it would allow you to bypass all the hassle of finding a surrogate, and raise your embryo more like a bird takes care of an egg. Manily: outside you. Birds have it right.

The applications are clear. Infertility, convenience, gestations where mom would rather be drinking a bottle of wine every day. All problems ameliorated by the baby-bowl. One would think there would be big money behind it. Anyway, if you've perfected this idea, I'll buy it for $50. Just shoot me an e-mail.


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