Island Med Student

Random video of my sister Bruce and my faux sister Cara “pignapping” a doggy (Piggy) on Saturday. Enjoy!

So, I was super busy for a few days and forgot to take my daily videos for my “Pause: For 3 Seconds a Day” 2010 video project. I was going to just scrap the idea altogether but then I realized that there really was no need to do so. I could just pick up where I left off and simply exclude the days, on which I forgot to take a video. Yes, there will be “holes” in my daily project. Yes, that’s less than perfect. But beauty is in imperfection.

Enjoy my latest, updated video! I might soon be changing the style, but this is what I have so far!

What a wonderful Sunday today has been!

I woke up early this morning so that I could take my doggies to the off-leash dog run area in Prospect Park. It turns out that my usual dog run area was closed because of a concert, so Micah and I went to a new, even bigger dog run! There were literally hundreds of dogs + owners running around and having entirely too much fun!

I then ran some errands and replied to a bunch of emails. (My next post will include all about how thankful I am to all of my readers.)

I just received the following comment from my mother (Bob) on my blog:

“Such cute, entertaning and smart kids…who have grown up to be beautiful, talented and brilliant women. Makes me cry and smile at the same time! Always keep in touch with your inner child…and you’ll always enjoy the wonder each day can bring!”

Want to know why I have such an awesome perspective on life? Want to know why I’ve grown up to be such a loud-mouthed, creative, crazy woman? It’s entirely due to my mother. She is so similar to me. I owe so much to her. Her comment above really sums it up!

Then I also got to thinking about how I came to become such an animal lover. I mean, it’s fairly obscene. I love ALL animals. I am one of those very annoying people you see on the street who runs up to other people’s dogs and starts kissing and hugging them and saying (in a really cheesy, child-like voice) “who’s the cuuuutest doggy in the world? huh? who’s the cutest? who wants to give me luvins?” Really, it’s rather ridiculous. If I could have it my way, I’d have hundreds of pet doggies, a herd of goats, and a whole slew of other animals living in my apartment. But, it turns out that the New York City housing authority frowns upon this kind of thing.

So, why am I a crazy animal freak? Again, I have my mom to thank for this. I grew up on a farm, surrounded by hundreds of animals. It’s all I know, really. And this whole “fear of dogs” thing? I don’t get it. You give me the meanest, scariest, mangiest dog, and I will have him/her licking my face in a matter of minutes. ‘Nuff said.

So, then I got to thinking, I saw all these kids playing in the dog run this morning. They also had no fear. They had the hugest grins on their faces, playing with any and every doggy who came up to them (Scope is a major kid lover). And maybe, just maybe, it’s a good thing for kids to learn not to fear animals. And maybe, just maybe, this lack of fear can cross over into the rest of their lives. Maybe they learn not to fear themselves, and also learn to love another creature so much that it brings them to tears. I think it’s certainly worked for me.

And then I got to thinking about how doggies are kind of “slaves” to what Freud would call their “id.” They don’t so much worry about the future, or paying taxes, or what their butt looks like, or whether or not they should have another bite of dog food because it might make their hips become fat. They are stuck in the here and now. And they are passionate. They love deeply.

And then I got to thinking about how it’s not such a bad thing to let your “id” out every once in a while. No, we can’t all go around having sex with anyone who sniffs our butt, and sleeping for 20+ hours a day. But maybe there are some of us that should let our “id” out at least a little more than we usually do.

Our inner child IS our inner dog in many ways. And maybe just maybe we should all unleash our inner dogs more than we tend to do.

I challenge you to all go to the dog park in the morning, and frolic in the grass with all of the doggies and try and be pissed off at the same time. I bet you an oyster you can’t!

I hope you enjoy the video below, which I just made from iPhone photos and FlipHD videos that I took at the dog park. Try and watch it without smiling. I bet you can’t!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
- George Bernard Shaw

I’ve been saying this for years. We can learn SO much from kids. And we adults all need to find our “inner child.”

Thanks to my parents who also never told me “no.” They always encouraged me to be the very best that I could be. They also never told me to be a doctor or a lawyer. They told me to do what makes me happy and what makes me the best I can be. Turns out that I became a doctor anyway. Thank you mom and dad!

My 2010 “Video a Day” Project continues with days 1 – 74. I’ve only missed two days so far. Not too shabby. Also, I have made some edits, including reversing the order (get to see the new stuff first, now), and adding another song at the end. The project continues to grow, evolve, and awkwardly mutate, just like me.

My “Pause: For 3 Seconds a Day 2010 Video Project” continues. Yes, I did forget to take one video on day 58. But I’m happy to announce that I’ve been doing well otherwise. My next video post might be drastically different. I’m working out different artistic permutations for this project. Anyhoo, enjoy days 1 – 63 for now!

I wish I had the motivation right now to give you a wonderful, concise list of “stuff learned” during my pediatrics rotation. But alas, I’m just too pooped to do so. I had pediatrics clinic today, which I loved! So, just for fun, here is a very incomplete, random list of stuff I’ve learned thus far:

How to perform a pediatric H&P. How to examine a newborn. Vaccination schedules. Stickers/stuffed animals are your friends. What HSP looks like. How to calculate IVF for kiddies. Positions for breastfeeding. How to perform a well child check-up. How to deal with parents’ concerns. How much babies should be consuming/pooping/peeing. How to test for developmental milestones. And much, much more!

During clinic today, a mother was shocked to learn that I was not the pediatrician. She told me that I seemed like such a natural with the kiddies, that she assumed I’d been doing this for years. How great that made me feel!

I just ate an entire box of Russell Stover chocolates (they were on sale at the hospital…I couldn’t turn it down!), and I’m about to take my doggies for their walk in the pouring rain. I have a lot of thoughts to share, but not the energy to do so. I promise to write more soon, but in the meantime, please enjoy my updated “Pause: For 3 Seconds a Day” video project (days 1 – 54)!

My “2010 Video a Day” Project continues. I’ve updated to days 1-47. Enjoy!

My 2010 “Video a Day” Project continues. I’ve updated the project with new days and changed the music and a few other details. I’ve now discovered that I really like 2 things about this project:

1) It forces me to stop and think for at least 3 seconds a day (but really more than that because I’m always contemplating cool stuff to video).

2) I am enjoying the evolutionary process of creating the compilation video.

Enjoy!

My 2010 “Video a Day” Project continues. Enjoy!