Thich Nhat Hanh

The morning after the MCAT, I woke up at about 6:30. I woke up early, partially because of my stress over my poor performance and partially out of habit from the preceding weeks. I immediately picked a book from my shelf that I've been trying to read for a while. It's called Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh. I just finished it and I couldn't be more pleased. It's great to be both put at ease and excited by the same book. The main purpose of the book is to point out the importance of having or "being" peace on a personal, everyday level as a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for making peace in a broader sense. However, he speaks simply and eloquently on a number of key Buddhist principles. The book (and Hanh's teaching in general) have a very optimistic and perhaps even idealist tone which is not common in western writing, but don't mistake optimism for naiveté. Some of his Dharma talks (sort of like sermons) are posted on his Sangha's website if you're interested in seeing some of his thoughts.

Friends

Yes, I have returned to the blogosphere. I have to comment briefly on the MCAT. Unfortunately, my absence from cyberworld has not been due to rampant celebration of my stellar performance. I don't yet have my scores (it takes about six weeks), but I most certainly did NOT perform to the best of my abilities, particularly on the physical sciences portion of the test. I have been preparing myself for the possibility that I won't be attending medical school next year. However, a funny thing did happen during the test. I had always said that I wouldn't retake the MCAT, if it didn't go well that I would take the GRE and attend grad school for psychology. After I finished the physical sciences (or rather didn't finish) I knew at that moment that I WOULD retake the test if need be and that I WILL be a doctor. It was hard to explain, but it was a true moment of clarity. So, worst case scenario, I lost $200 taking the test and I delay my entry one year. I've definitely got to get my crap together though, I'm getting old! In any event, there is still a fair chance that I scored well enough to matriculate in 2006, so we'll just have to see. I'll keep you all posted and thanks for all the well wishes.

A note to Troy Swanson (and other people that like me).

The Medical College Admissions Test is August 20th, 2005. I will be attending.
Coincidently, new Blog posts will begin August 21st, 2005.

Thank you.

P.S. Please send your thoughts, prayers, voodoo, and whatever else you can think of to boost my score beginning at 8AM on the 20th.

Prepare Thy Sword!

There won't be too many posts this week, as I have finals. I have to relate a story from last week though. My roommates and I were flipping through the channels at lunch time on Friday and happen to see Jim Bakker wielding a sword on TV. It thought it was worth stopping for a look. Turns out you can get "The Revelation Sword," which Jim thought would be a great Father's Day gift, if you donate to his show. Interestingly, you have to call the donation line to find out how much of a donation you have to make to get the sword. Also, I found it quite funny that the used grainy footage of an Orc battle from Lord of the Rings and passed it off as a scene from the apocalypse. The picture link of the sword looks very close, but I could find the official replica. If someone finds it, please let me know. Maybe I'll forward this on to the Daily Show's "This Week in God." Oh, in case the suspense is killing you, I called and you have to give $200 to get The Revelation Sword.

Freakin Sweet!
Oh yeah! Family Guy is back on the air. The show was actually the subject matter of the only letter I ever sent to a TV network. A couple of years ago I sent a letter to Comedy Central urging them to pick up Family Guy, assuming that Fox would never try it again after canceling the show. I was wrong. The loyal fan base was a big reason for the show's return.

I was presently surprised to hear an NPR report on the show's crazy on-the-air/off-the-air story.

Meg once again proved she is the best girlfriend in the world by taping the first new episode for me while I was at work on Sunday. Highlights: definitely the return of the greased-up deaf guy and the GI Joe spot.

... All Right!

New Digs

Nope, didn't go shopping for clothes. After working two years in an ICFMR at Tanager Place, I worked my first weekend in one of the PMIC's (Psychiatric Treatment Center for Children). I had always intended to try working in another unit or units at Tanager so I could broaden my experience in terms of working with different populations.

I chose the particular unit I did for one reason: the challenge. I have long said that I want to have boys when I have kids. Not because, I'm some macho guy or I want to "carry on the family name," but because I didn't want to deal with teenage girls. So, to meet my apprehension head-on, I chose a unit that houses 15 girls with an average age of 13. The most common diagnosis in the unit is Borderline Personality Disorder. Those of you who know something about mental health probably just either laughed at or said a prayer for me. The link I posted is a pretty good synopsis of the disorder. It is an exceedingly difficult population to deal with, but I think taking on such challenges is important in developing personally and professionally. We'll see if I have the same mindset after a few months of 20 hours of immersion in the manipulation tank each week.

Spanglish: A pretty good pelicula.

Meg and I had heard good things about Spanglish didn't get a chance to see it in the theatre, so we were looking forward to seeing it. We were not disappointed. The script was pretty good, but I thought it was the very natural feeling of the acting from Adam Sandler, Paz Vega and the kids Shelbie Bruce and Sarah Steele.

It's funny, I never would have thought if you would have told me in the 90's (when I was simultaneously eating up his goofy, childish humor and wonder why I was even laughing) that I would describe Adam Sandlers acting in a film as a nuanced portrayal of the post modern everyman, I would have said you were crazy. Yet, I think that's what he delivered Spanglish. I liked him better in this than Punch Drunk Love, which I also enjoyed him in.

As for Paz Vega, I thought she was phenomenal in this film. I was shocked to find that she is only 29. Based on the wisdom she brought to her character, I never would have guessed her being that young (not usually a complement, but in this case it is). However, I might be partial to a pretty, curvaceous, pretty spanish woman with the name "peace."

Cave People

This weekend was quite nice. Meg and I took the opportunity to go with my roomate Chris and his girlfriend Mary for once last outdoor excursion before he leaves for his internship in Washington D.C. We went camping in Maquoketa, IA. We went to a double feature at the 61 Drive-in Theatre south of town and stayed at the Maquoketa Caves State Park. For me, this was a repeat visit to both. I recommend visiting. It was a little cold, but it had all the elements of a good outing: beer, fire, smores, and caves. F.Y.I. I learned that Meg is quite the pyromaniac this weekend. So, if you need help building a fire she's the one to call. However, you might want to keep the matches put when she visits your house.

Speaking of Music...

Like downloading free music off the internet, but hate those pesky law suits? One of my TA's told me about this site called etree. The site contains tons of artist-approved free music. It not a person to person file sharing format, so you are actually downloading the files from a central database: pretty slick. I plan to put it to use over the next few days, so I'll post an update with my favorite finds. Thanks to Brian Gehl for the info.

Currently Listening to ...

Jack Johnson's new album In Between Dreams ... gotta love "banana pancakes"

Beck's new album Guero ... que bueno

Dennis Brown (mix) ... tasty old-school reggae

Phish's Farmhouse ... I'm no Phish Head, but it's a great album

Foo Fighters' (mix) ... if you can calmly listen to "all my life," check your pulse

Nas's Stillmatic ... Nas is to "gansta rap" what Scorsese is to gangster films

Gavin Degraw's Chariot ... la little "poppy" but, what I would give to write one song like "Belief"