Thursday, June 30. 2005
Capital City
Grr, browser crashes. Second try. So you like vacation photos? Neither do I. Sorry if I bore you.
Leaving Richmond and the capital of the csa behind, it was time to journey to the capital of the grand ol' usa. We made our way to Fairfax county, where Kevin and his father Tom welcomed me into their home. We went to Old Town Alexandria to see Kevin's dad's painting on display at the Torpedo Gallery (see here), and all the other work displayed there. The gallery itself is quite a work of art, with a distinctly modern feel, which was surprising to me considering its heritage as a torpedo factory during WWII.
We then toured Old Town Alexandria (which, btw, is nothing like Old Town Pasadena. Roughly 200 years difference, I think). Today it consists of small galleries, sidewalk cafes and quiant shops. And of course, really old buildings; most dating back to the revolutionary war. We got a quick glimpse of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, one of the churches from which George Washington spoke, and the church which gave his services when he died. I'm told the bells rung out at his funeral, continued as he made his way to Mount Vernon (his home) and did not stop until he was finally buried there. How they knew when he was finally put to rest, I don't know. Cell phones, maybe.
We had dinner at Pad Thai, a tiny little restaurant that Kevin had built up over the last several months to gargantuan proportions. Needless to say, it didn't quite live up, but it was tasty nonetheless. As you can see, Amit and Umakant joined us for dinner.
Afterwards, we went to out to Georgetown, in the heart of DC (now this place is like Old Town Pasadena). A tiny lounge called the Blue Gin. Deep inside a shady alley. Loud music. Would you like to open the top of the bar? Don't bother trying to understand. I couldn't hear anything. Amit, right before he started trouble with the regulars over the honor of a lady (of course):
The next day, Kevin and Heidi took me to the National Gallery of Art, where we spent a record-breaking 6 hours. Heidi did her best to teach me a little art appreciation (especially for modern art, her passion and specialty). I did my best, but Kevin and I kept things somewhat irreverent anyways. We were reprimanded by a security guard for getting too close to the art. "You have big eyes, use them!" We mocked him when we thought he couldn't hear us, whereas reality mandated instead that he would be standing right behind us. Oops. He took things with good graces, however, and even gave us an introduction to Jasper Johns. I was quite thankful for that, as there is really no way I could have interpreted Johns' work without help.
Between the two wings of the gallery, there was a big waterfall; I braved near-certain death and the destruction of my definitely-not-waterproof camera to take this photo:
So my laundry list of places to see in Virginia shortens! Now I can take Richmond and DC/Fairfax co. off the list. I still have to check out Charlottesville, Fredricksburg, the Shanendoah Valley and of course Tangier Island (before graduation, not on this trip). But first, off to Maryland!
More to come before this vacation is over. More photos past the fold. And I'm sure Kevin will post some more Richmond/DC pics.
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Wednesday, June 29. 2005
Summer Vacation
...is half-over. Whew. Okay, it's actually about completely over, but I'm cheating and back-dating this post so I can split my vacation over three posts. The weekend after our med shelf exam, I helped move Kiran and Lisa into their new place (sorry, no pics). Pretty chill, seven of us or so moving boxes and furniture. They had a lot of stuff. Of course, the one day they pick happens to be the only day this week that it poured rain. As soon as enough stuff was moved so that the floor could once again been seen, Kiran and I set up the NHT 2.9's. I have to say, his sound system is in a real funny position and he may go without a desk to accommodate it. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Kevin took his boards on Monday (congrats!) and we headed up to Richmond for the first part of my great adventure. I've lived in this crazy state for 3 years, it's high time I see some of it! We met up with Heidi, Kevin's fiancee, and they gave me a tour of the town before we sat down for some yummy chicken/pineapple/brie sandwiches over at the Tap House.
Richmond is actually one of the coolest cities I've had the pleasure of visiting. Southern heritage is strong here--palpable even--and the historical style of construction really lends itself to the sensation that time had frozen over a hundred years ago. I got to see Carytown, MCV, Monument avenue, Hollywood cemetary (final resting point of Jefferson Davis), and of course Church Hill and St. John's church, where Patrick Henry famously declared, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
The view of Richmond from atop Church Hill, where the residents watched the burning of Richmond during the Civil War:
Today, you can see the state capitol on the left side, and MCV (or VCU MCV division if you will) on the right.
Tomorrow, my journey to Northern Virginia.
Friday, June 24. 2005
New Server
This website has been on the same server for over 5 years, and it was high time to move. It stopped getting support somewhere back on php 4.1.2 or something. So new server, wohoo!
Mildly related, 3rd year is finally over! The internal medicine exam was hard. Very hard. I-really-hope-I-pass hard. As I was taking it, I kept thinking of things I could've done differently. But hey, what can you do.
Dan took this test with me today, but I think Kevin still has his boards coming up Monday... so why's he playing burnout 3?!
Wednesday, June 22. 2005
The Two Faces of Medicine
It’s amazing how much time I can spend procrastinating three days before my last exam! I’m trying to memorize my notes, but I’m finding them much more interesting to read with my eyes closed. After an hour passed out in front of my books, I feel like I deserve a break. Perfect time to look up the origin of the staff and snake symbol commonly associated with the medical profession. It seems like there are two different symbols, one with two snakes and wings on top, and one with just one snake.
The winged staff is a Caduceus, the symbol of Hermes, the Greek messenger god. He is known as a great mediator, a diplomat, and best of all, the patron god of thieves! Insert managed care joke here.
The staff with one snake is the staff of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine. Aesculapius was trained by Chirion, a centaur skilled in the healing arts. Aesculapius’ disciples were among the first professional healers in western civilization. In fact, Hippocrates, aka Notorious HIP, was a member of the Aesculapius cult.
The confusion between the two began with a set of German medical texts that were printed with the Caduceus symbol on the cover instead of the staff of Aesculapius. The mistake was magnified in 1902 when the US Army Medical Corps selected it as their official symbol because they preferred its more streamlined shape.
Incidentally, Zeus killed Aesculapius in a drive-by lightning bolt attack after Hades, god of the underworld, complained that he was healing too many people. So I guess there is such a thing as being too good at your job.
Tuesday, June 21. 2005
Token of my love
Man, that last post was depressing. I promise I won't always be like that. So I noticed that Kimi thinks I stole the lighthouse picture, eh? That's okay, you're super cute so I don't mind. You can have my coat and the picture. ^_^ (But if you still don't believe I took it, check out my reply in the comments section of that post)
So I was sifting through Jay's board to find the thread where I uploaded the original lighthouse picture, along with all the pictures from that evening, and I came across Toma's rendition of a photo we took:
Man, I was dying. I had forgotten all about that. The best part? I had come up with lyrics for our single, off the top of my head at the time.
Girl, when push comes to shove / I'm gonna be the one to rise above / Fly you from here like a dove / That's just the token of my love...
I can't believe he never deleted that off his server. lol.
