The Bird in Flight - Journeys

New York

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Sat, 9 Dec 2006 13:55:50 -0700

I've taken a lot of pictures at the Rockefeller Center over the years, pretty much every time I've been to New York in winter. Yet somehow I never tire of it.

It's kind of a busy shot, but at least it's colorful.

So my short little trip to the east coast. It was awesome seeing Amit and the Gearys (Gearies?). I have to say thanks again for them hosting me and spending time with me, despite both Amit and Dan having pretty insane work schedules during the time of my visit. Anyways, hopefully more to come later.

Adventures Pre-call

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:57:03 -0700

Yes, still alive... it has been nearly 6 weeks since I've posted in earnest, eh? It's not so much that I'm busy as much as things have stabilized. My residency-hating has mostly abated, seeing as now I'm in the middle of my vacation. It's amazing how much perspective you can get when you get enough sleep. It's nice to feel happy in my residency choice, something that's taken less time than I really expected. I remember college didn't truly feel comfortable until 3rd year, and med school until 2nd year. Maybe I'm adapting faster.

Anyways, the photo above is from about a month ago, I think. Kiran had vacation, so he and Sandeep flew out from the east coast to Vegas, and Eric and I met up with them there. Leaving Friday after work, we didn't really get there until almost midnight... We found them in the Venetian rather drunk, and I'm not ashamed to say we might have joined them in the festivities. I managed to break the glass on my first drink, a testament to Kiran's drinking prowess (he chose the drink, after all). We wandered around the casino, and I watched Eric and Kiran play War. Yes, that stupid card game we all used to play when we were young and bored. Despite my mockery, they managed to win some money. 'deep didn't fare so well at roulette.

So anyways, we ended up in a cheesecake factory inside the casino, and we ordered beer. The remainder of the night was a bit of a blur. Suffice to say, we got kicked out and apparently we're no longer welcome at the Venetian... Next thing you know we're walking along the interstate-15 at 4 am trying to figure out a way to cross back to the side where we were staying. We did eventually find the hotel, and crashed, and hence Kiran above.

Sadly, we had to drive back after sampling the lunch buffet. I don't think we were even in Vegas 12 hours, but I was on-call the next day, after all. Medicine wards no less...

Anyways, seeing as I'm on vacation, I should take some new pictures! Particularly since my camera broke, and I got a shiny new one. Gotta love extended warrantees...

An old friend

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Wed, 5 Jul 2006 23:20:14 -0600

Now you might me wondering who is this cutie and why am I standing in a picture with her? (nope, not that) Actually, this is an old friend of mine whom I ran into quite randomly, Shirley. I haven't seen her in easily 6-7 years now. I met her in college, where she was two years ahead of me. She has had more influence in my life than she knows; my college career was practically modelled after hers. We both majored in MCB and Econ, and in the end I followed her path into medicine. About the only thing I didn't follow her lead in was singing (she has the voice of an angel, and I the voice of a sea otter). After she graduated from Berkeley and matriculated at UCSF, I lost touch with her, and thus was faced with the uncomfortable situation of having to make my own decisions about my future. Not so much fun.

It was awesome catching up. We compared med school experiences and such, and I got to hear what it was really like at UCSF (my dream school). Strangely enough though, I found myself all the more thankful that I had the priviledge of EVMS. I don't know if it was my fate to go out of state to attend med school, but I don't think I could've had a better med school experience. Nobody I've talked to outside of EVMS seems to have had such a tight community, amongst our class, our faculty, our administration even. I found myself telling her about the time Dan and I got Dr. McCombs let us take a picture of him in his black suit and plaid pants (discovering that even in the first month of school, he definitely knew my name and face), and about rounding with Dr. Esterowitz on internal medicine (and how she would round on MY note instead of the intern's, and how she would gently encourage us to never take things for granted, but instead research the best treatment), and other such stories of life at a tiny med school. (EVMS has its gunners and aloof faculty too, of course, although maybe a bit fewer and further between.) Amazing how things turn out sometimes.

I was amazed with the incredible serendipity of seeing Shirley again. Looking back on the photo though, I'm totally crowding into her space. Sorry!

Going home, part 1

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Mon, 29 May 2006 21:33:43 -0600

This is a photo of the arch at St. Louis. I was there with my father two days ago, at the Gateway to the West, and former home to one Daniel Danry. Consequently, I felt at home as well. I would've liked to have stayed longer and to have had the chance to ride the tram to the top of the arch, but I'll get to return one of these days. Click on the above picture or here to see it full size.

Continue below the fold for two more photos, a more conventional shot of the arch as well as a shot of Maryland Plaza.

Continue reading "Going home, part 1"

Seeing Virginia

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Mon, 15 May 2006 09:27:25 -0600

Kiran, Amit, Connie and I went on a short camping trip to Big Meadows at Shenandoah Mountains national park. On our hike, I attempted to take a few photos of a small waterfall. The result is both the above picture, and myself falling into the river, causing some serious knee pain--enough that I had to limp back to the nearest road so I could be driven back to the camp site. I managed to save the camera by holding it high above my head (I even made Kiran rescue the camera before rescuing me), but my poor cell phone swam and died. Luckily, it came back to life a mere 4 days later. (Click here or on the above photo for the large version.)

On the drive there and back, we took in the sights of the fabled Shenandoah Valley as well as its breathtaking Blue Ridge mountains. We came back via Charlottesville and toured the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia. Good times! I've also managed to see Fredricksburg recently, so I've now managed to see everything I had wanted to see before leaving Virginia (except maybe Tangier Island, but I hear it's not that great). Yes, I know, there's tons more of the state to see, but hey, I've gotta leave some stuff for the return journies...

New York

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:50:46 -0600

Another Lomo-ized shot, this time from the Central Park Zoo's penguin exhibit. I was fascinated by the phrase, "watch me, watch me, on the sea's great stage..." Kiran was mocking my fascination with taking pictures of words, but I can't deny the power that the written word has over me.

I've been to the big apple before, but this trip was actually a momentous occasion... for my car. It joins the small group of cars that have driven through both Los Angeles and New York City. How cool is that? At least one police officer in NYC gave my car a funny look after seeing its california license plate. She probably hasn't seen a whole lot of those.

So how did my car end up in new york, anyways? Funny you would ask. Kiran and I had booked a bus that left Virginia Beach at 1am, which we managed to miss due to them running out of seats. So we headed back to Norfolk (thanks to Amit who drove us to and from the bus station, 2x 30min roundtrips!), and drove up at 2am, arriving in new york at 9:30am. We parked the car, dropped off our bags at the hotel, and proceeded to tear up the town. Won ton noodle soup for lunch in Chinatown, and I mistook the Met Museum of Art for the MOMA, a mistake that cost us some 40 blocks of walking... The central park zoo was very cool, something I never knew was even there. The MOMA was awesome, although I probably spent 80% of my time there in the photography exhibits. I don't think I know how to really appreciate the rest just yet.

And the reason we went in the first place, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones played at the BB King lounge one 42nd street. It was a killer concert. By the end of the day though, we had been up for 40 hours with only maybe 3-4 hours of scattered naps, and as such we were too tired the next day for anything but the drive home.

Anyways, Kevin beat me to post #100! Congrats to our blog for 100 entries, and here's to the next 200.

Match Day

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:00:44 -0700

Match day!!! Across the country, at the same time on the same day, fourth year medical students find out where they will start their residencies in a grand ceremony. Ours is a little special, we dress up in costume. This year's theme was "channel surfing," and as such we're all dressed in TV-themed costumes. I, on the left, am a network news weather man, with a complete weather forecast map strapped to my back.

For more thoughts on match day including where I matched, continue reading below the fold.

Continue reading "Match Day"

India: You can get lost, but you can't hide

nospam@example.com (Amit) — Sun, 5 Mar 2006 02:40:50 -0700

So today's my last full day in Mumbai, I'm headed to Delhi tomorrow, then back stateside on Wednesday (by the way, can someone pick me up from the ORF airport on Thursday?).

I can't say I'm too happy about going back, especially because it took me about three weeks to really settle into things here and then I only had another week to enjoy it! My NGO had its monthly meeting on Friday, and I had to give a little farewell speech... in Hindi. So I spoke for a few minutes about how thankful I was to be welcomed into their organization and for their friendship, then switched to English and talked about how they had evolved since I first met them in 2003. When I sat down, I pretty happy with my language skills, and I realized that I would never have been able to make a speech like that a month ago.

I guess it all comes down to somthing I said to another visiting medical student I met my first weekend in town. I said, "Part of me feels perfectly at home here, the other feels completely of its element." Perhaps the reverse of how things are back home.

Goa to Mumbai

nospam@example.com (Amit) — Wed, 1 Mar 2006 15:09:19 -0700

Hey, so I've been offline for a while since I was in Goa last weekend! Before I left though, I worked on my sister's film shoot here in Mumbai. She's shooting some promo spots for a sports film festival, so it was cool to see a Bollywood production crew (cinemetographer et al) work with 35mm film.

Also finishing up at work. Sorry about the lack of LOMO shots, I have a total of 2 1/2 rolls shot, but I think I'll have to wait and post the good ones when I get back stateside. In the meantime these digital snaps will have to do. Attached are two production stills from the shoot.

In the meantime, here are "Points to Remember" about DJ'ing a party taken from a newsletter published by Cafe Coffee Day, an Indian version of Starbucks...

1. Judge your crowd and then play your music

2. Expose yourself to every kind of music

3. Put Indian music first on priority

4. Do not throw attitude on people

5. Whatever you do, do not screw up the mood of the party

Words to live by. On that note, this is me signing off until the next post...

ps: Is anyone out there actually reading this? I don't see many comments. Come on people!

pps: Saw Jackie Schroff at a restuarant tonight for those out there as Bollywood obsessed as I am. I pretended I didn't recognize him so he'd think I'm cool.

A little press can't hurt

nospam@example.com (Amit) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 09:44:36 -0700

So my sister is also in Mumbai shoting some promo spots for a film festival, so there was an article about her over the weekend in the newspaper Daily News and Analysis (DNA www.dnaindia.com). Not to be outdone, my own article was just picked up in today's edition. I was having a conversation with one of the editors about the whole "match" process and he asked me to pitch an article on it! I found it odd that it would be so interesting in this setting, but anyway... here it is...

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1014018&CatID=9

ps: the photo is of the Oral Rehydration Salt I'm always talking about, described by the Lancet (aka "the literature") as one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century. I'm working on something that will earn that title for the 21st century, I'll call it the Chandra Solution. I have the name down, but I'm not sure exactly what to put in it... aspirin probably... and yogurt.

Weekend Update

nospam@example.com (Amit) — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 03:13:14 -0700

So here's the weekend update. Yesterday, I gave a short talk on nutrition during pregnancy to a group of balwadi (nursery school) teachers who work in the area around our clinic. Did I mention that I had to give it in Hindi? I was worried that it would be a disaster, but thankfully I managed to hold things together. The minute I opened my mouth though, the giggling in the audience began!

After the presenation, they presented a flower to me and the two other people giving nutrition lectures and they made a short speech of appreciation. It was very formal but sweet of them! Then I attended a clinic session where the doctor I worked with saw fifty patients in in an hour and a half! It helps not to have to worry about medical liability in the documentation, we basically just had to write the diagnosis and treatment on each chart.

The photo is from a restaurant near my appartment, Tawaa. I'm mainly posting it because I haven't posted any photos yet! I developed my first LOMO roll and it turned out okay. I'll get a photo CD from my next roll so I can post some of them.

Bombay Duck

nospam@example.com (Amit) — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 09:43:11 -0700

So, I arrived safely in Mumbai last week after a six-hour delay en route. The plane from Amsterdam to India was turned around after two hours because the toilets wouldnt flush. At first I thought that we should have just pushed on, but then I realized how close my seat was to the lavatory!

More exciting on the journey though, was the announcement on the Detroit Amsterdam flight If there is a medical doctor on board, please report to the aft galley. I sat frozen for about thirty seconds, several questions racing through my mind. Whats going on? Does a final year medical student qualify as a doctor in this case? What the hell does aft mean? I thought things over Ive worked in a hospital or clinic setting for almost two years now, so perhaps I could be of some assistance. I must admit I was relieved relieved, upon arriving at the rear of the plane, to find four physicians had responded. The first on the scene took charge, and the others had already turned around. Chief Complaint: Minor asthma attack.

I returned to my seat amidst admiring stares from my fellow passengers. Their respect made me ashamed of my initial hesitation. An hour later, a second announcement echoed through the cabin, Will a medical doctor please report to the middle galley. This time I stood with some other miscellaneous medical types a respectful distance away from the first responder. This time my stethoscope came in handy. Chief Complaint: Nausea.

Anyways, now Im in Mumbai. Im working with the same NGO I volunteered with in 2003, the Niramaya Health Foundation (www.niramaya.org), though this time around I should be able to see patients on my own in their clinics in Mumbais various squatters settlements. Im also conducting a training workshop on water borne diseases for their community health workers, and Ive designed a pictographic flipbook for them to show people how to make their own Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) to treat diarrhea. When Im not at work, Ill be partying near where Im staying in Bandra (for those of you who know Mumbai). My sister has been here for the last several months so I can basically latch on to her pre-existing social circle! Using that strategy I ended up at a wedding reception at the Mahalaxmi race course last night, and yes... the drinks there were free.

Today being my day off, I went to the National Gallery of Modern Art for an exhibit on Gandhi. Every piece basically went out of its way to use interactive multimedia (video, electronic buttons, laser sensors, etc.), but they were so complicated that they all needed a staff member on hand to explain how to use it! I somehow found that level of labor allocation to be uniquely Indian, but I did enjoy the exhibit.

Lomo photos are on the way. Im almost finished with my first roll of film!

Downtown Los Angeles

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 02:46:30 -0700

For the last few days of my extended trip to California, Kiran and Amit came out and we all took Step 2 CS. The test sucked, and I dunno if I passed, but the rest of the trip was awesome. We went all over the place, from Venice Beach to Santa Monica to Beverly Hills to Hollywood. And then some. We randomly met up with a guy from Puerto Rico, Ivan, who was taking CS as well, and we all just chilled out in different places that Amit had heard about (or wanted to see). So anyways, the picture above is from the Getty Center, in West Los Angeles. Perhaps even more incredible was the view from Mulholland Drive, the Hollywood shot as it were. I didn't have my camera then, so maybe Amit will share a few Lomo shots when he gets the chance. Click on the photo above to see the full (uncropped) image.

Merry Christmas!

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 13:15:13 -0700

Hey hey, a two-parter, Mark-style! As I type this, I'm in much warmer locales, and I'm staring at a palm tree that's covered in sunshine rather than snow. Nothing too strange for me, as I don't think I've ever woken up to a snowy Christmas morning.

I am not in California, however, which is weird for me. That photo was taken in Hawaii, and the weather here is like Norfolk in May, which is to say ridiculously warm and humid for a cold December morning... This is probably the second or third time I did not wake up in my parents' house. My parents have found a taste for travelling during the Christmas season, which feels distinctly less-Christmas-y. It's still nice, just different I suppose. And I certainly can't complain about the free trip my parents give me (especially since my first paycheck isn't due for 7 months or so). Besides, I think my parents are on to something - we do all end up spending more time together on vacation than when we are in our own home...

Sorry for the lackluster photos. I'm actually thinking of switching back to my trusty powershot s230, as I don't think this s70 is quite cutting it... The noise is ridiculous, the macro is seriously lacking and the meter isn't as accurate as I would like. Grr. Maybe I should ebay the camera and just go for an SLR. *gulp*

Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone!

Snowy Snow

nospam@example.com (Randall) — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 13:08:08 -0700

I didn't get much chance to drive around rural Ohio much, unfortunately. I ended up just driving through the cold part. Whew! Cleveland was a nice frigid 5F when I awoke at 6am. I was a little better prepared for the snow this time than when I showed up at Georgetown in my tshirt and jeans, however.

So I drove off the beaten path a little bit, as much as my poor rented chevy impala was willing to tolerate the less-paved roads off the 71. The corn fields I had been told of were all encased in snow, as was pretty much everything else. I noticed most houses and farms didn't have footprints or tire tracks leading up to the houses; I wonder if anyone lived in this community? Perhaps they had all they needed and planned to endure the winter the old-fashioned way, by staying indoors for 3 months. Or perhaps they planned to endure the winter the actual old-fashioned way, by migrating to warmer places...