Feeling fragile

The wedding was a ludicrously good time. In all, something like 15 of my classmates were there. Things in medical school are such that we don't get to party much any more, so I think everyone had piles of pent up energy. I must off to bed now.

A (hopefully non-eventful) stroll down the aisle

Today is the wedding. Angela, one of my friends in third year, is getting married, and I'm part of the musical act.

Yesterday, we had our first (and only) practice for today's wedding. Aside from the piano (me), there are two violins (Terence and Shermeen, both classmates of mine), and a flautist (Jessica, a friend of the bride). Practice was good fun. The flautist is excellent. Shermeen is a wonderful musician. And Terence... well Terence can be kinda neurotic, but he seems to know his way around a violin.

In fact... if there was to be a weak link... it would probably have to be me.
Ironically enough, I have no problem with the pieces we're going to be playing as background music. Oh no, the piece I have trouble with is "Here Comes the Bride". I have a feeling that Angela will hunt me down and gut me if I screw this up. Can you imagine the bride walking down the aisle to rickety music? oh dear.

But I will be strong. Have faith. I must believe in my fingers.

Home and back again.

My mother convinced me at 9:30pm on Friday night to take the 10:10pm bus back to Ottawa for the long weekend. And so it was that I arrived at 5:45am on Saturday morning ready for a weekend of familial fun.

If not for the absence Sarah the weekend would have been completely complete. As it was, I ate, played piano, watched Kicking and Screaming with Greg, ate, played badminton, ate, shopped, went mountain biking with Greg, ate, and went to see that gigantic spider at the art gallery.

My thoughts:
1. I will have to practice more piano if I don't want to stink up my friend's wedding this weekend.
2. Will Ferrell is an acquired taste.
3. Exercise has made my sister noticeably less lethargic.
4. Sarah is DEFINITELY the best badminton player in the family. Although this is not saying so much.
5. Greg's mountain bike is super awesome. The pedals on it are quite spiky though... and can really do some damage on your shins.
6. I shall quit school and become a spider maker.
7. My parents feed me super.

On the way home on the bus, I met the newest flautist for the TSO. She's the first flautist they've hired in TWENTY years! I think playing in a professional symphony is one of the elitest jobs ever. It's like meeting an astronaut!

Anyways, long story short, I'm glad I went home. As always, mother knows best.

Noooooooooooo!

Tragedy has once again struck the small world that is Simon and his bicycle.

As you may recall, I ride a older bicycle that I outfitted with a super snazzy, high-tech bicycle seat. I awoke this morning bright-eyed and ready to cycle to work. Imagine my surprise and dismay to find my precious bicycle seat gone!

Actually to be completely honest, the most vexing part of the whole thing was that it made me late for a meeting. Maybe I'm just getting beaten down, but the fact that someone stole something from me doesn't really surprise or upset me too much. This may be related to my friend Greg's recent woes regarding bike theft. My faith in random strangers is at quite a low right now.

I actually don't think that my laissez-faire attitude is very good. I think my moral standards are drooping and dropping. For the past while, it really hasn't seemed worth the battle to lead a the more difficult virtuous life. We're all taught tha virtue is its own reward. I don't think this reward is enough anymore!

Actually, without religion, and fear of consequences from "higher up", it is very difficult to make a case against the existential "ends justify the means" philosophy of life.

This type of thinking is not very pleasant.

Walking!

Today was my first full day back on my feet. The past two days, I've had to bike to work with my crutches strapped to my back. It's quite a nuissance because the crutches hit the back of my bicycle helmet, which forces me to tilt my head at a 45 degree angle. I'm just that cool.

I fixed the brake line on my bicycle today. I snapped it last year while biking home in the rain. I've had to use my feet to stop for the past while. This was really a problem when one of my ankles wasn't working so well. Things are all back in working order now!

Finally, I've been alerted to the fact that my roommate is going to be living with her brother as of September. This means that I must once again search for a home. I'm really quite the nomad.

Not again!

As I type this entry, a frozen bag of french fries defrosts on my right ankle. The twisting of this same ankle 3 years ago while playing soccer put me on crutches for three weeks.

Needless to say, I was having a stellar day, soccer wise, when once again, my ankle took a turn for the worse. It's not as serious a sprain as last time... but my ability to weight bear isn't so great. Hopefully this will ameliorate by the morning, else I'll be forced hop to my psych consults!

A week of psychiatry later...

Head shrinking is proving to be vastly more interesting than previously imagined. I was expecting very mundane 'depressed'' people, but some of the patients I've seen are right out of television shows.

I spend two days a week at the hospital doing medical psychiatry, and two days a week in a clinic doing pediatric psychiatry. Some mornings, the pediatric shrink and I do school visits. As I was mentioning to my nephew (at our inaugural fruit smoothie movie marathon), I was never one of those kids who got to see what happened in the principal's office. Indeed, if the whole office had ceased to exist, I doubt whether this would have influenced my school career in the slightest (With the possible exception of the 'student of the week' award I won in grade 5. I had to go to the office to have my polaroid taken. I remember the picture very well. I wonder why my mother liked dressing me in matching jumpsuits so much. Not really a problem in grade 5... but the first day of middle school was a rude awakening.).

Anyways, I suppose the point is that I never realized that principals and vice-principals actually have productive things to do with their days. The reality, I think, is that a majority of their time is devoted to guiding/caring for a segment of the student population that has different needs. I'm also amazed at some of the teachers I've met. They're really quite extraordinary.

In other news, I had to get my photo taken to updated my hospital ID tag. With one of my friends goading me on, I struck a somewhat peculiar pose for the camera. The only word my classmates have used to describe the pose is "seductive". Oh maturity... why have you bypassed me?

Plan for the day: read, soccer, read, coffee, read.

Out of Grimsby and into Hamilton

With the end of my sixth week in Grimsby, my stint in rural family medicine comes to a close, and I return to Hamilton.

I must say, the entire Grimsby experience was very agreeable. I had ideal accomodations and I ate better than I have since first year undergrad. I also feel I have a much better grasp of the whole patient-physician relationship. This should come in handy, because tomorrow, I start six weeks of psychiatry here in Hamilton.

I'm looking forward to it. I'm told that psychiatry is one of the more relaxing rotations. I hope it's true! I need the time to start preparing for all the weddings!

In other news, I spent all weekend re-arranging the furniture in my room. It's way better now. Better lighting, better work environment, better view, better karma!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Backpacks and bookbags

Now I have a cousin who is in the habit of having various male classmates carry her bookbags from class to class.

I expressed surprise at this. She doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. Apparently, they're all 'just friends'.

Now.

Is this possible? I just think that these fellows MUST have romantic intentions. I'm told this is because I am ungentlemanly. I was also told that I should start carrying girls' bookbags.

crazy.