Moving

I finally decided it's time to move. Yes, the blog is not ending, fear not, but moving. From now on, you can find me over here, which is mark's custom-made website and blog. This'll be a little easier for everybody to keep in touch with the both of us. I am trying to get him to make it a little prettier :). We'll see. Anyhow, here's a little orientation to the new website: food- we love it and cook a lot of it, and aren't afraid to spread the love and recipes around, I do most of the posts here. Home-little house and random bits that's mostly of Mark's life-efficiency dreams. Ideas-this is the dangerous page. If my crazy ideas have offended anyone in the past, then just don't click here. It's safer that way. Instead, just click on Life- which is where we'll share wonderful updates and pictures on whatever happens. Then there's Tech-again, that's Mark. I just mostly ignore that part.
So we clear? want to hear what's going on? Life. want to hear my (or now Mark's) crazy thoughts and rants? Ideas (remember, dangerous, i warned you). Food-yeah, everybody, click on that, because what would the world be without food?
Ok, see you over at the new place. Feel free to leave housewarming gifts of comments.

honestly

I get tired of hearing all the frenzy about terrorism, homicide, etc. Especially when no one i know has ever died of such a thing... but oh well. "Enjoy" the picture.

return of the crazy ideas

Let's just say strange things have happened lately. This has been a busy and strange week, and though i am more worn out than i have been for a long time, i feel as though i have awakened from a very deep sleep. (but perhaps the exhaustion may be blamed on my preparation for the cardiology exam...)
First, i complained to my husband how jealous i am that he gets to think and write (those philosophy students...) creatively, and i am often stuck in a box of logical thoughts, within parameters that cannot be broken, with very real and stressful demands. I suppose this will only get worse next year as i enter the clinical half of medical school. I'm not sure how i will react to people dying if i don't get things right.
At any rate, i suppose i remembered how much i like to think. Then i started listening to podcasts on logical arguments (seems my philosophy classes were too long ago to remember it all). Then it seemed people started to ask questions, and i loved being around to talk, debate.
Some classmates even remarked how glad they were to be able to debate and learn from each other something that wasn't related to medicine- i know i was; we are all so tired of it at times.
Then some people compelled me to look back to this poor neglected blog. First i must say i had to laugh at some of the things i have written in years past. I really feel - and even act- like a very different person. But i suppose time and experience will do that. I'm sort of embarrased of a few of the things i've posted, but i'll leave them as a testament to change. Others, however, should have been more. I've been afraid of offending and pushing too far. But for those who may be offended or alarmed, i will remind you that this is simply an experiment meant to air out my crazy ideas and get responses.
Thus i will try to write more. I will try to think more, i may even try to shock you a little bit.
So i shall end this little rant with a tribute to those who are the forefront of free speech. Here's a blog i've followed for a little while on and off. You can easily change it to english if you're not familiar with spanish.
Generacion Y

Yeah, I was there.

U2 concert Raleigh. Talk about checking off a life-goal. It was awesome. They sang my fave- "still haven't found what i'm looking for". I might have gotten a little teary.

OH yeah

I meant to post this earlier.
Go here for pictures.
http://www.donnanphotography.com/wedding/recap-carmen-mark/

Veg diaries day 1

Recently I've considered becoming vegetarian. One, because I want to eat more healthily. Two, because I eat too much. I eat like 3 times more a day than people in the rest of the world. That can't be good over the course of a lifetime. Third, because my jeans are getting tight. No good. Four- meat just isn't that appealing to me. Five- meat gets expensive. So I think my goal will be to eat a more moderate, mostly vegetarian diet. Now I love food. This is going to be tough. In fact I'm planning on eating steak for dinner. But since I already bought it I don't want to be wasteful. I'll just let my husband eat most of it!
Day 1: Bagel and milk for breakfast. Gotta get that protein in there.
Peach for lunch. Yes one huge peach from the new grocery store downtown.
Slice of Veggie pizza for dinner.
see, that wasn't so bad.

I think this whole veg thing comes from my recent frustration with just how wasteful I can be. I've got too much stuff. All those clothes I never wear, all that food I buy too much of and never eat, all this junk cluttering my desk and I'm not sure why or how it got there.
So, here's to a starting a more moderate, less cluttered lifestlye.
Now to eat plantains for lunch and clean out my closet.

Not sure i like where this is going....

if you can't see it right it's here too
http://14.media.tumblr.com/pb5By8UAZjmhjmykFzimZr91o1_500.jpg

2 for 1 special

How special 2 blog posts in one day. I must really be avoiding studying. Maybe not. I thought maybe a little update on my life would be helpful... because i know you're not just interested in what i think but what i'm doing. Maybe.
The semester is winding down and finals are upon us before a fortnight is up. However we begin next semester's material before the let us escape for a short christmas break. I'd like to say it's not all studying... and it's not ALL...just MOSTLY. I have gotten to know Augusta and have hit some neat restaurants and become slightly familiar with the local music scene.
Went to the mountains a couple of weekends ago, hiked about 5 miles. That was a nice outing... made me realize i'm getting a wee bit out of shape.
The most "crazy" thing i suppose is the lack of sleep. 6 hours is a great night's rest recently, and i only nap when concerned non-medical friends make me do so.
But it's not as bad as the 4-hour-a-night schedule i decided to keep up a few weeks back. It actually worked, i got an A on the test, but was brutal. The schedule i chose was "polyphasic" which sounds weird but is actually just a multi-phase sleep cycle, meaning sleep 4 hours at night and 2 half hour naps during the day. But it's hard to sleep in the library, even if a friend loans you his cubicle and camping mattress for a bit. But like i said, finals are coming so we may see this hectic schedule reemerge.
Also, thinking about applying for a research and teaching job this summer.
Woot.
Now to sleep for 6 hours.

WHOA i still write???

Hello to anyone who reads this poor decrepit hapless blog with a very neglectful author.
I have an excuse really. I'm in med school now, and that requires most of my brain cells. In fact it requires my complete attention and all of my strength most of the time. I'm not kidding, it's arduous and i often wonder why i'm doing it anyway, but then i realize i'd be even more bored if i weren't here.
Now, whenever i am thinking, it is usually about things that most people wouldn't want to hear about anyway, like how Cranial nerve IV innervates one eye muscle but CN VI innervates another specific eye muscle and making up mnemonics and such to remember such mundane details.
Anyhow, in the lack of anything really interesting for anyone to hear of from me, here's a post that i found a bit heartwarming, from mine and Mark's friends in Atlanta.
And if i think of anything interesting that isn't gory or really unimportant to the everyday lives of normal people... maybe i'll post again. Till then... enjoy this one.

hypocrisy

The next section in "Unchristian" deals with hypocrites in the church. The church is seen by many as hypocritical, saying one thing but doing another. This has been one of the objections i've heard raised, and i'd dare say the church at large has recognized this at one point or another. I remember growing up and in youth group they'd say "your friends won't want to be christians because they think we're hypocrites". And it was responded to in different ways.
Reaction #1:
Act better. Walk the walk. Be the best person possible. Let them have no room to criticize you. We're right, we'll show them we're right by our rules and actions.
There are varying degrees of prudishness and isolatedness involved in this response. However, almost no matter where on this spectrum you are, you often end up in a legalistic kind of religion..there's rules, and i must follow them. This is hardly attractive for people who are looking for a free and meaningful life. (Yes, it's true, people are not just looking for absolutes and standards!)
Reaction #2:
Yes, of course we're hypocrites. They can't be expecting us to be perfect all the time. That'd be silly. We just do our best, you know.
However, this just leads to the escalation of the problem that's already there. "Those christians say they believe this, but are totally unwilling to even try to act like it".
Reaction #3:
They say we're hypocrites. But that's just dumb. We're not. Christians are the best people I know. Besides, they have nothing to say.
Simply, this isn't going to work because it will breed more isolation and "us v. them".

At first I was worried about what "Unchristian" was trying to present as a solution to all this...it sounded a little like Reactions 1 and 2 a bit mixed. And i'm still not sure they have quite figured it out for us, but it makes more sense than the 3 above reactions.
Yes, we do believe in some pretty high standards.
Yes, we are depraved and often can't fulfill them.
That's where Christ comes in.
We rely on His strength, and continually recognize His grace and love.
And they sum it up with a quote from Tolstoy "Attack me, not the path I take. If i stagger home drunkenly, does that make the path i follow any less right?"

It makes sense, but i'm not sure i'm quite satisfied with this. Not sure what more i'm looking for.. comments welcome, as always.

unchristian

I've started reading a new book...here's some opening thoughts from the first chapters.
"For most [people between 18 and 29], relationships are the driving force. Being loyal to friends is one of their highest values. They have a strong need to belong, usually to a tribe of other loyal people who know them well and appreciate them. Still, under their relational connectedness lies a strong individualism. Even though they esteem fair-mindedness and diversity, they are irreverent and blunt. Finding ways to express themselves....is an endless pursuit...skeptical of leaders, products, and institutions...They do not trust things that seem too perfect, accepting that life comes with its share of messiness and off-the-wall experiences and people."

"Our studies explored the nature of the perceptions about Christianity - not just pro or con but the substance of how people feel...not if people feel negatively but why... Christians are primarily perceived for what they stand against. We have become known for what we oppose, rather than who we are."

One "outsider's" comment- "entrenched-thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire-building, convert-focused people who cannot live peacefully with others...known for an us-vs-them mentality."

"[outsiders] feel minimized- or worse, demonized- by those who love Jesus."

From reading the first couple of chapters, I think they've done a pretty good job in defining what my age group thinks about life and about christianity. Heck, it's what i think about life and "christianity". So i'm proud of these guys for recognizing it- and it's interesting how they write as though they know it's going to shock some people. And yes, it probably will. I know it would at the church I go to every sunday. The sermon last week did indeed demonize outsiders and skeptics and called christians to more us-vs-them arguments with others.
Let me make a point i've been on for a long time...there is a generational shift going on that the church has ignored. It must learn how people think, their priorities, their lifestyle- and learn to care about all of it. It's just a part of loving others as Jesus did.
"Young people today" don't want fame or money or the american dream. We, the new generation of adults in America and the modern (or perhaps postmodern...) world are after knowledge (of self and of everything else), expression (of our individualism, community, knowledge, and beliefs), and community (acceptance, love, and support). And the church must learn how to accept this and deal with it. In fact, our job could be easier than before. We no longer have huge layers of systems and methods to undermine. Rather, we have skeptics who are willing to accept "radical", "different" lifestyles and are accepting of things that Jesus taught of (community, love, nonviolence, giving). There's a huge opportunity here.
Good book. More thoughts later.
UnChristian, Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, 2007, Baker, Grand Rapids.