February 2009
5 posts
Woohoo - Wordpress rocks!
I’ve just managed to import everything into Wordpress: scepticaemia.wordpress.com.
This is officially my last post here which I’ll leave for a few months before deleting this blog permanently.
The Sisyphean Task
Ya know, I’m trying to migrate my tumblelog from jools.tumblog.com to scepticaemia.blogspot.com but there doesn’t seem to be any easy way to achieve this. Despite the limitations of Tumblr, I may be sticking with them for a while as the other is just TOO hard right now. Maybe I’ll give wordpress a go. Stay tuned. This is chewing up far too much time as it is, but it’s...
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Coraline
Unable to get to sleep after the tennis final, I read Coraline by Neil Gaiman. It’s a wonderful children’s book that most adults find a little scary. A bit of a twisted take on teaching children to “be good to your mother”, “be careful what you wish for”, “things are not always what they seem” and lots of other adages.
They’ve made a...
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Poor Federer
Stayed up late to watch the end of another epic 5 setter: the men’s singles final of the Australian Open. Maybe Roger thought that Nadal had been softened up for him by Verdasco, but Nadal didn’t even look tired. Nadal called the trainer to the court between sets for a massage; something he’s never done before, but hung in there to take the match. No wonder Federer was...
January 2009
16 posts
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Resolution 10 & 11.
I’m not sure about posting these. They say 95% of people break their resolutions by the end of the year. 1/3 don’t seem to make it past March. They also say one should limit the number of resolutions one’s makes. Hmm, maybe I should add, “Don’t set myself up for failure” as number 12?
Anyway,
10. Learn to play the piano to Grade 2 level by the end of the...
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Nadal vs Verdasco
One word: WOW!
Bit bleary eyed this morning though, as we stayed up past 1.30 to watch this absolutely amazing match which lasted over 5 hours. Latest highlights should be available here in the next 12 hours.
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“Just as the UN was founded in the spirit of shared humanity, so was medicine....”
– The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9658, Page 95, 10 January 2009 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60015-5
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Heart-Shaped Box
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill was disappointing and enjoyable at the same time. The writing flowed nicely and it was easy to read (took 2 days, on and off) and the plot was fun but I was hoping to be scared witless and wasn’t. I think it’s my brother’s fault. I used to be more easily frightened but since he told me he finds horror stories humourous, it’s killed it for...
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The Newbery Medal
Remember my post about The Graveyard Book? Well, it just won the Newbery Medal! Congratulations to Neil Gaiman who seems rightfully chuffed about it all.
Australia Day
Happy Australia Day - especially to expatriate followers in Italy!
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An Imperfect Offering
Finally finished reading, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First Century by James Orbinski. It’s an interesting read - really highlighted my ignorance to world events/conflict. Can’t say the writing impressed me all that much - it was a bit ponderous and overly detailed in some parts while skipping over bits I would have liked to know more about. ...
Too funny - yummy anatomy →
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The Graveyard Book
I’ve just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book
I haven’t read any other of Gaiman’s books but I really loved this book. It’s a sweet children’s/young adult book but I found it much more engaging than Harry Potter (which until yesterday was my favourite children’s book/series).
I don’t want to spoil the plot so I’ll try to be...
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More resolutions
9. Waste less time on the internet… This one’s HARD! Not sure that updating the blog helps, but I have given up Facebook.
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Making the Cut...
I’ve just read a book, Making the Cut: A Surgeon’s Stories by Mohamed Khadra who was a surgeon and Professor at UNSW.
I think I can cross surgical specialisation off my list too. Very depressing read from my point of view about the hours and commitment. Appears to be a LOT of pain for incommensurate gain, but that’s probably just me being lazy. Having said that, I’m not...
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New Year's Resolutions
Well, 1 & 2 are here…
3. Go to the gym regularly which leads on to 4 & 5
4. Lose 4 kg and keep it off
5. Get fit
6. Be more engaged with/by my medical degree - this year was a bit of ‘going through the motions’ and my own HWEM (a phrase pinched from my friend, Robyn - must come up with a different name or this could get confusing!) is expending some of his...
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Relatives. Ugh.
They say you can’t choose your relatives. You also can’t choose who they marry. They’ve made it clear to me that they’re unhappy with my choice.
I think their choice of life partners are at best uneducated criminals, at worst rude c****
New Year’s resolution number 1: Go away for the Christmas/New Year holiday season
New Year’s resolution number 2: Stay away...
December 2008
5 posts
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Boxing Day - the Australian way...
Doing Boxing Day in Sydney involves 4 things.
1. Christmas recovery. My recovery this year was from shuttling relatives about from airport to Auburn, back home to Glebe, then to Auburn to pick up the rellies and take them to do the Tamarama to Bronte beach walk and drop them back at Auburn before driving home.
2. Watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart from Sydney Harbour or South Head.
3....
Spreading Christmas cheer...
Crowds, shopping, meal planning, house cleaning, Christmas baking all add up to more stress than exams.
That’s it.
I’m cancelling Christmas next year. Going traveling instead. Much simpler.
On my wishlist... →
I’ve been watching the series: Stephen Fry in America which isn’t nearly in depth enough but I like Stephen Fry (I’ve also been watching QI) and it’s got me itching to go to the USA. In the opening sequence, they’ve used the images of the magnets of the US states to great effect - I’ve got to get me a set!
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Fawlty Towers, tonsilitis and suicide
This will be a rather eclectic posting.
Firstly, Strathfield Private Hospital is a hole and the standard of care there is horrible. Well, let me qualify that by saying relative to North Shore Private; relative to Italian hospitals I have visited or stayed in in Bologna, Cortona, Fratta, Castiglione Fiorentino, Strathfield Private is a palace. I guess the reason for this harsh judgement of SPH...
November 2008
9 posts
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Freedom... well, sort of...
Finished my last exam of the year on Friday. I’m still a bit wound up but I guess that’s because results come out in a couple of weeks and I may have to sit a supplementary if I don’t pass. I know, I know, I’m not stupid, I should pass. But when you’re surrounded by 200-odd intelligent people all equally freaked out about the possibility of not passing (most of...
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“When commercial capital occupies a position of unquestioned ascendancy, it...”
– Karl Marx
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Ineffective study techniques...
Here’s a list of things that do NOT help study:
Eating big bowls of fruit while studying - especially summer stone fruit! —> diarrhoea
Downing 2L bottles of coke in one sitting —> jitters & polyuria, self-loathing
Getting a head cold —> myalgia, headache, nasal congestion, fever, brain dysfunction
Subsequent high from cold & flu medication (basically,...
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Let me Google that for you →
Coming from a tech support background, I totally understand this ‘passive-aggressive’ response :) Love it!
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Stressing. Ho hum.
The man-about-the-house is in demolition mode, dismantling the large timber ‘cage’ that houses the rainwater tank. The weather is being unpredictable; rain has been forecast for 4 days this week which means the roofing job that the fledgling plumbing company is working on has been disrupted. Not that it’s raining now. Now, it’s sunny. Cats are whining. All is well with...
Kitchen renovations, exams and mental health...
My first ‘barrier’ exam is on the 25th in the form of an anatomy exam: 16 stations with 4 identifications to make at each station and 2 minutes at each station. Then a 2 hour exam on both the 27th and 28th with all of this years lecture and lab material being fair game. The official terminology for this set of exams is ‘summative’ assessment but I think barrier is also...
Sydney Fish Markets... I'm not a fan!
I got talked into going to Pyrmont for lunch (a lazy 5 minute walk from the house). A couple of girlfriends from uni wanted to go so it was more about the company than the food.
Now, on a Saturday, it’s throbbing with people which, in itself, produces a certain ambience BUT!
I’m always disappointed with the cooked seafood (I’m perfectly happy to buy raw from there and cook at...
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WatchYes We Can!
President-Elect, Barack Obama’s Victory speech…
October 2008
1 post
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WatchDid a suturing workshop a few weeks back… Didn’t take any pics of me, but my stitched up pig’s trotter and some buddies are making a guest appearance :)
It’s not as easy as it looks but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be (if that makes any sense). Tutor said it was easier on human skin… any volunteers? :D
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September 2008
10 posts
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Cat dramas
We took the cats to be desexed on Wednesday - they have been on heat (or should that be ‘in heat’?) several times in the last few months so we booked them in as a 6 month birthday present - aren’t we nice? Cat desexing seems to have gone up while we were away ~$500 for the two.
Anyway, when said cats got home, supposedly groggy and in pain, they ran around, ate and acted like...
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Must be love...
Got a new Apple iMac delivered on Friday.
*sigh*
Apple’s are a terrible extravagance, especially for those of us not gainfully employed and as a former IT professional, it shouldn’t make a lot of difference to me either way, but they are so pretty and I’m pretty used to the small differences in interface and keyboard shortcuts now since having the Apple laptop for a few years.
...
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Reflection mode...
Last week was a bit strange for me because it was full of psychosocial sessions:
a seminar on professional conduct (stupid part was that the people who didn’t show up were probably the ones that most needed the lesson);
a lecture on death and dying which was really interesting from a philosophical viewpoint - also quite topical with all the news about euthanasia in Australia at the moment...
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WatchI Gatti
Original album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/giulia.williams/IGatti#
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WatchHouse photos…
If the slideshow is too annoying, the original files can be browsed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/giulia.williams/Glebe#
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What happened to Spring?
Hmph.
It went from cold, rainy and grey to 35 degrees Celsius pretty much overnight. I got hayfever, so it seems like my body thinks it’s Spring, but it’s the sort of oppressive heat that makes you want to do very little, so it’s also thinking Summer and siesta time.
So, what did we do today? We drove around looking for some chairs for the terrace; we spent all last weekend...
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I vant your blood...
Well, maybe not.
But I can take it from you without causing pain or risk of needlestick injury to myself now. Really! I have a certificate to prove it even though we only had to actually draw blood from a person once.
It cost me some pains to get said certificate because my own arm was used as a pin cushion. Still. I can take blood. Chalk one up to my first invasive procedure!
Passed another exam...
Yay!
August 2008
5 posts
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Feeling old :(
I’ve been listening to the latest songs (having felt out of the loop and all) on the Billboard top 100 and have to conclude either 95% of it is complete shit or I’m getting too old to call any of it music. Half of it tried to drill a hole in my head, a quarter was atonal, and a fifth I lost interest in.
Having never been a big fan of Coldplay, I quite like Violet Hill and Viva la...
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de do do do de da da da
This has got to be one of the most ridiculous song titles, ever. But as I feel my brain turn to mush whilst reading about Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development and wonder if behavioural sciences will ever interest me, de do do do de da da da seems oddly appropriate. Wonder if anyone has a developmental theory about that? Anyway, my gratitude to Sting & The Police for distracting...
La la la la la
*sigh*
12 days til the next exam. It bothers me that I feel this unprepared and am freaking out given that the bloody thing doesn’t count towards a final grade, but I guess that is just the ‘nature of the beast’.
Don’t know how many of the Italy crowd are following but I’ll try to post something meaningful after the 22nd. Until then, be prepared for more drivel...