Lately I've been thinking a lot about trying to go off the grid. I don't really mean installing solar panels and fermenting my own waste to produce energy (though I'd like to do the solar panel bit some day), but rather, going off the social technology grid. I'm thinking about shutting down my facebook account, getting rid of this blog (like anyone reads my semi-annual posts anyway), and in general keeping as low of a public profile as possible. I know there's been a lot in the news about identity theft and whatnot, but my real reason for wanting to become a social-media-born-again is that I feel like people use social media to broadcast their lives too much. At first I found it interesting to know what people were up to, but then it got to be too much. Honestly, I don't care that some person I haven't talked to since high school is having a bad day because some friend of theirs who I don't even know was in a bike accident.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't care about you, it's just that I don't want to hear every sad little detail of your life, especially if I barely know you. I feel like social media has brought us to this strange place where everyone feels the need to broadcast all the deepest darkest feelings they might be experiencing, and honestly, I feel like it sort of cheapens real relationships. Part of the fun of being a human being is trying to figure out what makes people tick - but you don't have to do that anymore, because everyone is publicly broadcasting every little secret about themselves.
So I think it's decided...if anyone actually reads this and is interested in staying in contact with me, send me your email address or phone number, because this will most likely be my final blog. Oh, and Merry Christmakwanzukkah.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Best. Songs. Ever.
I decided to try something tonight, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. In fact, I've made weak attempts at the same in the past, but each has failed miserably. My goal was to create a playlist in iTunes of the best songs ever written. What a feat that would be! I think the mere power and glory of such a marvelous playlist would result in the skies opening and my laptop being carried up into Heaven amidst the singing of angels and shouts of "Hosanna!"
Obviously, there are limitations on such a project. Limitation #1 - the playlist has to come from my iTunes library, thus, must come from music I own. Limitation #2 - I chose not to include any music from the rap, heavy metal, classical, or country (see limitation #1) genres. Obviously, there are numerous songs from each of these genres that deserve consideration, I felt that moderation was the key, so I chose to pick from a library of music that I think most people could enjoy. My goal, after all, was to create a list with staying power.
The list was begun easily with the addition of The Band's "The Weight" and The Eagles' "Hotel California". As I moved on to more contemporary musicians, I added Mason Williams' "Distance Between the Fireflies", Jeff Buckley's "Mojo Pin" and "Grace", and a whopping 5 songs by Sufjan Stevens (the most heavily represented artist in my final selection, followed by Radiohead with 4 songs). At this point, I was feeling good, but I could already see the major problem with my endeavour - selectivity.
In my mind, the first two songs, "The Weight" and "Hotel California" are EASILY two of the best songs ever written. Could I possibly fill up a playlist with songs of this caliber? Not really. There are thousands of great songs out there - where do I draw the line between a great song and a song worthy of the "best songs ever written" moniker? To use a bit of rhetoric that I normally loathe, it's a long slippery slope if I've ever seen one. Once you relax the criteria a bit to allow yourself some wiggle room, you suddenly find yourself wanting to include the likes of The Raconteurs' "Rich Kid Blues", Modest Mouse's "Float On", and the Meat Puppets' "Plateau" - songs that are undoubtably great, but don't really belong with the best songs ever written.
So here I am, listening to a playlist of great songs calling themselves the "best songs ever written", wondering where it all went wrong. No skies opening up, no choirs of angels - but now I've got a 45 song playlist that's extremely easy on the ears and will make a great study companion. Maybe that's enough.
I think for my next post I'll try to discuss in my not so eloquent way what makes a song great. Feel free to give me suggestions for your "best songs ever written" playlist.
Obviously, there are limitations on such a project. Limitation #1 - the playlist has to come from my iTunes library, thus, must come from music I own. Limitation #2 - I chose not to include any music from the rap, heavy metal, classical, or country (see limitation #1) genres. Obviously, there are numerous songs from each of these genres that deserve consideration, I felt that moderation was the key, so I chose to pick from a library of music that I think most people could enjoy. My goal, after all, was to create a list with staying power.
The list was begun easily with the addition of The Band's "The Weight" and The Eagles' "Hotel California". As I moved on to more contemporary musicians, I added Mason Williams' "Distance Between the Fireflies", Jeff Buckley's "Mojo Pin" and "Grace", and a whopping 5 songs by Sufjan Stevens (the most heavily represented artist in my final selection, followed by Radiohead with 4 songs). At this point, I was feeling good, but I could already see the major problem with my endeavour - selectivity.
In my mind, the first two songs, "The Weight" and "Hotel California" are EASILY two of the best songs ever written. Could I possibly fill up a playlist with songs of this caliber? Not really. There are thousands of great songs out there - where do I draw the line between a great song and a song worthy of the "best songs ever written" moniker? To use a bit of rhetoric that I normally loathe, it's a long slippery slope if I've ever seen one. Once you relax the criteria a bit to allow yourself some wiggle room, you suddenly find yourself wanting to include the likes of The Raconteurs' "Rich Kid Blues", Modest Mouse's "Float On", and the Meat Puppets' "Plateau" - songs that are undoubtably great, but don't really belong with the best songs ever written.
So here I am, listening to a playlist of great songs calling themselves the "best songs ever written", wondering where it all went wrong. No skies opening up, no choirs of angels - but now I've got a 45 song playlist that's extremely easy on the ears and will make a great study companion. Maybe that's enough.
I think for my next post I'll try to discuss in my not so eloquent way what makes a song great. Feel free to give me suggestions for your "best songs ever written" playlist.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Contractions -- Don't Worry'bout't
So, in my last post I put to use one of the oldest conventions in the English language - the contraction. This is that beautiful little rule that allows us - and by "us" I mean mostly "me", because you can do what you want - to turn longer phrases and words into smaller language bits that are easier to say and type (you don't even have to use the 'Shift' key to hit the apostrophe!).
So "wen't" isn't a real contraction you say? I dare say it is. "Wen't", as almost all of us know, is a contraction of the phrase "were on our way to".
Yes, it is the second "e" in "were" that's included in the contraction. That's just the way it is.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about contractions. "But Gable, don't you have more important things to be thinking about, like gastric lymphomas, arterial shunting, and how to differentiate appenditis from acute colitis?"
As we all know, marriage is a compromise...maybe naming conventions after a marriage should follow the law of the contraction. Rather than the wife taking the husbands last name, or sticking with her maiden name, or doing the ridiculous two-names-connected-by-a-hyphen thing (hyphens are just obnoxious - to say and to type), perhaps when two people get married they should form a new last name as a contraction of their own last names.
For example, my last name is Moffitt, and my wife's given last name is Bullock, so we've got two options. Since I don't want to have the negative, violent associations that go along with "Bullitt", I think we'll go with the much more innocuous "Moffock". Definitely much better.
So "wen't" isn't a real contraction you say? I dare say it is. "Wen't", as almost all of us know, is a contraction of the phrase "were on our way to".
Yes, it is the second "e" in "were" that's included in the contraction. That's just the way it is.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about contractions. "But Gable, don't you have more important things to be thinking about, like gastric lymphomas, arterial shunting, and how to differentiate appenditis from acute colitis?"
As we all know, marriage is a compromise...maybe naming conventions after a marriage should follow the law of the contraction. Rather than the wife taking the husbands last name, or sticking with her maiden name, or doing the ridiculous two-names-connected-by-a-hyphen thing (hyphens are just obnoxious - to say and to type), perhaps when two people get married they should form a new last name as a contraction of their own last names.
For example, my last name is Moffitt, and my wife's given last name is Bullock, so we've got two options. Since I don't want to have the negative, violent associations that go along with "Bullitt", I think we'll go with the much more innocuous "Moffock". Definitely much better.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Semi-Annual Update
Hey everybody (and by everybody I mean the two or three of you that haven't totally given up hope on my blog)!! Well, it's Sunday night, I've got no school tomorrow (but plenty of studying, nary a worry), I'm listening to U2's "The Joshua Tree", and I figured it might be time to re-enter the blogosphere and update the world (read: all three of you) on my life. As I'm sitting here planning out what I'm about to write, I'm realizing that this post may drive off the rest of you because it's probably going to a) illustrate my total nerdiness, and b) bore you to death. I mean literally, your brain will shrivel with boredom. But here goes.
First with the nerdy bits. I just finished reading a book called "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson that totally blew my mind. "What's so nerdy about reading?" you might be asking yourself. Perhaps to others the act of reading for pleasure in and of itself makes me a wholesale nerd. Well, the reason this book makes me especially nerdy is that it's a sci-fi book. Now I know I've already offended the sci-fi aficionados by implicating sci-fi as nerdy. But me, I don't usually get into sci-fi stuff very much. I tend to lean more in the snobbish "only classics and Pulitzer prize winners" direction, so this was a new thing for me. But on the recommendation of several critiques I read online, I picked up "Anathem" and decided to give it a go over Christmas break.
I was totally blown away. "Anathem" had everything I think a good book should have - good characters/development, good storytelling, and good writing. And on top of that, it had some awesome science/philosophy/scientific philosophy/philosophical science I've ever read. Woven into the dialogue and plot are very smart discussions about quantum mechanics, time travel, parallel universes, etc. It was refreshing to see science fiction sticking to the science, and not piddling away its credibility in fantastic gizmoes. I've always felt that science fiction was the hardest genre in entertainment (film, TV, books, etc.) to get right - said otherwise, it's really easy to make bad science fiction. I was wholly impressed by "Anathem".
Second nerdy bit - I've been working out a lot lately - I've been making it to the gym to lift weights, run, and ride an exercise bike 4-5 times a week. "But Gable, working out a lot makes you a meathead, not a nerd!" Au contraire. You see, because I've been working out, I've been reduced to that guy that can't get in the shower without flexing for himself in the mirror for five minutes, convincing himself that it's really making a difference when really, it's not. Not yet anyway. Maybe in a year or so I'll actually start to notice a difference...but until then, my imagination suits me just fine, thank you very much. Me and my imaginary pecs are very happy.
I guess the rest of what I've got to say is just boring school stuff. We've got another round of exams coming up in a couple weeks, so I desperately need to start getting ready for those. It's biochemistry, gastrointestinal physiology, and abdominal anatomy/pathology this time around...I figure I've got this week to study up on GI stuff, the week after that to cram biochemistry, and then the exams are the following week.
Oh yeah, we wen't home for Christmas and my little brother got married. We're extremely excited to have Julia as part of the family. I'd post some pictures on here, but they're all on my wife's computer. Maybe I'll post them some other time.
Congratulations to those (3) of you who found it back to my blog, and double congratulations to any of you if you happened to make it to the end of this post. See you again in 6 months!
First with the nerdy bits. I just finished reading a book called "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson that totally blew my mind. "What's so nerdy about reading?" you might be asking yourself. Perhaps to others the act of reading for pleasure in and of itself makes me a wholesale nerd. Well, the reason this book makes me especially nerdy is that it's a sci-fi book. Now I know I've already offended the sci-fi aficionados by implicating sci-fi as nerdy. But me, I don't usually get into sci-fi stuff very much. I tend to lean more in the snobbish "only classics and Pulitzer prize winners" direction, so this was a new thing for me. But on the recommendation of several critiques I read online, I picked up "Anathem" and decided to give it a go over Christmas break.
I was totally blown away. "Anathem" had everything I think a good book should have - good characters/development, good storytelling, and good writing. And on top of that, it had some awesome science/philosophy/scientific philosophy/philosophical science I've ever read. Woven into the dialogue and plot are very smart discussions about quantum mechanics, time travel, parallel universes, etc. It was refreshing to see science fiction sticking to the science, and not piddling away its credibility in fantastic gizmoes. I've always felt that science fiction was the hardest genre in entertainment (film, TV, books, etc.) to get right - said otherwise, it's really easy to make bad science fiction. I was wholly impressed by "Anathem".
Second nerdy bit - I've been working out a lot lately - I've been making it to the gym to lift weights, run, and ride an exercise bike 4-5 times a week. "But Gable, working out a lot makes you a meathead, not a nerd!" Au contraire. You see, because I've been working out, I've been reduced to that guy that can't get in the shower without flexing for himself in the mirror for five minutes, convincing himself that it's really making a difference when really, it's not. Not yet anyway. Maybe in a year or so I'll actually start to notice a difference...but until then, my imagination suits me just fine, thank you very much. Me and my imaginary pecs are very happy.
I guess the rest of what I've got to say is just boring school stuff. We've got another round of exams coming up in a couple weeks, so I desperately need to start getting ready for those. It's biochemistry, gastrointestinal physiology, and abdominal anatomy/pathology this time around...I figure I've got this week to study up on GI stuff, the week after that to cram biochemistry, and then the exams are the following week.
Oh yeah, we wen't home for Christmas and my little brother got married. We're extremely excited to have Julia as part of the family. I'd post some pictures on here, but they're all on my wife's computer. Maybe I'll post them some other time.
Congratulations to those (3) of you who found it back to my blog, and double congratulations to any of you if you happened to make it to the end of this post. See you again in 6 months!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Watch Out...School Update!!!
I realized the last time I posted anything on here was over a month ago and I realized the blogging gods would not be happy at me for my poor showing at appeasing them. That and my wife makes fun of me because she posts about 300 blogs for each 1 that I do. I honestly don't feel too bad about it though...especially since all I really have to write about is school.
While I'm on the subject, med school is going pretty well so far. I always heard people use the analogy that med school is like putting you mouth over the end of a fire hose and throwing that switch (lever? wrench?). Now I haven't decided if that would blow out your cheeks, rip open your insides, or make your head explode, but I'm starting to feel like I'm getting close to really understanding what the analogy means (sorry for the graphic images by the way, I spend lots of time around cadavers and looking at pictures of terrible diseases - what do you expect). Med school is great in that you don't have to go into too much detail most of the time - it's just that you cover about a year and a half worth of undergrad material every 10 weeks or so. Exhibit A - we're in the middle of our second block; in this block we are expected to learn genetics, embryology, reproductive biology, developmental biology, endocrinology, pelvic anatomy, reproductive histology, and all the correlating pathology. Oh, and don't forget our basic clinical and interviewing skills. All in 11 weeks.
But I don't want to be a med school whiner (there are plenty of those, trust me), so I'll just sum it up thus: med school is busy.
As a side note, I was fascinated with following hurricane Ike and my heart went out to everyone who was displaced from their home and lost so much. I was particularly keyed in because the other med school I was accepted at was in Galveston. Seeing the pictures, I recognized some of the places in town from when I went to interview. While I felt terrible for the destruction in Galveston and throughout Texas, it made me extremely grateful that the Lord directed us not to go there.
While I'm on the subject, med school is going pretty well so far. I always heard people use the analogy that med school is like putting you mouth over the end of a fire hose and throwing that switch (lever? wrench?). Now I haven't decided if that would blow out your cheeks, rip open your insides, or make your head explode, but I'm starting to feel like I'm getting close to really understanding what the analogy means (sorry for the graphic images by the way, I spend lots of time around cadavers and looking at pictures of terrible diseases - what do you expect). Med school is great in that you don't have to go into too much detail most of the time - it's just that you cover about a year and a half worth of undergrad material every 10 weeks or so. Exhibit A - we're in the middle of our second block; in this block we are expected to learn genetics, embryology, reproductive biology, developmental biology, endocrinology, pelvic anatomy, reproductive histology, and all the correlating pathology. Oh, and don't forget our basic clinical and interviewing skills. All in 11 weeks.
But I don't want to be a med school whiner (there are plenty of those, trust me), so I'll just sum it up thus: med school is busy.
As a side note, I was fascinated with following hurricane Ike and my heart went out to everyone who was displaced from their home and lost so much. I was particularly keyed in because the other med school I was accepted at was in Galveston. Seeing the pictures, I recognized some of the places in town from when I went to interview. While I felt terrible for the destruction in Galveston and throughout Texas, it made me extremely grateful that the Lord directed us not to go there.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Four weeks down...
So, four weeks of medical school down and I'm thinking, "Hey, I can do this, no sweat!" So I've decided maybe I'll tack on a Masters degree in Anatomy for good measure. We'll see. Classes haven't really started in earnest just yet, so we'll see in a few weeks once they do.
Right now we're doing a lot of the "softer" sciences- we've been studying public health, health disparities, epidemiology, biostatistics, ethics...that kind of stuff. I'll admit it, I can't friggin wait to start the real sciences. I can't do this soft science stuff...it's just not in my genetic make-up to give a hoot about epidemiology. I've got a mutation in my "cares about medical ethics" allele. Once, we did something pretty cool, when we talked about epigenetics as the mediator of environmental influences on health outcomes. The rest has all been hogwash.
I have found a special place deep in the frothy, bile-encrusted, black core of my gut for biostatistics. It's a very short list of things that rank lower on my "how I oughta spend my free time" list. Violent vomiting comes to mind. I'll get back to you with the rest.
On a positive note, we absolutely love Cleveland. Yeah, yeah, the humidity sucks, and no, no, we're not gonna stay here forever, but the city is gorgeous and the people are (sorta) friendly. We couldn't ask for a nicer apartment or street to live on, we've got some great friends (DJ and Jen, that's you, if you ever read this), and Laura seems to like her new job. So while we left our hearts in Denver (be sure to wear a flower in your hair), Cleveland will do as a surrogate of sorts. I'll post some pictures on here shortly.
Right now we're doing a lot of the "softer" sciences- we've been studying public health, health disparities, epidemiology, biostatistics, ethics...that kind of stuff. I'll admit it, I can't friggin wait to start the real sciences. I can't do this soft science stuff...it's just not in my genetic make-up to give a hoot about epidemiology. I've got a mutation in my "cares about medical ethics" allele. Once, we did something pretty cool, when we talked about epigenetics as the mediator of environmental influences on health outcomes. The rest has all been hogwash.
I have found a special place deep in the frothy, bile-encrusted, black core of my gut for biostatistics. It's a very short list of things that rank lower on my "how I oughta spend my free time" list. Violent vomiting comes to mind. I'll get back to you with the rest.
On a positive note, we absolutely love Cleveland. Yeah, yeah, the humidity sucks, and no, no, we're not gonna stay here forever, but the city is gorgeous and the people are (sorta) friendly. We couldn't ask for a nicer apartment or street to live on, we've got some great friends (DJ and Jen, that's you, if you ever read this), and Laura seems to like her new job. So while we left our hearts in Denver (be sure to wear a flower in your hair), Cleveland will do as a surrogate of sorts. I'll post some pictures on here shortly.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Best laid plans...
Well, for those of you who don't know us that well, or haven't talked to me in the last several months, the biggest news recently is that I did get accepted to Medical School at Case Western Reserve University. They say repetition is the key to learning...I wonder how many times I'll have to learn the lesson about submitting to God's plan before I finally get it.
Prior to actually being accepted, I was starting to feel pretty bitter about the whole process. All along, I'd seen myself as a shoe-in; eventually the confidence went to my head, I guess, and I got pretty arrogant about myself. I felt like all of these schools had made a huge mistake by not accepting me, and I started to search for ways in which the system of application and admissions was unalterably flawed because, hey, this was ME we were talking about. What I failed to remember was that God always has a plan for us, and while things may not happen on the timeline we want them to, we've been promised that they will always happen in the way that's best for us.
About this time that I was stewing in my own bitterness about not getting in, I finally resigned myself to my fate as a victim of a flawed system and was about ready to give up on the whole thing. Then, after I got out of the shower one morning, I had a voicemail from the Director of Admissions at CWRU. I called back and got the good news...I'd been accepted off of the waiting list, and was I interested in taking a spot in their matriculating class. You bet!
Just what the Lord had done for me started then to come into focus, and that focus is still being sharpened even as I begin classes. You see, CWRU had been at the bottom of my list as far as schools I wanted to go to. I was on three waiting lists: Colorado is my home school, Brown is in a gorgeous city, so why would I want to move to Cleveland, OH for some school almost no one has heard of?
Now that I'm here, I realize just what a blessing it was to be accepted here and not at one of the other schools. First of all, despite the fact that not many have heard of it, CWRU is actually a phenomenal medical school: #23 in the country according to U.S. News and World Report, and #12 according to the NIH. Second, the quality of the medical facilities associated with the school means that students here get a first-rate clinical education. Third, the curriculum is the best I've ever heard of and is exactly tailored to my particular learning style. Finally, despite what I thought previously, Cleveland is a phenomenal city and we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We've got some great friends here, and we couldn't be happier.
Hindsight is 20/20. As I come to understand why I'm here and not in Colorado or Rhode Island, it's becoming clear to me why I had to go the round-about way to getting in to medical school. My bitterness at not getting accepted right away led me to arrogance about myself as a candidate. At the point that I was ready to give up on medical school, I was starting to see through my bloated, over-wrought self to recognize my own weaknesses. I'll spare you the boring details, but the Lord needed me to be humble so that I could understand His plan in bringing me to CWRU.
I'm grateful for repetition.
Prior to actually being accepted, I was starting to feel pretty bitter about the whole process. All along, I'd seen myself as a shoe-in; eventually the confidence went to my head, I guess, and I got pretty arrogant about myself. I felt like all of these schools had made a huge mistake by not accepting me, and I started to search for ways in which the system of application and admissions was unalterably flawed because, hey, this was ME we were talking about. What I failed to remember was that God always has a plan for us, and while things may not happen on the timeline we want them to, we've been promised that they will always happen in the way that's best for us.
About this time that I was stewing in my own bitterness about not getting in, I finally resigned myself to my fate as a victim of a flawed system and was about ready to give up on the whole thing. Then, after I got out of the shower one morning, I had a voicemail from the Director of Admissions at CWRU. I called back and got the good news...I'd been accepted off of the waiting list, and was I interested in taking a spot in their matriculating class. You bet!
Just what the Lord had done for me started then to come into focus, and that focus is still being sharpened even as I begin classes. You see, CWRU had been at the bottom of my list as far as schools I wanted to go to. I was on three waiting lists: Colorado is my home school, Brown is in a gorgeous city, so why would I want to move to Cleveland, OH for some school almost no one has heard of?
Now that I'm here, I realize just what a blessing it was to be accepted here and not at one of the other schools. First of all, despite the fact that not many have heard of it, CWRU is actually a phenomenal medical school: #23 in the country according to U.S. News and World Report, and #12 according to the NIH. Second, the quality of the medical facilities associated with the school means that students here get a first-rate clinical education. Third, the curriculum is the best I've ever heard of and is exactly tailored to my particular learning style. Finally, despite what I thought previously, Cleveland is a phenomenal city and we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We've got some great friends here, and we couldn't be happier.
Hindsight is 20/20. As I come to understand why I'm here and not in Colorado or Rhode Island, it's becoming clear to me why I had to go the round-about way to getting in to medical school. My bitterness at not getting accepted right away led me to arrogance about myself as a candidate. At the point that I was ready to give up on medical school, I was starting to see through my bloated, over-wrought self to recognize my own weaknesses. I'll spare you the boring details, but the Lord needed me to be humble so that I could understand His plan in bringing me to CWRU.
I'm grateful for repetition.
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