Thursday's diversion = a cappella fun with Montgomery HS's all-girls jazz choir, Conroe HS's Finally Friday, and Raleigh's Almost Recess. The final act, an all-men a cappella quartet, turned the auditorium into a bit of a rock concert. It's been a while since I've heard that many teenage girls' high-pitched screams. Check out the clip above.Friday's entertainment break involved a brief trip to the House of Blues to see Mat Kearney. I won a pair of free tickets on Twitter (shhh... don't tell anyone I have an account). The highlight was probably when he jumped off the stage and wandered through the crowd while singing. Pretty darn cool.My final study distraction was carving this pumpkin during a group lunch meeting with my mentor. (Happy Halloween!) Other than that, I have been studying. Sometimes I eat. Sometimes I sleep. Mostly, I study.
My restaurant-reviewing friend Sarah invited me to be her "plus one" for a restaurant opening at Hotel Derek near the Galleria. We rolled up to Valentino in style, handed the keys to the valet, and started mingling with the pretty people. I came hungry and tried every bite-sized morsel that passed within 15 feet of me. We also sipped the swanky drinks like specialty martinis (l-r): smoked prosciutto, cucumber, and chocolate raspberry. It seemed like every person we chatted up either owned the restaurant or the hotel or had some fancy schmantzy claim to fame. Someone with a hotsy totsy role at the restaurant made some raspberry oyster shooters for us (and other members of the press). All in all, it was a pretty posh affair.On Saturday morning, I had another special session to practice clinical exam skills. This particular session on the male genitourinary exam was really well run. Over the course of just two hours, we watched a film, practiced on plastic models, received instruction from urology residents, and then tried out our skills on a standardized patient. I was a little nervous standing in a line to perform a DRE and the "turn-your-head-and-cough" hernia exam, but the practice was very helpful.The Rice/Baylor Scholars got together on Sunday night for a western-themed dinner at the Dean of Admissions house. Afterward, Brandi, Peter, and I went to Jones Hall downtown for our second show of the Houston Pops season. The Symphony performed songs from Evita and Carmen, "Sobre Las Olas" by Rosas, and and another song I'm blanking on. In the second half featured Brian Stokes Mitchell who was AWESOME. His voice was beautiful and powerful, yet effortless. He sang some Gershwin tunes, Broadway hits, and even a couple fun ones like "It's Not Easy Being Green." Seeing him live brought back fond memories of the NYC trip for Mom and Dad's 25th anniversary when he stole the show in Man of La Mancha.
Block 8 has gotten off to a very busy start. In addition to spending the mornings in lectures on hard/soft tissues and the GI system, I've been spending afternoons doing lots of miscellaneous med-related sessions. On Tuesday I had my readings in international health class; on Wednesday I practiced the neonatal exam on a teeny tiny <1 day-old baby at Ben Taub; on Thursday I went over the pediatric exam with a couple patients at Texas Children's. By Thursday evening, I was carpooling my way to San Antonio for an Ob/Gyn conference. The conference was very interesting and extremely helpful for networking purposes. I soaked in the stories of three other Baylor med students with a hankering for Ob/Gyn: Stina, Claudette, and Lauren (l-r above).On Friday we had lectures on the past, present, and future of the field for students, residents, physicians, and patients. Over lunch the junior fellows had a Q&A for students and put on a rousing game of Family Feud. Among other interesting tidbits, I learned that "vajamma" is a common euphemism for vagina. The Baylor crew went out for a filling Mexican dinner and then crashed. Saturday brought more lectures in the morning and a residency fair and interview advice session in the afternoon. I spent a lot of time at various procedure simulation booths doing tasks like inserting an IUD into a plastic model, performing an ultrasound-guided amniocentesis on a water balloon in Jell-O, expertly manipulating the laparoscopic tools to cut a circle out of gauze, and ablating a rubber uterus. That night we went to the gala and enjoyed some serious betting (with not-so-serious money) at the blackjack table. As you can see from the picture above, dancing was also involved.After the last round of lectures on Sunday morning, we made it back to Houston late in the afternoon. I freshened up, reconnected with Wentworth, and headed downtown to the Hobby Center for a Free Night of Theater. We had a small troop of Baylor second-years for the closing night of Meet Me in St. Louis including Tiffany, Jenn, Ann, Yetunde, and Eleanor (l-r above). Brandi and Peter also joined us while simultaneously celebrating their sixth anniversary of togetherness. The costumes and choreography were the highlights of this fun and cheeky musical.
After Wednesday's respiratory and PPS exam followed by Friday's renal exam and practical, I was pooped... so pooped, in fact, that I squeezed in a visit to Brandi's lab in Rice's fancy Biosciences Research Center and then crashed at home. I set an alarm but either turned it off or slept right through it. Next thing I knew, Brandi was calling to see where I was for our ballet date. Yikes! I scrambled around my messy room (it tends to get that way around test time) and threw on something suitable. Darling Peter chauffeured us to the Wortham Center, delivering his wife and me to the entrance only a few minutes late.Without Boundaries started off with a contemporary piece from The Netherlands that I found quite interesting with the provocative movements and rhythmic beats. The second piece was a premiere by Houston Ballet's own artistic director Stanton Welch. Booooooring. Only after reading a review in the Chronicle did I realize this vanilla piece was about the four elements. However, the final piece was absolutely fantastic. Twyla Tharp's The Upper Room was one of the best dances I've seen in a long time (including jazzy performances on So You Think You Can Dance!). From the music to the costumes to the incredibly original and amazing choreography I found myself wanting to shout, "Encore!" to see it all over again (see a clip for yourself, above).After the ballet, Brandi, Peter, and I went to Berripop for some fro-yo (above). I indulged in the blueberry and raspberry pomegranate swirl in a waffle cone. Yum! Just when I thought I was going to get some shuteye, I rallied and made an appearance at the end-of-block party at Open City in midtown. It was fun to see classmates without the look of terror in their eyes or the tension of test-induced stress in their shoulders. As you can see, Tiffany and I were VERY excited to be done with Block 7. According to Peter, we only have the worst block left. Oh, joy.Saturday morning was surprisingly eventful with Race from the Cure bright and early. I perfected my walk-jog skills during the 5k and enjoyed some bananas, Yoplait yogurt, and bottled water afterward. Though it was quite overcast during the race, the rain held off and the weather was perfect for a run (errr... walk-jog). Several Baylor students were there for race day, so it was fun to see them out to support the cause.I jetted home after the race, rinsed off, brushed Wentworth, and headed to church. Now, why on earth would I go to church on a Saturday, you ask? And, why would I bring my favorite feline friend? Well, Christ the King held a special service for the Blessing of the Animals in celebration of St. Francis of Assisi. There was prayer, scripture, and an individualized blessing for each of the 20+ pets gathered in the church courtyard. Wentworth was a bit terrified at first to be out in public, but he was a trooper. He put up with people remarking on his extraordinarily large size and made friends with some of the people/pets. Needless to say, the event wore him out to the point where he was panting like a dog on the way home. At least he's extra pure and holy now!I spent the rest of the weekend napping, watching a couple movies, shopping a bit, catching up on emails (sort of), doing laundry, and tidying up half of my room. :) Block 8 already started today, so I am gearing up for a few weeks of GI and hard/soft tissues.
No new pictures this week, so I have decided to post my little fashion show from last week when I was mulling over what to wear to the Mad Men party. I channeled my inner designer and attempted to find my most appropriate clothing combos. Enjoy the show!Speaking of enjoying the show, I have a free opera to look forward to in the spring. I entered the Houston Grand Opera's video contest a couple weeks ago and will receive two tickets to Xerxes as my third place prize. Score!There's not much better than a free night of performing arts, which is why I'm looking forward to the month of October. Venues across the country will be participating in a "Free Night of Theater." Check it out for yourself at www.freenightoftheater.net. I'm especially hoping to snag tickets to the Houston Grand Opera's production of The Elixir of Love and Meet Me in St. Louis from the Theatre Under the Stars.This week is test week, so not much to report that doesn't relate to the lungs or the kidneys. Studying aside, there is reason to celebrate: ads on my blog have generated over $115! Thank you to my readers - and by "my readers," I mean both of you :) - for clicking on the occasional ad. If all goes as planned, I should be receiving my first $100 soon! Woo hoo!
On Monday Maiella, Teresa, Dane, and I finally took advantage of my free movie passes to G.I. Joe. Though not a cinematic masterpiece, the fun flick was entertaining. I had my Ethics reading seminar on Tuesday night and we discussed end-of-life decision making and a patient's right to die. Ian's birthday (above, with Tiffany, Robert, Ian, and Joseph) was celebrated on Wednesday night with dollar pints at Two Rows.I had preceptor on Wednesday and interviewed a patient with end stage renal disease. On Saturday evening I got all gussied up to head out to Amy's Mad Men themed birthday party at Anvil (above, with Amy's fiance Aaron). We sipped our fancy drinks with sophistication and then headed next door to Etro Lounge for some serious dancing (below, with Amy, Sarah, and Alex). Yes, I did fit in a costume change to enable full range of motion on the dance floor.
On Friday evening Peter, Brandi, and I went to the Woodlands for a night of family, food, and country music. We met up with Brandi's parents and her brother Brandon and dined at PF Chang's. Then we went to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for the show.Jimmy Wayne opened. Dierks Bentley heated things up next. Surprisingly, I knew every single song he sang (compared with the 1.5 songs I knew when I first saw him). Brad Paisley was the headliner and really was quite the performer. One of the most memorable, goose bump-producing moments was the patriotic September 11th tribute for the tragedy's eighth anniversary.After the concert I visited the lovely Braud home for the first time and was reminded of my pool-playing inadequacy. Thankfully, the milk and cookies helped ease my pain. Mrs. Braud also treated me to a swanky Brad Paisley t-shirt so that the ladies could match. :)Saturday was spent tidying up around the condo and studying. Wentworth has taken to sleeping with his eyes open, which really freaks me out. On Sunday I went grocery shopping for some much needed shelf-stocking. Tiffany and I hung out afterward to go to a barbershop performance and then study the night away. It was not our lucky day because Tiffany locked her keys in her car, and I was rear-ended by a 19-year old hoodlum. Thankfully, no damage was done, but I did receive a text from the guy later saying, "This may sound weird but I'm actually kinda glad I bumped into you." Was that supposed to be some sort of a pick-up line?!
Friday's entertainment break involved a brief trip to the House of Blues to see Mat Kearney. I won a pair of free tickets on Twitter (shhh... don't tell anyone I have an account). The highlight was probably when he jumped off the stage and wandered through the crowd while singing. Pretty darn cool.
My final study distraction was carving this pumpkin during a group lunch meeting with my mentor. (Happy Halloween!) Other than that, I have been studying. Sometimes I eat. Sometimes I sleep. Mostly, I study.
