Pages

Thursday, February 25, 2010

NewsFlash: Physician Licensure Exams February 2010


 
Michael is 8th Place in the boards! (This is an old picture of some of my housemates and friends back in med school, at Aileen's birthday party. :-) Mike's the tallest guy in the back. So fresh-faced then, he's a board topnotcher now. woohoo! :-p

Congratulations to Ava, Marizel,Andrea, Precky, Rupie, Femie, Yvette, Dorkie, JOecel for passing the boards...Go MonTogs!! :-)

Congratulations to Chele, Goldie, Erni and Alex too! :-)

Let's Partey! :-)

(The full list of Names of board passers is here.)

------

This picture was from my camera, propped up on the tv so everyone could be in it,  taken at Aileen's birthday, January 2005... It's hard to believe it was 5 years ago na. :-))

You don't have to read this.

(Please don't read this entry. Nothing good will come out of it. My words here will not benefit you in any way, and neither will they save the world from the destructive effects of global warming. Also, it will be very long, very boring, and totally irrelevant to your life and romantic relationships.)

Read, at your own risk, and time...

One time, a guy friend (who sort of looks like Paul Jake from this season's PBB, but not really, much to his chagrin) asked me if I liked the song "One Wish" by Ray J. And I was like, "Yeah, I've heard it before, and it's on my player." And he was like, "I just heard the song, it's pretty cool." And so I listened to it again, and after a few runs, I figured, yeah, it has a bit of a catchy thing to it. "If I could have one wish..." etc etc.

It's a shower song, a bus song, and a muni-muni song...perfect for times when you're sitting in a bus and you have no one to talk to (which always seems to be the case for me when I go take the bus to work, not that I'm particularly interested in wanting to strike up a conversation with just anyone.), or when you're cooling down after a run, or just walking by yourself after your rounds at the Sports Complex...

But that's just me.  "One Wish" has been currently on heavy rotation on my player these past few days. One time, I posted it as a status update on facebook, and I got asked what I would have if I had that "one Wish". For purposes of goodwill, I offered, "World Peace". In reality, I could ask for something more tangible...like maybe a million dollars, or as my brother used to say, "a thousand more wishes", but hey, I just said nothing revealing.

Who reveals the desires of their heart in lurid, sensationalist detail anyway?

Not me. I'm keeping mum. :-)

Speaking of matters of the heart, after I was discussing a food topic with a friend, and having that cut short because the nurses paged me because there was a patient seeking consult, I got to thinking. [The patient, by the way, tried to open a softdrink bottle using his teeth, and wonder of wonders, something happened, and it slipped and cut his lower lip right down the middle. And I do mean middle. Like, split in half.

(*sigh* Murphy's Law, goes to work at any time of the day.)

And so, because i like working on things like that (and also because in the middle of the quiet quiet rural area where I work, there is no other doctor on duty), I got started on repairing the thing, worked on it for about half an hour with my chromic and silk sutures until...boom, thank heavens, I pieced it back together, good as new (albeit temporarily fuller, but that's no big deal, really, the swelling subsides.).  (Also, I kept thinking that this 14 year-old kid would probably still want to spend a considerably part of his adult life kissing and making out with girls he likes, I felt I owed him the time to stitch his kisser up with extra care and time.)

After writing out the needed prescriptions and sending them on their way, I got to thinking about lips...and kissing, and then eating, and then, about food again.

I am such a bad bad pupil when it comes to the regular aspects of domestic life...really. I wouldn't know how to impress anyone with my cooking skills. I laugh it off, and pooh pooh it, hurriedly coming up with the usual excuse of "I never had any time," or "No one taught me", but really, I'm thinking. What WOULD I say if the guy of my dreams (whoever he may be) comes up to me and asks me if I can cook... If I came up with, "Umm, I'm sorry, I don't cook...but I can put lips back together...and deliver babies really well?" do you reckon he would love me more? Do you think he would find it cheeky and adorable...I mean, me, being messy with blood and guts and smelling of "woman", would he take that?

LOL...

That isn't someone you want to spend your life with, trust me.

:-p

Anyone who knows me usually says I'm a positive person, I'm optimistic and cheery and I'm probably on of the first to believe that there is a lot of things in store for any given person, whether the potential be definite or not...that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow...

But since I'm coming down with a cold, it is not easy to remain so upbeat and just revel... just because my throat is itchy, and breathing through my mouth, it is easier to take a little masochistic swipes at myself. argh I hate being sick...I'm hardly ever sick.


I even find it appalling that up to now I haven't selected who I really want to vote for as president of the Philippines. NoyNoy Aquino stands for the legacy of Cory and Ninoy, but I still haven't fully convinced myself, haven't read enough. Manny Villar promises a 100% pay raise for Physicians when he'll be president (which makes it sound like he's a popular choice for us working doctors), but I think the other flak about him weighs him down totally, not to mention the LSS-inducing jingle of him online... Gilbert Teodoro would be particularly impressive in the international scene if he were president, but since he's with the administration it's hard not to entertain thoughts about him being held on strings by an "invisible" political hand (think: Puppet). 


Seriousness aside, I once joked to a friend, who asked me who I was going to pick as sperm donor just in case I wanted to have a kid (without a baby daddy) who had all the right genes, I said, "Oh, I want someone who's Filipino and has "top of the line" qualities and genes (i.e. Bar topnotcher, 6 feet tall, fair,rich boy, all good schools, always mentions the wife (yes, that is relevant in a sperm donor!) etc etc, heck, he even has a Pilot vibe, with the  Learjet 31 rating, whatever that means. Let me go ask google, or pilot. :-D

Anyway, I'm reading Conrado de Quiros, as well as other people who write in the newspapers. I'm an "opinions page" kind of girl...before I go to the headlines, and then the entertainment section. Conrado de Quiros has good, tight writing, one of the best columns I've ever read, but when he has favorites, he always plays them up, and when he has enemies...you can really tell.

Still, the National Elections is about making informed choices...which is why I'm appalled as to why I seem to not care at all...as if the next six years of my life won't be affected by the next leader of my country... I can't believe how complacent about these affairs I can get. (It's totally not acceptable.)

 

    I don't understand the lyrics, but this song sounds like a good song for picking up the pace when jogging...  It's by a Korean group called Shinee, and I got it off my cousin Yakee's music files the last time I copied some of his music. its catchy. tell me what you think of it. 

 

Speaking of songs, I'm trying to get the hang of WICKED's and GLEE's Defying Gravity...even if it's only in the shower. I like this song. So apt, so timely. 



Just a thought...if you wanted something bad enough, and if you wanted something, you'll do what you need to do to get it. Maybe the happiness is not just in the getting what you want, but in getting there.

Bah, I'm not making any sense. I was talking about dreams and goals, though.


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

mid-afternoon random notes

                  First off, A big big happy birthday greeting to Pop who just celebrated his 56th birthday yesterday (the 22nd)...and I do mean 38th when I say that. :-p For the best pop in the world, I wish...that he could win the lotto (by some stroke of luck), he'll have more projects around the house that he wants to work on (as well as a new set of power tools, haha), and peace, and serenity, and last but not the least, the desire to finally quit smoking.

Yep, I love you too, Pops. :-)

--------------------------------------------- 

...And the same goes for my other friend who is celebrating his birthday today, A. :-) Sure, I'll wish that you'll get your hilltop house one day, but for your own good, I wish you'll "desire" to quit smoking too. :-) Good luck with everything, really. I think you've got a lot of potential, and I'm sure you'll use it. BFF's  forever? :-p

--------------------------------------------- 

I spent most of the days off just chilling, doing my domestic duties, going out with my cousins to watch the kiddie/teen Greek mythology flick, "Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief", which was just ok. My favorite line there was when Pierce Brosnan (who is otherwise known as the delectable James Bond) was in a centaur's costume and said flippantly, that he had a horse's ass...literally. I laughed so hard. But that's 'cause I'm shallow like that...and I was with my cousins, and we get silly together. 

My phone rang (in level 6 volume "Do You Remember" by Sean Jay, thank you very much)in the middle of the movie and I had to guiltily blush while I turned it off. (It's deemed annoying, and this time, I was the offending party. I could hear the guy sitting next to me shift in his seat and shake his head while doing the tsk tsk. I was mortified. ) 

It turned out to be a friend of mine who was getting toes painted red in a salon, and just wanted to tell me about it. (Gee thanks.) :-p

--------------------------------------------

Anyway, do you know what's better than a platter of sashimi after a movie? 

I do. 

It's a platter of sashimi shared with your cousins (who ordered their own food, by the way)(in a Japanese restaurant.  :-) I was out with them last Monday, and I so love love them both. Cousins and sashimi, I mean. :-) Manang Ja, paid for the whole movie and dinner thing, which made it doubly more fun. :-p

-------------------------------------------  

I slept over at my lolo's place that night 'cause my little cousin had a bit of a cough, and my tita got worried... Naturally, I'm the doctor-on-call, which suits me just perfectly, 'cause I like taking care of my little cuz's medical needs anyway. He's such a fun kid, and everyone loves him (I'm the eldest cousin, and he's the youngest...which makes us both, I suppose, the favorites. ;-D)

------------------------------------------  

Out of the blue, a friend of mine called me and we talked for a while, well, a long while, about dating and relating. (and skin care, but that's  just a little something extra.) Such a refreshing outlook. :-) I liked that a lot.  It got me to thinking that maybe, it is always best to be honest and once you're committed to someone (and in love with them), then you should make yourself emotionally and physically unavailable for everybody else.

Which is why, before you plunge into something you should be really be sure, and it must be with your whole heart. :-)

And, although he/she won't be able to help it, nobody likes the "interloper"...in the long run, he/she will also wind up getting hurt.

----------------------------------------- 

My cousin Chris is leaving for Australia on Saturday (and I can't see him off, 'cause I'll be on duty at the hospital), after three months here in the PI. He'll be back again next year, but I want to get him a nice present for when he goes back to school. Any ideas? He's 24, single, athletic, super nice guy, and is super-Filipino, but doesn't look it. :-p---actually, i tried fixing him up with a blind date, but that ended comically. :-)


Any ideas? Thanks! 

Have a nice day, everyone!


Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Puffer's Surprise Crunch


People are continually inventing ways to hurt themselves, it seems... :-p

This morning, a few hours before my 24-hour shift at the hospital ended, while I was sitting at the station writing orders, the nurse from the OPD came over and asked me to check a patient.

"She was bitten by a butete (the local term for puffer fish)..." said the nurse.

I raised an eyebrow, amused. I tried to stifle a smile. This was totally unexpected, even for where I work. :-)

He (the nurse) brought over three people, 2 girls and a guy and they approached me and so I asked what seemed to be the problem and what had happened (in the dialect).

The guy and one girl tried to come over and explain to me (in the dialect) what happened. And then the second girl, the patient, comes over to me and starts talking to me in English (complete with an American twang)... "Actually, I was at the beach, and I saw the fish and I thought it was so cute...and then it bit me..." I had to smile, it was rare to have someone talk to me in English here, and I figured she spoke the dialect but I wasn't sure, so I asked, "Have you had any tetanus shots?" in English too. "Yes, I did, a long time ago when I was overseas...."etc etc.

I was opening the binding they put as a tourniquet on the wound so I could check and see how extensive it was. For a "cute little fish", it was a pretty big gash... I think she must've bothered the fish too much, and it went CRUNCH! on her finger. She tried to tell me her story again in English, but since she seemed to find it hard to tell me that they went clam-digging in English, I just smiled and told her that she could talk to me the dialect too if it was more comfortable too. Either way, it didn't bother me at all.

She was maybe in her mid-twenties or late-twenties, but when I opened up the wound and proceeded to prep it for later suturing, she was bawling like a little baby.

I'd prescribed pain meds for her, of course, but i think the little puffer fish did more damage and drew more blood than one would expect from something so...cute.

And the moral of this story is, if it looks cute, and swims, and happens to have sharp teeth and spines all over it...it's best to leave it alone. 

Lol...sorry, but it was just a funny surprise of a case. :-)


Anyway, I'm off to bed/off to a massage. Goodnight y'all!

(picture from cutereporter.com)

Love, 

~ S.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Red Sleeves (and other mundane personal Valentine Notes)


 If somebody likes you, it's no good unless he likes you all the way.:-p

*****
I avoid left-handed Aquarians like the Plague. And soon, probably February-borns too. (I'm talking about Boys here, by the way.:-p)

*****
I never really was a boyfriend-needy girl. I mean, I'm more often single than in a relationship. It just how I rolled. When you grow up with boys (like I did), you get so comfortable with them, you'll treat them as friend material unless they really stand out.

***** 
When I was 8, I wrote a boy a love note and dropped it off at his mother's office, who worked in an office space just down the hall from my mother's. When she asked if i wrote it, i denied it was me. of course. haha.

******
To welcome Valentine's Day, one of the nurses I worked with brought food enough to feed 10 people ('cause that was the number of staff at the hospital where I worked that night.)...it was so nice and spontaneous, it was almost like Christmas. :-)

*******
I once dated someone who was born on February 14, ironically, eventually, he wasn't the epitome of love, he was more of a Janus*. lol. I don't hate him or love him... I'm over the nasty break-up heart-wrenching drama, thankfully. In the end, we find that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference, anyway. It was a chapter,and although an educational one, I'm glad it's finally closed.
(* Janus = who, if he had two heads to see past and future, must also have had two hearts, presumably.)
*****

When I was younger and still in Iloilo, I sat on a couch and talked the whole night away with a person on the opposite end of it who made my heart do occasional flutters and fibs... made my tummy ache from laughing, made my face hurt from all the smiling and made my spirit light as a feather, and my soul as peaceful as...(how do I describe it?) the restful sleep of someone who knows she doesn't have to do 24 hour duty the next day.^

He briefly squeezed my hand when he said goodbye and I wrote him a letter once. He was a great guy. I haven't seen him since, but still, he is a nice memory.
(^ To an overworked doctor, a full night's sleep...with no obligations or 24 hour duties the day after, is like heaven. Peace like heaven.)

*******
Falling in (and out of) love is a time- and energy-consuming process. I can only fall in love with one boy at a time...and take a year to get over one when it falls apart. (Which is why I'm so terribly picky. :-))

******
My bestfriend's boyfriend once told her, "I'm torn between you and my liberty...", with the choice being a non-issue with him until he met her. For me, though, the mythical "The One" would be someone I would not need to give up my liberty for, but instead someone I feel I could share it with. :-)

******
I'm not perfect, so I'm not looking for Mr. Perfect. I'm just a good girl. :-)

*******
For a while, I've always thought of finding true love as like one day looking in a mirror and realizing you like your own smile...who would've thought that you were six years old and having your permanent teeth come out too big for your head/face would have you end up this way in your twenties? Everything you go through has an essential purpose, with everything falling into place when the time is right.

********* 
A great guy (a keeper!) is like high-heeled strappy sandals or pumps, beautiful ones. One that just "grabs" you...one that you can't stop thinking about after you try to pass it by in the mall. One that, when you try it on, just feels right and goes with anything you have...and comes in the your size (believe me, for someone with 8.5-9, like moi, this is hard to find.) and fits perfectly. And when you buy it, it makes you feel and look good and beautiful, and adds a spring to your step and a sassiness to your whole demeanor...like a great guy would. :-p

*********
I'm easy to please. I like holding hands,hugs and kisses, pink roses... oh, and guys with a big vocabulary, knowledge of good literature, athleticism,reasonable cooking skills, a good sense of  humor, considerable height, entertainment value, a guy who can roll with the punches, likes kids and babies, believes in occasional laissez-faire (for moody times), can make things happen, can take care of you and has pink gums... would really seal the deal. (Like I said, I'm easy to please. ;-) haha)

*******
On Valentine's Day morning, a woman in labor just shows up while I'm on duty, without a record of a prenatal check-up (which is never good), no labs, no ultrasound, was multiparous and home-delivered on others, (and with no proper endorsement from her midwife as to why she was just referred) at the hospital. Cord prolapse (which occurs in 0.6% of deliveries) happened and let's just say I only managed to save one person of the duo after everything I did.

It was a sad morning, a red table, and it broke my heart.

********
The concept of " Red sleeves" was taken from the Lyrics of One Republic's song, Secrets. It talked about how there was a need for something to confess, until one's sleeves have turned red. I took it as being too honest to the point of wearing one's heart on one's sleeve everyt ime and running the risk of it being painfully broken...thus staining your sleeves...but you didn't need that explanation, right?:-p I hope you guys had a great Valentine's Day...it is meaningful to a select group of people. Don't count me in yet. LOL. My parents drove 2 hours to pick me up from work, allowed me stops to take pictures of things (yey!) we passed by (including the picturesque cemetary) in one of the towns we passed by), I went out for dinner with friends and family, but declined a date.  That's about it...how'd yours go?

Sorry about the brief Sabbatical...I felt I needed to recharge and take a break...I needed to have some alone time...

~ S.


Friday, February 12, 2010

Sexy Man in the shower


[ Finn sings "Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore"]

Honestly, I can't decide which I find cuter; a sexy naked man in the shower, or  a sexy naked man singing REO Speedwagon's iconic song without a care in the world.

you tell me. ;-)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

No Air



I got this clip from youtube for Glee... It's a bit of a weepy song, but I love the whole choir concept, with the musical theatrics and pop entertainment value in the easily-relatable (although archetypal) american high school drama/comedy show. :-)

Sonia, Official Gleek, signing in. :-)

More videos here. :-)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PROM

(My thoughts on prom 3 years ago...a entry in an older blog, which came to mind when my friend C. wrote about his own prom experiences. :-p A reminder that when you're young, things are still quite fuzzy and confusing, and everything really does get better in some ways as you grow older. :-))


--------------------------------------------

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Prom

She laid her head on his shoulder, her hair in gentle curls, her dress was short and pretty, with a flouncy skirt…. All pink and white, with threads of silver running through it. A big white orchid corsage on her wrist and white heeled slip-ons on her feet completed her baby doll look… It was prom night, and they had just been  picked as prom king and queen. He had on a Beige/ cream suit, matching her, and very fetching.

They danced the slow dance, and everyone's eyes were on them.

*sigh*

A prom dress…and how you feel about it, is a powerful thing. It could make or break you.
 Or at least, that was what I thought when I was 15…And boyish, and vulnerable, and gawky, going through the uncertainty of puberty, and desperately wanting to be “pretty” and “beautiful” enough as...

 Oh, I was in the student government, I was editor in chief of the paper, I got up to nationals in contests, and people knew who I was on campus,  but, essentially, on prom night, those things didn’t matter at all, for your girlish gauge of what is “beautiful” will always be… how pretty you feel in your new dress or whether the boy of your dreams asks you to dance.

I remember sitting in the sidelines that night, while those chosen were dancing the cotillion, looking at how the lights reflected delicately on their shimmering dresses and how their smiles were lighting up their pretty faces. The feeling of not being chosen does something to break a little girl’s teenage heart, somewhat. They got chosen, and you weren’t…

 I remember looking at some of my classmates who had their dresses made especially for the event, and sighing wistfully, “It would have been nice to come in a dress like that…” My own dress was a rich blue-green colored number, but it wasn’t mine, and it wasn’t of my own choosing. “One doesn’t necessarily need to spend so much for something that’s just going to be a one-night affair,” I was told. 
The good memory of a prom night dress has to be sacrificed for the essential practicality. “After the prom, what will you do with the dress?”

It was a fun night, nonetheless. I was buoyed by the confidence of being around people whose company I enjoyed …they still are my friends up to this day. But still, to the awkward girl who just desperately wanted to shine, maybe a nicer dress would’ve been just the right thing.

I don’t think I ever really outgrew that need, you know.

 ---------------------------------------------- 

I've always liked the process of growing up...the improvement process may be confusing, and oftentimes pretty embarrassing, but then when everything's said and done, you become thankful for the experiences you've learned. You eventually learn your own way by feel, you discover what it is you really want, and even the body parts you wait for will eventually grow out on their own in the form you want them to. (haha). 

Puberty was bad...I had the "family zits", my boobs didn't grow out until I was 16, I was skinny as heck in high school and I had the craziest hair...Bottomline is, there has to be a state of awkwardness first that you have to go through with before you can be comfortable in your own skin.

 (However, unlike the rest of my body parts, C., I have always loved public speaking. haha. *connect!*)

Movie Clip: Nights in Rodanthe


     I was watching Nights In Rodanthe at around 4AM earlier today because I couldn't sleep yet...

     At first it wasn't my cup of tea...it was just a so-so thing, but then I surprised myself by bawling at certain scenes in the movie. Bawling, as in literally crying, with tears and a red nose. I was all alone in the living room and everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't stop myself from being a total spazz.

     I got a vid from youtube, a clip, but since this one shows mostly semi-torrid love scenes and mush, I'd like to [painlessly] direct you to the particular scene that made me cry...4:01, and so forth. I reckon I was never good with goodbyes, and I guess it was easy to relate how you would want to keep being with someone who, as Diane Lane said, give you the kind of "love that makes you feel that you can do anything..."

     She lost him in the end, you know. He died in a foreign country, a South American jungle in a mountain accident. All they had together was a weekend in Rodanthe, where they fell in love...and when they separated, they wrote each other letters and got to know each other better. He'd write, "When I'm writing, I can feel your breath, and I hope you feel mine...(etc etc etc, all those sweet-ish nothings that lovers write about*.)

      His son, who was a doctor in that South American Jungle, came to visit Diane Lane's character to tell her that his father had passed on, and that he wanted to thank her for saving his father. And then she said, "No, he saved me..."

     (and you can pretty much guess who ended up bawling some more at this point in time.*sniffle* ;-)

     My theory about all this, is that, in life, people come and go, for reasons we may or may not know...they may stay a while, a few years, a few months, or they may just leave. But when they do come, they teach you something valuable, and help you put your pieces back together, until you're good and new and whole again. The funny thing is, they may or may not even realize of this, but they are an opportune blessing...

One that gives you the courage to be better than you are, not less than you are. One that makes you feel that anything is possible. I want you to know that you could have that. I want you to hold out for it. 

------ (and it was at around this time that the lights went out and I had to abandon this blog entry.)----- 

People only react to a certain movie/media if they've ever had any experience related to it. Maybe I just have my stories too... Boohoo...
    

* although i doubt it if they had, "I will now park my pen..." in any of their letters. haha

Monday, February 8, 2010

Piece of Me (February)

      I like:  
1. Black tea with honey...
2. That it's my father's (on the 22nd), and grandfather's (on the 12th)birthdays this month...
3. That I'll be getting my overtime paycheck this week...
4. That work is getting to be more challenging...that I am more patient (i think)...
5. McDonald's Hash browns and...
6. having friends/family who I can talk to about anything (you know who you are.), anytime.


     I don't like: 
1. Sometimes  being mistaken as a student/or as a nurse because I'm young-ish looking (I get called 'Day a lot by some patients if I don't introduce myself as a doctor first) that I lose credibility because I look a lot younger than my other colleagues, which is flattering sometimes, but not when someone starts second-guessing/questioning my chart orders just because someone else who was my senior did things differently (which has happened twice). In my most annoyed times, I am tempted to bring out a journal article and go, "Hey, I'm not playing here, take a look for yourself." 
2.  My naivete sometimes.
3. Unintentionally acting stupid/making a fool out of myself in front of boys I like. Argh! at my age! :-p
4. some memories of "left-handed Aquarians".
5. not being out for a while.

I want you to know:  That I will be working my hospital paperwork earlier, and will not let it go stale...like I did in senior year of Medicine. haha. Oh, and that I am ok with Valentines's Day being a Sunday.

I've planned:
To try (and then perfect) 3 new dishes that I  learned about from 2 of the nurses I work with at the hospital, because they made it sound so easy. haha. AND to go with the nurses to Boracay this April for a vacay! Oh, and read the paper daily, even if it's an online version lang.

I want to say to someone special:  Happy Birthday, hash brown ...person dude.! :-)

------- 

I'm a little late, but that was my Piece of Me entry for Toothfairy's community entry game. :-) Clicky here, for details. Have a good week, everybody!

~ S.




On Supernatural

     All it took was a couple of episodes of SUPERNATURAL and I was begging my ma to get me a copy of the latest season's DVD (bootlegged, of course) from the friendly neighborhood video pirate.

     Which is just as well, I can't sleep early (my body clock is set to "hospital time" - a.k.a. Late hours/Early mornings/Chopped up sleeping hours (a wink here, a wink there)... I don't really mind not being able to sleep because I have a list 1.5 inch stack of PhilHealth paperwork that I brought home from the hospital (with permission, of course).


     Apart from the adventure/paranormal theme and storyline, the two siblings are plain eye candy. Certifiable. I can't even decide which brother I like best, Sam or Dean. Dean ( Jensen Ackles), is the strong, leader-type elder brother who plans things out (or doesn't) and is gung ho most of the time, often to the point of being plebeian, it is almost a turn-off. However, he has great bone structure, and has the most balanced facial symmetry in any actor I've seen since. He is a sight for sore eyes.

     Although, on the other hand, Sam (Jared Padalecki)is tall(er) and handsome in his own way but is more humane and academic about their work. He is always the more level-headed guy, always reasoning with Dean if the other flies off the handle. However, Dean, with his instinctual drives, is almost always right about whether or not their "captive" is a demon, or not. Sam's level-headedness and emotional "thinking" would get them in trouble too...the "captive" that they released would turn out to be a real demon anyway...

     (Maybe it's best to be plebeian and instinctive, haha.)

      Anyway, it is very entertaining, and I'd like to see more episodes, especially since I just found out that there are only 7 clear episodes in the entire DVD that Ma bought. Serves me right for patronizing the piracy...

~ S. 



Sunday, February 7, 2010

Moonlight Memoirs: A busy day

 

"Chart rows." 
(February 2010)

I had a busy busy day at work so many admissions...all 24 of it, plus or minus 2-3 (chopped-up) hours of when i could catch a few winks on the table at the station. By morning, I was bleary-eyed and tired, but since I had to finish paperwork (arrgh!), I had to stay behind (not counted as overtime).

While i was "slaving away" at my histories, one of the personnel came over to chat to the nurses and after a while, she probably saw my haggard face and asked why I was still there, when it was way past my out time. 

I gave her a tired smile and said that I still had stuff to finish...to which she replied, jokingly, "Why did you have to be a doctor...you could have been an accountant instead." To which I said, "No, actually, I was going to do English Literature or Journalism back in college, Ma'am...but here I am! *sigh*"

"Oh, English literature...does that mean you're good in English, then?" she asked. (I sure hope she wasn't incredulous.haha)

No, madam, i'm good in French. :p

She's a friendly sort, and is always nice and chatty, but I still do remember her making a comment back in the first few days I was there, "I hope you'll stay long, you seem like someone who is simple, and is not very ambitious..." 

(Ouch. I shouldn't take it as being a derogatory comment, of course, but it does sound like it.)

:-p 

I think I just laughed a little that time, neither confirming nor denying the fact. It was amusing why she would think to judge me just from looks alone. 

How would "ambitious people" look, by the way? Could you tell just from passing them by on the street? What a hoot that was.

I won't be staying my whole life there, of course. It never occurred to me to just stick there for the rest of my days...I'm 28 after all, not 58. :-) I decided to work there for public service (a.k.a. "utang na loob" for my government-subsidized medical education in some ways), AND it paid well. Plus, experience in skills and decision-making is a good thing to be accustomed to. What I really like about public hospitals is the fact that I can do things I wouldn't normally get to do in a private hospital. So this is a good chance for me to learn, there's no denying that.

On another note, maybe I should be "power-dressing", you reckon that would make me look more "ambitious", perhaps?

Perhaps.

:-)

Good night.

~ S.

---------------

Quoted: "If you're planning on not talking to someone anymore, don't tell them so. Just don't talk to them anymore. Sooner or later, they'll get the message and move on."

Yeah, things just die a natural death for some I suppose. 

But you know what, I'd much rather be told, if that were me. So I would. If that were me.

But it's not, so... next topic!
---------------

By the way, I spent this Saturday night at home, in my junior year scrub pants and a tank top, nursing a mug of black tea with honey, wearing my dorky glasses and not combing my hair. I couldn't sleep right away, so I watched a movie and came here.

I want to go out next weekend. But right now I just want to chill out in front of the tv. And maybe read a little.

--------------

Watched "Must Love Dogs" earlier. It was an ok movie...(not totally fabulous, sorry), but it had a memorable (a.k.a. "relate-able) line, something about how...

" i think your heart grows back bigger ya know, once you get the shit beat out of you. And the universe lets your heart expand that way, cause thats the function of all this pain and heartache that you go through and you gotta go through that to come out to a better place..."


(Okie-dokie... )

AND THEN, Doctor Zhivago came up...  :-)

------------- 

(Really...it's late and I'm just so tired, so I'm going to wrap this up. Good night, one and all.)

 

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Moonlight Memoirs: Tales of the "Wild"

If it weren't for the occasional hourly bus passing on the highway, there would be dead silence, or the sound of the crickets and the rustling of the leaves of the trees around the hospital where I work.

It was a cold chilly night, but I wanted to get some fresh air and "recharge" after a long day of nonstop work.

It was around 8PM and I couldn't resist the urge to update my twitter and check out my Facebook from my phone, outside the hospital ward for a few minutes. Some patients folks were hanging out on the benches near the entrance and there were quite a number of us outside to savor the gentle, albeit chilly early evening breeze.

I would pause every few minutes to think and stare off into the distance. The place where I worked was pretty isolated, maybe 10 minutes from town and was surrounded by lush foliage (read: there were many trees around). Beyond the reach of the lights and lamps, it really is quite dark.

Such an atmosphere was the fodder for tales of hidden ghouls and ghosts.

And I had heard quite a few that day alone...

The Case of the Mysterious Death

     One night, in a town a few minutes drive away from the hospital, a hog-raiser bid his wife leave to go downstairs to watch his sow deliver its new piglets. He never came back upstairs...his wife found him outside, dead...apparently scratched to death. There was no other visible cause, they said. It seemed that something came down and scratched him, injuring him so completely. As to what it was, they could not say... but there was talk of a mysterious woman who everyone believed was an aswang... 

     That was three nights ago, and to this night, after dark, no townsfolk could be seen wandering after dark...all were in fear.

The Silent Watcher

     "That's not all, Doc," Ma'am J., the nurse on duty with me last night told me, "One time, the guard and some of the relatives of the patients were outside the hospital one night, when suddenly, they heard a sound coming from above...like a squeak." "And then...?" I asked, with a slow smile. "Doc, it was like a big bird-like creature with massive wings...!"

     "It was just there, seemingly watching them." she added.

     (I have heard that there were more ghoul and ghost stories from people in the hospital. This second one was just one of the many, but true (as claimed :-)) scary stories that some people still tell.)

"Chop-Chop Baby"

     One of the nurses said that a week ago, there was a child of about 4 years old who was fished out of one of the mountain lakes in the next municipality. 

     Well, parts of him, anyway.

     According to story (and with pictures to prove it), someone found the grossly dismembered body of a  4 year-old boy in the lake. Pieces of him were apparently floating in the water. 

      The child has not been identified, and no one has stepped forward to claim the body. The child's gender was the only thing they could determine, but as to who he is, and what distinctive facial features there were, none could help. He simply was just an unknown, purported to have been chopped up mercilessly and dumped into the lake.

--------------------------------------------------- 

It all started yesterday afternoon when i got annoyed that a patient's mother was pleading with me to hurry up and give her a prescription so they could go home because it was getting dark. She and her patient had arrived really late for the OPD consults (of which i had been working straight all day) and I had just finished suturing a delicate case, so I was not in the best mood to be ordered around that time. "Please hurry doc, my parents don't know where I am and it is getting dark..." she asked me. "How come, Ma'am, how old are you exactly?" I muttered under my breath while I was auscultating the patient. (But that's not a very nice thing to say.)

I've never seen anyone so jumpy (at her age too, jk)  about not being home before dark... And after I did finish with her patient, and gave the baby what he needed, I got to find out why. The nurse on duty told me of the rash of rumors going on about how there was a resident aswang in the next town and how the townspeople were scared to death of it. ("Maybe it wasn't just the scratching, Ma'am, maybe he died 'cause he had a heart attack from the surprise...his girlfriend (or at the very least, someone he owed a lot of money too, who had long fingernails, haha) probably threatened to tell his wife and since he wouldn't let her, she scratched him some and he died of a heart attack from the fright," I joked. :-p

I tweeted that, later that night outside the hospital, thought some more about it, which is why now you have just read this story. It is entirely fictional, hearsay...so far.


Sweet dreams...

Love, 
~ S.

Video: Fidelity



Regina Spektor's Fidelity is on heavy rotation, on my player, at least.

It's always safer to "break the fall".

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Question: If you marry someone do you think 58 years ahead?

fifty-eighth!


I just got home from my grandparents' house for their anniversary dinner. It was a simple one, with just the usual, immediate family members who could make it, but the food was yummy, nonetheless. :-) My tita made some good strawberry cheesecake, which was a hit, and another tita bought custard cake, which became the "anniversary" cake that came with candles, which, of course, my cousin Nate blew out when the pictures were taken.

Fifty eight...wow. Fifty eight is almost a lifetime for some people...for my grandparents, it is only a mark, an age of their years together. Both of them are in their early 80's, and have had 8 children together (my mother being the second kid, and eldest girl). 

As with everything 50, we celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary eight years ago, all bedecked in gold threads (of course the motif was gold), complete with a party with their friends and family invited. It was a fun party, and we still pictures of it around.

My grandparents are fun people, really, and even now, I can't really believe that they really are octogenarians. They've been around for me as long as I can remember (I was the first grandchild) and since I see them regularly, I don't really notice much change, except for the usual aches and pains and their medical needs, but they are basically the same, dependable, loving grandparents. I've got no complaints, really... I think I've pretty much had "storybook" grandparents. :-)

Storybook, but not perfect, although they are what grandmothers and grandfathers should be like when you need them. I mean, my grandmother is nice and chubby and has the nicest huggable tummy ever. She is absolutely positively...Nummy. :-p And by nummy, i mean, very nice to hug and cuddle with. :-p AND she cooks me my favorite food (it was a no-miss everytime i'd be home from Iloilo). My grandfather, on the other hand is not very huggable (he's skinny), but he is one of the smartest, wisest men I know. He was city treasurer before retiring, one of those bookkeeper types who are very precise and structured. He was quite the provider...he was the sole breadwinner and still managed to get all his 8 children to graduate at Silliman University. (I mean, 8 kids, whoa. You don't get that a lot anymore these days.:-))

Anyway, my lolo is the type of guy you could just be quiet with...or, talk about anything with. Heck, I even talk to him about boys. :-p In most ways, he is as good a secretkeeper as a doctor...or better. The secret stops with him, that's why I have no qualms about telling him stuff, necessary stuff. I think it is easier to talk to someone who is a good listener and who is non-judgmental. 

My usual way is, when we'd be sitting out on the porch when i visit, and he'd be sitting at his rocking chair, I'd usually open with, " Lo, I need to tell you something..." They'd range from talking about getting my heart broken, or talking about this new guy, or heck, even financial advice. :-) Lolo always has something useful to say, some very helpful advice to give. And honestly, they have worked every time.

He doesn't get around much, though, he has emphysema from "stress-smoking" all those years, and he has a veritable pharmacopeia he deals with everyday. He manages, though. He has a pretty good retirement plan, saved up from all those years of being a "boxer". <-- very very good at savings. :-p

My grandparents are at this age where most of the people they know have "moved on to other things". Still, they are doing quite well for their age (and for their condition, my grandfather's, especially). Although they haven't started asking about when I'm going to give them great-grandchildren*, I'd surely love for children I'm going to have someday to still be able to meet and experience growing up with them.

I suppose it would be too much to ask, but honestly, I would love that.

     (* I think my younger cousin Lemuel is going down that avenue earlier than I am, at the rate I'm going, though. But still, you never know. :-p)

---------------- 
 

I heard this song in a store in the mall this afternoon. It is probably more about a song about loss, but it could also mean (well, for me at least) that if someone or something was meant to be, it would eventually work out. :-) The negative side would be, that if you spent too much time dwelling on that "what if" and you waste your time, that would be bad too. 
But that is a nice line, isn't it? 

"No matter where life takes me, I'll meet you there..."

But the disclaimer is..."IF you believe in destiny..."
------------  

And that's all for now, folks. 
I've got a 5:30AM bus trip to catch tomorrow so I can get to work by 7AM (instead of the usual 9AM) because one of the doctors at my hospital asked me to cover, and receive his endorsement early.)


I'm the newbie, can't complain.

:-S

Anyhoo, goodnight!

~ S.





Followers

Popular Posts

Translate