So... I haven't been writing much, but... things are good. Really good.
I like this boy. Like, a lot. Have never had anything go so smoothly. And have never been less scared to think about a future.
I won't gush too much b/c I even make mySELF sick. LOL.

So, here are some pix.

First- My cutie-patootie little niece, who will be ONE in a few weeks. :)






The leaves are changing. Sigh. I guess summer is really over.

Just for you, tiny...

Perhaps it is not the appropriate sentiment, but- this murder at Yale makes me sad for Yale. Because throughout my whole time there, people would often look down their nose and go "oh. Yale. yeah I guess it's a good school. Too bad it's in New Haven." New Haven has a bad rap. And I'm sure a lot of it is deserved. It has high crime rates- etc. But so does any poor city. But so I have always defended Yale and New Haven. So, something like this certainly doesn't help.

But Yale certainly does seem to have more than its share of scary murders. Or, maybe they're just higher-profile since it's Yale.

But in '91, Christian Prince was murdered on the steps of a church near campus. (that is before I was there.)

And now this terrible case.

But the most intriguing and mysterious...

In 1998, the year after I graduated, Suzanne Jovin was found stabbed 17 times.

The case has never been solved, but apparently it was re-opened in 2007.

There has only ever been one suspect- though there has been NO evidence to tie him to the case, and he has never been charged with anything. And I knew the guy- he was my dean. His signature is on my diploma. I would never in a million years think he would murder this girl. And as I said- there has never been any evidence to tie him to the case. In fact they even did DNA tests of the tissue found under her nails- and it did NOT match his. Yet somehow, his name has never been cleared. And it basically ruined his life. I guess he is now suing Yale and the New Haven police- and I'm not sure I blame him.

But the interesting part...

The reason he was ever even questioned is b/c he was this student's thesis advisor. And I guess earlier in the day that she was murdered, she had met with him to go over her thesis. And THAT is why he is a murder suspect??!!

But that's not even the weird part.

The creepiest, twilight zone-iest part is this:

Less than six hours before she was killed, Suzanne Jovin, a 21-year-old Yale student, turned in a draft of her senior essay.

It was Dec. 4, 1998, just a week before the final copy was due. In 21 single-spaced pages on "Osama bin Laden and the Terrorist Threat to U.S. Security," she examined the terrorist's already prominent organization. Her paper was virtually complete, except for the conclusion. In neat handwriting on the margins of page 20, she wrote about the final paragraphs: "I'm saving the conclusion for last."

Here's the rest of the article. Long, but interesting.

This is really sad and scary...

On Tuesday a med student at Yale went into her lab... and never came out.
On saturday they found some bloody clothes up in the ceiling tiles.
And yesterday (which just happened to be the day she was supposed to be married) they found a body IN THE WALLS of the same building, which has been positively ID'd as the missing girl.

How awful on so many levels. :(

[first a mini-rant: I just have to say that so far Snow Leopard has been nothing but headache. Ugh. It has killed my internet, and I do not have the time/patience to deal with it now, so this is about the 4th time I have tried to post this post.]

So, I spent most of last week in San Francisco for a conference. It was good- though a lot of it was over my head. I did see a few friends from college that I haven't seen in years- so that was awesome.

And the invited guest speaker was Kathy Reichs- who writes mystery novels (I guess that's what you'd call them)- she's a forensic anthropologist, and the show Bones is based on her books. Well anyway, her talk was really entertaining and interesting- though it had nothing at all to do with hand surgery. I really find forensics, AND anthropology, fascinating.

But honestly, the best part of the trip was having a smiling face waiting for me at the airport when I got home.
Aww.... I'm such a sappy giddy little schoolgirl. But... things are good. :)

I also realized- I have ZERO desire to ever live in California.

It's also kind of a bummer that the trip ate up my whole long weekend... spent all day yesterday flying, and had to spend today getting organized for a full day of catch up at work tomorrow. Though, I guess I should be glad I had the day off at all.

And speaking of work... while in SF I went to reception put on by this chain of surgery centers... People refer to them as 'the dark side'. Which is maybe silly. They are a very successful, well marketed, BUSINESS. I talked to a guy that's worked there for a year... he works 3.5 days/week, doesn't take call, and makes SICK money. He is happy as a clam... doing work he likes with few paperwork/insurance hassles (etc), makes plenty of money, and has tons of time with his family.
I mean, what's not to like???
Yet, people in the field look down on them. Like it's 'selling out' to go work for them. I think in medicine it's very taboo to admit you want to make money. To look at it like a business.
Who knows... they have offices in texas and vegas now- and I don't want to live in either of those places. But I have to at least admit that I can see how people would be tempted.
Oh- there was a ten thousand dollar doorprize at the reception. TEN GRAND. Just for showing up. I didn't win, but knew the guy that did. Craziness.

Oh, and totally unrelated- my niece's first birthday is next month...
So I was talking to my mom about what to get for her. And Mom said she's decided she's going to give her a piece of artwork every year. She decided this after she saw a painting in a local gallery... I haven't seen it, but she described it as a simple brushstroke painting of an elephant. Almost abstract, but you can tell it's an elephant. She said it's perfect for a child's room... then she said there's a biography of the artist... it said [some chinese name, age 4]. I thought 'oh how cute, it's done by a four year old."

Well, yes- but-
a four year old ELEPHANT.
These paintings are DONE BY ELEPHANTS!!!!
Here is a sample (not the one mom got)-
How freaking cool.
elephant art



and since i'm posting pix, here are a few other from my trip-


a sweatshirt for sale in the airport here- Yes, that is an extra pocket to hold your beer.


This surprised me- in the airport IN DC- cardboard cutouts of the Obamas. Ok, that didn't surprise me. But the tshirts they were selling did- Ones that said 'Nope' (but looked like the 'hope' ones) and some that said "don't blame me I voted for McCain". I was not expecting to see that in DC, let alone in the airport.


This was the reception, during the drawing. Crappy pic, but, you can maybe make out the models on the right side. There were random models there for you to have your picture taken with. Just for the hell of it, I guess.



The Bay Bridge (which is/was closed) from the Ferry Building.


The print *I* ended up getting for my niece. Not done by an elephant, but still cute (I think) for a baby's room, with the bonus that I brought it home from somewhere just for her.


for the larsons- bought some new shades- polarized wayfarers.


First class is getting insane. And business class is even MORE redic, with these big diagonal BEDS for seats. (or do I have it backwards? I forget which is 'higher'- first or business. This was the 'lower' of the two.)


And finally, this book makes me want to vomit-
"the vixen manual: how to find, seduce, and keep the man you want."

An Update on iPhone MMS for our Mobility Customers
We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We've been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches - and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone's multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

We're riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that's resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we're working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.

We thank you for your business and look forward to keeping you updated on our initiatives.

Ok, I think everything in this article sounds awesome.

But I'd love to hear other opinions... DCoffee? Larsons?

Sounds a lot better than an Obamacare card to me...

So last night we went and saw Rebirth- a big brass band from New Orleans. I haven't seen them since I was there- and WOW it made me homesick.
But I have to say- I'm sure the band kept thinking "wow, we are not in new orleans". These guys are a fixture down there. Everyone knows and loves them. Then they come here and get a bunch of white people, all sitting down- haha. They kept saying "come on people, MOVE!"
Heh. Eventually people got into it and were dancing. But so fun.

I don't know how people can listen to this music and NOT 1: instantly feel happy and 2: shake that ass!

Gotta love those horns!!

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

Ok, I just got a spam TEXT MESSAGE?!

That's a little frightening. Because I can't tell who it's from (just comes up as one of those 5 digit codes).
But it was some text message telling me to go to some dating website.

I do NOT like this. How the fuck did they get my cell phone number? Who are they? I don't like that I can't respond/block them.

This is not cool. Spam email is one thing. But spam texts??!!

Has anyone else had this happen??

But first-
I just finished taking my general surgery boards. Fingers crossed that I passed- because it's not something I'd like to do again.

So now I am catching up with email- got this from the American College of Surgeons the other day.
Now, when I don't have my facts straight, I try to stay out of a conversation- or at least admit that I may well be talking out of my ass. Apparently our president does not do the same thing?

This is distressing, if you ask me...

Statement from the American College of Surgeons Regarding Recent Comments from President Obama

CHICAGO--The American College of Surgeons is deeply disturbed over the uninformed public comments President Obama continues to make about the high-quality care provided by surgeons in the United States. When the President makes statements that are incorrect or not based in fact, we think he does a disservice to the American people at a time when they want clear, understandable facts about health care reform. We want to set the record straight.

Yesterday during a town hall meeting, President Obama got his facts completely wrong. He stated that a surgeon gets paid $50,000 for a leg amputation when, in fact, Medicare pays a surgeon between $740 and $1,140 for a leg amputation. This payment also includes the evaluation of the patient on the day of the operation plus patient follow-up care that is provided for 90 days after the operation. Private insurers pay some variation of the Medicare reimbursement for this service.
Three weeks ago, the President suggested that a surgeon's decision to remove a child's tonsils is based on the desire to make a lot of money. That remark was ill-informed and dangerous, and we were dismayed by this characterization of the work surgeons do. Surgeons make decisions about recommending operations based on what's right for the patient.
We agree with the President that the best thing for patients with diabetes is to manage the disease proactively to avoid the bad consequences that can occur, including blindness, stroke, and amputation. But as is the case for a person who has been treated for cancer and still needs to have a tumor removed, or a person who is in a terrible car crash and needs access to a trauma surgeon, there are times when even a perfectly managed diabetic patient needs a surgeon. The President's remarks are truly alarming and run the risk of damaging the all-important trust between surgeons and their patients.

We assume that the President made these mistakes unintentionally, but we would urge him to have his facts correct before making another inflammatory and incorrect statement about surgeons and surgical care.