“I don’t really like math for its own sake. What I love is that it lets you take some things that you know, and just by moving symbols around on a piece of paper, you find out something that you didn’t know that’s very surprising.” -Randall Munroe (“Comics that Ask ‘What If’” – Ted Talk)
“If you love science for science’s sake, teach college. If you really like science, but you really love to work with students, teach high school.” -Dr. Karen LaFever (in a conversation with me as I was picking my path to teach high school chemistry)
Category: mental health
Sabbatical, Step 4: Finding Career #2
“The vicissitudes of life usually teach an intelligent person what he can handle. It does help to have someone wise in the ways of candles to steady you as you grope toward the light.”
-Bill Bowerman
Sabbatical, Step 2: An Exit Plan
Research. Reading. Mulling it over. Think about it. Ponder. Discern.
To heck with it. Sometimes, you just have to do it (sorry, Phil Knight!)
Sabbatical, Step One: Catalysts and Enzymes
“If it’s all been said and done,
I did alright, I had my fun.
Let me walk, before they make me run.”
-The Glimmer Twins (a.k.a. Jagger/Richards)
Continue reading “Sabbatical, Step One: Catalysts and Enzymes”
Scotch Tape (a.k.a. I Have an Idea About How Lucky I Am)
“Of all the bad and dangerous ideas in the world, perhaps none is worse and more dangerous than the idea that there is no such thing as luck.” -Kieran McCarthy
Of all the bad and dangerous ideas in the world, perhaps none is worse and more dangerous than the idea that there is no such thing as luck.
-Kieran McCarthy
Continue reading “Scotch Tape (a.k.a. I Have an Idea About How Lucky I Am)”
Heart Block
Rule of Life 72: if your mother calls for health advice, act fast. Case in point, about 5 years ago my mom called with a health question on a day where I just happened to be off work. She was dizzy, tired, and having a hard time breathing. After a brief conversation that ended in “I’ll be fine, I’ll just lie down for a bit,” I drove over to my parents house. As it turns out, you can get a Prius to go from zero to sixty in 2 seconds, you just have push down really, REALLY hard on the accelerator.
We all have roles in life. Some are conscious, others subconscious. Sometimes, we fall into old roles and habits around select groups of people. We have tendencies, all of us. It’s not always bad or good, but rather something that just IS.
Going By Candlelight
What struck me this time, however, is that sometimes location does matter.
I’m not a travel writer. By most people’s assessment, our family doesn’t go any place that exotic. Someone did tell Sonia that we take interesting trips and I appreciated the sentiment. Sure, we do odd things, but we’re talking odd by “acceptable” standards. We weren’t drinking jack rabbit blood in the Mojave Desert or exploring the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia.
An Open Letter to the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics
This is a battle worth fighting. We all know that this is an issue, and if it isn’t addressed, the risk is losing rolls of your pediatricians to other careers. Again, I’m familiar with this. We really don’t want a healthcare system that convinces its physicians, providers, and nurses that they are expendable and replaceable. We are on the verge of de-recruiting people from the profession. That’s not a great place to be.
Continue reading “An Open Letter to the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics”
Donut Diplomacy
I once asked one of the nurses, Sharon, if they liked me only because of the donuts. Her response: “No. If you were stupid or a jerk, we’d eat your donuts but talk about you behind your back. We like the donuts, but we like you.” That’s one of the best, most honest compliments I’ve been given.
“And on the seventh day, God rested. And said, ‘Let there be coffee. And let the donuts be plentiful. Let there be glazed donuts, and cake donuts, and long johns, and buttercream and custard filled Bismarcks. But there nay should be jelly donuts, as those are disgusting.’ And so it was. And as God rested, God said, ‘This is pretty good. Keep ‘em coming. And may I please get another cup of Joe?’”
Genesis 2:2, in the original Hebrew, or at least how it SHOULD read.
Two Little Band-Aids
I guess that last growth spurt isn’t happening. That modeling contract keeps missing my mailbox (and I’d need A LOT of waxing). That rich, deep, baritone voice will elude me. I’ll settle for an endless supply of band-aids and show myself the door.
