Opened eyes

Although I consider myself a fairly adventurous, if not just curious, person, I sometimes am a bit "behind the times" with experiencing interesting activities. This random post is about 3 recent awesome discoveries: 1) the TV show The Office, 2) Dodgeball on Trampolines, and 3) Facials.

The Office

Oh my goodness. I know this show has been out for, like, 6 years, but this is the first year I have ever watched an episode (and, mind you, that is not an episode from the current season but rather from back in beginning). I heard about the show and all of the inside jokes while in Peru earlier this year with Mindy and Kelvin, who can pretty much quote the show line for line. At the time, this was mildly amusing but made no sense to me. Now it is hysterical.

Those of you who know me pretty well know that I do not watch much TV at all. Growing up overseas, we just did not watch TV shows. I remember watching and being mildly obsessed with The Brady Bunch, which I assume I watched only when we lived in Virginia for 2 years, but other than knowing quite a bit about the characters on that show, I tend to stare blankly when people bring up TV shows that ran in the 80s or 90s when I was too busy reading Nancy Drew than to keep up with pop culture. I watched a lot of sports in high school, but never got into any regular shows because I think they (i.e. ER) were all on too late for my little 9 pm-bedtime eyes (neither my TV- watching habits nor bedtime has changed much since then!).

I don't currently have cable or any channels on my TV at home (which is not even an acceptable size to watch TV, according to some friends) and have to rely on others inviting me over to watch current shows and major sporting events. Luckily, I have next to zero friends who, like me, live in the dark ages, and I rather have very generous friends who are very accommodating to me inviting myself over for TV-time (while, at the same time, probably wondering how I can survive in such self-imposed deprivation. In any case, you know who you are... and I thank you!!).

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand... There are a few shows which I really have adored, including Friends and Scrubs. I also think that the new show Glee is awesome, but (despite having listened to the soundtrack about 17 million times) have only seen a few episodes. However, I have to say that The Office might just top those. I started watching Season 1 when I got back from South America, and have steadily worked my way to Season 5. I am utterly and totally addicted! I have to cut myself off and even have to resort to watching the "deleted scenes" at the end of the episodes to "make it last longer" so I don't run out prematurely! I really do wonder when my next Office episode is going to come from. This is the true sign of an addiction, is it not?


For those of you who know and love this show, you probably know what I mean. For those of you who do not know of/follow it (it chronicles the ludicrous and hilarious escapades and relationships of the office staff of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company)-- please start watching from the beginning. Although I often try to multitask while watching TV, shows, or movies (the little I do watch), I recommend that, to get the full effect, you give this show your full attention and your totally undivided time. I have a feeling that, when I come to the end of the current episodes, I will be very depressed and suffer from Office-deprivation. So please, based on my tastes above, feel free to recommend other shows I should try next!!


2) Dodgeball on Trampolines

Does this sound like a good idea to anyone? As someone not very into getting pelted by balls, dodgeball on the ground would not have been an activity I was excited about. As a very klutzy person by nature (just last night, I managed to trip over a loose screw in the paneling between my bedroom and bathroom, ripping a hole in the ball of my left foot, gushing blood everywhere, and ruining my chance for an AM run today. And yes, my tetanus is up to date), trampolines definitely strike me as dodgy (and dangerous!). In fact, Brian, the husband of Rachel, one of the 2nd year residents, had just broken his foot jumping exuberantly at the trampoline place in town, Sky High Sports, where we were slated to go for our post-high-school-physical-resident-bonding-activity a couple weeks ago. Since I usually am game to at least try most things (if I can skydive, I can play dodgeball on trampolines, right?), while I didn't see any outcomes of such an activity being favorable for me in any way, I still went to bond with my graduating class.

It ended up being an awesome time! There were individual trampoline panels on each side of the middle dividing line, and so you were not necessarily jumping right next to someone with the risk of falling due to a "double bounce." We'd quickly divide into teams and just go when the ref told us to. The court was enclosed, so you couldn't fall off. No one got hurt. Although I didn't get much of a workout due to my consistently getting walloped by a ball and thus gettingout within about 30 seconds of starting each game, bouncing and dodging flying balls was quite an aerobically- challenging activity! If you have such a place near you (although I'm not sure you would.... it is so random!), I'd give it a try! Or come visit me in Sacramento and I'll take you :)

3) Facials

I am not much of a beauty- product or "pamper yourself" kind of person. I think Wendi took me to get my first pedicure, in Rochester, MN before our Nigeria trip, about 3 years ago. Since then, I've had a couple, and while it's fun to get flowers and things doodled on my toes, I still think the best part of pedis (particularly after the hours I've been working in residency) is the foot massage. I've had a couple of body massages-- my first in Rochester (at a massage school... who knew I'd be introduced to so much high culture in the little MN town of the WFMC!), and my second (a "Mayan Massage") in Guatemala last year. If I had unlimited funds, I'm sure I would do such things a bit more often. But I tend to feel a bit guilty in general spending money on both "things" and frivolous activities for "myself" and so generally forgo such luxuries.

Today, my friend Julie, a L and D nurse here, held a "Spa Party" at her house. It was overall just a very fun time for girls to get together, eat yummy snacks, socialize, hear about issues with relationships, pregnancies, kids, etc., but also to get some "services" done by professional masseuses and estheticians who were there for our business. Initially, I wasn't sure if I'd sign up for anything. However, I decided to take the plunge.

I could have used a massage (who couldn't?), but haven't been doing anything too strenuous lately, so thought I'd save my next massage for after my next half-marathon or something (which is nowhere in sight). With my new left foot puncture, I thought I had better forgo a pedicure in order to reduce the risk of getting some sort of nasty foot infection days before I fly across the world to East Asia. I also wanted to try something new. So that meant choosing either: a) waxing (including Brazilian if desired), b) a manicure, or c) a facial.

Re: a) (waxing): OUCH. There is no way I would ever let someone do anything like that to me. I would rather have a child without an epidural. Or puncture my right foot, too. I could have gotten a manicure, although I'm not sure what all it entails. I don't have very attractive nails at baseline, and have to keep them short for work anyway. I'd like to get them painted prettily, but I'm not sure that we're allowed to have bright nails at work, either (? a professionalism thing?). So that led me to choose the facial.

I was a bit nervous, as I didn't want to have any crazy peels or anything that would make me walk out of there looking like a ripe tomato (I had to come to work tonight! And who can predict when it's going to be a night when I never see the inside of the call room?). I didn't know what to expect. But I would definitely have another one sometime-- it was a real treat! I felt a bit weird at the beginning, when the conversation I had with the esthetician went something like this:

Esthetician: So what do you do for your skin?

Me: Umm... not much, actually.

Esthetician: Do you use any facial products?

Me: Umm. Well, I try to wash my face a couple of times a day.. with like Irish Spring soap. Is that ok? Sometimes I exfoliate.

Esthetician: Well-- that's a start.

Then, [After looking closely at my face under a lamp]: did you have bad acne?

Me: No; those are from Chicken Pox.

Esthetician: All of them?

Me: Yup. I was a bad scratcher.

Esthetician: Do you use sunblock?

Me: Well- not daily. I definitely do when I play frisbee and run around outside.

Esthetician: You should use it more. You are showing signs of hyperpigmentation from the sun.

Me: Uhh... ok.....

But then, the rest of it was great! What she did NOT use was cucumbers on the eyes, which is what my facial-naive (or "facial virgin" as she called me!) mind was envisioning. She used some serial facial cleansers, then some hot towels on my face and neck (which reminded me of the airline towels!), an exfoliating mask, massaged my face, neck shoulders, applied some moisturizers, and then released me.

I definitely feel the difference. While I'm not sure I am "glowing," I do feel that my skin is smoother. I am not sure whether I wanted it to "take 10 years off" (many patients already tell me I look way too young to be a doctor or deliver their baby), but it sure was rejuvenating. I'm not sure that my current bank account nor my self-care tendencies can support a regular facial habit (she told me that one should get these about every 5 weeks!), but it was definitely worth it, and I probably will do it again sometime in the future!

So there you have it:

The Office, Dodgeball on Trampolines, and Facials. Go try them if you haven't :)

Some things don't seem fair...

David Archuleta, a sincere, sweet, and amazingly talented young (17 years old!!) pure musician (If you haven't watched him perform Imagine, please please watch the below shown movie. It gives me chills every time I hear it):

David Cook, arrogant wanna-be rocker with a scratchy, sliding, slimy voice:
In my opinion, the WRONG David won this season's American Idol. I think that thing is rigged.
What do you think?

Some surprises and other boring updates

A few things to note:

• I am apparently clueless. I walked into the post office yesterday to mail my grandmother a little package and saw a sign saying that the postage rates had gone up to 41 cents per 1-oz letter as of May 14. "Yikes!!!!" I thought. May 14th was over one week ago, but I have been walking around mailing letters with the old stamps! I haven't gotten anything returned yet, so maybe they have a "grace period" of sorts; in any case, I was mad at myself for not being more ontop of this! Were the notices all out while we were still overseas? Much like daylight savings time, which I have almost missed a couple of the past few times, they need to have a better way of "spreading the word." Maybe I just don't follow "news" well enough. In any case, I was trying to recall if I'd tried to mail anything really important in the last 7 days or so. I couldn't remember. It's a good thing I haven't gotten around to mailing out real thank-yous (except to Hans/Rachel... tell me if it doesn't arrive! I'll send another!). So for all of you who were about to drop something in the mail with a 39 cent stamp, WAIT! Get an accessory two to go with it! :)


• I am almost ashamed to reveal this, but I will anyway. If you were to come by my apartment at around 4:00 yesterday afternoon, you would have seen something you wouldn't have thought was possible! I was dumping things down the drain and in the trash. Now, I've had to do a tiny bit of this at a time over the last couple of days or so, realizing that there was no way I could realistically use the condiments-- quarter- to half-full bottles of marinade, dressings, and other sauces and perishable spreads--that were in my fridge. I knew Lesley would sympathize and, ordinarily, would offer to rescue some; however, EVB already dumped all of her stuff on Lesley before she took off for Florida, Chicago, and beyond, a couple of months ago, so I knew even Les didn't want or need any more (they are also moving to their new house(!) later today and probably don't want more things to box up). But Erin couldn't care less about that waste, which left me bummed and with a real dilemma if you know about my anti-food-wasting policies. I had used up a bunch of salsa earlier in the week on some salad, figuring it (tomato-containing) was somewhat healthy, right? I had a little bit of apple to go with the tons of peanut butter in the jar. But, honestly, what was even I going to do with 3 different kinds of oriental stir-fry sauces and two jars of miracle whip? I don't think I could drink them. They aren't jam. So, slowly and wistfully, I performed something of a mass funeral and got rid of about 10 different bottled substances. :( Not even an imminent save-the-leftovers potluck gave me hope that someone would want to have some Soy-vay sauce (from Trader Joe's; excellent if you haven't tried it!), fish sauce, or caribbean jerk marinade for dinner, although I did set aside some things like an unopened bottle of lime juice, an almost-full bottle of boysenberry syrup, minced garlic, and grey poupon mustard that I just couldn't bear to see go to waste, to hopefully have Ebby take home with her from Wendi's party. Luckily, she did! Score. Let's just hope she didn't dump them as soon as she got home and that she wasn't thanking me just for show :)


• Will it be Blake or Jordin?! Idol results come on tonight. At the Jones' yesterday in celebration of Wendi's birthday, we ate some leftovers (and generated more, as Ronnie brought by some pizza!), played a pretty pathetic partial game of trains, and then ended up watching American Idol. Although most of us are rooting for Blake (I had to switch allegiances after my Sanjaya got voted off! Wendi even called in to vote), Jordin did sing better last night. We'll see. I don't really have the patience for the "drama" that surrounds the two-hour drawn-out Wednesday results show, but may tune in for a bit, at least for the final result.


• Packing: goes quite well. I've been doing bits at a time-- the luxury of having a whole week to do it. It's kind of depressing though, with everything off the walls and boxes cluttering up the living room. I was moping about quite a bit on Sunday, but have recuperated. I'm going to help the Joneses move today and then the Kits tomorrow, to avoid having to do my own stuff :) Is anyone going to be around next Monday to help me? :) The only bad thing, though, is that I'm actually accumulating stuff. Lesley let me go through her reject-clothes yesterday, and I came away with a bunch of really cute tops and dresses. It was like going shopping! But now I have to find somewhere to pack them away. Hmm.


• Most boringly, my research manuscript: is revised. I met with the statisticians on Monday and with Robin, my advisor, yesterday to discuss some of the changes the reviewers suggested making. I have amended it and, pending Robin's approval, will be able to resubmit this today or tomorrow and, ideally, get it published sometime soon! That will be a huge weight off my back and quite a relief.


• Epiphany: It's easier (and better!) to avoid direct goodbyes by just saying "see ya later." Wendi and I have both agreed that we have consciously been trying to say things like, "I'm sure I'll see you before I leave," etc.... to avoid the weighty "good-bye (not sure when I'll see you again)" hugs and whatnot. She apparently has done this in the past; this is my first time trying this strategy. Although I did give genuine goodbye hugs to Summer and Katie last night, so far, this is a good plan. There have been no tears yet. I'm trying to keep it that way.

Reality TV is now a vice

I admit that I have recently gotten quite into American Idol and Survivor. I have to say that I was a bit slower to take to the Survivor show-- while watching the first couple of episodes, I wasn't quite sure what to think. They were a bit slow with the "challenges" and I wasn't quite sure how all this alliance-building goes. I'm starting to get interested in the Survivor Fiji season; however, I'm still much more into Idol.

These shows are taking up a lot of my time! Idol has been running Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday because they are still at the stage where there are so many contestants that for each of them to sing makes each show last 1-1.5 hours! Although I do have a lot of free time this year, even this is getting a bit cumbersome. We have been having watch-the-taped-versions-without-commericals get togethers at John and Wendi's to save on a bit of time and because we have had other commitments on Idol nights.

So I was over there yesterday for the Idol "results" and also for the regular Thursday Survivor show. I am starting to realize that even I have started to develop strong opinions about some of these contestants. Whereas before, I was really appalled at the criticism from the judges (Simon in particular) and felt it was really harsh (he told one guy he looked like a bush baby!), now I am finding myself criticizing certain people. I'm not alone, either! John and Wendi really, really don't like this one guy (on Idol), Sanjaya. Here's a picture for those of you who don't watch this show.

DON'T READ ANY FARTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT YESTERDAY'S RESULTS.

Okay, I agree that he isn't the hottest guy on the planet. He doesn't have the most outgoing personality. He's only 17 too. The Kits think I like him just because he's "my people" (he's of Indian descent). I genuinely think he has a very good voice. But I agree-- he's a bit lacking on the stage presence and they thought it was just painful to watch him sing an oldie in a top hat the other night. To all of our extreme surprise, he wasn't eliminated from the last round of competition, which relies on America's votes for contestants! As Christine Ziemba wrote, "Sanjaya Malakar must have his whole high school voting for him. Again and again. There's no reason why the kid is still on the show. " Here's what a different pretty harsh online article (Michael Slezak) had to say about him: "Now we'll have to endure at least one more week of Sanjaya Malakar performing with the confidence of a baby deer trying to cross an eight-lane highway, ...". I thought this comment was pretty funny. But I really don't think Sanjaya is that bad! We were also surprised that Antonella Barba, an extremely beautiful but only marginally-talented girl who didn't quite get Celine Dion right, was not eliminated last night. I don't want to think it's just because she's hot. But I don't know.

In any case, I won't talk more about other eliminations, i.e. on Survivor. But I do want to caution that I feel like I'm becoming more critical and opinionated by continuing to watch these shows. I try not to be too judgemental and really do generally try to find the best in everyone, but sometimes it's hard. Some people just aren't as good as others.

So here's a lighter quote on criticism I remember reading on a "wise words" posting a little while ago:

"If you're going to criticize someone, first walk a mile in his/her shoes. Then, when you criticize him/her, you are a mile away. And you have his/her shoes."
:)