brainpower in the use of the powers of good

so i consider myself to have a great memory. i remember names, conversations, subjects and facts. granted - i dont have a picture perfect memory. if i remember the lyric of a song, it is probably not the exact words but generally the overall meaning. if i remember something i read in a textbook, i generally grab the overall meaning of the passage rather than the exact terminology. (this tendency does not work for me in subjects that call for blatant memorization like molecular biology, but it works wonders in history, politics and those fields.) in medicine - the thing i am not looking forward to is the blatant memorization needed. i know that i can talk to anybody, exude confidence and deal with emergent situations very quickly. but being able to exactly cite the dose, side effects or other minutiae is going to suck. now, most doctors do not memorize that crap either. they walk into the room after the looking at the chart already filled out by the nurse, do their assessment, then walk out of the room and look up in their PDA or textbooks or even google search it to find out treatments. now sure - i like this - i dont think it is possible or safe for one person to try and recollect everything from their memory. however, the really scary thing is that many of the residents i see have to do this for simple stuff. my example of this is this man with uncontrolled a-fibb - a very readily recognized cardiac dysrhytmia that needs to be treated quickly. the attending has diagnosed it, called for the drugs and is waiting for it. then this resident (off service - Internal Medicine i think) walks in sees that it is a cool case, takes the 12 lead and proceeds to break out his calipers (a measuring tool that is very useles in the ER and really is useless even upstairs unless you are a cardiologist and you have to do all your diagnosing by a 12 lead) and a book on rhythm interpretation and tries to make the argument that this might be something else. to which the attending laughed.

i bring up my memory to highlight one of my strongest skills. i am an encyclopedia of pop culture/entertainment information. you know that game you play where someone names a movie, the next person must name an actor in that movie, followed by another person naming another movie that actor was thus creating a string of movie, actor, movie, actor till someone gets stumped. i am very good at that game. in fact, the times when i play it - while on camping trips, i often get so frustrated with the other participants and start playing by myself. i do not know how i become such a repository of information for when i first played this game on my frosh orientation camping trip, i did not half the actors. but i guess it was through the magic of the internet and easily downloaded movies that i have been able to really see a lot. now having a blockbuster membership for 3 movies at a time doesnt hurt either. currently i have Patton, Freeway, and Taxi Driver out.

i also have a freakish knowledge of pop culture. i may not know a lot of the old stuff such as music of the 60s and 70s, but i know way too much of current people. i am in no way a magazine reader and stay as far away from the tabloids as possible, but i retain information about what movies people are in, what movies are coming out, what came out and how it was rated and what i thought about it very readily.

and yet i can come across as a very serious person. or at least i think i do to some people.

my blog motto

i find it amazing that a fair number of hits to my website are for people searching for "losers always whine about doing their best...". is there really that many people who search that phrase? and why am i so high up there? or are they weeding through dozens of samples and get to my blog. i cannot get an accurate view of it, nor can my friends, since google is super smart and automatically places close web pages (ie web pages you have visited, etc) at the top of the search list.

now the quote is from the Rock. Which is quite possibly the greatest action movie ever. It was the first movie directed by Michael Bay who had largely done music videos before. Moreover, it has everything. A thriller plot, a car chase scene, big explosions, undeniable tension (if the standoff between the marines and the SEALS in the prison shower is quite possibly just awesomely tense), and got a good bit of quippy humor. Frankly it is a shining candidate for Most Awesomely Action movie.

Now many movies follow in the Rock's line and are really little more of a music video with a longer plot. I like to term these movies Awesomely Bad. They are awesome to watch and can be watched repeatedly and repeatedly. Another characteristic movie would be Top Gun. The rewatch value of Top Gun is simply amazing though i usually fast forward both the homoerotic volleyball sign and unnecessarily long sex scene. Independence Day also fits into this mold. however, independence day is filled with multiple cringe moments like the "up yours" that played really well in theaters but is tough to stomach. However, Bill Pullman's patriotic speech is good. (hmm, another topic for another day are best movie speeches).

My final overall comment on movies is my Vietnam War primer through movies. The Vietnam war was the first american war following in the modern age of movies and really show where we are today in view of society's interpretation of Vietnam then and now. Please tell me of movies that I am missing:
(these are the movies I feel people should watch to grasp the war.)

Start with:

The Green Berets - this is a classic John Wayne movie made at the beginning of the war that was very feel good and hero worshipping, uncharacteristic of all the latter movies.

Apocalypse Now - this was among the first dark protrayals of Vietnam on film following the young officer (Martin Sheen) as he goes into the jungle. It really shows the warped nature of the war.

Platoon - this has more combat than the previous movie and follows a young well educated soldier as he descends into the hell of vietnam with his two sergeants "fighting for his soul"

Full Metal Jacket - well known, warped but classic in both its boot camp and its later combat scenes.

Born on the 4th of July - about a soldier's return.

First Blood - an explosive show of the disconnect encountered on the soldier's return

Good Morning Vietnam - a humorous yet deep looking movie at Vietnam's non combat roles for soldiers.

Finally - We Were Soldiers - Mel Gibson's revisit to Vietnam done in the early 21st century that paints the war again in a patriotic light akin to Green Berets and far from Platoon.

Enjoy

10 things i hate about people

1. people who put up AIM away messages and still talk to people behind their away message. its a total abuse of the away message system.

2. people who pop their collars. seriously why? and even worse are the guys who wear a popped collar shirt under their popped collar over shirt.

3. people who grub for grades. if you didnt do well, you didnt do well. unless there is a legitimate error, the reason you didnt get the grade you wanted was because you probably didnt get the grade you deserved. i'm not saying you cant complain about your grades, but dont whine to the professor/teacher about it.

4. the whole tip system in general. i hate how tips are expected at restaurants. if i'm paying, i should expect good service and not have to leave a bribe to get it. if i want to give a tip for exceptional service, that should be the only time i add extra money.

5. people who actually buy faded and torn jeans for $70 bucks to get that worn look. seriously.

6. people who cannot enjoy things sober. did you really need to drink to go to that concert? did you really need to pregame that dance? you should use drinking as a means not an end of itself.
7. people who come to class, work, or social events while really sick. take the day off rest, get better, dont infect everyone around you.

8. most people who have blackberries and other mobile email devices. you really are not that important. and do you have to wear it on your belt??? and leave the sound alert on?

9. people who talk to you only to sell something in their business. especially on airplanes. if you want to have a conversation, i'll talk to you. dont try and sell your business to me. tell me somethign interesting, anything.

10. people who read blogs but dont leave comments.

woah there

so yesterday was the kind of day that you get the patients and calls that reaffirms your desire to stick it in in EMS and medicine in general. Without bogging this blogging down with details, I participated as low man on the totem pole in a level 1 trauma while at work, lead a COPDer call in respiratory failure, and actually got a save on a code (pulse to the hospital, got him to the cath lab, but he passed away last night).

which brings me to my short topic of the day, i slowly see myself descending into tool dom. i am going to be focused on grades and obsessed with getting A in both my upcoming post bacc program and whenever i end up in med school.

now the saving factor is that it will all be relative. i think. i hope. then again a good friend of mine from high school, who was as un-asian as you can be. a huge slacker and yet when he headed off to a guaranteed med program, he has become asian. like i think even his eyes got squintier. (low blow, ouch)

so is there hope for me? how can i save myself from becoming a pre med tool and still do well?