I Can Cook Too

Oh, I can cook, too, on top of the rest, My seafood's the best in the town. And I can cook, too. My fish can't be beat, My sugar's the sweetest around. I'm a man's ideal of a perfect meal Right down to the demi-tasse. I'm a pot of joy for a hungry boy, Baby, I'm cookin' with gas. Oh, I'm a gumdrop, A sweet lollipop, A brook trout right out of the brook, And what's more, baby, I can cook!

After the somewhat incensed tone of the previous article, I thought to write something less thoughtful. Hence the title, I Can Cook Too! It's from a wonderful Leondard Bernstein musican called On The Town written with Adolph Green and Betty Comden (who also starred). ON a whim today, I decided to actually cook something. Well, not so much as cook, but boil. I made some chicken soup today. With chicken, carrots, celery, onions, and long rice noodles (because I don't know where to get the pasta noodles like they have in Progresso soup or Campbells Chicken Noodle). All in all, it turned out pretty well. I had this craving for chicken soup. And I've been playing WarCraft III a lot. I've been proud of myself, I haven't played FFXI, Guild Wars, or World of Warcraft yet. I will not be sucked in like Jennifer.

What is a Life?

I was somewhat incensed when I read about President Bush, yes our esteemed leader, who vowed to veto (apparently the first veto of either term) any legislation on stem cell research that the Congress provided. Perusing Yahoo! newsfeeds has become a daily habit of mine. What was ridiculous is the "culture of life" that the President and his cronies in the Congress are promiting. Luckily not all of our Congressmen, and even some Republicans such as Arlen Spencer, are advocating the lifting of federal obstacles to further research (CNN ARTICLE HERE). I fail to see what the harm is in furthering medical knowledge. Yes, there are "slippery slopes" in medicine and the worries about "playing God". These debates raged when cloning was first on the forefront. It continues to rage in legislation for physician assisted suicide. But when you take a look at it, do embryo's constitute life? I suppose it depends on your definition of life. I fail to see how any reasonably educated person can call a few cells human life. There is the potential for human life, that is true, but definitely not LIFE. After all, the vast majority of IVF (in vitro fertilization) implanted embryos do not mature into fetuses. If we are to assume that life exists in these brainless, heartless, potential cells, then are we to assume that life exists in our sperm or our eggs? Shall an OB/GYN be considered a murderer hundreds of counts when they perform a hysterectomy on a woman to save her life or when they "tie her tubes" at her own request? (I seriously hope no one would agree to that, but somewhere there is someone who might and that frightens me).

What is going to happen to those embryonic cell lines? Most of them will probably be destroyed. Where is our culture of life oh esteemed leaders when we withhold funding and initiative to save the lives that are already burning brightly? Those children with incurable cancers, diabetes, and neurologic diseases? I'm not saying that stem cells hold all the answers, but they are a promising possibility that deserves further research. And now I shall get off my soapbox and hope that the Congress has enough votes to show our idiot President that HE does not hold the DEFINITIVE right to say what all americans think. It's time we told and showed him that america is not a playground for his conservative agenda.

Laugh, Smile, and Dance ... and Oh Yes, Whistle

Ever remember watching Monty Python? I have recollections of staying at my friend's house with other people and watching series of Monty Python movies in a row. And now this irreverent humour has come to Broadway in the form of Spamalot. I've been listening to it for a while and it's hilarious. One of the song's lyrics reminds me of one of Rodgers and Hammerstein's (100 points if you know it):

If life seems jolly rotten,
There's always something youve forgotten!
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing,
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps,
Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing!
And...Always look on the bright side of life
(Whistle)

I did my first major social outing in the last few months. Prior to this it was out to eat with one set of friends. Yesterday I went on a 5 hour sojourn to Kahala Mall (to eat at CPK) and then to Dole to watch Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. This was my "medical school" set of friends and it was nice to unwind about work. And catch up with people. And the movie was really good. I'm going to have to watch it again. That was my monthy venture outside the home. Keep your eyes open for the next sighting. And as Spamalot says (you've gotta listen to this one, it's hilarious):

I am not dead yet
I can dance and I can sing
I am not dead yet
I can do the highland fling
I am not dead yet
No need to go to bed
No need to call the doctor
'Cos I'm not yet dead.

Hodgepodge of Updates

As Jennifer has pointed out correctly, I have not updated recently. So I decided, on my first day of no more Emergency Room to call her up and we went to eat at Gyotaku and catch up. Here are random snippets from our conversation:

...my weird dream with a zombie (leathery face and flesh rotting arms) eating my brain awhile all I could do was endlessly scream...

...her being afraid of babysitting her nephew (read about it on her site). Quizzing her about if she knew how much water to mix into formula, what she was going to do with a baby, admonishing her against teaching him violence...

...discussed in earnest detail Final Fantaxy XI. And found out that she and hubby are proud owners of not just a PS2, XBox, and GameCube (and incidentally a DS) but that they alwao are the new parents of another PS2. And, it's not even the new slimline version. Apparently they needed another "old" PS2 so that both of them could play PS2's Final Fantasy XI at the same time...

...salivating over May 19th...

...laughing about her niece and the new ability to sass back. And also her wanting to have a conversation while toileting...

All in all it was a very nice dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'm glad/sad to be away from the emergency room. It was tough and tiring, but it was enjoyable. I'm sure Neurology will be fascinating. Hope to hear from you all.