Yo estoy preguntandome.

I finally, and very excitedly I might add, was able to go back into the city last Saturday.  Met with Vero.  Then later in the day met up with Christine.

 I sat up against the wall at Grand Central Terminal.  I had my book open as if I was reading, but no words are needed in a hub like Grand Central where so many stories are coming to an intersection.  Running to catch a train...why are they late? where are they going?  A family speaking French....vacation? why in October?  She almost got ran over, even though the workers were honking....has the constant soundtrack of New York desensitized her? What is she reading?

 

We discussed opinions on when to give money on the street versus not to give.  The man with a rope and a bucket of soapy water, making amorphous bubbles three times the size of the little ones running around after them shrieking with pure childlike joy?  The old man floating melodies from a saxophone? 

He climbed right up there.  Right up on top of Alice's head.  :)

 

We hurriedly crowded onto the subway in attempts to grab a seat.  I wanted to hug the unkempt homeless man I found myself next too.  For no other reason than I was happy to be sharing part of my day with him.
  

While perusing the work of Christopher Wool at the Guggenheim I was struck by how thickly Art and Psychology are intertwined.  An artist's regression is applauded and described as "a surge of euphoric energy and a violent visual expletive" (see above). 
 

We stayed till they kicked us out!

I wonder if this city would have given me the same energy had I come at a different stage of my life.  I wonder if subconsciously I've choosen to romanticize how I view the city because I'm holding onto the hope of possibilites that such a place offers.  For where there are people, there is collaboration, there is possibility.  I wonder such things.  And then I smile.  For I know had I come at a different time.....it'd be no different.

"In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
There's nothing you can't do,
Now you're in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
The lights will inspire you,
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York"
Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind


Hasta!

Yo estoy boba.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned Dr. Marini before.  Perhaps the most brillant man I've ever met.  He's one of the Trauma surgeons/Critical Care Intensivists here at WMC.  I'm working on one project with him.  Best thing about his brilliance is that it is accompanied by a love of teaching.  He goes on teaching point tangents often.  No complaint here.  Only problem he has is expressing himself in a way the rest of us can understand.  For example, just this morning....

Dr. Marini:  "If this is orange, and this is orange, and this is apple.  Then you have oranges over apple minus one.  And this tells us that there is increased right ventricular afterload."

Nice try Dr. M, but somewhere between the fruit salad and the afterload....ya lost me.

My officemate, Juan, sometimes confuses his English.  Same as I do in Spanish.  There was a good one today that had me laughing.  Thought I'd share:
JMV:  "You afraid me!" (a.k.a. You scared me!)

Hasta!

Yo estoy cambiando una llanta.

Another day.  Another flat tire. 

Got to the parking lot yesterday after leaving the hospital to find a nicely flat left rear tire.  So thankful it was left as, right, would have gone unnoticed.  I debated a whole 30 seconds about maybe making it to a gas station to fill it up and thus not have to actually put the donut on.  But a second good look at the tire, and I was 'good grief'ing myself for giving way to the idea in the first place.  The poor tire looked like a popped balloon. So I pulled out my tools and the donut, and set about changing the tire.

One lady commented while passing by that she was so shocked I was doing that.  Not even her husband knew how to change a tire.  Made me feel a tad better about my incredibly limited knowledge of car care.

But then this was followed by a medical student stopping after an 'uneventful' day in the hospital as he called it.  He asked if I needed some help.  I responded truthfully that No, it was okay. I was good.  The look I got in response to that was along the lines of 'yeaaaaah riiiiiiight, sure.'  And then he proceeded to help me anyways.  So I stood back, and I'll admit, it definitely went faster with his help.  But at the end I made some comment about tightening the tire once it's back on the ground again, and he gave me a look of surprise saying something along the lines of 'so you do know what you're doing!'  *Facepalm*  Do I even want to know how ridiculous I apparently must have looked trying to change that tire?  No, No I don't think I do.

Hasta!

Yo tengo 28 años.

I had thought I'd post something on my actual birthday (Oct 16), but I came out of the testing center yesterday and my brain was flat-lining.

Leaving at the end of today it was more like the dizzing oscillation of a sine wave, but hey...at least it was waving.  I felt like someone had put me in the washer on a high spin cycle, and walking to my car afterwards found myself asking, "What just happened?"

Prometric testing centers need to consider installing punching bags at their offices.  I'm sure I'd not be the only one to make use of it after something like that. 

That being said, this is something I wrote to myself Tuesday night (Oct 15).  "If I let myself think about it, I know I'm not ready to take this test.  But at the same time I also know that it's time to do so.  Whatever happens I will praise Jesus!" 
It was time.  He's indulged me long enough, and needs my focus to be elsewhere now.  

So 28 years....  I'll admit it, perhaps a little out of breath finishing this lap.  A little wear and tear starting to show in the form of wrinkles and white hairs.  But wait for it..... wait for it.... there, second wind kicking in!  ;)  We're good to to go!

And what do I think I've learned in 28 years?

1) Jesus.  Lord and Savior.  Friend and Constant Companion.  Author and Finisher of Love.  Whether I believe or not, whether you believe or not, does not change the fact that he was, is and always will be the Only True God.

2) Time does not stop.  The future will eventually be the past. 

3) Impatience is perhaps the most futile of human emotions.  Proved useless by the simple constant passage of time itself. (Disclaimer: A lesson I've learned and yet know that I still struggle with impatience more than I probably even realize.)

3) Rock-bottom is merely the next step.

4) People.  Love people.  They are the reason and why Jesus has you where you are.

I could keep going I suppose, but really a lesson I've learned is that these mere 28 years isn't enough to claim experience or knowledge on anything. I see my older brothers and sisters in a light of renewed respect, that they've lived 80 plus years of this thing called life. Whew!! Wow!!  For anyone turning 90 and we all want to throw a party/open-house for you, please just smile and let us.  You give us courage and hope.  90 years are worth celebrating.  And you are worth celebrating for having lived them.

So let's get this 29th year underway!! And as many many more as You need, dear Lord.  They are yours.




Hasta!

Yo estoy irme de excursion.

The hunt for distractions found me down by the river today!

Hasta!

Yo estoy tratando de distraerme.

I heard someone say this the other day.
"I was thinking, wouldn't it be so cool if there was a 'Spotify' for books!  And then I realized.....there's libraries."

If you love libraries raise your hands and say Blue Kangaroo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've spent quite a bit of time at the library over the past week.  It got me out of my apartment and helped keep my productivity up.  Didn't work quite as well today.  I think I spent more time twiddling my thumbs, bouncing my knee and chewing my lip than I did successfully reading two complete sentences together. 

I stuck it out for awhile, kept trying.  Eventually gave up and returned home.  A bag of popcorn, two apples and a handful of lemon drops later....and now I'm just trying to scrounge up distractions.  Enter blogging.....


Hasta!

Yo estoy pintando.

As the days are getting shorter, the day is now just dawning as I drive to the hospital in the morning.  Pretty soon it'll be still dark.  The other day the hues of dawn mixed with the array of colored trees, which was then muted by the misting fog rising from the Hudson River in the coolness of the morning.  The color God had painted that morning was really just quite uniquely wonderful. I could not recall ever seeing a dawn quite like it before, and honestly don't ever expect to again.  It left me thinking how thankful I am to not be a painter.  Any attempt to recreate such perfectness would end in frustrated crumpled up pieces of paper.  But since I'm not a painter.  I just got to sit back and enjoy.  Praise Jesus!

Hasta!