Shaken Not Stirred

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Do Most Reporters Report Just to Hear Their Own Voice?

Today while on the treadmill (I haven't been on for such a long time--2 weeks), I watched CNN and I was quite unnerved by this one reporters interview. She was interviewing a doctor from one of the California medical schools (his name was Dr. Pynos (sp?)) about the mental aftermath that disasters have on small children. Several times while this doctor was trying to explain, she would either cut him off or would interupt him. Quite rude. So, the jist of the story and of the information, I didn't get. She would thwart him with "Uh huhs and would throw in different questions while he was speaking". Not only rude, but to interupt during an informative interview? I didn't bother to get her name, otherwise I would have inserted it here, because when I see her face on CNN again, I'm going to flip the channel to a different station.

Anyway, I gained 11 pounds between Thanksgiving and now. I didn't think I would. In fact I promised myself I wouldn't. But I did. I think it was just the constant eating. We have nine days of prayer starting on the 17th and ending on the 25th. The prayer is followed by outright gorging on food. And so I gained. Plus all the junkfood that sits around when familes, the Cinco size gather together. It was non-stop eating. No one forced me, no gun to my head, no twisting of the arms. I just over-indulged. My fault. So I'll have to work hard to get this tire from around my waist to melt away.

Anyway, let's end on a better note. Happy Birthday to my med school buddy Ed Sanchez who turned I think 40 on Dec 28th. Hope he had a great birthday! And I hope his arrival in Florida was safe and sound.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Hit Replay

Last night while driving home from my buddy's house, I tuned in to V-100, a local radio station. To my surprise they were no longer playing Christmas music. After one month of playing continous Christmas songs, they were playing regular music once again. Well, not completely regular music--it's an oldies, soft-rock, Delilah kinda of station. The song playing was "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee-Gees. After the song was over, it started again--the same song. I thought maybe the dee-jay was on a pee break, so I didn't flip the station. After the second run, the song started all over again. I thought maybe he/she is on a dump break, so I left the radio on V-100 to see what was going to happen. The song played again--by this time, I was singing along. No one could hear belting out the lyrics at the top of my lungs anyway. I was on Jefferson road--the connection between Kanawha Turnpike and Corridor G. The song continued to replay until I got home and parked. Maybe they were on auto-deejay or something. Maybe he/she fell asleep or was getting some by a groupie. Who knows? I haven't checked back to see if the song was still playing. I did however get to sing the whole song!!!! And without commercial interruption.
I hope you guys had a great holiday! I sure did. My family from all over the east coast--as far north as Toronto and as down south as Georgia came to Charleston. It was fun and exhausting at the same time. But I would trade it for the world. It's cheesy, but that is what Christmas was all about for me--seeing all my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and nephews and nieces. All in all there were like 55 of us hanging out. Quite a number!!!! It was my brother's daughter Isabella and my cousins son Ryan's first Christmas. Two babies in the house!!!! Very fun! The fun part was watching my nephew Kyle dance to Usher's music. The little tyke can dance--he's only 7, but he imitated that video pretty well. My older nephews Bong (who is a Marine, 19 y.o. and will be shipping out in Jan) can also dance--I was surprised, cause he was such a shy child. He's got some funk in him. And everyone else just pretty much drank or chatted.
I look forward to spending our new year's eve party with any of my family that remains. Can't wait to see the dancing that happens that night.

Friday, December 24, 2004

Student Driver

Have people forgotten to drive? While driving home from the mall, I had to switch lanes, a car in the opposite lane behind me wanted to come into my lane, so as we were getting ready to switch, the car in front of me came to almost a complete stop--on the freeway--and I swerved before I could hit him. Luckily the car behind, switching into my lane, also noticed the guy's almost slowed to a turtle crawl pace. We made the switch without any bangs or dents. When I looked over at the guy driving the car--he wasn't drunk, he wasn't blind, he wasn't in any trouble. What was he doing? He was dialing a number on his cell phone. Yup, in the middle of the frickin' freeway, dialing away, took his eyes off the road to check out his keypad!!!!!

Then as I was coming off the freeway, at an intersection, a car had blocked my oncoming traffic!!! Could she not see that she was going to block our half of the road? What was her hurry? I mean afterall, her lane was going to be stalled by the on-coming train anyway. Do people just not think anymore?

Okay, I know I'm suppose to write something nice since today is the 24th. But these events happened yesterday, so my anger didn't fall on a holiday. In fact today was a really good day. My father of course, did his last minute shopping for my mother and sister. They are the only two who get gifts from him at Christmastime, the two ladies of his life. We luckily went to one of the boutiques my mother frequents (Schwabe-May), so they knew what he should get and what accessories and shoes she already had to go with what he was buying. And they had also anticipated his last minute arrival, so they were pretty prepared!! You gotta love helpful sales people and their attention to their customers!!! Kudos to Lisa and Emily at Schwabe-May in the Charleston Town Center!

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Teen Pregnancy Again?

I was flipping through the channels yesterday and whizzed by the Maury show. Again, his topic had something to do with pregnancy--this time, teen pregancy and girls who wanted to get pregnant because they wanted a baby or teen girls who were already pregnant. Well Maury, this is quite a change from your paternity test shows. Is there not a bettter topic out there? I know that teen pregnancy is horrific and so are deadbeat dads, but come on, with so much going on in the world and the respect that you've commanded before as a journalist, there's got to be a more newsworthy topic that you can cover.

It seems like every time I whizz by the Maury show, some boy is yelling "I told you I wasn't the father..." or "What do you mean, he/she isn't my child?". Enough already. But I guess since the show is on the air, someone is interested in that sort of drama. I think it's like the Springer show. How many times can you see people slap each other, or love triangles with toothless neighbors? But somehow, ratings are high. And people will continue to watch these shows. I just proved that I watch them, I dedicated a blog entry to them.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

27 Years of Togetherness

Our yearly prayer to the infant Jesus began on Friday! Our friends and family have been praying this novena for the last 27 years. I can't believe it's been that long. One night a week, for 9 days, each family in our group have hosted a night of celebration and prayer for Santo Nino (the infant Jesus). Each of praying for something our heart desired--and no new cars and jewelry are not at the top of the list--we usually pray for peace or for other families who are in need.

I think this yearly prayer has been one of the driving forces behind mine and my cousins view of Christmas. Because of this gathering, I've realized that Christmas is about our family's gathering together, looking forward to these few weeks of story-telling and overeating. One of my medical school friends gave me a bookmarker that said something like Christmas was special because of the guy in the picture (and on the bookmark was an artist rendition of Jesus). And yes, beyond the shiny wrapping and blinking lights, CHRISTmas is all about the Christ child! It's a celebration of faith, hope and charity. Something that our Lord has always tried to instill in us.


Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Baby It's Cold Outside

We had our first snow on Monday. Loved it!!!! I actually look forward to the snow. Everything looks so pure and clean, when covered with the stuff. This is until the wind blows it off the tree branches and traffic churns it with the underlying mud. But until then, it's a winter wonderland.

I watched "Elf" for the first time about a week ago. Great movie!!!! Will Ferrell is hilarious as an accidently adopted North Pole elf, who goes in search of his real father. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is his singing along with another character of the song "Baby It's Cold Out There". I liked the duet so much that I bought the album. However, in my haste and excitement, I didn't check the credits and when I played the song, it wasn't Will Ferrell singing but some other guy. It bummed me out, cause although the girl from the movie sings the song well, the guy doesn't do such an upbeat rendition. But the song is fantastic none-the-less.

My extended family will be coming in for Christmas. So last night, I decided to help my mother wrap some of the gifts. I wrapped 36 or so gifts. Wow, how those busy elves must feel. But it was fun, sorting out the shopping treasures and trying to remember what my mother bought for who. And of course, all these pretty bows and paper, will be torn on in no less than 3 seconds, by eager recipients. But for now, it looks nice under the tree.

A Happy Birthday to my medical school buddy Dr. Jonathan Cortes!!! Happy Birthday buddy!

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Oh Christmas Tree

I put up the Christmas tree in my parents home for them. When I first put it up, it seemed like it was missing something. I could not put my finger on it. My mother said it was cause I didn't use her Christopher Radko ornaments. I didn't use those expensive ornaments because she has a two-year-old nephew and a crawling 8 month-old grandaughter. Both are exploring their environments constantly. So even after her suggestion, I left the tree bare of those loved ornaments.

I realized after going to my brother's house that maybe more lights were missing. This did the trick. When I added two more strings of lights, it made the tree more full and less bare. My sister had said the tree seemed bald. Two strings of light were like rogaine. My parents tree now looks awesome.


Thursday, December 09, 2004

Diet Friendly Medicine

I saw a commercial the other day for a cough drop which claimed to be able to clear congestion and cough enough for a man to go skiing. The commercial then had some sort of tag-line which was something like "cut the carbs...etc". Wow, even medication has jumped the diet bandwagon. Not that I'm complaining. When I was on the Adkins diet I was such a fanatic that even the slightest carb count would send me into a dizzying frenzy. I cut out as much as I could, choosing even breath mints which were sugar and carb free. I can't believe I let myself live with such an eating regime.

Anyway, Christmas is closing in upon us. I've done no Christmas shopping, well except for buying my nephew Xavier a Geo-Tracks train set. This thing looks really fun. And I bought my niece Jada a neon-light gumball machine, just cause it looked so funky. I've sent out my Christmas cards already, to those who have sent me their street addresses. I don't do email holiday greetings. They can be personalized, but something about writing out the Christmas cards has an uplifting holiday spirit magic to it.

A happy birthday to my cousin Peachy Lee who turns her secret age on the 10th, my cousin Chris Amores who also celebrates on the 10th. My medical school buddy Jonathan Cortes celebrates on the 15th and my other medical school pal Didi Domosolyo who celebrates on the 14th. A belated birthday wish to my roomie Butch Alvarez, who is stressing due to upcoming boards, so I don't think he'll be celebrating this year. He turned something on the 8th.

Friday, December 03, 2004

Barber/Best Friend

Hi, I know it's been awhile. No excuses, maybe just laziness...or lack of interesting topics to write about. Not that I've been bored, but my life has been quite humdrum lately.

I noticed the other week, while getting a haircut that I tell my barber quite a bit about myself. Well, he's not a barber, so much, more a salon manager/stylist. But I think of him as a barber since I just say "cut it, short and neat". So there isn't much styling to do with it. But it does look good when I leave the place. After I come home, shower (to get all that hair off me), wash it and "gel" it, it doesn't look the same. I end up looking wind-blown.

Anyway, for some reason, it's easy to talk to this rather, but not really random person. But it isn't like I would call him about a problem. I've got Saritha for that purpose. I just found it odd that he really listens (or is it the tip that I give him). Because whenever I go in there, he always asks, "how'd that work out?", referring to something that I've told him about before. Maybe all stylists have that gift of gab, that very characteristic that many of us of lack, the part of the conversation that entails listening to the other person. Well, he got gift. I think it's nice that he is concerned.

I'm not saying he'll be best man at my wedding, or even invited. I'm just saying that it's nice that an almost complete stranger would take the time out to listen.