My South

My mom sent me this - it is by a Mississippian named Robert St John



I am always amused by Hollywood's interpretation of the South. We are still, on occasion, depicted as a collective group of sweaty, stupid, backwards-minded, racist rednecks. The South of movies and TV, the Hollywood South is not my South.

This is my South:

My South is full of honest, hardworking people. My South is the birthplace of blues and jazz, and rock n' roll. It has banjo pickers and fiddle players, but it also has BB King, Muddy Waters, the Allman Brothers, Emmylou Harris and Elvis.

My South is hot. My South smells of newly mowed grass. My South was kick the can, creek swimming, cane-pole fishing and bird hunting.

In my South, football is king, and the Southeastern Conference is the kingdom.

My South is home to the most beautiful women on the planet.

In my South, soul food and country cooking are the same things.

My South is full of fig preserves, cornbread, butter beans, fried chicken, grits and catfish.

In my South, our transistor radios introduced us to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at the same time they were introduced to the rest of the country.

In my South, grandmothers cook a big lunch every Sunday, so big that we call it dinner (supper comes later).

In my South, family matters, deeply.

My South is boiled shrimp, blackberry cobbler, peach ice cream, banana pudding and oatmeal cream pies.

In my South people put peanuts in bottles of Coca-Cola and hot sauce on almost everything.

In my South the tea is iced and almost as sweet as the women.

My South has air-conditioning.

My South is camellias, azaleas, wisteria and hydrangeas.

In my South, the only person that has to sit on the back of the bus is the last person that got on the bus.

In my South, people still say 'Yes, ma'am,' 'No ma'am,' 'Please' and 'Thank you.'

In my South, we all wear shoes... most of the time.

My South is the best-kept secret in the country.

Please continue to keep the secret... it keeps the idiots away.


Missing home today.

Time for a Job

Okay - today it is official - I am not sure how much longer I can stand being a resident. I have been a resident for MANY years, turns out too many years. When I thought about adding this extra "super" fellow year - I honestly thought piece of cake - I can do anything for 365 more days particularly if it means a fantastic career opportunity at the end.

I may have made a serious error in judgement. It turns out that a body and more importantly a mind can only tolerate so many years of residency. I reached my peak this AM. Unfortunately for me, I stayed at work all day. I may not have a job tomorrow, but I am not all that upset. This AM when Dr Cooper asked me why I didn't know where his first patient's films were located - mind you no one knew about his first patient but him (he added it late last PM after his clinic yesterday) - I smiled, apologized and went to his office and picked them up off his desk. However, this afternoon, when he was berating me about something for which I had no knowledge nor any responsibility - I lost it. I truly had had enough. I am 35 years old and pretty damn good at what I do - therefore, I find that I am no longer willing to take a lot of crap. As all my doctor friends understand, a LOT of crap taking is required to be a "good" resident. It never would have occurred to me 3 years ago to tell an Attending exactly what I think, but now I struggle to stop myself and did not today. I think that is a sign that enough is enough. I need a job.

Deserve a cookie if I was still eating sweets

Okay - maybe I really have turned over a new leaf. I came home after a really crappy day hungry and tired. Instead of sitting down in front of the TV, eating and making fun of the Republicans - three things guaranteed to make my day better - I changed into running shorts and went for a run. Granted, now that Calla isn't here, I went back to my run walk method, but I did it. I even signed up for a 5K in November.

Of course after my run, I was starved. I really really really wanted chocolate. I settled for a plain baked potato and a shower. My new incentive is the massage I have promised myself if I can drop 10 lbs.

Well, I have been good enough today. I am going to catch the end of Giuliana's speech and see if this Palin girl can actually speak, and yes some poking fun at the Republican's may happen.

I seem to be missing something

Okay - I'll be honest . . . I am missing something. I am sure there is a reason than John McCain selected Sarah Palin, but I can't figure our what it is. I know he needed someone young, and I know he needed a minority, but surely there were young minority Republicans that had less issues. I could really care less that her daughter is pregnant. Although a little piece of me wonders if the religious right would be so understanding and approving of a 17 year old unwed mother is she was a Democrat - can we say "family values".

I am a little confused about what Palin has to offer. She has been outside of the United States less times than I have. She lists as a major part of her Executive experience serving on the PTA - now I have no children, but when did the PTA become such a large organization in Alaska? I know that I am missing something - John McCain is a smarter politician than this choice seems to me. Why her?

Unrelated, Labor Day sucked. Hope you all had a better one. I operated ALL day. Did get a work-out in today, and tomorrow is another running day for me. I can now use my quads again so hopefully it will be a good run.

Not 15 anymore

Calla decided she wanted to help me with my running. She offered to go running with me early this morning before we started our day. For a teenager to get up early is kind of a big deal. Now, some things you should know about Calla . . . she is on the soccer and lacrosse team, runs track and did I forget to mention she is 15 and may weigh 100 lbs. What I was thinking when I (someone who hasn't ran regularly in 9 months) agreed to go running with her I still don't know.

I do know that she was trying to kill me. We ran for almost an hour, and I mean mostly ran. Every time I told her I needed to walk for a minute she would look at me with these disappointed eyes and tell me I should just slow down my pace and keep moving. We did find a lovely running trail - at least what I saw of it thru my hypoxic haze. I will admit I did feel really great when we finished. Now I am not sure that it was a true runner's high - I think I was mostly happy that I was still alive. It did give me great incentive to keep running. I really need to be in better shape before she comes for another visit.

We had a great visit this weekend. We played the part of tourist yesterday and saw National Constitution Center and Independence Hall. I punished her for the run today by dragging her to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. My quads after an hour of running were not happy with those famous "rocky" steps, but the museum itself is gorgeous. On our way back we stopped by the Rodin and got to see the Thinker. It was a great weekend. Tomorrow I will celebrate Labor Day in the vein of the holiday - I will actually be laboring - I am on call.

DEMS rock!!

Okay - thankfully DNC is over - i can't take anymore of the late nights and feeling like such a slacker. If any of you didn't catch the speech last night, it is worth the Youtube experience (and we know I hate youtube).

Now I have to also find time to end health care shortages in my spare time. Although I am complaining, it is so great to feel inspired and excited about something.

Well, I promised Calla we could have an early night. She thinks I am crazy for getting up before the sun comes up. We are going to catch a movie and are due a sleep in. I'll be honest - haven't ran last three days, but have a hot date with the treadmill in the morning.

Don't forget to VOTE!

Newest Member of our Team

Calla joined me here in Philly yesterday for a weekend of how the boring half live. She went to work with me today (no this is not John's cruel and unusual punishment for some bad deed - though it would be a good one). She got to spend some time in the OR to see what we do there. So of course we made her look the part. . . are we getting a look into her future here?

She of course complained that the scrubs were much cuter and fit better on House and Gray's Anatomy - television is ruining my profession. Just came in from dinner in China-town. We went for Chinese food, but ended up having a little of everything - Japanese, Indian and Chinese. Very tasty - Calla definitely does not like onions though. Tomorrow is a short clinic day so hopefully we can do some Philly exploring afterwards. No running today, but will start back I promise.