Bath

This is why the walk up the steep hill to Alexandra Park was worth it.

Blink, and it's off to the center of Canada's universe

It's funny looking back to six months ago how terrified I was at the prospect of this rotation. I don't know what it is or was that caused obstetrics to give me so much anxiety. Now I face obstetrics call as almost like any other day, but with it just being a tad longer. As I increase the number of deliveries, perineal repairs and "exams" under my belt, the more it becomes something I look forward to doing. Muscle memory. Myelination. But you'll never corner me to say this type of work will be a focus of mine in the future!

The other day I delivered my first baby "independently". I use that word loosely because there is always a ton of nurses around, and an obstetrician peeked in to make sure everything was going ok, but it was the first time I didn't have the most responsible physician right over my shoulder until the placenta was on its way out and the hard part was over. She was in her third pregnancy, and this baby came out fast. I think there were... two pushes. Probably could have sneezed him out if she wanted. Anyways, it was a scary rush, like being let go on that two wheeled bike for the first time, and I felt great about it afterwards. The safety net was there of course, but it sure felt a lot farther away.

In a few days I'm off to Toronto for a month-long ICU elective. I've always had a great time in that city, but we'll see how it goes working there for a month. I'm staying with two good friends where I will be resuming my role as "Dupri", or Ted to Lily and Marshall, or the Phoebe/Joey to everybody else. It's an odd but familiar and comfortable role :-)

Don't know what to expect! Onward, ho!

London calling

Last night, I felt a bit unnerved as I tried to fall asleep, knowing I was going to London the next day. I was trying to think of how to make the most of my trip, but also wanted it to be a unique experience. I was also kind of struggling with where to start. I'd been to London before and knocked down most of the big hotspots (Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the Palace, etc etc) so I wanted something … different. 

Sometimes I struggle in giant cities because the vast majority of things to do encompass eating, watching or shopping. All of these activities are of course unique to each city someone visits but seeking these activities ad nauseum can get a bit mundane. And expensive. 

Fortunately, London has a plethora of unique activities I could pursue. And really, the opportunities are limitless because as the saying goes, "Tired of London, tired of life". Of course, as I said above, a lack of limit in choices can be paralyzing in itself so I've thought hard to have a few goals over the next few days:

- find different ways to learn about parts of London's history (walking tour? London fire? one or both world wars?)

- see Tate Modern (I missed it last time)

- find an interesting place to read

- do a "day trip" exploring one area/borough/neighbourhood in particular

On deck today - I have been craving sushi for a long time. Let's find an affordable place to see. And I'll check out one of the National History Museum (there is an exhibit of the best wildlife photos of the year) or the National Portrait Gallery, which is something slightly different and should be a good learning opportunity. 

London ho! 

Leeds wrap-up

Just spent the last two days visiting Leila while she's on exchange in Leeds. First impression when walking through town was that it was purely a college/university city. Students wandered the streets, many were lined up in lines for bars, while others were chatting with their casually lit cigarettes in hand loitering outside of them. 

I pretty much fell asleep within a couple hours of arriving and was knocked out cold until the next morning, fortunately letting my body recover from that deep fatigue that I'm familiar with after a long night on call. 

We went to the Leeds v. Tottenham FA Cup Round 4 match the next day. Now I get the hype behind experiencing an English football game. The atmosphere is nothing like a regular season hockey game in Canada. In Edmonton, we would ride the LRT to the arena, opposing fans would sit next to each other, there would be some polite teasing, but nothing over-the-top, and in essence have a mostly family-friendly night of entertainment. 

In contrast, in the shuttle bus to the match, there would be boisterous chanting about Leeds, repetitive Tottenham bashing including a well-known chant about how one of the players is fond of consanguinity. At the stadium, the visiting team's fans are in their own section, and I understood why. While the overall atmosphere was loud and cheerful, there was definitely an underlying tone of pure hostility against the opposing team and its fans. This climaxed at the end of the match where there was a police escort surrounding the visiting teams' fans as they tried to quietly exit the stadium. The tension was palpable as they were surrounded by this crowd of Leeds fans, both sides heckling each other.. and not just in the "ha-ha, match well played mate" type of way. 

The match itself was awesome. It was a crowd of 28,000 which is on the smaller end when it comes to English football, but while it's also bigger than any hockey game it was orders of magnitude more intense than what I've experienced. Chants would erupt spontaneously, and would not have to be cued by a jumbotron and there were at least four or five that everyone at the stadium knew by heart. Every time Leeds scored, it felt like a giant party, and I wanted them to score more just to experience that mood of pure elation that went rampant through the crowd. It lacked the necessary "bigh-five a perfect stranger" I enjoyed in hockey games, but seeing an entire stadium jumping up and down like that made up for it. Fortunately, Leeds won 2-1 which is nice because being an Arsenal fan I also despise Totttenham so it was a jolly trip home. 

We walked around campus briefly on the way back to my sister's dorm and stopped at a student pub for a small dinner before just hanging out the rest of the evening. 

Now on the train, and London awaits...

on focus

Something I've struggled with this blog is the lack of focus. In a way it reflects my vast array of interests and things I think about, hobbies I enjoy and of course my career. In all honesty, it reflects my life. I've never had great focus. I'm that kid in school who always had comments like...

Josh is a good student, but he would do much better if he would focus.

Josh is a pleasure to have in class, he could apply himself a bit more though. 

Ha... too true. As a result, all the topics I blog about together form a mishmash of music, lifestyle, cognition, cooking, travel, sports and medicine (more or less respectively). I enjoy writing about these topics but it becomes difficult to get a flow going over long periods of time. I think this type of flow is important for me because it lets me evolve the way I write about my topics, and keep a more consistent motivation to keep writing. Like exercising, it has to become a routine before it starts to feel natural and something that becomes truly enjoyable.

I've been thinking about this matter over the last few days and it's difficult because I've always enjoyed just saying whatever I want on this blog and focusing in some ways feels like closing doors. And how do I consolidate such topics? Music, fitness, travel, and life in medicine. They don't really match. Then I start thinking of what other blogs have that make them successful. What would people want to read?

Then I stopped.

That's not me. I am a jack of all trades both in the sense of my profession as I train to my a family physician, but in the sense of my hobbies. As a result, I think I should continue to represent that in this blog. It's not like I need to do this for a living.

Of course, I will make sure I avoid reaching John Tesh-esque levels of ubiquitous jibber jabber where he basically tells you how to run your life.

I will say that I am going to try to reflect more on the medical side of my life. I ran through my twitter account and the far majority of it was on sports, humour and entertainment. Sure I enjoy these things, but should I not also be sharing more of what I know and what I am (or should be?) spending most of my time doing? Maybe just a bit more.

Lastly, this post has inspired me to make a name change to the blog... something I find a bit more fitting.


josh of all trades

Favourite vegetarian chili recipe to date

I've tried a number of vegetarian chili recipes with countless permutations, combinations, etc. I've had some success and some struggles, but this recipe at epicurious is my favourite one so far. I'm not sure what it is exactly... maybe it's just the right amount of earthiness in the coffee grounds, but it just tastes like a chili should with an ideal KICK of spice.

Of course, tweak the proportions as you see fit. When I made it, I halved everything, but also added a can of red kidney beans and some corn too. I'd also recommend adding some jalapeños.

Anyways, give it a shot! Here it is again. 

on christmas

4½ days... my most brief Christmas vacation ever. Such is life in residency, I suppose. I should be thankful I was a) able to go home over the break, and b) I had my time off over Christmas. Without a doubt there will be a few years in the future where I won't be so lucky.

Definitely felt too short. It was nice to see my family and many close friends, but there was no chance to have time for everyone I wanted to see. Our family is very fortunate to be able to afford to exchange gifts; I sometimes think about the contrast in emotions around Christmas if this were not the case.

One of the most unusual feelings I have in a year usually occurs around December 25th by around 10 PM. By this time, most gift exchanges, dinners, parties and masses for Christmas have all ended, and just like that the festive feeling is over. Sure, lots of relatives and family is likely still around but that sort of spirit you get with Christmas quickly zips to thinking about Boxing Day, then New Years. The Christmas songs come to a sudden halt. Nobody wears red and green anymore.

It's kind of funny because it seems every year the build-up seems to start a bit earlier. This year, it basically usurped Hallowe'en a few days before that was even done. And despite the slow rising action, its dénouement is almost non-existent.

And with that said, I see myself reflecting on 2012 and what it has brought me (oi vey, it was a lot), and also on what 2013 might have in store. Hey! I think this year I'll start my own set of predictions and see how it holds up for next year. I've never done this before. Suddenly, I'm strangely excited.

To come...
- some sort of 2012 musical wrap-up in my world
- Josh's duodenum's predictions for next year
- some vague attempt at being insightful