Prophylaxis FTW

Comic 20! We were warned at the beginning of microbiology that after the course was over, the only "safe" food left would be lead paint. I'm not all that concerned. The issue was put to bed for me long ago...food is gross, people are grosser, and yet still an alleyway slopburger is pretty daggum delectable. And immunology taught me that my sentinel cells kick ass and stack pathogens ten high. A colony of bacteria may be as sinister as the Cobra Kai, but one neutrophil is Daniel-san. (paint eating = pica, a sign of iron anemia. another sign is pagophagia, ice-crunching. The More You Know!)

Obscuroast

Without coffee, the world would never have been created. No one, not even God, can work for six days straight without the miracle drink.

Life is bitter. Life is full of flavor. Life should be enjoyed one cup at a time.

Exsanguinate

Vampires, man. When I aver not to draw them, I only delay the inevitable. Check out the medical condition porphyria - real life vampires!

Atavism corner! A few of my favorites from All Real Numbers:

"Kitsch" is one of my Strangelovian doomsday-device rants.

Comic 17! Seriously, people. You can type in "PETA protest" as a Google Image Search string, and you'll be awash in civildisobedianceflesh. As long as the SafeSearch toggle is off. Do the right thing - turn it off, put your back is against a wall, and marvel at how everything of substance tends to get hollowed out like a jack-o-lantern. Fun to look at, not a whole lot going on underneath the surface.

Snacksby is a really neat recipe site!

Chekhov's sashimi

Comic 16! I was told in lecture today that I was "very smart" for knowing the medicalese word for hiccups: "singultus." I think the professor might have "jumped the gun" on that appraisal.

I'm sorry, what was that, Walt?

"O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless--of cities fill'd with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light--of the objects mean--of the struggle ever renew'd;
Of the poor results of all--of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest--with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.

That you are here--that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse."

Ok, cool, that's what I thought you said. Peace out, player!

Accuratepuncture

My first go with the Needle involved a 10-second crash course while walking to the patient's room. This wasn't a mosquito-esque immunization shot either; it was a big honking hip needle, and to me (the uninitiate) it looked like it could gore a rhino. It went fine. A large part of medical school is deep-end moments - just over the concrete precipice, there's the dark blue of the 12-foot deep end in front of your flexing, nervous toes, the water made ominous by uncertainty. You got no way of knowing what's going to happen, and you got to jump in. There is another deep-ender looming on the horizon soon. I speak, of course, of the urogenital/rectal exam.


Best thing about August? Halloween is only two months away. Golly Moses, do I love costumes. If you read this, send me a message with your favorite costume - one you've worn or seen or wistfully hope to wear some day - IM, text, email, reply, doesn't matter. I'll check the vitals for your answer. One of my favorites: two guys roped back to back, wearing the same clothes and doing/saying the same things. They were a Palindrome. Exactly good!