Today I visited my blog for the first time in what seems like ages. I half expected my browser window to crack and crumble like stale bread as I scrolled through old entries. If I didn't know better, I would almost believe that much of this stuff was written by somebody else. It wasn't, I assure you. I don't claim any of what you read here to be factually true. But, it is all by a single author and all opinions represented here do represent those of said author.
On a vaguely related note, my brain's limited capacity to keep large amounts of information readily accessible has begun to bother me. It's not so much a matter of total memory storage. I have clear memories of what I ate for breakfast in third grade and the first long road trip our family took during the summer before first grade. Rather, it's a problem of accessing relevant information when I need it. I need more RAM. Take this blog, for example. I created this all myself. I didn't write the actual code or create the HTML doc's. Moveable type, sandbox and various other services were kind enough to do some free legwork for me. But I did put it all together and modify it to my liking. There was a time when I was quite proficient in HTML and web design. Today, I was lucky to remember how to get past the login screen let alone how I set the whole thing up. If something ever breaks, I'll be in trouble because I'm the only one (in theory) who knows how it all works.
Aside these frustrations, the reason this blog has languished is not because I've run out of things to say. Quite the contrary. Nor is it because I haven't had time to devote to writing; residency is actually treating me quite well in that respect. It's mainly just a matter of laziness. And I plan to stop being lazy very soon. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow. Or maybe next month :)
Just writing a few lines as I wait for Windows 7 to download. I do have a new post planned. In the spirit of the holidays, the topic will be empathy and what the concept is completely irrelevant to medicine. I'll have it up by Christmas Eve.
For, no particular reason, I was reminded of House of God today. Why do people like that book so much? I feel it's less insightful than people give it credit for. I read about 2/3 of it five or ten years ago.
"The patient is the one with the disease." That's great. I was never worried that I had any disease. My problem, as a resident, is that my patients have diseases which I don't know how to treat.
"The first thing to do in a crisis is, take your own pulse." 180. Great, now what?
I will eventually write my own memoir reflecting on my residency years. Maybe with this blog, I can generate some buzz around its release. Plan for it to come out somewhere around 2018.
So, I've finally gotten around to getting my blogroll going. Like many things on this site, I can't get it to work properly yet. Don't be offended if you don't see your blog there just yet. Chances are I'm planning to put it there just as soon as I can figure out the script. Once I get it all working, I'll put out a formal invitation to include those who would like their blogs to appear in my blogroll.
I'm working on adding a new plugin called Facebook Connect to this site. It will allow commenters who have a facebook account to display their facebook profile pic and profile along with their comment. The content of their comment would then be shared on their Facebook profile page. Pretty cool stuff! But, it's a bit of a pain in the ass to figure out how to install. It'll be a week or so before it's ready.
