Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell

Great book. My favorite part about it was the entire chapter devoted to micro expressions and mind/face reading! Just like Lie to Me and my Science of Happiness class! I love it when my reading, tv watching, and academic worlds collide!!!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Strawberries are in season!


The official sign of spring! Watermelons, cantelopes and avacados are making a comeback as well! My trips to the Park Market just got a lot more exciting!!!!

I think my favorite food in the world is strawberry shortcake. Specifically my Dad's Norwegian Strawberry Cake, but strawberries with whipped cream will do just fine.

Random fact about strawberries: According to botanists, strawberries are herbs! No joke! It's because they have seeds on the outside. Scandalous!

The continuous fight against INERTIA


Inertia can be a good thing, or a bad thing. It's a safe bet that for most of us its a bad thing...We don't go to the gym tonight, or this week, or this month...We vow to read more books, but can never find the time to go to the library...We say we love hiking but every Saturday decide that our bed is way better than any vista or mountain peak could ever be...

Inertia is the root of all these problems. It is just SO stinking easy to keep on doing what you've been doing.

It's tough, but the first way to overcome inertia is to RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM.
How do you do that? Asking yourself the tough questions

What would you rather do on your weekends?
My answer: Hike, bike, run, travel, be OUTSIDE

What would you rather use your weeknights for?
My answer: Learning to cook, practicing my spanish, making videos, reading

Why are you wasting away most of your weeknights?
The internet, Hulu, sleep, the internet...tv

just 2 examples but this awareness has really helped me actively engage myself and think about how I use my time compared to how I would rather use my time. Inertia, I will beat you!!!!!

Note: Sometimes inertia is good...Here is my example:
Studying..when you're on a roll, KEEP STUDYING, same with working, reading, or any good habit!!!

The use of the word "yet"

I'm still reaping the benefits of Naomi Remen's Kitchen Table Wisdom. There is a great little story about the use of the word "yet". Basically, if you don't know something, or aren't able to do something, most people say things like:

I'm not very good at swimming.
I'm not a doctor.
I don't speak Spanish.
I can't high jump 6 feet.

look at the difference in attitude and framing with the addition of the word "yet" at the end of these 3 sentences:

I'm not very good at swimming yet.
I'm not a doctor yet.
I don't speak Spanish yet.
I can't high jump 6 feet yet.

Yet implies possibility, improvement, and feasibility. I think that Yet is quickly turning into my most favorite 3 letter word ever. For the growth mindset, yet is the perfect word. If you catch me dropping my "yets" off my sentences, please hold me to it!

Do you wear sunglasses?

Because you should. I do, my oakley's polarized sunglasses are the best thing since sliced bread. I love them and don't leave home without them, even on cloudy days.

The sun shines on me 24 hours a day.



But seriously, do you? Go grab a cool-looking pair if you don't own one already not only will you save your precious eyes, but you get an instant 10 points added to your cool factor.

Running


If I'm ever in a funk, tired, or just lazy, make me run.

Running is the single most enlivening, creative, unleashed thing I can do. Makes you feel energetic, free, vibrant, and enthusiastic.









Go ahead, try it, just run, for fun. Don't worry about how far you go, run fast, run slow, take some walks, run down the hills. Trust me, you'll feel awesome afterwards.

Mindset, by Carol Dweck

Everyone needs to read this book. Especially teachers and parents.

Basically there are two different mindsets:

Fixed

and

Growth.

This book does an amazing job of explaining the differences, how you can change your frame of mind, gives great examples and really opened my eyes to how empowering having a truly growth mindset can be.

Everyone should read this book.

Big Sur Camping Trip


Just got back from a 4 day camping trip in Big Sur! Had some campfires, roasted marshmallows, had a great hike through the redwoods and relaxed on the beaches. So awesome!
The wildflowers were incredible!

Friday, March 20, 2009

5 Steps to Understanding our Financial Crisis

1. Listen to this podcast, by This American Life: The Giant Pool of Money: What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s?

2. Listen to this podcast by This American Life: Bad Bank: The collapse of the banking system explained, in just 59 minutes. (also downloadable via itunes)

3. Read this blog post at the Baseline Scenario (co-written by Simon Johnson former chief of the IMF)

4. Explain it to a friend (like me!)

5. Repeat Steps 1-4, seek more information as necessary

Also of note, this graph does more than any commentator or newspaper in explaining the heart of the problem:


It's a graph of the ratio of Consumer debt compared to GDP. As of 2007 it was the first time since the Great Depression that this ratio hit 100%, meaning that as a whole we have $13 trillion in consumer debt and $13 trillion in GDP. Guess when this ratio really started climbing? 2002-2007. Thanks W. Thanks OC, manicures, tanning salons, Hummers, ipods, big houses, hair highlights and everything else for getting us into this mess. As much as we want to blame the banks, its lack of government regulation and lack of self-restraint that got us in the mess. Go burn your credit card. NOW.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

3 Totally Unrelated Notes

1. This Simpsons clip about St. Patrick's Day is awesome. My mom used to sing that song to me when I was little!

2. Learn something every day: In medical/legal speak CMO means Comfort Measures Only. As I learned from this NYT blog This is differs from DNR/DNIs in that CMO means "stop doing tests, stop giving antibiotics, and start giving enough intravenous narcotics that she wouldn’t have to live in pain."

3. Information Therapy -a new area of medicine and health care that helps patients sort through medical information, be better informed and hopefully help them to feel better. Harvard Pilgrim has an awesome Interactive Conversation feature about low pack pain that I think is really cutting-edge and awesome. Found this in a WSJ article that talks about some cool stuff Kaiser is doing to help all of us understand our health, see how it changes overtime and generally be healthier because of it!

Update:
4. Kyrgyzstan is the one country in Central Asia that I could not name. It's official languages are Kyrgyz and Russian and the majority of the population is Muslim and it's supposedly an incredibly beautiful place!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Meaning of "banana republic"

You learn something new everyday:

Banana Republic: n. A small country that is economically dependent on a single export commodity, such as bananas, and is typically governed by a dictator or the armed forces.

Why in the world would someone name a clothing store that???? Makes me not want to shop there anymore.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Want to live to be 100?

My life expectancy is 106 years according to Livingto100 because of my family history, health, and activities. Check it out! Pretty neat, made by Dr. Peris, the PI of the first research study evaluating centenarians.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Quote of the Day

You can't help everyone everywhere, but you can help someone somewhere, and that's what counts" ~the wisdom of Filipe, a contestant on The Biggest Loser

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Best fortune cookie ever

"You could prosper in the field of medicine"

Friday, March 6, 2009

Quote of the Day


“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” 


Thomas Edison

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Rave: Gross Anatomy


The movie Gross Anatomy is amazing in every way possible. Total 1980s movie about medical school, full of amazing stereotypes of premeds, too-cool for school basketball players, and most importantly spandex and over sized sweaters. Definitely a must watch for any premed or med student. I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time. Thanks for recommending it Dad!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Hawaii Photo Book finished!


Just finished making a photo book of my visit to Hawaii over Christmas. The best thing is the photo book was free via shutterfly!



Check it out here. Hope you enjoy!

Howard Engel's The Memory Book

I just finished reading The Memory Book yesterday. It is an excellent detective novel, reminded me how much I love mysteries and miss reading them. Going to change that! What is really cool and unique about this book is that the private investigator Benny Cooperman suffers from alexia sin agraphia, meaning that he has lost his ability to read, but he can still write. Engel does a spectacular job of showing us what this is like, and it really hits close to home for him, considering he suffers from this very rare condition himself. I didn't realize this until I had finished the book and read the back inside cover, it really made me appreciate the novel even more. A must read!