Sunday, May 27, 2007

au revoir, new york

we went into the city yesterday for our last hurrah. we still have another month in CT, but things will be too hectic to allow for a day in manhattan. so we grabbed our last chance while we could. it was a lovely day. we ate pasteries from bouchon, hung out in central park, and went to soho for ethopian food.

in the park, we went to the pond with the remote controlled boats. a world famous red tailed hawk (Pale Male) nests nearby atop a luxury apartment building. the nest is just across the street from Woody Allen. I have a book about him (the hawk). it's pretty amazing to see him thriving in the big city. we got some good looks at Pale Male, while he circled overhead. we had seen him one other time on our very first trip into the city, though that was before we we knew about his lore.

Hugsband's favorite part of the park is the turtle pond. these three pictures were taken there:



Thursday, May 24, 2007

it's not that I don't want to update. I don't not want to. there are many forces competing for my time these days: housing attorneys (actually, not competing enough and therefore requiring me/Hugsband to stay on them), psychological reports, neuropsych research protocols to score, licensing exam stuff, a garage sale to plan, a fat pack of paperwork from my new employer, selling my car, etc....

we took a break from our mounting stress levels last night and went to the season's first softball practice. I ripped it up last night, by which I mean no egregious errors can be attributed to me. I love the med school softball league. the team names are particularly great (e.g., the cognitive neuroscience "action potentials"). one of my colleagues suggested that we make team t-shirts that read:
[front] CHILD STUDY CENTER-- We don't spank children.
[back] But we'll beat your ass.

I was in DC last week and had a great time. I attended a mark-up session of the senate judiciary committee, and it was a little like a real-life daily show episode. the democratic senators were very funny, often at the expense of Orrin Hatch. the highlight came after Hatch read a particularly lengthy and BORING statement in a low and monotonous voice, and Russ Feingold said to Patrick Leahy, "Mr. Chairman, I would like to object to the passion with which that statement was read." Hatch countered with, "You want passion? I'll give you passion!" and proceed to read another boring statement in the same tired tone. ah, the hijinks! I was surprised to see how rarely the senators actually listen to each other; they spend a lot of time using blackberries, playing grab ass with other members of their party, and asking their aides what they should say next. I'm not in it, but here's a picture of Janet and Tracy trying to figure out how to get around capitol hill.


Wednesday, May 09, 2007

now that it’s warm Hugsband and I have been riding our bikes and playing catch quite a bit. I realized something about our respective bike riding styles. Hugsband tends to go rather slowly, taking in the scenery. when he comes to a big hill, he shifts to a lower gear and goes even more slowly. I ride as fast as I can without scaring myself. when I come to a big hill, I ride really fast and try to get up it without breaking my stride and end up wearing myself out.

it's like a metaphor for our personalities.
** **
last night we walked to the atm. as we approached, I noticed that a man was standing right up against it, a bottle of old style and his keys were propped on a nearby ledge. I assumed he was drunk, then I realized that the man had a tremor and was not otherwise moving. Hugsband told him that we were calling for help and then I ran in to a restaurant and asked them to call 9-1-1. then the annoying part started.

every yokel in the nearby bars came out on the sidewalk to put in their 2-cents about how to handle an apparent seizure. one drunken young woman was particularly obnoxious. she waved her cigarette around and shouted out things like "put something in his mouth so he doesn't swallow his tongue" and "everybody move back and give him space". the latter appeared to be directed at the 3 adults who were, by this point, holding the man in a patio chair so that he did not fall to the ground and sustain a head injury.

there was also a suspicious pony-tailed man who referred to the atm guy as "Ed" and asked where Ed’s truck keys were located. then, minutes later, the same man acted as if he did not know the Ed’s name. I tried to tell a police officer, who arrived a couple of minutes later, that the pony-tailed guy was acting suspicious, but Hugsband told me that the police don’t need me to tell them who’s suspicious. (they might, though.)

the paramedics eventually arrived and took him away, and we never found out what was going on. the whole thing lasted about 10 minutes, so I doubt it was a seizure?

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