Not impressed

To: Everyone on the internet

Subject: I am not that impressed

Dear citizenry of the internet as a whole-

I am not impressed. Your myspace picture is not glam enough, you’re not displaying that you party like a rock star enough, and I’m not convinced you have travelled enough of the earth to give you perspective above your middle America middle class upbringing. I don’t think you care enough about certain issues like lost cats, abducted children, Barack Obama, or world hunger. Your musical tastes are pedestrian and your social circle is plebeian. Somewhere along the line, you seem to have missed that the tragic fall from grace that nabs a celebrity a headline must be proceeded by some sort of rise in order to produce contrast. You are merely perpetually stumbling.

Despite the fact that there has been an apparently tremendous effort to prove a point contrary to my conclusion, you have failed. Energy spent < minimum needed. I must reiterate- I am not impressed. You have not met the burden of proof. Please upload more pictures, get more wall posts, forward more emails, change your desktop, and otherwise rearrange the pieces of personality flair you have been electronically hoarding like a Bowerbird since your first AOL account.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I must post this to my blog, because everyone obviously cares about my opinion

~Matt

Marker

So yesterday I spent about an hour running over to the med campus, getting lost in Wishard (again), and trying to find the palliative care office to pick up a CD with an image file on it like I’m a friggin spy in 1986 (because why in the age of the internet do I need to physically go somewhere to get information). To top it off, the image that I thought I could possibly run as the cover of this booklet ended up being something thrown together in marker. I’m really going to hold out for the possibility that it was drawn by a kid with some kind of condition. Regardless, it is not going to be the cover. It has become apparent that I’m going to need to do some amateur photography here.

Not a Nymph

and pan

A nymph

Syrinx

Janktron 5000

So-

My office computer is extremely jank. Today I was trying to switch over to Firefox from a Word document (not open firefox, but just minimize word and bring firefox up) and both programs stopped responding. Thinking it was just some sort of technological belch, I went to the bathroom to come back with the computer in the same state. The computer wasn't fully frozen, just nothing was responding. I really don't think having open an internet browser and a word processor is too much to ask, this being mid 2008 and all. So, two reboots and an hour and a half later, I am working on a new computer that is responsive to keystrokes. The real beef here is that I don't quite understand how with the amount of money I pay for medical education at an institution that regularly wins national merits for its information technology, why can't I have a computer that functions properly?

Thanks duck

Nutrition

So I’m beginning to think that my motivation levels at work are related to taking or not taking my morning vitamin-

Although the vitamin does have Guarana in it (tisk tisk) which contains more caffeine than coffee

You know, I’m ok with the fact that I have a mild caffeine addiction and if I don’t get it I go through documented withdrawal symptoms

Performance

This weekend I had a bit of an epiphany and I also realized why my best friend is my best friend. On Sunday, instead of going back to Indianapolis in one of about 700 flood producing thunderstorms Indiana has had this summer (side note- watch for high food prices as over 30 million acres of farmland have been flooded out) I was watching Chicago with some friends and came to the realization that I love performing. Like really really love it. And so does Jessica, which is so cool.

It helps to explain the karaoke fetish (or the fact that, yes, I warm up before hand and have a repertoire of songs I use) and also the fact that both of us are going into careers where there is a bit of performance involved. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where I’ll just be the doctor, I think it’ll always be Matt playing the doctor at the time. I personally think I play the part rather well- as evidenced by being able to alter my manner when dealing with a very overprotective spastic parent. An endocrinologist and I talked about the way to deal with patients like that, and we both agreed that there is a bit of schmoozing that needs to be done in medicine- good thing I’m a charmer.

The wonderful thing about this is while I think I could have easily been a killer director of burlesque shows, this is where I am now and I still get to perform all the time. Granted, I will probably not get to gyrate as a backup dancer for Madonna or be Velma Kelly, but no one can stop me from singing my guts out in the car, or the shower, or from dreaming.

The power of performance as something sublimely transforming and almost mystical is something I’ve always thought of and am glad I’ve had the privilege of being involved with. Liza once hinted at something like that in her Inside the Actor’s Studio interview. It also is presented as that in this book I’ve been reading (actually read half and it is “in progress,” but I finished Dorian Gray so this is next), Trickster Makes this World, that performing/storytelling is the art of creating a clever lie and then getting people to believe it. I need to finish that book- it mashes up pretty well with Jungian psychology and if I’m going to be all about that, I guess I better read the shit. Maybe some people could use some transformative performance therapy. I mean, mindfulness therapy is already getting big attention, and that’s another one of those “no shit” ideas I’ve had.

The point of this is I’m glad that I know someone really loves performing as much a I do, and maybe that’s why Jessica and I get along so swimmingly.

~Matt