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I think it might be safe to say that my early pregnancy may have been some of the most confusing days of my life…  There have been many times in my life when some ethical question has been raised that was “fun” to ponder over. Or maybe I’d even get defensive, or step onto some moral high ground about what is clearly the “right” thing to do in this scenario. Most of the time, I enjoy arguing both sides and trying to persuade myself that they have equal validity ethically, which is what makes them an ethical puzzle in the first place.  My first exposure to genetic screening for prenatal care was actually as a family medicine physician. I learned some basic things, listened to some of my teachers and attendings explaining the testing to patients, and then started counseling patients myself. Like many things that I repeat often (informed consent, etc), I developed a sort of script that I would repeat to each patient. It went something like this: “There is genetic screenin...

1. According to my calendar, I'm getting married in 2 weeks. Whoa. 2. I haven't lost 10lb. Or quit biting my nails. Or gotten my hair cut in 8 months. Or dyed out the new white strands of hair. Or had some expensive face skin peel to make me look younger. I still have never had a manicure or pedicure. Which means, I suppose, that I will be appearing at my wedding as "Em." 3. I think I'm old enough to say now that I understand something my mom told me as a young adult. Life milestones always feel strange. You look forward when you're younger and wonder who you'll be and what you'll think when you finally ______.. (move away from home, get married, become a doctor, lose a loved one, become an Aunt). And then it happens and you really are that same kid who wondered about it so long ago. It feels like a strange disconnect to me. Almost like it's not happening to you but instead there is a Narrator and and Actor of your life. And your brain is...

1. cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance   /ˈkägnətiv/  Noun.  The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, esp. as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change. This takes on a new layer when a prior part of your identity used   to be based on practicing complete self-honesty. This has recently been irrefutably challenged… It's suddenly harder to pinpoint where the honesty lies… I wonder if I have created excessive cognitive dissonance over things in which I actually do NOT feel strongly about and that is exactly why the dissonance has occurred….  2. I feel very happy and secure about my decision to go back to residency so far.. Even call is pretty fun. it's weird. Thank you, thank you.  3. I love Philadelphia. Great city.  4. Recently, I've been aggressively recruited into the Philadelphia Crossfit competition crew by my gym… which means I'm about to be seriously humbled. South Philly Rumble 6.1.13.  5. Indecisi...

Seriously can't believe this Chick Fil A nonsense.... How ridiculous. Thanks, politics, for giving me hope, yet again, that you can sensationalize anything to pull points, make a profit, and make everyone look like complete idiots in the process. Can we move on yet? I'm sure there are many more personal social ideologies for all of our mega fast food corporations to capitalize on.... Unfortunately, I'm just not interested. Now the obesity crisis, that's something I'm curious about hearing some fast food ideology... I imagine it goes a little something like this.. "anything for a buck."

I am starting to wonder whether our generation of 20 and 30 year olds are on the right track.. Or at least whether my "category" of 20 and 30 year olds… The career people, the professionals… We're single or married or "partnered" or not, but we are all living the same lifestyle. For ourselves. Most of my extended family in my generation are living a similar life… Wandering, wondering, working, traveling, moving around, unsettled.. Only 4 of my cousins have had kids, and I'm 29 years old. And I have 25 cousins. 7 of them are married… Granted, many of them are much younger than me, but the precedent has been set. Almost all of the married cousins were well-established into their careers and older (25+) by the time they settled down. By my age, most of my parents, aunts, and uncles were married and done having kids. Yet here we are..  So what does it mean? Are we "liberated" because of the freedoms we have via ease of traveling, improvement of o...

Continued from May 2011... 1. My job causes time to pass in half-time, so it actually feels like it's only been 5.5 months since I started this job instead of almost a year. And therefore, I will not be turning 30 years old anytime soon. Or, does it mean I will be turning 30 in the very imminent future..?  2. Apparently, long-term relationships are even more complicated than I previously imagined, in that they involve working out not only all of the details of the relationship itself, but also many conflicting external forces. It makes me wonder how so many people make it work?  3. Seattle is a very nice place, but it's entirely too far away from the Center of the Universe, New Orleans.  4. I'm starting to enjoy distance cycling almost as much as distance running, which confirms the suspicion I have that I am really just a bit compulsive and/or masochistic.  5. I'm incredibly addicted to the cult of Cross Fit. I think about the WOD's during the da...

I've been listening to NPR on my commute, and they've been talking about the Washington state school system "crisis" regarding their soaring budget needs while admitting poor results... I'm hearing this stuff on the radio at the same time as reading the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson… All of it really makes me wonder. Wonder about a lot of things, but primarily… what is it that makes people great? First and foremost, it makes me think that nothing ever got better by hucking a bunch of money at it. There has to be a vision. A plan. And maybe even something that could be realized with less or no money if the idea is great enough. Secondly, we have to start taking ownership of our jobs and roles in society again. Great teachers are great teachers because they have decided to become great. Same as most professions. No doubt, money and equipment and a good support system help, but one of my best teachers was paid probably $35,000 a year and worked in t...