I made this

Well, my wife did most of the work, but I helped.

This is my new son, Felix Christopher. He was born at 3:22 a.m. one week ago today. I think he's perfect. He doesn't cry or fuss, he burps himself, and he loves to eat. Xander had terrible GERD, so a milk hound is pretty refreshing. I hope he keeps that up.

My favorite thing about him is how alert he is. If you hold him, he will just stare at you. He gets this profound look on his face like he's contemplating the deeper mysteries of your soul. And his coordination is incredible. On his first day of life, he grabbed my hand and pulled it into his mouth. That's not something your average just-born baby does.

I've been blessed to be able to take two weeks off of work to be home with mom and baby. It's been incredible. Also, with the semester winding down, I skipped pretty much all of my classes last week and the remaining three for this week. Now it's juts five exams and I'm done. I think I can pull this off. Then four weeks to work and rest and be with my baby. I'm excited for that. I need some time off to recharge and gear up for the spring semester. I don't think it could be any more grueling than the fall was. From my conversations with upperclassmen, I get the impression the fall of the second and third years are the worst two semesters, so hopefully that holds true.

I don't know that I wrote too much about the Interdisciplinary Ethics Course, at least this time around. That class was a source of great frustration to me. Every school on the campus participates in this class, which meets in small groups (mine was 9 in the first semester and 8 this time around), so you get some exposure to other disciplines, which I liked. You spend five weeks of your semester basically discussing ethical scenarios. For instance, you have a minor patient (under 18) who comes in for a dental exam and you find signs that she might have bulimia. When you confront her about it, she breaks down and asks you not to tell her parents. What do you do? The course teaches you to think through ethical dilemmas completely, considering all points of views and all the values at stake. The idea is to equip you to (1) work with a team of health professionals and (2) make ethical decisions that you are able to defend later.

Well, I really liked this class. What I didn't like was the timing of it. Ethics is a discipline that interests me, and discussion is probably my favorite type of classroom activity. This semester we had a great facilitator, too. He was a graduate student in philosophy from CU-Boulder, and he was great at guiding our discussions. But because this P2 fall is so hectic, I didn't have time to really do the course justice. That frustrated me. I wish the course happened over the summer so I could really give it the time it deserves. Regardless, I got a superior grade. The class is pass/fail, but students who go above and beyond are recognized by the facilitator with a letter reflecting superior performance. I was really honored that he decided to award that grade to me.

I think that's all I have to say right now. I've got another "not in my pharmacy" brewing, but it's not ready for publication yet. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm not sure where to start with this one

This picture is from the handicapped stall in the men's room at Wal-Mart. I find several things hilarious here: 1. They have a seat to strap your baby into while you take a dump. 2. They think you might need instructions on how to operate the device. 3. Somebody tagged it with a Sharpie.

Last week was Spring Break, and also my birthday. We took a mini-vacation to the Seattle area, where my brother-in-law lives. He was an excellent host, providing us with a bed, a car, and tons of food. It was only four days but it was extremely refreshing. We spent my birthday in downtown Seattle, first at the Space Needle and Science Fiction Museum and later at Pike Place Market. I got a coffee from the original Starbucks. It's not that big a deal, actually. I mean, it's a cool, urban Starbucks, but it didn't feel like sacred ground or anything.

I've been awake for 21 hours. I feel like a broken record at this point, with every Monday blog making mention of my crazy 6-night week. Anyway, I just took my exam so the rest of my day is wide open. I might take a nap, or I might stay up until six or seven or whenever Xander goes to sleep and just turn in early. Or a little of each.

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is the greatest sporting event ever conceived. I love it. I love filling out brackets and rooting for Cinderellas and bragging when I pick it right and crying when Kansas loses in the second round and I have them in the championship game. Kansas, for the record, screws me every time. When I pick them to do well, they miss the Sweet 16 (i.e., 2006). When I say, "Not this time, Jayhawks!" and knock them out early, they win the national championship (i.e., 2008). So all you Jayhawk fans, you best hope I pick them for an early exit next year. I like your chances if I do.

The semester is halfway over. I get the sense that it's about to get a good deal harder. IOS 1 was a review of physiology. IOS 2 starts getting into specific systems and specific disease states and specific drugs for the treatment of those diseases. Bring it on. Oh, and the Interdisciplinary Ethics course starts next week. Woohoo.

The first regular season baseball game is two weeks from yesterday. Interesting baseball fact: Jason Marquis has played on a playoff team in each of his ten seasons in the major leagues. This year, Jason Marquis is playing for the ridiculously bad Washington Nationals. There's no way that trend can continue, is there? I'm guessing Marquis gets traded to a contender. We'll revisit in September.

OK, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.