That's so Seattle - #5

Copy cats...

Seen in Seattle:

In the Greenwood area of the city:

I guess everyone wants to be a Medicine Man!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Christmas Through the Ages

There has been a tradition in my family where each each year my sister and I would receive one Christmas ornament that had some sort of special meaning for the previous year.  The thought being, when my sister and I moved away from home we would each have a starter collection for our own Christmas trees.

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Now, I've been living alone for a few number of years and still I continue to buy myself a yearly ornament.  Without further ado, (from left to right) I present Christmas Through the Ages:

The Early, Early Years.

1981 - Baby's first Christmas and a manger scene from the Lea's (our backyard Merrillville, IN neighbors.)

1982 - Picture of Santa framed in tooth pics and an Angle with symbols from the Lea's.

1983 - Frosty the Snowman and a caroler with a bell from... the Lea's.

1984 - Little boy riding a dove. (a dove?)

1985 - Wooden rocking horse and a red wooden sleigh (Rosebud).

The Christmas Tree Years.

1986 - A wooden tree with glued on stars and tinsel.  I probably made this in Kindergarten.

1987 - First grade school portrait photo and a rain dear that I tried to write my name, age, and year.

1988 - Handmade drum made from the top of spray paint can, random Santa, and another Christmas tree

1989 - Skates with paper clips and a present that plays Silver Bells (and has a Christmas tree on top).

1990 - Snowman in double wooden rings and... a Christmas tree (4th grade classroom project?).

The Skiing and Water Skiing Years.

1991 - Another rocking horse? (Found one that belongs to my sister that my mom tried to pawn off on me).

1992 - A little dog with a wreath for the year when I received Muffy as a pet.

1993 - Santa Skiing and a Christmas gerbil running on his wheel (random, I know!)

1994 - Speedy Gonzales skiing... a bear dressed as Santa wind surfing.

1995 - Santa and Mrs. Clause water skiing for the year that I learned how to water ski on Lake Hanska in Minnesota.

I'm not really sure if there is a theme for these years.

1996 - I love model trains, and I love to fish!

1997 - I think my mom slipped this one in b/c I was missing a year (plus it's stamped 2008 in plastic).

1998 - Leaving for college at Penn State, a year whole before graduating from high school.

1999 - Graduating from Franklin Regional High School and routing for Penn State!

2000 - A mouse sleeping in his "new home" for when Kathy welcomed me after my dad passed away that year, plus a computer to symbolize the computer I built from scratch.

The traveling years?

2001 - I must have learned how to ski really well that year.  I still like just the easy green circle slopes.

2002 - A plane to symbolize my trip to Japan with Allen, Dave, and Rob.

2003 - A lantern with a Thomas Kinkade painting (the same one hanging in Kathy's Bed and Breakfast), and a penguin with a scarf from my mom.

The Early, Adult Years.

2004 - Missing.... :-(

2005 - A blue ribbon that supports the Red Cross and the Katrina Relief project that I went to support, and a Delta Chi ornament for when I was inducted into University of Pittsburgh chapter.

2006 - Delta Chi for when I helped the University of Cincinnati's colony as their finance advisor, and a blue Santa with a graduation cap for the year I graduated from Temple University School of Medicine.

2007 - Mickey and Minnie from a great trip to WDW with Jamie

2008 - Santa on a turtle for my Caribbean Cruise, a random snowflake that I don't remember buying.

2009 - Amy's "I'm a real doctor now" ornament gift to me and a fat Santa that sings when you press his butt.

And if you ever forget why ornaments are important for children:

It's great to know that all those years and memories fit into a tiny cube!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Bold what you like

A collection taken from free hugs:

1) Striped socks.
2) Winter vacation.
3) Minty breath.
4) Warm hands.
5) Sublime.
6) Proving people wrong.
7) Sketching.
8) Steel drums.
9) Tampons.
10) The Sims 2.
11) Kissing.
12) Backpacks.
13) Cloudy weather.
14) Picking out presents for people.
15) Kevin Flamme.
16) Boys.
17) Old movies.
18) Reminiscing.
19) Mario Party.
20) Orange juice.
21) Interesting people.
22) Late-night texting.
23) Cool teachers.
24) Levi jeans.
25) The city bus.
26) Cardigans.
27) Sneezing.
28) Drinking cold water.
29) Finding money in my pockets.
30) Making connections.
31) Books.
32) Bolding surveys.
33) A clean bedroom.
34) Collages.
35) Meeting people.
36) Comfortable positions.
37) Headphones.
38) Marathons.
39) Packing to go somewhere.
40) Mascara.
41) Daydreaming.
42) Possibilities.
43) Ramen.
44) Notepads.
45) Burt’s Bees.
46) Babysitting.
47) Actually getting homework done.
48) Feeling good about myself.
49) Complimenting people.
50) PostSecret.
51) Confiding in people.
52) Themed things.
53) T shirts.
54) Gentlemen.
55) Singing harmonies.
56) Being surprised.
57) New clothes.
58) Target.
59) Long eyelashes.
60) Bright Eyes.
61) Naps.
62) Nicely-dressed boys.
63) Barack Obama.
64) Tweezed eyebrows.
65) Inside jokes.
66) Eye-contact.
67) Acronyms.
68) Thinking.
69) Animals.
70) Collecting turtles.
71) Understanding.
72) Friendship bracelets.
73) Meaningful items.
74) Simon & Garfunkel.
75) Silly pictures.
76) Raspberries.
77) Not going to school.
78) Star Trek.
79) Reading blogs.
80) Showering away problems.
81) Worn-in shoes.
82) Paranormal televison shows.
83) Facebook chat.
84) Baked ziti.
85) Visiting my elementary school.
86) Soft blankets.
87) Big words.
88) Staying up late.
89) Second chances.
90) Piggy-back rides.
91) Saying words over and over until they sound really strange.
92) Surrealism.
93) The feeling of relief after going pee.
94) Home videos.
95) Unusual names.
96) Diving boards.
97) Smilies.
98) Cats.
99) Feeling better.
100) Considerate people.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

My Favorite Memories of 2009

After my friend Courtney was "inspired" by one of my posts for her own version, I became "inspired" by one of hers for this one. 

Here are some of my favorite memories from 2009 recapped via photos:

In December 2008, I was able to finish a great Crafternoon project that ushered in the New Year right, and so that I could display my Christmas cards that I received for the Holidays.

In January 2009, I had my first post residency interview in Falmouth, MA, on the Cape!

The Cincinnati Snuggie Bar Crawl debuted in March of 2009, through Mt. Adams.  Of course the Medicine Man knew how to doctor up his new snuggie.

The Norwood Community Garden was in initially founded and planted in May!

Residency Graduation at the end of June!!!!  Also my first hard thoughts about again entering into another LDR.

July was a month of Farewells.  Farewell Norwood.  Farewell Wildfell Hall.  Farewell Neighbors.  Farewell Great Friends.  Farewell Burgers!  And also a month of Hellos.  Hello St. Theodore. Hello Seattle Children's Hospital!

The month of August, I spent exploring Seattle and getting to know Green Lake, as I started my new job.

September, I went on my first trip to CA for Tim Chan wedding and caught up with old high school friends!

October. Back in Cincinnati for the RLH with Laura and Jonah, and also a look back at all the runs I've done over the years.

November was a big month for volunteering.

Who has a second going away party from Cincinnati, after not living there for 5 months?  I do!

Here's a new year, where may the best of 2009 be the worst of 2010!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Wallpapers

Now a days we no long have wallpaper in our house, rather we hang wallpaper on the back of our computer screens and on our cell phones.  This is my collection of wallpapers from my laptops (MBA Helper and Blue Monster) and my LG enV2 (sorry no iPhone until Apple wakes up and makes some contracts with Verizon).

Wallpaper on Blue Monster.

All good kids should know how to fight off swarms of attacking zombie children.

 Wallpaper on MBA Helper.

Also, the reason I can't win with women.  I bring them flowers and they bring me a baseball bat with nails.

Outside screen of my cell phone.  The 4 Elemental Fiends from the original Final Fantasy.

Inside screen of my cell phone.  The cast of Marvel characters.

As if you didn't know I was a HUGE Marvel fan.

For a short period of time, Jack graced the inside screen of my cell phone.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Seattle > Pittsburgh > Boston > Cincinnati

Literacy pays off! Who knew?

Seattle topped the list of 75 major cities across the US!  Sorry, Crystal, DC came in second, despite a Facebook quiz telling me that DC should have been the city of my choice. :-(

As the Seattle PI tells me, Dr. John W. Miller developed his rankings based on six categories:

1: Number of retail bookstores/1000 people.
2: % of adults with HS diplomas.
3. Total weekday circulation of a city's newspaper.

4: Number of web page views per capita to a city's "internet version" of a newspaper.

5. Magazine and journal distributions per capita.
6. Library staff and library volume per capita.

So, remember that you local library is also important!

Interestingly,  smart cities usually ranks well against other quality of life indicators too!

"...Most active singles’ scenes (Boston, Seattle, Washington, and Atlanta), are safer (Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Cincinnati), more walk-able (Seattle, Washington, DC, Portland, Boston, and Denver), and healthier (Washington, DC and Denver)."

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

My Google Alternates

Ever try Googleing yourself?  Some people find they have hundreds of Google Alternates (GA), while other find they have only very few.

I feel, I'm one of the lucky ones with very few GAs, and I come across myself quite often:

Finding my name in text across the web:

A Temple University School of Medicine 2005 Rebuilding New Orleans Trip that included a Philadelphia PSR write up about our experience, and a Temple Medicine write up and my personal journal entry (check out page #36.)

My IMDB actors page, where I started as "Redsin's Victim" in The Redsin Tower.

Cincinnati Kiwanis Club meeting minutes about my presentation of One Laptop Per Child.  Along with more Kiwanis meeting minutes.  

When I was first starting to look for information about my family tree.

Alumni Listing of CCHMC residency graduates.

 

Penn State's NASA 2001 HEDS-UP Project: Mining the Foundation of the Future.

I actually made one meeting to the Fort Thomas Corvette Club!

My Race Times!
 

Honorable Mention in the Legible Script for Uncle Alex.

Poster presentation as a medical student entitled Linking Physicians To Their Patients: Using a CQI Model To Improve Continuity of Care In a Residency Practice.

Delta Chi Quarterly write up about advising with the University of Cincinnati Colony.

Temple Times write up, along with a Fox Update write up about pursuing and MD/MBA dual degree program.

Don't forget to look through the images after you Google yourself, you might be surprised! 

 

Also, finding yourself in other peoples pictures and videos can be very enlightening. :-)

A Taft with a Twist event with Ari.  Ariane, if you're out there - I still miss you! (Yes, that is a giant monkey sticker from Enjoy The Arts on my shirt.)

A Senior Roast video from CCHMC w/o sound.

Hitting up Club Bang! with Diane and Greg.

What's the deal with all the Kiwanis photos?  :-)

2009 Hyde Park Blast photo with Emily and Tom.

Finding myself through personal, friends, and networking  services:

Is Twitter ever going to learn how to make money?

My Google Profile.


LinkedIn profile.

Who still uses Friendster?

Lastly, random comments on other blogs (#2, #3, #4, #5, #6)


Over the years, I've found my name bring great respect and honor to many communities, my first GAs has been a junior high honor student, a long jumper and a 400 meter relay runner.  After finding the wonders of  Google Alerts, I've found another GA that is a JHS/HS football champ (#2), also a long jumper and hurdler, a basketball player, and interested in science and soil research (something I did as well in high school!  However, I studied the viability of stocking trout along the Turtle Creek through researchers at IUP)!

What has your Google Alternate done today?

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex