The Golden Weekend

Ah... the golden weekend. Two glorious days in a row with no responsibility to the wards. Where I can nap, clean, shop, read, rest, renew and rejuvenate.

Last night Beth and I hit up a show at the gorgeous Pantages theater here in Tacoma (old photo of the Pantages looking a lot like it does now). It was the opening night for the season and there was some hoopla with speeches before the start of the show. They recognized the president of a great Tacoma magazine: City Arts. A great resource for all things artsy in the South Sound. But most interesting was the announcement that this part of Puget Sound is notable for being so culturally rich, it is second only to Manhattan Island! I kid you not. Ben is probably guffawing, or rolling his eyes at this (my townie co-intern) but it is apparently true.

I had a conversation with Beth last night. We hit up Tully's for some post-show hot cocoa and while moseying back up the slope of St. Helen's we passed a gay bar, (well, at least a bar with lots of neon rainbows, one reading "PRIDE"), colorful closed storefronts with whimsical antiques and funky clothing selections, and were looking out over the docks. I revealed that sometimes I feel like Tacoma is is great secret I'm dying to tell everyone. Last night I really felt I was in a cultured city with a multitude of resources - art, music, theater, nature...

The show itself was fun. For all ages. It was called Cirqueworks Birdhouse Factory. There were acrobats and contortionists, dancers and jugglers. It was really amazing to watch. Reminded me of the days when I would catch Cirque du Soleil on TV and just sit there, mesmerized as people were dangling from hoops with one toe or twisting in pretzels and sitting on their own head. I found particular delight from a sequence involving a trampoline and three men bouncing around like hot popcorn (at least, that's what I thought it looked like).

Medicine is winding to a close. I have two more calls and 6 more days (Mon-Saturday). Then I begin a much less grueling rotation (or so I hear). I discharged a patient last week that I had been seeing pretty much every day for nearly four weeks. We weren't able to help her much. We gave her electrolytes when they were low, blood when she was too anemic, fluid when she was dry, diuretics when she was too overloaded, but all in all, she is terribly sick and there's not much we can do. The catch was, she was rather young, and this illness was new and we kept hoping she would turn a corner. She never did and eventually we sent her home, stable, and on 12 new medications that keep her that way. From her room I could see my apartment windows. From my apartment I could see her room. It took me a few weeks to realize this but, once I did, I started having dreams about her. Mostly about her getting better. Talk about no escaping work, eh?

I promised I'd mention in my blog a little walk I took with KP (who still insists that Tacoma Pride is lame) and her poodle, Blue. Along the way there was a young emo guy taking pics of rocks he made into heart shapes. KP, knowing a good opportunity for poodle-fame when she sees one, offered Blue to make the pictures more.. poodley? Now, somewhere out there in the ether (or perhaps the internet?) is a picture of a scruffy black poodle in a heart of rocks. We may have to dub Blue the Rocky Love Poodle from now on.

Quote of the week: Liza, animated, describing why she so loves colonoscopies: "It's so exciting when you get to the cecum!! You're like, 'Yay! I made it!'"

Photo of the day: Candy man. Don't know where, don't know why, but I love it. I just hope he's wearing sun screen.