"Wealth has no permanence: it comes in the morning,
and at night it is scattered to the winds.
Physical beauty too has no importance,
for a rosy face is made pale by the scratch of a single thorn.
Noble birth also is of small account,
for many become fools of money and horses.
Many a nobleman's son has disgraced his father by his wicked deeds.
Don't court a person full of talent either,
even if he seems exquisite in that respect:
take warning from the example of Iblis (The devil)
Iblis had knowledge, but since his love was not pure,
he saw in Adam nothing but a figure of clay."
- Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
The dead of night
It’s a
stormy night. The wind is howling outside my windows. There are two, as my room
is situated on the corner of the building, right at the top. A place where the
billowing of the wind can be felt all around. I've left both windows partially
open, and though it is a cool night, the heating in my room means that the cool
gusts of wind swiftly entering my room at both angles isn’t a problem. The
gentle pitter-patter of the rain can be heard when the mighty wind takes a
small rest and then once it regains it force and momentum, it hurls the gentle
rain against my windows and the pitter-patter changes to a vigorous drumming.
It’s as if the wind in all its anger is humming a low and angry tune that
almost sounds like a rumble and the rain, the sweet gentle rain, is attempting
to soothe it, but ends up calling attention to itself so that the irate wind
turns it displeasure on it.
Among all this noise is the swishing noise of my curtains, as they dance to the tune
of the wind. They’re made of a type of nylon and viscose material, quite stiff
and when they flutter the sound they create is similar to that of the pages in
a book when they are being turned.
The beauty of this night has created a perfect environment to write. It invokes the right emotions and the right mood.
But what am I doing? Why am I still awake? I haven't studied properly in over a week and as far as I am aware my exams are still on. I feel so frustrated but I can't help but want to stay up and write. I've been feeling simultaneously miserable and hopeful... yet the idea for a new story came to me, so as I couldn't revise I decided to write. And in between the writing I've been writing blog posts... What kind of maze have I created for myself? Lord only knows.
Oxford handbook of clinical medicine
I've thought a lot about it and I've decided that this little gem is my all-time favorite medical text! I'm sure I'm not alone on that one, this book being a bit of a celebrity in the medical world. Not only is it a comprehensive but concise text, containing all major medical and even surgical topics, but it also mixes it up with a little literature! When I first saw it, I loved it straight away. It's small size and the clear way it presented disease and management was everything I ever wanted in a medical book. It cuts out the BS and really gets down to the nitty-gritty. Essentially it's like your revision notes have been made for you, all you have to do is read, underline/ highlight and memorize (I hate writing/highlighting my books..the most I'll do is use a pencil to underline but never more!) and ponder. However, it goes beyond being just a simple medical text containing facts and figures. The intelligence and compassion of the authors is evident from their exploration of the importance of not losing sight of the human aspect of medicine. The importance of seeing the bigger picture, the whole story, the patients story. When I was first reading it and came across poems by Ted Hughes and mentions of Silvia Plath and James Joyce etc I nearly shed a tear of joy. Such a beautiful way of educating people, creating wonderful and compassionate minds. Such scholastic brilliance!
The authors try to open the mind of the reader to the world around them, to the those things that may be overlooked when one becomes lost in the factual details. Medicine isn't as simple as diagnosing and treating a disease, it goes way beyond that. Among other things, it's about understanding, empathizing, respecting and being compassionate. It's so easy to remove oneself from the emotional, spiritual and human side of things as one gets desensitized to illness and death. I see my peers (and I'm sure they see my faults too, but one doesn't see oneself as you do others) and wonder how it is that some of them are prone to treating some patients, for example patients with broken English, as if they were devoid of personality or opinions. It really gets me frustrated and angry and I wonder how they can be exposed to the fragility of life and yet be so compassion-less?
Here's the extract of a Ted Hughes poem called The Lodger, that comes under the cardiovascular history section:
"At night on my pillow the syncopated stagger
Of the pulse in my ear: Russian roulette:
Every heartbeat a fresh throw of the dice...
Hypochondria walked, holding my arm
Like a nurse, her fingers over my pulse...
The sudden lapping at my throat of loose blood."
It's so beautiful how it ties in so perfectly with the medical text.
I've recently upgraded from the the 6th edition to the 8th. I'm a bit late in doing this upgrade... the 6th ed. is somewhat dated... Anyhow I thought I'd write this post in honor of the old and the new! I really hope my love for this book, will lead me to devour it in its entirety and so I will be well prepared for my finals! Here's to praying and hoping! *clink*
I have to confess that I'm a little bit of a cheater. You see I haven't been exclusive with my love, I have another lover on the side. Naughty I know, but does it make it better if I say that it's the cousin of the OHCM? Haha, it's the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialties! I love this little blue book too. It's just as good and has the same wise approach to teaching. Also there's an illustration of an apple tree on the inside cover of the book and each fruit on the tree has the name of a historically significant physician. From Hippocrates to Ibn Sina. Perfect!
Eloquent speech
On the subject of Christoph Waltz and eloquent speech:
The man just speaks so damn well! Also, he has an interesting way of thinking and definitely an intelligent perspective. For me, he hit the nail on the head when he said that a man's best investment is education. A man can be robbed of his worldly possessions but never can he be robbed of what he holds in his mind (lets not get into the psychiatry side of things here). Intelligence, the greatest weapon a human can wield.
The man just speaks so damn well! Also, he has an interesting way of thinking and definitely an intelligent perspective. For me, he hit the nail on the head when he said that a man's best investment is education. A man can be robbed of his worldly possessions but never can he be robbed of what he holds in his mind (lets not get into the psychiatry side of things here). Intelligence, the greatest weapon a human can wield.
Mr Christoph Waltz
I'm pretty prone to obsessiveness and the subject of my current obsession is Christoph Waltz. I know he's the man of the moment, especially after his Bafta and Golden Globe wins for Django Unchained, but that hasn't put me off. I don't know where to begin. His acting is nothing short of incredible. In every film of his that i've seen, he manages to outshine every other actor. I'm talking about Inglorious Basterds (everyone knows how incredible the evil but somehow mesmerizing Hans Landa was), Water for Elephants, Carnage and Django unchained. I swear in every one of these films the character that impressed me most was the one that Waltz portrayed. The thing is there is an intelligent quality to his acting, perhaps born from the fact that he has spent a lot of his career on stage, or even the fact that he is actually an intelligent and thoughtful man in real life... After watching some of his interviews I began to suspect that the personas of the characters he plays on screen are strikingly similar to his own. But he's still pretty damn versatile.
I've spent a lot of time on youtube watching interview after interview. He's just so articulate, so elegant, so refined and so old school. And that accent... I could listen to him speak for hours on end, honestly. If I were a man, I'd hope to be like him when I grew older, a real gentleman. Also there is something about his personality, well the glimpse that we see on TV anyway, that gives me the impression that he is a kind and intelligent man in life. I feel that he would have made an excellent academic and I can only fantasize about him being one of my professors. However, aside from this new found geriophile tendency of mine (I kid, I kid!) the quality I like most in Mr Waltz, is his aura of humbleness. He seems very acutely aware of his condition, almost like he knows very well that he's mortal and not some superhuman with God-given talent that all mankind should look upto... Haha, yes I know not all actors are like that. But what I see in a lot of famous actors is a particular characteristic: Its almost as if they think their invincible. But not Christoph. He seems a lot more fragile (i'm not referring to his age here) a lot more human. He's a talented actor, who has been given an avenue to explore his creativity and talent and I feel like he wants to grasp hold of this moment and really put everything that he has into it and generally just make the most if it. Alright, I'm aware that I'm projecting my personal ideas onto him, but it is seriously the impression I get from him. He's definitely someone I would love to be stuck next to on a long-haul flight, I can't even imagine how interesting the conversation would be.
I've spent a lot of time on youtube watching interview after interview. He's just so articulate, so elegant, so refined and so old school. And that accent... I could listen to him speak for hours on end, honestly. If I were a man, I'd hope to be like him when I grew older, a real gentleman. Also there is something about his personality, well the glimpse that we see on TV anyway, that gives me the impression that he is a kind and intelligent man in life. I feel that he would have made an excellent academic and I can only fantasize about him being one of my professors. However, aside from this new found geriophile tendency of mine (I kid, I kid!) the quality I like most in Mr Waltz, is his aura of humbleness. He seems very acutely aware of his condition, almost like he knows very well that he's mortal and not some superhuman with God-given talent that all mankind should look upto... Haha, yes I know not all actors are like that. But what I see in a lot of famous actors is a particular characteristic: Its almost as if they think their invincible. But not Christoph. He seems a lot more fragile (i'm not referring to his age here) a lot more human. He's a talented actor, who has been given an avenue to explore his creativity and talent and I feel like he wants to grasp hold of this moment and really put everything that he has into it and generally just make the most if it. Alright, I'm aware that I'm projecting my personal ideas onto him, but it is seriously the impression I get from him. He's definitely someone I would love to be stuck next to on a long-haul flight, I can't even imagine how interesting the conversation would be.
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| An intelligent gaze |
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| Professor Waltz |
