this week i

analyzed the impact medicaid coverage has on diabetics, examined the quantifiable effects that health insurance exchange regulation decisions will have on family budgets, polished up our poster for the 2011 r statistical computing conference, and then began the process of acquiring the medicare 5% sample.

invented the emoticon for those greek theater tragedy-comedy masks.  :( :)

proffer "the future is overrated" as a logical derivative of carpe diem.

got one of our slides stolen by the new england journal of medicine.  baby steps into the big time.

enjoyed a shindig at the embassy of barbados, the only country with neptune's trident on the flag.

ate some damn pie.

drank my last cup of french press for a while.

had ben & kirsten's famous ice cream..

 ..with ben, there's always a catch.

6/28/11

this week i

got my numbers cited by the economist.

followed every road to chicago..

..or should i say gotham city?

..let's compromise with the home of the blues.

went out with monica, chiang mai northern thai and improvisation for dessert..

..a sociologist-turned-quant at the ivy-envious university of chicago, our conversation mostly volleyed between our shared love of algorithms.

suppose i saw the obama's home in hyde park.

spent the whole damn day at the cavernous art institute..

for nepali

salvador dali
..and even some martian.

beat the heat.


tried on some new headgear..

..and contortionisms.

noticed we lost to the japanese, both in women's soccer and o'hare airport toilet design.

ate deep dish pizza then crashed two rooftop parties with jana, the only health disparities epidemiologist i know who's also handy with an inflatable sword..

..full moons, free beers will do that to you.

relaxed with the family of an old coworker, met their ultra-cute kids, toured northwestern and hey maybe a nine-sided baha'i temple too.

read..

(1) algorithm for a crash

a rough equation among relative changes in the three corporations' stock prices: delta + exxon-mobil = southwest airlines.  if that equation temporarily broke down, statistical arbitrageurs would dive in and bet (usually successfully) on its reasserting itself.

(2) the bionic mind

the internet "would become seamlessly part of us, as natural and simple to use as our own hands."

(3) mental health

placebos were 82 percent as effective as the drugs.

7/21/11

this week i

headed to the capitol..

..to hear the dalai lama speak.  if you're lousy at where's waldo, he's in the lower mid-right under the white sunshade.

got my first finding from our decennial census: the county i grew up in is now majority minority.  as it should be.  time to embrace toronto's city motto.

recovered my mother's father's navy rucksack from his time in the pacific. and an ancient recording of ours that i love but doubt anyone else will.

enjoyed the flecktones at wolftrap, but the opening band had the best song of the evening.

ate three or four meals with huseyin, who was in town for as many days.

filled up on gelato, almost as good as the catalonian variety.

might've had something to drink.

approve of the new hr-57 on h street.

would probably vote this one the best onion article ever.

listened to something new for once at the velvet lounge.  and hey, i lived in the same dorm as the horn section.

read the uninspiring but occasionally insightful how doctors think by nyrb contributor jerome groopman.

residents are being taught to follow preset algorithms and practice guidelines in the form of decision trees..algorithms discourage physicians from thinking independently and creatively

relying on schemas also suits the hectic pace of today's clinical care

one doctor told me that patients who don't care for themselves made him feel like sisyphus

diagnosis momentum, like a boulder rolling down a mountain, gains enough force to crush anything in its way

a patient and family should ask the doctor whether a proposed treatment is standard or whether different specialists recommend different approaches, and why

when you or your loved one asks simply, 'what else could it be?' you help bring closer to the surface the reality of uncertainty in medicine

7/14/11

this week i

landed in the rocky mountains.

jumped in the merry prankster van.

picked up exactly where we left off..



 ..miguel proudly remembers that we haven't seen each other since i walked off into the darjeeling sunset with a hindustan times under my arm.

viewed the denver art museum..

..although the best scene was the improvised sombrero on the roof across the way..

..meanwhile, curtis built a mobius strip.  we tried to confuse an ant, but she promptly cheated.

got a little confused myself.  was this pro- or anti-lgbt..

..and why on earth would you need that.

cycled around downtown.


made a mess..

..and a new friend.  who's a wuzzawuzza?  god fucking dammit you're cute.

drove to higher ground.


unloaded our gear.

hiked into the mountain forest, glowing at each end.


accidentally pitched our tents next to some ensnared skeletal hooves.

drowned our fear in whiskey, jerky.

don't know, don't care.  it was funny.

bear-proofed our provisions.

complied with smokey, too.

woke up before america's birthday..

..and curtis had made a weathervane / sundial contraption.

drove back to civilization.

stopped by a mining ghost town.

bought three-buck inner-tubes..

..and lazed away the afternoon.

recovered from outdoor exposure at beginners.  christopher plummer gives a memorable performance.

spent our last day at fourteen thousand feet.

tended the flock.



reserved a window seat to watch the fireworks over the potomac during landing.  but make no mistake, the view during takeoff was the cause for celebration.
6/7/11