Books: Choke

Chuck Palahniuk's Choke ** - Victor Mancini lives in a sick and twisted place: the real world.  A troubled childhood relationship with his mother, he finds himself in a situation of dropping out of medical school, taking a job set in the past, and choking to death regularly to fund her private care.  Dementia, delirium, addiction, obsessions, religion, past, and future come into play.  Just the writing - words and sentences alone; there are some memorable, classic, and brilliant sentences he puts on the written page.  A unique and wonderful writing style.  This is a difficult read though.  It's a page-turner in the weirdest way, because I couldn't figure out why it was a page-turner.  It's an odd feeling rooting for the protagonist who is essentially a bastard who happens to be likeable.  Very harsh thoughts and coarse descriptions; I hope it's the character I hated at times and not the author.  I put the book down and felt uneasy.  But I should have expected that.  The first line of the book reads as follows: "If you're going to read this, don't bother."  

Books: Go the F**k to Sleep

Adam Mansbach & Ricardo Cortes' Go the F**k to Sleep **** - A children's book.  Well, kind of.  It's dedicated to the unsung heroes: the parents.  Read this.  Hilarious.  Brilliant.  

Medicine: Truths & Observations

If you go to the bathroom, expect to get paged.   

This happens to all of us and it defies all science and reasoning.  When was the last time, truly, when you were in a hospital, that you were able to ... take care of business without being interrupted?  If I've had a relatively quiet day in the hospital, the second I close a bathroom door it is guaranteed that I will receive a page while in an awkwardly vulnerable state, with fly open or pants down.  I don't understand it!  Can't I sh*t in peace?

Medicine breeds superstitions. 

Pitchers never step on the baselines.  Goalies talk to the goalposts.  Tennis players will tie their left shoe before their right.  It's superstition, thought to change or sustain luck.  In medicine, the same superstitions arise.  If I had a good day, rest assured I'm going to keep my routine the same tomorrow: when I wake up, eat, go to bathroom, how I dress, the order in which I see patients, do orders, take care of notes, where I take breaks, you name it.  But if I had a bad day, one of those "black cloud" days as we call it in our profession, you bet there'll be some changes made: yesterday's outfit will get bleached and washed four times over, new colored scrubs, different shoes, socks, different approach to the day; whatever it takes!  I remember back in residency, I retreated to my call room.  That night, there were endless codes (cardiopulmonary arrests).  I didn't sleep a wink.  The next call, I decided to skip the call room: I found three chairs of roughly the same height - one for the feet, one for the butt, and one for the head - and slept on one of the medical floors, in plain sight of nurses.  I was barely paged and slept several hours.  The next several calls?  You bet, I found those same three chairs!  And by the way, let me ask with regards to the previous paragraph: Have you ever not gone to the bathroom, building a bladder of steel, for fear of getting paged?  I've done it!

If you don't say "I don't know" when you don't know, you'll get burned.  

This happens to everyone.  Eventually most people get humbled into their place.  If you don't know something?  Don't make up the answer.  No physician survives if they lie.  That's a fact.  Better to become humble earlier and save the embarassment.  Especially if the site of embarassment is potentially on a stage in front of hundreds of your colleagues.  

Nice patient equals poor prognosis.  

One of the most upsetting truths is the good guys never seem to win.  It happens time and again that your mystery patient with the biggest heart and nicest family (you often refer to this person as your favorite patient) will end up with the worst diagnosis, usually a terminal cancer.  It is absolutely defeating.  The thought formation is pretty instantaneous: "She's so pleasant ... I have a bad feeling about her."  But the patient who is somehow hanging on despite numerous chronic and often incurable conditions?  That person "who won't die?"  (Yes, I've used that exact phrase too.)  There's a pretty good chance that person verbally abuses the entire staff and is what you'd consider, for lack of better words, a b**ch or an a**hole.  

Patients who come in Friday night will never leave before Monday. 

These patients come in all different shapes and sizes, but have the same things in common: sick enough to be admitted but stable enough to not need any emergent care.  Those who need nursing home or rehabilitation placement?  They'll hang around until Monday when the social workers get back on service.  Why?  Not much to be done on the weekend.  Those who have chest pain and need a stress test or a cardiac catheterization?  They too will hang around until Monday when the appropriate staff return.  Those patients for whom you'd like the assistance of a subspecialty doctor?  Cross your fingers and hope someone's on call and willing to come in out of the kindness of their own hearts.  Otherwise, again, wait until Monday.  Not much to be done on the weekend.  

Intravenous access is never easy especially when desperately needed.

A lot of times, I get asked by nurses if we can remove an IV on a patient who doesn't really need it.  I'm fine with that.  The opposite scenario is much more challenging.  And too often it happens.  The patient actively bleeding or in sickle cell crisis and can't get IV access for blood.  The patient with diabetic ketoacidosis or severe hypernatremia, and can't get IV access for those fluids.  It's hard enough to get access.  But the urgency of the scenario necessitating the need for access only adds to the stress level. 

No two procedure kits are the same.  

I've done plenty of central lines.  Have I ever used the same kit twice?  Not at all.  It always keeps changing.  Same can be said of arterial line kits, lumbar puncture kits, any kit really.  Why is this?  Is there really that much competition between companies over these items?  Or is it the same company and that there is so much technological innovation that the kits change every month?  Sure, we've done enough of these procedures so that we get the hang of it.  Kind of like riding a bike, right?  Well, I can't ride a bike.  And this stuff involves large needles and syringes.  

You will never find what you need in the medicine supply room.  

The medicine supply room is a labyrinth.  Like procedure kits, no two are alike.  The way the medical supplies are organized varies wildly.  Just because you can find gauze in Unit 51, doesn't mean you can find it in the 41-CCU.  And honestly, for us MDs who are rarely in this room anyway, when we do go, why are we even there?  Usually for some sort of urgent or emergent reason.  And there's nothing like being rushed to add to the ease of finding a needle in a haystack.  

You tube it, you lose it.  

So you've collected a blood sample or some cerebrospinal fluid and you want to guarantee that it is misplaced and lost forever?  Use your hospital vacuum tubing system.  I'm convinced that each vacuum tube site within the hospital eventually converges into the middle-earth never to be seen by mankind ever again.  But if you really want to get that sample analyzed, burn the calories, and walk the samples down to the lab yourself!  And yes, the walk will seem like you are entering into the middle-earth!

People call back only when you're already on the phone.  

We all deal with this scenario.  You need to contact two people.  What are the chances they call back at the same time? you think to yourself.  So you page both.  The first one calls you back.  Only when you're already on the phone with the first person and deep into the conversation, that the second person calls you back.  The calls are never sequential.  Why?  I never page two people at once any more; the end result is always the same.  And when you try calling back the second person?  Of course, they never pick up!  I know one colleague who double phones.  I don't have the mental dexterity to do that.

No one understands the code system in their own hospital.  

In each hospital, everyone knows the code equivalent of a patient with a cardiopulmonary arrest; this may be in the form of a Code Blue or Doctor 99.  All the other codes after that?  None of us really know for sure.  A few years ago, during the summer, I heard a Code White overhead.  Snow? I thought.  Later that day, I found out it meant there was a problem with the IT system.  How about when they call a Code Brown overhead?  Yes, we all laugh to ourselves.  Environmental emergency, perhaps?  That could make sense if there was blood spilled on the ground.  Code Black?  I don't even know what that means.  Melena?  On Grey's Anatomy, a Code Black had to do with a bomb.  (Now that I think about it, Code Red should be universal for fire.)  I once heard a Code Green: that meant a patient had eloped.  I didn't figure that out until much later.  By that point, the patient must have escaped for sure.  

Scrubs are gold.  

Scrubs are hard to find, especially for us not regularly in the operating room.  I remember in residency, particular at Grady Memorial Hospital, it was a potpourri of hospital scrubs.  It was like a scrubs convention!  Scrubs from hospitals all over the country!  Scrubs in every color including every possible shade of green and blue!  Some with the hospital names printed on it, others without!  But alas, no two physicians had the same scrubs.  It was mind-boggling.  Yet, how did we each accrue our own rations?  From a surgical rotation in medical school or we knew someone who had access. 

There is never healthy food at a cardiology conference.  

Pizza Hut?  Maybe Chick-Fil-A.  

The computers are both good enough and bad enough.

We are entering a world of increasing dependence on computers, electronic medical record-keeping, and computer order entry.  The complexity of computer-based healthcare delivery systems and the relative lack of IT professionals to keep our computers up-to-date and up-to-speed have led to this unusual state of hospital computers: They're good enough so that they don't need to be replaced, yet they're bad enough so that it makes you cringe and squirm.  The nuances are particularly underscored when you're in a rush or bad mood.  For example, you are paged by a nurse to take care of the patient's discharge paperwork so they can promptly be taken to their nursing home.  When you do medication reconciliation, the computer freezes for a second with each medication you click.  There are twenty medications.  Not terrible in the grand scheme of things.  But in this scenario?  Excruciating.  How about the mouse that kind of works, but sometimes doesn't?  Or the keyboard with the sticky Spacebar key?  Internet Explorer won't load?  Playing the game: Which Computer Can Show CT Scan Images?  Billing system down?  And why aren't we allowed to use Firefox or Google Chrome?  

The ratio of chairs to computers is never 1:1 (or in favor of chairs).

I still have yet to pick my favorite position when posed with a computer sans chair: kneeling versus standing?  Well, where do those chairs go?  Have you ever noticed the relative wealth of chairs in the conference room where the nursing staff has lunch?  Just a thought.

If you're on an overnight call, pack a sleeping bag.  

It seems counter-intuitive that a hospital would have deplorable call rooms for its on-call staff.  These places, if featured in a movie, would have eerie background music.  God knows how old the sheets are or when they were last cleaned or "cleaned."  One of my co-residents was known to bring a sleeping back every time she was on call; very, very smart.  Then the bathrooms: Has anyone ever met any medical person who has showered in a call room bathroom?  They are in worse condition than most bus terminal bathrooms.  Setting foot naked into one of these showers is a setup for infectious disease.  Another observation to note.  At Emory University Hospital Midtown, the call rooms have showers with the floor of the shower at a higher level than the rest of the bathroom or call room, with a downward-slanting ramp.  Think about that for a second.  If you can get past the risk of infection, why then would you shower knowing the water would run towards the main part of the room and away from the drain?  Talk about an immense design flaw.  These bathrooms were created for one reason alone: to remind you to keep your own bathroom in pristine shape.  

Don't drink the water.  

There was an outbreak of Legionella at Grady last year.  Think of all the sick patients condensed into one building.  You can imagine the superbugs infiltrating every inch of the hospital.  Don't drink the water. 

The hospital gift shop can save you in a time of need. 

I'm not talking about sodas or cravings for Doritos.  Last winter, we had the worst snowstorms in Atlanta's history.  I was on service and, like the rest of my colleagues, we were staying at a hotel across the street from the hospital since conditions were too treacherous to go home.  I stayed there for what ended up being three days.  That created a problem.  Not a problem of getting away from the hospital or yearning to be home.  The dilemma?  Underwear.  I packed only two pairs of boxers in my overnight bag!  That's a problem!  Some people I know, including my boss, went home after two days, braving the road conditions, because they, well, ran out of underwear.  I went to the gift shop.  I noticed a crowd of people, staff and non-staff.  They weren't in the snack section or by the soda machines.  I heard someone call out, "Pass me a large!"  They had underwear!  Now, I don't prefer briefs, but on this occasion, I was quite content.  And yes, I stayed that third day.  

Medicine: Things I'd Like to Do with My Pager

- Toss it from the stern of a boat into the deep blue ocean
- Smash it with a shovel
- Drop an anvil on it
- Toss it from the top of Grady Memorial Hospital towards I-85
- Have it pitched to me underhand, so I can swing at it with a baseball bat
- Have it pitched to me overhand, so I can swing at it with an aluminum bat
- Spike it into the ground as hard as humanly possible
- Use it as a puck
- Hide it somewhere in the ER where it can be heard but never found
- Flush it down the toilet
- Call out "Pull," have it tossed into the air, and shoot at it with a rifle
- Back over it with my car
- Back over it with anyone's car
- Melt it with a blowtorch

TV: The Voice

Yes, I'm a fan.

I won't go into too much detail here.  Earlier in the month, Rolling Stone had two great articles on The Voice, "The Idol's Wild Child" and "How The Voice Became a Smash."  I agree with two articles one-hundred percent.  It so happened just three days ago, due to immense laziness, that I was able to watch a bunch of reruns. 

The blind auditions and duet battles are awesome.  The coaches during these episodes are all likeable, hilarious, and really gel as a panel.  Javier's performance of "Time After Time" was a magical moment on TV and is an example of how amazing The Voice can be.  (Adam Levine's reaction during and after the performance were priceless.)  Same could be said for Jeff Jenkins.  Another fantastic moment was the duet battle "Perfect" by Vicci Martinez and Niki Dawson. 

Though it went well, the first live show was not as great as the blind audition and duet battle episodes.  Reasons: subpar performance of a Queen montage by the coaches, the coaches getting lost in immature digs at one another to the point of immense tension, and the confusing format.  The coaches need to get back to the basics (Queen was a stretch for each of them.)  Their show opening of "Crazy" was perfect.  More of that!  I suspect and hope their on-screen live banter will improve and gel once more as the coaches get back to respectful interactions and get used to the format of live TV.  (In particular, Christina has to reel it in.)  

As The Voice grows with each season, the contestant pool should get stronger and more dense.  Hard to say if they, as a group, are better than the current pool of singers at American Idol.  American Idol has the benefit of many successful seasons and a fierce fan base and contestant base. 

Carson Daly?  Really likeable, great even, during the blind audition and battle episodes.  On the first live episode, he became his sterile past self at the mercy of television prompters. 

The Voice has awesome potential.  Hope it grows through these small live episode hiccups.  I'll be watching though.  Especially if we see performances like Dia Frampton's cover of Kanye's "Heartless."  Adam Levine said it was "cool" and "refreshing."  Agreed. 

Music: 06/06/11

Adele's 21 **** - Incredible voice.  Beautiful album.  Can't really think of a better first track on any album than "Rolling in the Deep."  Blake Shelton's Pure BS *** - Enjoyed this album, and not just because of the album's name.  Great songs too.  Brad Paisley's This Is Country Music **** - "Love starts with a toothbrush," he sings on "Toothbrush."  Like the album title proclaims, this is the most country of his albums.  My favorite album of his?  Not quite.  But his musicianship, songwriting, and sense of humor continues to shine.  He just can't do wrong.  The Civil Wars' Barton Hollow **** - Had read about them in Spin.  Heard the comparisons to The Swell Season.  Adele raves about them on her web site.  Finally listened to them.  Loved them.  Simple songs, beautiful voices and harmonies.  "Barton Hollow" rocks.  It really does sound like America's Once soundtrack.  City And Colour's Bring Me Your Love *** Great sound, reminds me of my first listen to Iron & Wine and Bon Iver.  The Drums' The Drums *** I love the song "Let's Go Surfing."  Great album.  Beach Boys meets The Smiths.  Insanely better live.  Ellie Goulding's Lights ** - Shiny pop.  Came across her at Coachella.  The song "Lights" is addictive.  Great potential.  Explosions in the Sky's Take Care, Take Care, Take Care **** - Never cease to impress me.  It's not just beautiful music.  It always makes your insides churn; it stirs emotions.  Might be their best one to date.  The Kills' Blood Pressures **** - "DNA" is f**king additive.  Killer live.  I have a crush on Alison Mosshart.  Low's C'mon **** - This album is moving, lovely, and perfect from beginning to end.  "Especially Me" is wonderful.  Best album of theirs to date.  Maroon 5's Hands All Over **** - Though I couldn't say any song here beats "Makes Me Wonder," as an album this one's superior to their last, because it flows so well from song to song.  It's complete.  "Just A Feeling" is a gem.
 

My Favorite Sunsets (In No Particular Order)

Oia, Santorini

Athens, Greece

Ios & Mykonos, Greece 

Both Santa Monica & Venice Beach, California

Mallory Square and Sunset Pier in Key West, Florida

The Signature Room of the Hancock building in Chicago, Illinois

Stern of a cruise ship sailing down the Alaskan coast towards Vancouver

The bar at Ladera in Soufriere, Saint Lucia

Sunset cruise in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Anywhere in Honolulu, Hawaii

The Grand Canyon after a thunderstorm

My accidental wedding proposal on a beach near St. Petersburg 

Sedona, Arizona

U.S. Route 101 on the Oregon Coast

Isla di Vieques off of Puerto Rico

Dom & Rochelle's Wedding in Boston Harbor
Lido Key in Florida
 

Books: The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea **** - I finished this book in two sittings.  I started reading it in Mallory Square during sunset in Key West.  I found a copy of this book at a local bookstore only a few blocks away from Hemingway's old house in Key West.  This was a page-turner for me.  I read the final eighty pages (the second sitting) from the comfort of my room.  I really loved this book.  I was heavily invested in his battle with the big fish.  I shared his sadness as he made his journey home.  I'm sure you can make parallels of this story, to Jesus Christ and the Bible or to his own literary career.  I'll leave that to the professionals.  I can tell you I really enjoyed this story.  His writing is simple but powerful.  The themes and characters would have been fun to dissect in an English class.  That made me wonder: Was I never required to read any Hemingway in an English class?  I thought long and hard and I realized that The Old Man and the Sea is my first reading of a Hemingway piece.  This upset me.  I went back to the local bookstore.  I bought a copy of A Farewell to Arms. 

Books: Desert Solitaire

Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire **** - I remember before I had left Arches National Park I had added this book to my list.  I don't remember how I learned about the book.  No matter.  I loved Arches National Park.  So did Edward Abbey.  And this was before the implantation of roads and other improvements to make it more tourist friendly to the American public.  This book is a love letter to the undisturbed, pre-commercialism Arches.  He didn't visit; he lived there.  As a ranger for the park service.  For six months.  It was published in 1968.  His book is a collection of detailed descriptions and experiences, of what he saw and didn't see, of being alone but not loneliness, of those big existential life questions, of the Big Brother that he saw as the American government.  He writes beautifully.  He is honest and blunt.  He has a great sense of humor ("So I lived alone.  The first thing I did was take off my pants.  Naturally.")  Like Abbey, I hiked to Delicate Arch.  I couldn't put into words what I saw; Abbey does.  In fact, he beautifully captures the thoughts and emotions of that experience.  And because I shared that experience with him, it made the entire reading of this book that much more wonderful.  He discusses everything, including local folklore and the finding of a dead man.  We will never get to experience the American southwest like he did.  He immersed himself, took off his pants, and let it be, whether it was floating down the Colorado on an inflatable boat or hiking through the La Sal Mountains.  In that respect then, this was not only a love letter to the American southwest but also a protest against the American government.  This book is over 40 years old.  He predicts what happens to Arches and the national forests (and he's right).  In a way it is sad.  You have to thank him for writing this "elegy" or "memorial" as he calls it as we'll never experience the wilderness like he did. It was a rare book for me: it didn't read as a book but as if Abbey himself was talking to me.  His message remains pertinent and powerful and I heard it loud and clear.

    

Food: Blue Heaven

Blue Heaven *** (Key West, FL) - If there's any place that has the look and feel of Key West, it's Blue Heaven.  It's tucked away just behind Duval Street.  You enter through a blue gate and find yourself in a tropical backyard that's simply furnished with patio furniture and waiters and waitresses who wear sneakers.  This seems to be a favorite for hangover cures but also the locals: one of the waiters said there's been a couple coming there every day for what seems like a decade.  My breakfast: a lobster, bacon, and Swiss cheese omelet with homemade toast.  This omelet was the size of a brick.  I finished it though and it sat like a brick.  I ordered it because the waitress loved it and, well, I'd never had lobster for breakfast: original and pretty darn good.  Would I come back?  Most definitely.  This place is unique with good food.  Add to the experience the chickens and roosters freely roaming the backyard, which makes you wonder about the origin of the eggs.  But I digress.  (Addendum 06/07/11: Didn't realize this, but Ernest Hemingway back in the day, when Blue Heaven was a saloon, used to referee boxing matches here.)

Food: Sunset Pier

Sunset Pier *** (Key West, FL) - If you're looking for a place to watch the sunset and grab a bite or a drink, this would be one of my top recommendations.  The beer selection is limited, the mixed drink list is slightly better, and the food is what you'd expect for bar food.  Sure they have things like conch fritters and Cuban sandwiches, but again, they're of the quality you'd expect for bar food.  But then there's the rest of it: a great atmosphere, a great view of the water and Sunset Key, a great breeze, with young and old alike there really to snag a front-row seat for a fantastic sunset.  Those things matter.  Go for sunset.  Don't go only for the food.  And don't forget to stop by Mallory Square.

Food: El Siboney

El Siboney **** (Key West, FL) - This place is bit removed from the touristy sector of Key West.  It is filled mostly with locals and with reason.  I ordered the Cuban sandwich, yellow rice, and plantains: delicious!  Service is fast, no fuss, and the turnover is even faster.  Cheap too!  Now I haven't been to Cuba.  I know what I like though, and this place is definitely the best Cuban food I've had in memory.  Key West is 90 miles away from Cuba.  It's so close you can taste it.  Literally.

Food: Marker 88

Marker 88 * (Islamorada, FL) - The two best things about this place are the name and the view (and I bet the latter is amazing at sunset.)  I had the conch chowder which was only okay and the fish sandwich, which they advertise is the best on the islands, but was excessively bland.  It was cooked to tastelessness.  It's no coincidence that I write about this after my review on Pierre's (i.e. non-chronologically).  The fantastic experience at Pierre's made Marker 88 quite forgetful. 

Food: Pierre's

Pierre's Restaurant **** (Islamorada, FL) - I want to meet Pierre.  What Edith's Restaurant is to Cabo, Pierre's is to Islamorada and possibly all of Key West.  This was memorable from beginning to end.  Shall I walk you through it?  I turn into the parking lot and am greeted there by a pretty girl in a yellow dress, showing me where to park.  I see the place is filling with a large group of people who all appear to know one another - a wedding party? a rehearsal dinner? did the wedding already happen? - I can't really tell.  I opt for the bar.  Online, they had a separate bar menu.  There, in person, I have an augmented selection: bar menu and regular menu.  I decide to order from the regular menu.  Because of that, they relocate me; they figure I'll be more comfortable at one of the nice tables by the window.  I sit on a sofa.  They bring out my appetizer: House-Made Lamb Ravioli with Brunoise Vegetables, Wilted Brussel Leaves, and Creamy Lamb Jus.  Superb.  With each bite, I feel my eyes roll into the back of my head; I savor every flavor of every bite.  Next, my entree: Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Wild Mushroom Orzo and Haricot Vert with Roasted Onion & Bacon Emulsion.  Again, superb.  The first bite of scallop instantaneously reminds me of the scallops at Canoe, my favorite restaurant in Atlanta.  To think, the bacon is the least delicious item on that plate (but yes, it is still delicious).  It becomes a fine line between devouring and enjoying.  They ask me if I want anything else.  I tell them I want a mango mojito and ask if I can read my book outside on their porch and watch the sunset.  They oblige.  (How often can you even make such a request?!)  I exit, turn left, and find a comfortable lounge chair on the porch, with a view of the beach, palm trees, and the bay.  The sun starts its descent.  It is 7:15 PM.  Next door, at a bar under the same ownership as Pierre's, an acoustic guitar player sings "Sweet Baby James."  Pierre's continues to fill.  A wedding party, for sure.  Next a birthday party.  Everyone takes pictures.  I don't mind, not at all.  This is special.  I feel like I'm at someone's summer home, celebrating.  I finish my book, finish my mojito.  I watch the sunset.  The clouds shatter the light and make a beautiful sunset even more dramatic.  I take a short stroll in the sand.  I go back inside to settle my tab.  The bartender asks me how my night was.  I think about what the girl who sat next to me outside on the porch said, a total stranger, only fifteen minutes before: "Can you ask for anything more?"  Nope, I certainly can't.

Sunset from the porch at Pierre's

Food: Nikai

Nikai ** (Islamorada, FL) - I couldn't say no to Nikai at Cheeca Lodge.  There are many restaurants at Cheeca Lodge, but the fact of the matter is that last night I didn't want to leave the property and I was in the mood for sushi.  Simple.  Great service.  I ordered the bonsai: fried soft shell crab and avocado roll topped with spicy tuna, chipotle sweet soy sauce, and fried green onions.  This hit the spot.  The roll was sufficient that I was glad I didn't order an appetizer, another roll, or dessert.  Too bad this isn't open for lunch tomorrow.  I'd go again. 

Food: Jimmy'z Kitchen

Jimmy's Kitchen *** (Miami, FL) - My brother showed me a clip of Guy Fieri eating mofongo at Benny's Seafood in Miami; this was the best thing he ever ate.  As I did more research, and even peaked into the blogs of fans of Guy Fieri, it seemed unanimous that the best mofongo in Miami wasn't at Benny's; it was at Jimmy'z Kitchen.  In fact, the strongest supporters of this claim were Puerto Ricans or Cubans.  I landed at the airport in Fort Lauderdale; within an hour I was at Jimmy'z Kitchen.  To start, let me get the bad stuff out of the way.  This might have been the most expensive lunch I've had in recent memory, at just over $20.  But yes, it was absolutely delicious!  I ordered the seafood mofongo, which appeared to be a staff favorite.  It was brought out to me piping hot.  Seafood everywhere!  (People everywhere; this place was packed to the brim!)  The plantain-based, gravity-defying structure was massive but crumbled on the slightest contact with my fork.  Awesome!  I was in Puerto Rico about two years ago.  Though we weren't on a mofongo run per se, I did eat it quite a bit, particularly in Old San Juan.  Jimmy'z is at least on par with the mofongo I had there.  I'll defer to the Puerto Ricans and Cubans who live in Miami.  But now the dilemma: should I try Benny's now?

Food: Abattoir

Abattoir *** (Atlanta, GA) - These are the best chicharones I've ever had.  In fact, I ordered the chicharones twice!  TWICE!  It was a laid-back fine dining experience, if such a thing is possible (the waiters wore jeans).  And another nice thing: there was space!  The delicious charcuterie and platter of cheeses was laid out as we approached the table.  Veal sweetbread?  Yum!  Blood sausage?  Delicious!  The restaurant is aptly named.  The cowboy steak, Wagyu flat iron, the burger, rabbit; everyone was pleased with their dish.  Add to that, a hypomanic and hilarious waiter still mourning Manchester United's defeat to Barcelona (he showed us his Manchester United tattoo), and it was a fantastic experience.  I forgot to mention dessert.  Again, a sampler platter did the trick as we were wildly undecided.  My favorite: the bacon cookie.  That's right!  A bacon cookie.  No overt baconness though.  It was a pretty simple butter cookie with the smell of bacon.  Down right brilliant!  Is it worth while going just for the chicharones and bacon cookie and omit the entree?  To be honest, I'm seriously thinking of doing exactly that and very, very soon ...

Trips: SHM 2011 in Dallas

May 10-14, 2011

Hooray, Dallas.  Okay, okay.  Not necessarily my favorite city.  Plus, during medical school, I interviewed here so I had done a few things: visit the Sixth Floor Museum and catch a Stars game (versus Sidney Crosby and the Penguins no less).  I even trekked to The Stockyards in Fort Worth and caught a rodeo.  But it worked out for the best.  After a week in New Orleans and Utah, I was about ready to take it easy.  The Gaylord Texan, the hotel where I stayed, is built for achieving relaxation. 

I did nothing.  Or next to nothing.  Sure, I attended a few conferences here and there.  Sure, we had a few dinners here are there (see food reviews below).  But what I enjoyed the most, outside of reuniting with some friends and co-workers, was the ability to sleep in.  That was glorious.  

I landed at Dallas Fort Worth airport and my first order of business was ... to get a haircut.  That's the second sign I knew my travels were perhaps too frequent.  (The first sign was mailing a Mother's Day card from Las Vegas about one week prior.)  I got a haircut.  I went to Supercuts.  And much in the same way I still am amazed that a Chicken McNugget tastes the same anywhere in the world, so too did I react when I got my same haircut as I usually do in Atlanta. 

I thought the Gaylord Hotel from SHM 2010 in DC was huge.  But of course, that means huge becomes huger in Texas.  The Gaylord Texan was humongous.  This was fine by me.  I planned to take it easy.  After I checked in, I did the natural thing: order room service.  I ordered the burger.  Yes, it hit the spot.  

Everything about this hotel is over-sized: the room (but lacking a microwave though), the number of rooms, the number of restaurants, the pools, the shopping inside the hotel, you name it.  It was necessary though; there's not much else to do in this part of Texas.

I was supposed to go the Rangers game that first night.  But with the threat of rain and my general laziness, I passed on the idea.  Later on, I learned that Dan went alone to that same game and had a blast.  Maybe the free upgrade helped!  

I did set aside one day for exploration: I had breakfast at All Good Cafe (see food review below), visited the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center, and watched the Rangers beat up the Angels 4-1 in a heavily underrated ballpark.  (Plus, the seats behind home plate certainly helped!)  But one day is all I needed.  (By the way, Cowboy Stadium is HUGE!)

I am definitely more excited for SHM 2012 in San Diego.

Zeppole * (Grapevine, TX) - A good dinner.  I didn't expect life-changing Italian food from Texas.  But alas, the focus was catching up with Kristin, Ketino, and Regina.

Old Hickory Steakhouse ** (Grapevine, TX) - Fifty of us from Emory Healthcare showed up to this dinner.  It was great to catch up everything, in particular my classmates who I hadn't seen in a little while, including Anna, Eva, and Christina.  My mission was to finish the steak.  I think it was good.  I actually don't remember.  Outside of catching up, one of my favorite moments was being tapped on the shoulder by Jason Stein: "I was told to ask you what your favorite burger places are in Atlanta."  Such is my reputation.  

Texan Station *** (Grapevine, TX) - When you're in Texas, stick with BBQ.  That beef brisket was awesome; I had the recommendation of my boss.  Didn't disappoint. 

Hard Eight BBQ *** (Grapevine, TX) - Is it me or does no one do BBQ sausage better than in Texas?  My boss had a craving for Texas BBQ since we were in Texas.  Mags, Dan, and I were chauffeurs.  The group: Val, Eva, Christina, Sreedhar, Mags, Dan, and I.  The guys became giddy as we looked at the menu and you could order only by pounds and half pounds.  At one point, I had a platter with a pound each of brisket, ribs, and sausage in front of me.  Eva and Christina, knowing my dietary habits, urged me to finish the platter.  I didn't.  The ribs were good.  The sausage was excellent.  The brisket was okay, a bit dry and not as tender as expected.  The leftovers were delicious the next morning.  The food and company?  A definite blast.  

All Good Cafe * (Dallas, TX) - I came across this place on the Travel Channel.  Maybe it was the Food Channel.  It raved about the bacon here.  Now, I think it's hard to get bacon wrong.  They got the bacon wrong here.  Overpeppered and overcooked.  It was pretty unpleasant actually.  Thoroughly unimpressed. 

Trips: Arches National Park III (Delicate Arch)

In progress ...

Trips: Arches National Park II (Devil's Garden)

In progress ...

Trips: Arches National Park I (Arrival)

In progress ...