Pandora

"Familiarity breeds contempt" should be the theme of Pandora Radio. Because Meg and I don't have much disposable income and because I think spending $15-20 on a CD is a bit much, I often get tired of listening to the same songs over and over again on my iTunes. To illustrate, I have one song that I've listened to 232 times! Now, most people don't sit in front of their computer, listen to music, and study for hours on end a day like me but really, 232 is a little much. What's more, I'll most likely increase that number today. But, alas, I found a solace from the doldrums of my music collection in Pandora's box of goodies.

Pandora.com is website where you the listener can be your own DJ, sort of. You don't even have to create an account (although you can for free), all you have to do is type in one of your favorite artists or songs in the home page text box and it will create a station tailored to that specific genre. What's even better is that as they play the music you can give the songs a thumbs up or down and it will reconfigure to play stuff more in line with your tastes. It's perfect for those like myself who are disgruntled at commercialism and the utter lack of taste on regular radio and who don't want to spend $15 a month on new CDs or Sirius radio. I just wanted to give a shout out to one of the things that makes med school life, and for that matter work life, much more doable.

I Love Vacation

I'm in Memphis right now drinking some good Pinot Grigio and waiting on a great meal made by Mrs. Johnson. Meg and I have spent this week with Dr. Ethelyn Smith in Senatobia, MS and it was great. We watched movies, told a lot of stories, learned about what it was like to live in Mississippi from the 1920s until now, read some, looked at old pictures from the beginning of the 20th century, read civil war letters (wow!), mowed some grass (I love being outside), went to the lake with Louis and Emily and others, and much more. I really enjoyed getting to see how full of life and energy Ethelyn is. She's 87 years old and she still mows her lawn, takes care of ailing friends, talks to almost everyone in the grocery store, and I'm pretty sure she still accomplishes a lot more in one day than I do.

Ethelyn also gave us some old tyme books to take home and read. I acquired a Bible that was published in the late 1800s that had a lock of hair in it as well as Sunday school lessons from the deceased owner. In addition to the collectibles, I also read My Dog Skip. Oh man, what a great story. If you haven't read it and you are a sucker for the nostalgic or you think that this world could use a little more idealism or you just like books by Mark Twain, then you should read it. It's a coming of age/adventure story about a boy and his dog who grow up in Mississippi in the 40s and Senatobia was a perfect setting to read it in. I thought about my dog Jackie Sue who was a Jack Russell terrier who we had from my 7th grade year until April of this year and I fondly remembered the days of my youth.

Well, I'm still on vacation and the chlorine from the pool is still pungent in my nose and I want to fix that before dinner so good night and don't forget to take a vacation, if you do it right it heals both body and mind.