It's Official!

Gina's a doctor!

She finished the last of two graduations today. The first, on Saturday, was JABSOM only, a more intimate but less official affair. Each graduate got to have a few words of thanks read by the moderator while they were presented with a maile lei, which I got to present for Gina. Later that evening, she and bridesmaid/Dirty Golden Bear Priscilla (yes, a Weenie infiltrated the wedding party) co-won the Dr. Tom Excellence in Geriatric Medicine Award, presented to the student demonstrating the most commitment to Geriatric Medicine! Bridesmaid Lauren won the equivalent award for Family Medicine, and bridesmaid Sherrie won the award for Emergency Medicine! The wedding party superfecta! Afterwards, classmates buried each other in leis, and then we went to dinner with family and friends to celebrate.



Today was Part II, the official cap and gown/diploma graduation with the rest of the UH graduate students. A less personal affair, but with all rights and responsibilities conferred, thus making Gina an official doctor. She got the cool colored hood, and I must admit, I was jealous. I'll get mine in two years, and it'll be purple, which will make her really jealous. :) Afterwards, her family and friends buried her in leis once again, and once again we went out to celebrate.



Congratulations, G! I'm proud of you!

Dr.

For a while now, Gina has been working on a paper about the association between low systolic blood pressure (SBP) and specific types of cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients. Basically, looking at whether low SBP is bad for stuff like dementia and Alzheimer's.

As first author, she recently got to present it at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Geriatrics Association in Washington, DC, and she received the AGS Clinical Student Research Award for the best paper in its category!

She also got quoted throughout this article about her paper (direct link doesn't work, but it works fine through Google, the magical indirect infringer of copyright).

And now it's finally her graduation weekend! Deep breath... what a month.

2L

I'm officially done with my first year of law school! What a ride it has been. I think the trauma of starting all over again after four very comfortable years at Google, in combination with the accumulated toll of four tough years of long distance and the isolation of living on my own for the first time in BFE, challenged me in ways for which I probably wasn't fully prepared. Probably not the most well-timed life change, but now that I'm through the hardest part, I feel like I'm better for it.

Mostly, I've made some good friends and found a little more direction in life, though the latter is still a work in progress. I've also enjoyed the curriculum, though I could do without the finals. What a drain. They mostly consist of three to four hours of non-stop typing of legal standards and arguments applied to a two to three page "issue spotter" full of ridiculous legal scenarios about Adam repudiating a contract with Beatrice, who negligently ran over Chris while he was using his easement on Denise's property, which was adversely possessed from Eric while he was in jail for a conspiracy with Frank to kidnap Gertrude, whose copyright on a book may or may not be about to expire.

Now I get to relax for the night. Tomorrow I pack for the movers. Onto Fremont!

By the way, took a study break with Steve and Chris the other night to watch Iron Man. Three enthusiastic thumbs up!

One Down

Two to go. I really want to go see Iron Man now, but I'm drained from this morning, and I already have my next one on Thursday. Couldn't see it opening weekend because I was busy learning about easements and adverse possession.

Alan said he loved it, despite having high expectations going in, and Drew gave it an enthusiastic . It's 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with plenty of props for the writers!

I got the keys to the new place this Saturday and moved some of the non-essentials, which should hopefully make the real move easier. Have I mentioned that I hate moving? But I'm looking forward to being closer to the Peninsula again. And with a wife to boot!

My one avenue for fun these days is CentSports, a site that gives you a free dime to gamble on sports, with another dime always waiting for you when you lose it all, and bonus multipliers on your winnings if you view their banner ads. I'm up to $1.57, but I have most of it riding on a German soccer match tomorrow. Never thought I'd follow the Bundesliga so closely. If you're interested, let me know and I'll refer you (which means I get bonuses when you win!).

Time to relearn patents and copyrights. If you have any inventions or literary works in the pipeline, three more days and I'm your guy.