Christmas

We got quite a bit of unexpected snow for Christmas in Denver. I had Christmas dinner with Joan and Ellen. Joan and I then worked off our dinner by shoveling the snow in the driveway - it was about 8 inches deep!

Christmas Eve

Joan, Ellen and I saw White Christmas at the Denver Center for Performing Arts on Christmas Eve. We then had dinner at Restaurant Kevin Taylor which is ranked "flawless" in my Gabby Gourmet Restaurant Guide. I had the four course tasting menu including Pumpkin and Mascarpone Ravioli, Chilled Main Lobster Salad, Kobe beef and Creme Brulee for dessert. It was excellent.

Where will I be in July 08?

And the answer is....

The Children's Hospital in Denver.




It surprised me in the end. I had this interview on Friday and absolutely loved it. It was what I was looking for all along.

Detroit, Chapel Hill, stuck in Chicago and an elevator

On Monday I flew to Detroit to interview with Trinity Health. I was interviewing for 3 different locations within their system (Livionia, Pontiac MI and Columbus, OH). On Wed I had an offer for the Livonia location, unfortunately this fellowship system is like "Deal or No Deal" and you have to make a decision within a few days. They wanted an answer by the following Monday. On Thursday I flew to Chapel Hill to interview with UNC Hospitals. I had to beat out 100 other applicants just for the opportunity. I interviewed with 9 people on Friday. They aren't finished interviewing until next week. I had a layover in Chicago...they cancelled my flight. United put me up in a hotel for the night but wouldn't give us our checked bags. I made it back to Denver by Saturday. To top it all off, I briefly got stuck in an elevator in the Denver airport.
FYI: Trying to pry the doors open doesn't work.

30

Oh yes, today I turned 30. Not much of a celebration. I flew from Houston to Atlanta to spend my fall break at home. I'm completely overwhelmed with interviewing, school and work, so no time to worry about 30.

Tara's Wedding

My cousin Tara was married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Houston.

Houston Space Center

Prior to Tara's wedding, we took a trip to the Houston Space Center. The tour included checking out mission control and the building where astronauts train (see pic).

Where will I be in July 08?

I'm applying to Health Administration Fellowships this month. They are 1 to 2 yr positions. You usually report to a senior level executive and get to rotate to different areas of a health system or hospital. They are highly competitive. Usually 50-100 or more applicants for 1 job per hospital. I don't have a good feel for how competitive I am compared to other applicants. Originally I was thinking I'd apply to 10 places but got scared by classmates to apply to more. They have phone interviews in Nov, then on-site in Nov/Dec, so I'll keep the blog updated on my progress. Hopefully there is some progress. Here's the final list in no particular order.
If none of these work out, the answer to "where will I be in July 08" is TBD.

Current List:
Trinity Health: MI/OH
UNC Hospitals: Chapel Hill, NC
The Children's Hospital: Denver, CO

Emory Healthcare: Atlanta, GA
Pitt County Memorial Hospital: Greenville, NC

Pennsylvania Hospital: Philadelphia, PA

First Snow

Like I said...always once before Halloween. Yesterday the high was in the low 70s.

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are going to the World Series. This is very hard to believe. I went to a few games in 2005 and 2006, none this year. The games I went to I felt bad for them because the stadium was so empty. They did win the games though, so they weren't that terrible. I can't get into the craziness of the city because I've seen it all before. It all too reminiscent of Atlanta in the early 90's when half of my middle-school skipped class to go to a parade downtown when the Braves didn't win the World Series. And now my graduate school classmates are making jokes about requesting to get out of classes to see the games.

In each of the past 2 years, it has snowed here once before Halloween. It's snows, then several days later gets back to 70 or 80. We are getting close to that time. I'm wondering if they are going to have to call off a game due to snow. I do like the Rockies' color though - purple. That's a team I can root for. As you can tell - not that big of baseball fan but still hoping the Rockies win.

Children's Hospital Foundation Gala

I went to my first Gala with my aunt Joan. It was to raise money for the Children's Hospital in Denver. It was a very fancy affair where most women were in ball gowns and men in tuxes. It was held at the Hyatt Regency hotel downtown. They had a silent auction, dinner, then a live-auction and finally "Earth, Wind and Fire". For those of you that are my age...it was before our time. At least 3 members of the original band were performing. I've posted the one song that I recognized (actually a very good song). It's not too often that I have a chance to dress up, so it was fun for a change.

Celebrity Sighting

Twice now I've got out to dinner with Suzanne in NYC and had a celebrity sighting. This one was at a restaurant we walked to from her place, Ottomanelli's NY Grill. We got there early and it's a really tiny restaurant that only seats around 30 people. It was us, a family and the celebrity in there when we first arrived. I recognized her immediately, but couldn't figure out what movie or TV show I knew her from. Suzanne remembered it was "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". I should have known since I own the movie and can even quote some of her lines. It was Celia Weston. She plays Matthew McConaughey's mother in the movie. She was eating alone and reading a script through dinner. She must live in the area since Suzanne mentioned she's seen her before.
We then walked to Central Park and watched the sunset over the reservoir.

Brooklyn Heights

Suzanne and I went to visit Ryan and Jess in their new apartment in Brooklyn Heights.

The Pick-Up Artist

There is this ridiculous new show on VH1 called "The Pick-Up Artist". I saw a few clips of the first episode. It's a reality show where this guy who calls himself "Mystery" is looking to find his next sidekick to help with his workshops across the country. The workshops are for men to learn the "pick-up artist" skills. This is also related to that book called "The Game" published a few years ago. Now that there's a TV show and a book, pretty soon the majority of women are going to catch on to when men are following their steps to pick-up women. It's really all based on psychology and that the majority of people respond a certain way in a situation. Once you know the right thing to say, you can lead someone down a certain path of conversation and interaction. I find the psychology part of it fascinating. I was in NYC for Labor Day weekend and Suzanne and I went out to 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar/club. I told Suzanne I was hoping someone would come up to us and try the pickup method. We met a friend of Suzanne's and her brother at the bar. After about half an hour or so a group approached us with the method. It was all I could do to not make any smart remarks back. I actually was curious to see how many phases of the method this guy attempted.
First step: The initial approach was some ridiculous story that this guy "wanted our opinion on". He didn't do the best job...Mystery would have told him his story was way too long. I wanted to hear him attempt the next steps though unfortunately I could not hear it. There were 2 other guys that came up with the story teller who had only met him briefly before the 3 approached us. Suzanne and I were soon part of a different conversation with these other 2. Then after a few minutes we figured out they had graduated from GT. Well, then it was all talk of the school days. Finally we all headed home. I actually think the first part of the "mystery method" worked because it did split our group up which is one of the goals. Since I rarely go to bars/clubs, I found the whole thing very entertaining, like a social experiment in psychology.

Secret Purse Closet

Suzanne and I spent the day shopping in NYC. One of last stops was a purse store that I believe sold what were supposed to resemble designer purses. Suzanne had been there before when other visitors were in town. It's a really small store about 8 ft x 10 ft. The stuff in the store is pretty terrible and cheap looking. You have to ask to see the good stuff. Suzanne discretely asked the clerk, then before you know it, she leads us to the back wall of the store which is covered in hanging purses. She pushes a small door open revealing a closet size room with purses covering all the walls. We stepped in, then she closed the door behind us. It was all very secretive like a speakeasy. This secret underground black market for purses...who knew.

Back to School

It's time for a rough semester. I'm taking 5 classes and reducing my work schedule to closer to 20 hours so that I can graduate in the spring.
This fall I'm taking:
Marketing Management
Financial Management
Healthcare Financial Management
International Health
Quality and Productivity

I'll also be applying for a Health Administrative Residency/Fellowship. It I get one of these positions, I'll start it in June 2008. It is usually a one year program where you are precepted by a CEO or executive level person.

Red Rocks Movie Night

I love seeing movies at Red Rocks. My goal was to make it to at least one this summer. I went to see Wedding Crashers. I had already seen the movie, but it is just more fun at Red Rocks. Before the movie started, they performed an actual wedding. This way the audience was all "wedding crashers". Yes, very cheesy. I know lots of cities have places to view movies outdoors in the summer. I think Red Rocks is probably one of the best.

Central City Opera

Ellen, Joan and I went to the Central City Opera to see Cinderella. It was the 75th anniversary of the CC opera. The performances occur in the opera house built in 1878 during the gold mining era. Before the opera starts the ushers group up outside and start singing a song as they march into the opera house. It was very amusing.

We then ate at the Face Bar in the Teller House. It's a cute mountain town less than an hour from Denver.

CSO Concert in the Park

Once again it was that time of year to see the Colorado Symphony Orchestra summer concert in the park. Megan packed an excellent picnic as usual for me, herself and Stephen to enjoy.

The menu included:
Champagne, White wine
tomato and mozzarella caprese salad
blueberries
bread and boursin cheese
chicken salad
shrimp cocktail
gourmet chocolates, Pepperidge Farm cookies

The CSO performed:
Rossini's "Overture to Semiramide"
Bizet "Symphony in C"

Unfortunately it was rained out after these two pieces. The good news is that we had finished the picnic!

Harry Potter

Don't worry, no spoilers, but I felt like I should do a blog entry on the final book. I thought it was great. I love that the characters visited many of the locations from previous books. It will make for a good, but perhaps long movie. I actually went Friday night at midnight to get a copy. I haven't done this in the past but thought for the last book I should. I ended up in line at the grocery store at 11:55pm. The line was the entire length of the cereal aisle. I was about halfway down the line. When I got to the front of the line, I checked back again and it was still the entire length of the cereal aisle. I guess that's not surprising since over 8 million copies sold in the US in the first 24 hours. When I think about how many words J.K Rowling made up when she wrote the series - it's very creative yet the story is somewhat simple. I wish I could have thought of it, and then I'd be a billion dollars richer. And yes...I was finished with it by 8:45 am on Saturday. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would stay up all night reading. It's fun to do every once in awhile.

Fur Elise Slightly Different

I found this on YouTube awhile back. How awesome are these guys?

It's so pretty.

The piano has arrvied, and I love it.

Flowers Update

My last post about planting flowers was on May 27th. It's been about a month and a half now - time to check in on that survival of the fittest theory. The boxes of flowers are doing really well. You can compare this picture to the one I took on May 27th. It's the same flower box just turned around.

Not all of the plants have been so lucky. You can see in the pot on the left here that one of them got a little too toasty in the sun. I tried Miracle Grow, but I couldn't revive it.

Critical Condition

I recently read "Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business & Bad Medicine" by Barlett and Steele. The book covered all the problems that you hear about in the news these days - medical errors, expensive drug costs, insurance claims, etc. Mostly though it focused on how market-driven health care is not working.

The last chapter offered a solution which we hear about often from politics - universal coverage run by a government council. Supposedly we could pay for this by standardization and "efficient computer technology". I loved this sentence: "To reduce medical errors dramatically, the council could oversee creation and operation of a single information technology system that links all health care players - hospitals, doctors' offices, pharmacies and nursing homes." Right (sense my sarcasm)... Currently there are RHIOs (Regional Health Information Organizations) working on this. Usually this means a couple of states are trying to coordinate their IT efforts. This is also a huge debate. I heard speakers last semester that were eagerly working on the Rocky Mtn region's RHIO, then I heard another speaker talk of how it is a waste of time because there are too many objectives and no incentive for any one organization to pay for it. I don't necessarily think gov't run universal coverage is a bad idea, but it is much more complicated then these authors led on; they are also very naive regarding IT systems.

The big health care debate is always summed up by considering access, cost and quality. One of the most interesting speakers I heard last semester said that all other countries have picked one of these as their main objective and that the US system won't improve until we decide what is our priority. Michael Moore recently released his new documentary on the health care system. I haven't seen it but have heard he focuses on how supposedly other countries have gotten it right - Canada, France, England and Cuba. From what I can tell - they've all chosen "access". However access may mean you're guaranteed coverage but go stand in line and wait for it.

Digital Piano

I was determined to buy a digital piano this weekend. I realized recently how much I missed playing, and I think it's a better use of my time then coming home from work and sitting in front of the TV. I went to 3 different stores in Denver to try the various brands. My favorite was a Roland HP-207 at Rockley Music Center. The difference was that the keys on that model of the Roland were made of wood. And the material they use on top of the wood is moisture absorbing. It felt more like a real piano. Plus they modeled the outside to look more like a real piano. You can have an orchestra accompany you. It is so sophisticated I think someone could not know how to play a piano and still sound good on it. If you click on the link to the piano, they have video demonstrating the features. It's amazing where technology has taken music.

I am ultimately going to buy an acoustic piano, but for now I'm sure my neighbors will appreciate that I can wear headphones and play.

The Art of Clear Thinking

A speaker in a class this past semester, Jeffrey Bauer from ACS – Healthcare Solutions recommended the book "The Art of Clear Thinking" by Rudolf Flesch written in 1951. He said it was the best book written on critical thinking.

Some interesting points from the book:
1. All thinking is the manipulation of memories. Even 'inspirations' are based on your experiences and nothing else. Don't forget that everybody, including yourself, has only his own experience to think with.
2. Your memories are more or less distorted. Your brain registers experience differently from everybody else's.
3. Translation helps your thinking because you use two sets of nerve patterns instead of one. This includes translation of English into other words.

Translating is the ideal form of intellectual exercise. Whenever we translate, we are forced to abandon the mental patterns we are used to and get the hang of others completely alien to our thinking.

Wedding Celebration

I attended Kerri and Travis' wedding celebration. They got married in Mexico over a month ago. The lunch was held at the Mt. Vernon Country Club which is near lookout mountain.

Business School Dinner

I was invited to attend CU-Denver Business school's Celebration of Success dinner. It's the annual fundraising event for student scholarships and faculty fellowships. Around 1,000 people from local businesses bought seats. I was invited because I've received a scholarship in the past. I was impressed. It was held in a ballroom at the Performing Arts Complex. I had no idea the business school had support from so many Denver businesses. Each year they invite a speaker. In the past, speakers have included Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mikhail Gorbachev. This year it was the former US Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich.

Flowers

I decided to try and plant flowers on my patio this summer. Hopefully to cover up my view of the construction they're doing next door.
I don't know anything about gardening; my only experience is planting flowers during volunteer activities. I'm pretty sure I planted everything too close together. I'm considering it survival of the fittest, whichever plants get biggest get all the water. I planted Begonias (white and pink), Impatiens (red) and Bugleweed (blue flowers).

Edgar Meyer

I attended a Colorado Symphony Orchestra concert. The guest soloist was Edgar Meyer. I had not seen him perform since 1993, when I spent the summer in the small town of Sewanee, Tennessee for the Sewanee Music Festival. I've seen a lot of soloists over the years at music camps, and I don't remember the name of a single one of them except for Edgar. I think it's for 2 reasons. One, bass is an unusual soloist instrument and two, he's just that good. He performed a concerto he composed himself with a percussion instrument him and a friend invented made of PVC pipe.

The CSO also performed my favorite piece - Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin.

Another reason I like Denver: I woke up at 6:30pm from a nap, took a shower and still made it downtown in time for the 7:30 show that I only had to pay $5 for a student ticket and had an excellent seat.

Another Note: Speaking of Sewanee, it inspired me to look up my old clarinet teacher, Bruce Dinkins (who was also a conductor at Sewanee). While I was in highschool he had moved from Georgia to South Carolina to be the conductor at Irmo High school. In college I met a girl that had gone to the highschool and knew him. Looks like he has moved on to a high school in Austin, Texas but is still conducting some in the summer at Sewanee. I remember that he would wander through his house during my lesson, but I never doubted for a second that he was listening because then he would holler like a drill sergeant from another room with corrections. At Sewanee in the cafeteria, he put his finger in my brownie and then asked "don't you hate it when people put their fingers in your food?". Interesting sense of humor but definitely one of the best clarinet teachers I ever had.

California Trip

We started the trip in San Francisco. On the way to the wine country we stopped at Muir Woods. Here's the family walking around the park.

The Wine Country was awesome. We visited both Napa and Sonoma. This picture is from Heitz. We also stopped at Beringer, Hall, V Sattui, Gundlach Bundschu, Buena Vista and Gloria Ferrer.

We went to Yosemite National Park. It was very picturesque.

Graduation

It's official. Nins is a doctor. The best part of graduation was that cap.

Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)

Megan and I went to Verdi's opera "Un Ballo In Maschera". It's the story of King Gustav and his friendship with Anckarström. Their friendship is put to the test when a love triangle surfaces before the famed masquerade ball. It takes place in Sweden in the late 1700's. I hadn't seen an opera since Megan and I went to see Carmen. This one was entertaining but not one of my favorites.

Muddy Buddy

I was looking through old photos and ran across this one. Funny pics like this just need to be shared. It's from 2003 when I participated in the Muddy Buddy race. You have a buddy and throughout the race you switch off between mountain biking and running. Between each switch you complete an obstacle. At the end you wait for your buddy then go thru the mud pit together. Georgia red clay is not good mud. It was gritty and I tore up my knees. I was laughing through most of this though. In case you were wondering I pretty much threw away everything I was wearing (except the helmet). I noticed the race will be in Boulder, CO in August of this year. Something to consider.

Kelly and Harold's Travels

I mentioned back in January that Kelly was engaged and going on a year long trip through Europe, India and Asia. The trip has begun! I've added a link to Harold and Kelly's blog on the right.

Catching Up With Old Friends

Eileen and I met up with Megan at Zengo for dinner.






When Eileen and I showed up at this restaurant, the Valet asked if we thought it was a little early in the week to be needing a happy hour. I told him we were there to catch up with an old friend. Then Megan came, and he asked her if she was there with the 20 person party. Megan said she was catching up with old friends. The valet said "the old friends" were already inside.

Easter Brunch

We started our brunch with fruit and mimosas. Eileen made two different fruit dips. I made Ham puffs (ham, swiss cheese, onion, parsley in crescent roll dough in mini-muffin pan). Eileen got really creative and also made ricotta cheese pancakes. It was all excellent.

We then got to egg decorating. Eileen kicked it up a notch this year with her internet research. We were using rubber bands and electrical tape. Someone brought up the idea that putting the eggs in snow would display them best. I don't know... It was snowing.

Copper Mtn Weekend

I spent the weekend with Eileen, Joan, Ellen and Fred and Vicki were in town. We stayed up at Copper Mountain. Eileen and I got 2 good days of skiing/boarding in.

Quotes

"The thing about plans is they don't take into account the unexpected. So when we're thrown a curveball...we have to improvise. Of course some of us are better at it than others. Some of us just have to move on to Plan B and make the best of it. And sometimes what we want is exactly what we need. But sometimes, sometimes what we need is a new plan." - Grey's Anatomy

A Big Mountain of Dirt

I've had a pretty nice view for nearly the 2 years that I've lived in my apartment. Ah, but it couldn't have lasted.

They finally tore up the plot of land next to my complex. It is now a huge pile of dirt. I believe it's going to be more apartments or condos.

The Introvert Advantage

I always struggle with getting myself motivated to go out and do things. I have a million excuses why I don't need to go and then end up feeling guilty for not going.
Recent example:
I was debating if I wanted to go to a work happy hour. My internal argument was it was a Friday afternoon, I was tired, I was leaving from class so the location was out of the way, and near the end of the happy hour I can never find a good way to excuse myself and go home. I usually don't have anything I need to get to after the happy hours, but after 2 hrs I'm done and I just don't want to be there anymore. I always feel awkward leaving and never have the right thing to say to excuse myself gracefully.

I read "The Introvert Advantage" by Marti Laney. A lot of the items I have felt in the past were mentioned in the book. Indicators on the Myers-Briggs test can change over time. I took it in the 8th grade, high school, college, after college and the item that has never changed is I am as introverted as you can get.

Some interesting facts/comments regarding introverts from the book:
* Only 25% of the population is introverted
* Introverts have more blood flowing to the brain indicating more internal stimulation. And blood is flowing to different areas than extroverts - for introverts it is to the parts involved with internal experiences like remembering, solving problems and planning
* Walk around with a lot of thoughts and feelings in their heads. They often have internal dialogue with themselves.
* Can forget things they know well, might temporarily forget a word they want to use
* May not be aware of thoughts unless they write or talk about them
* May have trouble getting motivated or moving, might appear lazy
* "I enjoy social gatherings - as long as I know I'm leaving soon."
* It is often a struggle for introverts to decide whether or not to go to a social gathering. We all get caught up in what we should do, and we forget to think about what we want to do. Many introverts tend to foreshadow. They think ahead about what could go wrong, or remember how tired they felt the last time they went out.
* Phone phobia - it's an interruption that drains energy, requires losing internal focus, requires expending energy for "on-the-feet thinking"
* Tend to run cool and get chilled easily. Their normal body temperature is often below the average 98.6. If introverts feel too cold, it can be even more difficult for them to get going and leave the house.
* Are more sedentary than extroverts. They are not motivated to move as much.
* Introverts constantly evaluate what they have said.

The book offers a bunch of ways that introverts can fit into a world made up of 75% extroverts. The author also goes into scientific details about neurostimulators and what is physically happening in the body. The book combats the stereotypes of introverts being hermits or shy, as it has nothing to do with this but is rather if you get energy from being around other people(extroverts) versus you get your energy internally (introverts). It also goes into the details of introverts/extroverts dating/relationships. Generally, it helped me to understand there is a reason for my thoughts and actions and I am part of the minority which is why I usually thought I wasn't "normal".

Fast Food Nation

I finally got around to reading "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser which originally was published in 2001. Fast Food Nation seemed to me to focus on the history of fast food which I found interesting. And just the general history of franchises both food or retail.

Back in November, I watched the documentary "Super Size Me" and haven't eaten McDonald's since. I think my generation has been groomed that fast food is a way of life. Much like I have a hard time remembering what life was like before I had a cellphone or email. I used to not give it a second thought if I was hungry just to pull over and get something. After reading the book and seeing the documentary I do give it a second thought, and so far I've always decided I can do without it.

UNC Chapel Hill

I interviewed at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday for their Master's in Health Administration program. It was everything I expected. Quality program, good professors, good networking opportunities and career direction. It's ranked 2nd for that type of program. The school I'm currently at is ranked 25th. I was upset this past fall with my classes to the point where I didn't think I could stand paying for or attending them. I'm happy to say this semester is much better but I expect only because the 2 classes I'm taking have guest speakers for every class. I was accepted into UNC. It's a full-time, 2 year program starting in the fall. The choice is now do I continue part-time and working full-time and finish in Spring 2009 or switch and have loans to pay back? If anything, it's nice to have options...of course with them come more decisions to make.

Snowshoeing

I went snowshoeing with my two aunts in Evergreen, CO. It was a great day for it. Miss Kitty enjoyed herself also and got quite a workout in.

Kerri's Surprise Shower

Kerri had a surprise bridal shower. Here she is wearing the ribbon hat made from all the gifts. Both her sisters and mother flew in for it. Based on the look on her face when she walked in the door, it was definitely a surprise.

Where are they now? (Vol 2)

I wrote my first "where are they now" entry on 8/15/06. I have a new addition, so this is volume 2. I met Kelly in middle school. In the 8th grade we were signed up to do the 3-legged race together for the "Olympics" (field day). Kelly and I actually practiced the race beforehand. I'm not quite sure why we took it so seriously. I guess we wanted to win; we did get 3rd place. This picture is of us our junior year at band camp. Yes, band camp. I love to embrace the dorkiness of this picture. Hehe. Yes, nothing beats spending an entire week out in 100 degree weather in August in the humid south.

So where is Kelly now? She's been teaching English in Japan. And she has fabulous news in that she just got engaged to Harold. After the school term ends this year, they will both be taking the year off and travelling throughout Europe, India and China.

Cute picture