My new look

I almost forgot, I have a brand new look for my India trip....no head lice for me!

Less than 24 hours...

That's right, I'm off to Mumbai, India tomorrow. My flight leaves at 6:20pm, and at that point there's basically no turning back. I'm headed out there with my buddy Jesse, and starting later this week we'll be rotating through various Infectious Disease clinics in and around Mumbai. I have very little idea what to expect, but I'm certain that it will be a powerful and fun experience. Jesse and I have already made a bet of 400 rupees on who will get diarrhea first (Jesse told me he's going to replace my bottled water with tap....that bastard will do anything to win). Anyway, with the inevitability of GI problems aside, I can hardly wait to get there, and I'll post pics and stories as soon as I can. Peace!

Just a thought...

My ever-so-cool and ever-so-sexy friend Jaclyn recently pointed out to me the reason why I like having a blog so much...it's like having an inner monologue that everyone can read! Seriously, with the amount of random crap that floats around in my head, it's pretty cool to have a completely unproductive outlet for all of it. So I apologize for the occasional rambling, idiotic nature of this blog, but keep in mind that it helps me filter out the garbage so that I can be productive in other areas of my life. I'm Ron Burgundy?

The Toast of Paris

So I just returned yesterday from a quick 6-day trip to Paris and Monaco to celebrate Becca's graduation. Lesson #1: When you go on a trip to Paris with your sister, your aunt, and your mom, you better be prepared to do a LOT of shopping. On the last day, Becca said to me, "Don't worry, no shopping today, we'll just walk around." The problem is that "walk around" is frenchy-speak for "shopping". So we hit Hermes, Benetton, etc. Good times. I did get 2 very cool ties and a nice Alain Figaret shirt, though, so it wasn't a total loss.

While the shopping may have been less than exciting, we did have some amazing food in Paris. On Wednesday night, I was thrilled to have the chance to eat at L'Ami Louis, which is one of my favorite restaurants in the world. As usual, I ordered the cote de boeuf, and as usual, I came away thinking I had devoured at least 50% of an entire cow.

Another highlight of the trip was the jaunt down to Monaco. What a cool country. The collection of cars in front of the casino in Montecarlo was almost enough to make me cry (or sell my soul for a Bentley Continental GT). There were Ferraris next to Bentleys next to Aston Martins next to Rolls Royces, etc. Also, they were making preparations throughout the city for the Montecarlo Gran Prix, in which lightning-fast cars race through the main parts of the city while patrons look on from the grandstands. I hope to check that out in person one day.

While in Monaco, we were invited to a dinner party given by Manfredi LaFebrve, an Italian billionaire who runs Silversea Cruise lines. The party was given on one of his huge cruise ships, and the food and drink flowed freely. I sat next to a guy named Geoffrey Kent from London, who started the travel adventure company Abercrombie and Kent when he was only 20 years old. He had a pretty amazing story. Check out his website to check out the different cool trips they do.

More later...

Just a few more hours...

I am currently sitting in the student lounge in between sections of the final joint exam of M1 year. Section 1 wasn't too bad, but honestly all I care about right now is being done. I really should be reviewing histology slides, but I don't really want to think about that right now...on to more interesting topics.

1) If you haven't read Raja Bell's comments about Kobe following his suspension for the game 5 clothesline, they're kind of priceless. I'm too lazy to get the actual quote, but it was something to the effect of "I have no respect for Kobe. I find him to be an arrogant, pompous individual." Ummm, yeah, of course you do. Kobe IS an arrogant, pompous individual. That being said, I think that's part of what makes him such a great player. Would Jordan have been Jordan if he wasn't a HUGE egomaniac? Absolutely not.

2) How ridiculous is LeBron? Last night he scored 45 points in game 5 against the Wizards, including an OT buzzer-beating layup with 0.9 seconds left. This is his first playoff series, he had a triple-double in game 1, and he pulled off a pretty amazing game last night. Keep in mind he's only 21 (that's 6 years younger than Kobe)!

3) The Mavs have made it through round 1 by sweeping the Grizz, and they have the benefit of a lot of rest before playing the winner of the Spurs/Kings series. While it may be too much to bank on Sacramento winning the series, I hope that the Spurs at least come out completely exhausted. If the Mavs can make it through round 2, I think they've got a pretty good chance of taking down the West. DIRRRRRRRRK!!

Ok, back to part 2 of the test...can't wait to be done!