Where are you going?... with beards all a wagging?

Histology test tomorrow. Have no idea how that's going to be. Histology...the study of tissues...Seems simple enough. Then its back to lectures, and back to lab (the heart tomorrow, so exciting because this man probably had bypass surgery (deduced from the nasty staples holding his sternum together)}. Wow, double brackets. Double brackets are the surest sign of a wandering mind, are they not? I was typing (then I had this thought (then this tangent) and back to this thought) and back to reality.

It's the sort of thing a guy should edit. Lauren had her immunizations on Friday. Everyone was brave. Lauren was brave while being a voodoo doll. Mom was brave waiting for it all to be over to her poor baby, and I....well, I was just cold and calculating. But honestly, which of these would you rather your kid get

this














or this

















on a more serious note, I have been referring to the cadaver I have working been on using a number of names, all of which I think are apt. The terms "patron" and "benefactor" are my favorites. I really do see this man as such. There is the strong potential for an objectification of a body under such circumstances, but I think it important to mention the rever in which I actually hold this body. This is not to say that you won't find jokes, bad puns, and maybe a limerick or two about my experiences this fall in the lab. You will... I guarantee it... It's pretty much all I have to talk about.



But in a real way this man (who's name I actually do know, though I'm not sure this was intended) is a contributor to the art of medicine in the same way that the man pictured above was the means by which so much fine art was produced in Florence. Knowing nothing else this beneficence earns this man a measure of respect. Lorenzo De Medici had his own flaws in character, ruthlessness in the struggle for power, perhaps lavish tastes at times (maybe this is more description of Cosimo) and failures in business. But his unique generosity lives on. In this same way I consider this previous owner of this cadaver as a patron.

I know nothing of his life (other than pathology evident from his anatomy, i.e. heart issues, pace maker, etc), but he has donated something beyond value that will live on in six future doctors, who will in turn treat hundreds of patients, who will in turn make donations of their own to this world. I just wanted to put in this bit, because previous posts and posts that are sure to follow are bound to be irreverent, morbid, and/or macabre. Call it a way of coping. Call it a way of celebrating. Call it a cheap way to get people to read my blog. Just understand that if I am to meet my patron in the afterlife, I will probably be at a loss to express my gratitude for his generosity.