Life

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see her sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

Primum non nocere

First and foremost, do no harm.

The Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version

I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant: To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else. I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work. Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves. What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about. If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot. Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_classical.html

Grenada Folklore

I'm at St. Georges University in Grenada for medical school. One of the first sessions we had involved learning about the history and culture of Grenada.

Here are some of the more interesting superstitions.

Loupgarou (Male) and Soucoyuant (Female) are vampires. They fly as a ball of fire at night in search of their victims. Their victims are asleep and dreaming, but they can't wake up while the vampire is there. The vampire sucks their blood with a long pipe, and in the morning when the victim wakes up they usually have a big black and blue mark. So people here would see your bruise and ask "Loupgarou suck yuh last night?" The vampires are said to put houses on fire after they are done there.

La Diablesse/ Jab jab. Pronouced la-jah-bless. This is the Devil's Wife. She is a very pretty lady who wears a long white dress and a white hat. The long dress conceals her feet, as she has one human foot and one cow hoof. She lures married/attached men up a steep hill and pushes them off it, claiming another soul for her husband, the Devil. It is said that this folk lore was created to stop men from going out at night without their counterparts, and thus increase fidelity.

Mama Maladie is a lady that makes people sick. So if she is passing through a village and making a lot of noise, everyone who looks outside to see what is going on will get sick.

Dealers are the devil's disciples. They make deals under the silk cotton tree.

It is said that these folklore were all designed to scare people, and so prevent them from going out at night. In fact, that is because people wanted to steal cocoa off the trees in the plantations at night. So if you're out and you come across a coffin in the middle of the road, you should get scared and run away. Then the cocoa thief will come and lug away his coffin full of cocoa pods!

So visitors beware... lol

Imagination

"All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth."

- Napoleon Hill

The Female of the Species

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag, the wayside cobra, hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can,
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws -
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the others tale -
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations, worm and savage otherwise,
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise;
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger; Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue - to the scandal of the Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same,
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity - must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions - not in these her honor dwells -
She, the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else!

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate;
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions - in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him, who denies!
He will meet no cool discussion, but the instant, white-hot wild
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges - even so the she-bear fights;
Speech that drips, corrodes and poisons - even so the cobra bites;
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw,
And the victim writhes with anguish - like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of abstract justice - which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern; shall enthrall but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him and Her instincts never fail,
That the female of Her species is more deadly than the male!

A Ballad of China

A Ballad Of China Laura E. Richards Her Name was Dilliki Dolliki Dinah; Niece she was to the Empress of China; Fair she was as a morning in May, when Hy Kokolorum stole her away. Hy was a wizard, I'd have you know; Wixked as weasels and black as a crow; Lived in castle a-top a hill; Had a panther who's name was Bill; Used to ride him around and around, creeping and peeping close to the ground; Working mischief wherever he could; Nothing about him in anyway good! Saw the maiden one midsummer morn, (sweetest creature that ever was born!), Creeped and peeped in his wizardly way, Catched her and snatched her and stole her away! All through China arose a cry: "Some one has stolen out Dilliki Di!" People gathered in every Forum, Crying, "it must be Hy Kokolorum!" All the Barons in China land, Ling the lofty and Bing the Bland, Kong the Kingly and Bond the brave, Vowed a vow to find and save Darling Dilliki Dolliki Dinah (niece you know to the empress of china; Fair you know as a morning in May), Whom Hy Kokolorum had stolen away. Now in a kingly, ringly row, Round and about the hill they go, Ling the lofty, Bing the bland, Kong and Bong, and there they stand, Weaving a weird and spinning a spell, All with intent to quash and quell Hy kokolorum, worker of woe, Wicked as weasels and black as a crow. Dilliki Dinah was weeping her fill, When stepped up softly the panther Bill; Whispered," if you will give me a kiss, I'll turn your sorow into bubbling bliss!" she, to animals always kind, Said," No! Really? Well, i dont mind!" Dropped a kiss on his nose so pink, And-goodness gracious! what do you think? He turned inot a beautiful Golden King, Crown and sceptre and everything! Ran the old wizard through and through, Saying, " now there is an end of you!" Caught the maiden up in his arms, Broke through the net of spells and charms, Cried to the barons Bold and Brave, "I've had the honor to find and save Darling Dilliki Dolliki Dinah Neice (i learn) to the Empress of china, Fair (i swear) as a morning in May And she is my queen to this very day!" __________________

Time for a re-vamp!

This is the first post for 2010! Hard to believe how quickly time has passed. I am 57 days away from graduating and leaving my mark on this fine institution, Cornell University. Much has happened in my senior year that is worthy of discussion and contemplation. However, given the limited time I have left here, I'll be out there experiencing my last 2 months on the hill.
I will try to update periodically.