Ethical dilemma?

Is it unethical for a vegetarian to eat a carnivorous plant?

Feared medical procedures

Last night, I caught most of a show on ABC called "Boston Med." It's one of those reality hospital shows, kind of like "Trauma, Life in the ER," or those similar-type shows that run on TLC and Discovery Health a lot. I do like watching medical shows, as the cases can be really interesting. Last night, one of the patients featured was a teenage girl that was getting a heart transplant.

I thought, "wow, that sounds like just about the scariest surgery anyone could every have." I mean, let's think about what happens here. They cut you open, they hook you up to a heart-lung machine, they TAKE OUT YOUR HEART, they stick a new one in there, they reattach stuff, and hopefully the new heart starts beating again, and I guess at that point they disconnect you from all the machines. I mean, I know people survive these procedures on a regular basis, but still, for a little while there, YOU DON'T HAVE A HEART. It's like you're kind of not all the way alive. Yikes!

Next to a heart transplant, open heart surgery sounds pretty scary to me too. Again, lots of people survive open heart surgery and bypass surgery. I personally know several people who have had this procedure. But still, for a while there, YOUR HEART IS NOT BEATING. I mean, there is a possibility that you might not be here after the procedure if your heart doesn't restart.

Okay, so I really really hope I never have to have heart surgery. But there is one other surgery I really really hope I never have to have either. Brain surgery. The idea of someone opening up my skull and rooting around in there is just weird. Okay, I know they don't actually "root around" as they have finely calibrated instruments and microscopes and stuff. But still, you have to admit that it's still a bit scary.

Okay, so those are pretty big medical procedures, and honestly, I don't think I'm scared of anything else, medical-procedure-wise. But seriously, even a trip to the dentist can be a terrifying experience for some.

So out of curiosity, what are your feared medical procedures?

Bowser vs. Mario (and Luigi). And the winner is. . .

Mario (and Luigi). We finally did it. Last night, we got up the courage to beat Bowser in the final castle of World 8 in the new Super Mario Wii game. We had attempted this a few weeks ago, but we kept dying in hot lava, so we left it alone for a while in order to collect the remaining star coins in the lower worlds. But last night, about the only thing left for us to do was to defeat Bowser. I will admit, we were a little nervous about it at first. But it only took 3 tries to send Bowser to his demise in a sink hole of hot lava. Our next endeavor is to make it through the secret World 9, although unfortunately the only prize for making it through World 9 is personal satisfaction.

An interesting side note: If you look around on Ebay and Amazon, you can find a great many of the characters and charms from Super Mario in plush form, and some for very cheap. Seriously, you could probably buy all of the Super Mario cast for a very small sum of money and stage your own Super Mario adventure (maybe something to keep in mind as children's presents for birthdays and holidays in the future). Also, when you see Bowser as a 10 inch tall plush figure, he doesn't seem so scary; in fact, he's almost cute!

My new favorite dog breed

Bernese Mountain Dog! Don't they just look so sweet and cuddly? It is unfortunate that their average life span is only like 6-8 years.

Preparing for comps. AGAIN!!!

If you go back into my blog archives, you will see that many of my posts from July-September, 2007, talk about my preparations for the comprehensive exam that I had to take for my master's degree. Well, now I get to do the whole thing over again, this time in preparation for my PhD comprehensive exams.

My PhD comps are a little different from my masters comps from 3 years ago. My masters comps entailed a 6-hour written exam that covered exercise physiology, sports nutrition, and statistics. My PhD comps will be in 3 parts: a 6-hour written exam, a grant proposal, and an oral exam. The written exam will actually be quite similar to the one I did for my master's comps, but instead of being tested on a wide variety of exercise physiology topics, I will only be responsible for topics relating to metabolism, the endocrine system, and the immune system (but I'll have to know those topics really well!). Additionally, since my specific area of interest is the effect of aerobic exercise on physiological functioning in cancer patients, there will be a section on the written exam with questions pertaining to that area. Once I turn in my written exam, I will then have 3 weeks to write a grant, in the format of a NIH-RO3 grant. My committee then grades my written exam and my grant, and if they have any questions about anything I wrote, or if they would like me to clarify any of my answers, I will then have the opportunity to do that during the oral exam.

We have already set a date for my written exam: August 20th. That would make my grant due on September 10th, and then my oral exam would be shortly after that. So basically, the next 2-3 months will be all about comps. Once that fun is over, then it's on to dissertation fun!

We got a Wii

Yep, we finally did it. We bought a Wii. We bought a used Wii, so it was quite a bit cheaper than what one would pay for a new one. Since Ally goes to bed around 7-7:30pm, we kind of have to stay home at night, and our options for entertaining ourselves (in the absence of schoolwork) were to either watch TV or read; neither of which are terribly interactive. But now with our Wii, we can play games together. Last night, Ben and I challenged each other to 9 holes of golf, a game of bowling, tennis, and baseball (the Wii sports game that comes with the Wii). We ordered the new Super Mario Bros game for Wii, so we're excited for that one to come in so we can play it together.

My current reading list

1. Runner's World magazine
2. The Happiest Toddler on the Block, by Dr. Harvey Karp
3. I'll Mature when I'm Dead, by Dave Barry
4. Peer-reviewed articles about immune system responses to various levels of aerobic exercise intensity