Long Time Gone

The title is a Dixie Chicks song.

It's been longer than I'd hoped since the last post. If anyone is reading this, I apologize -- but it was a busy 10 days.

I'll just give you the daily highlights, or this will go on forever. And I have a few other things about which to babble.

Thursday 8/18 - Happy Birthday to me. Thanks to my colleague who covered for me a little early. The usual birthday pub crawl in the Castro -- the best part was running into someone I thought I wouldn't get to see that day.

Friday - For fun in wine country, I recommend Roshambo and Davis Bynum. Neat folks and good wine.

Saturday - The Mix - I have more fun there than anywhere else in the Castro. An outdoor area, a pool table, and great folks who even tolerate my taste for eclectic music -- Who could ask for anything more?

Sunday - FEATHER. Bambuddha Lounge, 3rd Sundays of Aug/Sept/Oct. From the people who brought you Rehab Sundays (I never went, but I hear it was great). I had a blast, and met some fun people. Don't miss the September version if you can help it.

Monday - My recently purchased Mustang (AKA Phyllis, AKA "my baby") got the "Touch of Class" factory package put on the leather and the exterior. Also bought a novel and poetry book while waiting. She looked great until I drove to Sacramento for the Medical Boards on...

Tuesday/Wednesday - The test sucked. 360 questions over 2 days on ScanTrons (remember filling in those little circles?). The highlights were seeing all of my friends from residency again and driving back with a good friend.

Thursday - The BEST! Two friends (from The Mix) took me to Harris's for steak, and then to The Cinch for drinks. We played Blackjack with the Jack Daniel's promotional guy, who was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, my brain was off for the week -- so when he asked what I wanted, I said "a T-shirt" instead of "your digits". If only life had a rewind/erase button. Alas.

Friday - Monday - Back to work. I did sneak out Saturday night, however, to a party called Studio 55. Some of the guys I met at Feather threw it and invited me. A blast -- thanks guys. I wish I had not had a cell phone and two pagers with me so I could have enjoyed it more.

Even in summary, this got too long. I wanted to wax philosophically about my new books, but I'll save it for a bit. I've got a line on a cheap Razor, so I may be adding photos soon.

All good things to those who wait.
-Hannibal Lecter and others

A sketchy pre-B-day

A couple of things happened yesterday that I think fall into the "sketchy" category. Normally, I would just talk about it with people, but now that I have a blog, I thought I'd write about it.

I did some shift work with a medical staffing group, and have been waiting to get paid. I asked some questions about the payment, and my e-mails started getting forwarded around the company. Fortunately for me, I have remained a CC. While the woman with whom I have been dealing is quite pleasant, her contact person sent an e-mail that ended "and who is this Joel guy anyway." Not reassuring. And further evidence that the frequent use of the Reply All key is not only annoying, but can get you into trouble.

Then, last night, I went to a birthday party at the Detour. (Instant poll #2 -- what does it mean when you're invited to birthday parties for Castro bartenders -- have you made it, or been doing it too long? Eh, who cares -- he's cute.) I saw someone I had met briefly before at a happy hour. Last night he was more drunk, and more affectionate. He's cute, and he was getting a good amount of interest. When he had gone what was probably a lot too far with the booze, someone came up and told him it was time to go. I was sober (because I had taken my baby out -- more later) and asked the guy, "Are you going to take him home safe?

To which this "friend" replied, "Yeah, he's a little too drunk". I agreed.

I was thinking to myself "now there's a good friend". Until I saw them near the Market Street Safeway making out. I hope they were a couple, but there was no indication of that earlier. Two equally drunk people hooking up bothers me not at all, but a sober guy taking advantage of a drunk guy is, well -- sketchy. (Though not uncommon. "Beer: getting ugly people laid since 2000 BC", or something like that.)

And telling people you're taking the guy home to cut out the competition is, well -- lame.

Enough blogging. Tonight is MY birthday, and I'm going out.

In the beginning...

...there was residency. And residency begat stress. And stress begat drinking. And drinking begat off-color, non-PC jokes with the cute boy next to me at The Mix. I got his e-mail address, and I thrust my digits into his hand, much to the chagrin of his "date", who turned around at just the wrong time.

That cutie has become quite important to me, and is one of SF's great bloggers. After 7 months, he still thinks I have a lot to say, and has been encouraging me to start a blog, so here we go.

The title comes from a dinner conversation about the possibility of my blogging. I'm a doctor here in SF, and was concerned about the legalities of occasionally blogging about medicine and later getting sued. Half my posts, I told him, would have to start with "This is not medical advice, but..."

To which he replied -- "There's your title."

Those of you familiar with the local blogosphere probably already know who my personal instigator is, but allow me my vagaries until I get used to this. I grew up in Erie, PA, an "All-American City" (yes, this is an official US designation) in the industrial midwest, where every Catholic church had a club, bar, and bowling alley, and the first Starbucks didn't open until I was in medical school. I spent my undergraduate years in Baltimore (that's Bahl'mer, hon!) and my most formative 7 years in Atlanta, where I discoverd my love of country music, hashing, Waffle House, sweet tea...and boys. Basically, this leaves me a fiercely loyal hopeless romantic with a puritan work ethic and an Irish liver.

I'll be leading a schizophrenic existance this year, working my ass off one week, with the next week off. My postings may mirror this schedule, so be patient. Others (especially the aforementioned) excel at finding the beauty in everyday life, and I will tread on their territory only on occasion. I prefer to point out some of lifes contradictions and ironies -- I have a few in mind that I will photo when I get my new camera phone (Instant poll #1: Is it worth $200 just to by Razor that will be less obtrusive in my pocket?). I'll also vent about things that drive me freakin' nuts. Feel free to post comments, and I'll try to respond to requests. Expect lots of quotes -- I used to be a debater and bar trivia afficionado.

I'll leave you with Annie Lennox, who pretty much sums up what to expect from all this:

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead
This is the joy that's seldom spread...
...These are the contents of my head...

Thanks for stopping by.