I’m sick of Michael Phelps. Period.

Please, give us a break! I’m so, so over turning on the Olympics or looking at the covers of newspapers to see this man. He hasn’t even returned from Beijing yet, and he’s already played out most of his popular welcome. Why does the media unfailingly drown us in someone’s newfound popularity? Ten weeks ago [...]

The Olympics are here! And I’m already over it.

The opening ceremony hasn’t even aired here in the U.S. and I am already bored of the Olympics. Isn’t that terrible? I blame all the media hype.
I blame the fact that for months, all I’ve been seeing everywhere is Olympics, China, China, Olympics, human rights, China, Tibet, Olympics, trade, oil, China, environment, China, Tibet, protests, [...]

Biological Threats and Disaster Preparedness

Hi, all.
What have I been doing with my summer, you ask?
Well, it hasn’t been boring.
For those of you who are just visiting this site, you might not know that I am in a PhD program, becoming an ‘expert’ on disease, public health, and China. My topic is avian influenza, focusing in on Southeast Asia and [...]

Cell phones and cancer risk, I knew there was something fishy in Denmark.

Ok, so as a medical anthropologist, I read just enough science to make me nervous, but not enough to make me qualified to say anything meaningful about the results of tests and/or experiments.
But, when I read that an expert is nervous, it makes me even more nervous.
Here is a story from the BBC - quoted [...]

I have a secret crush on Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris.

After seeing this:
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog
I am a horrible Buffy the Vampire Slayer dorkette. Not only did I watch every single episode religiously, but I bought the entire series. When I saw that Joss Wheedon was doing this, I had to check it out. The first episode is kind of slow, but if you stick [...]

Sometimes it sucks to be a girl. . . . literally.

I hate advertising. I hate that hot women that don’t even get most of the jokes from “That 70s Show”are supposed to sell me clothing. I hate the pervy men (and women) that make these marketing/PR decisions.
This is a new ad for American Apparel:

Um, OK.
This is about cotton underwear, right?
Then why does this look like [...]

For once, I have a good excuse for not updating the site. . . .

Usually, it’s just “Whoops!”, and two weeks have gone by. This time, I have an official hall pass from blog updating and it’s called “Getting on the Radio”.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been in the process of rewriting and approving edits to a short essay I wrote for the “This I Believe” essay project. [...]

Flexibility is the Key to Lasting Happiness

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to 6 Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA, for the 4th of July celebrations. We had purchased our tickets a week ago, and were both looking forward to it. What’s not to love? Greasy, yummy food, scary rides, fun games, entertainment packed in. . . .
We got on the [...]

Selling Your Entire Life - How Much Is It Worth??

How much is your entire life worth? Your home, your car, your job, your friends, your lifestyle. Just as a guess, what price would you put on it? Priceless? Maybe not.
A man in Australia recently sold his for approximately $400K.
Seriously.
The person who purchased it has his three-bedroom house, his 19-year-old Mazda, a motorbike, a boat, [...]

I’ll miss George Carlin’s caustic sense of humor.

My dad and I didn’t agree on much when I was growing up. He liked things like the Patriots, the Sox, the Bs and the Cs. He liked skiing and smoking and going to Hampton Beach. He liked going to the track and racing horses. Most of these things I did not like - even [...]