Lady Luck Speaks

10 Tips to Succeeding with Desi Females

2011-04-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Written with tongue-firmly-in-cheek with inspiration from other blogs. Just for you. Enjoy :D

10. If you meet a cute South Asian chick at a bar or club, don’t use the following words or related words; arranged marriage, curry, cricket, 'your culture', 'over-achieving', Punjabi suit and headscarf., Anything with Bollywood, turbans, what her family would think or the Karma Sutra. She might just throw her drink at you.

9. Don’t assume that they can’t speak English. They may be faking an accent to escape from the old, potbellied man in the corner who has traveled far and wide to “Indiaaah, during the war.”

8. No, I’m not Parminder Nagra or Konnie Huq.

7. Don’t ask them whether they’re submissive or dominant. (This has actually been asked to several friends of mine. No joke)

6. Going back to #10, most of us don’t know Punjabi fighting techniques, though we respect them. We don't all carry ceremonial swords, so don’t bust out some sort of weapon and assume that it will turn us on. Because it won’t.

5. If you do get further with a desi chick and attend a family function where you’re the only non-desi, have courtesy and try the food or at least put the food on your plate. Most of the family members are looking to see if you actually care about getting to know her culture. If you don’t like the cuisine, just smile, take over the conversation and possibly no one will notice.

4. Don’t assume that we are all professional submissives, masseuses or happy ending givers. Most of us are lawyers, students, doctors, dentists and academics, give or take a few writers and pharmacists. Okay, so that last one was slightly stereotypical but you get my drift?

3. Don’t assume that we only date brown guys. We like other guys too.

2. Don't assume that we're going to put out on the first dinner date. This applies to Scandinavian and German guys in particular.

1. Please don’t mention the words “Karma Sutra”, 'Princess Jasmine', 'Curry fever' or 'Asian flower' in front of us. Those words only serve to objectify.

How to Attract an Asian Female

2011-04-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Subcontinental women are widely-admired, be it for their conservative values, outspoken nature, hospitality, tanned skin, dark eyes, deep voices or sensuous curves. There are various reasons why you may have fallen for an MDF but snagging her is a completely different ball game.

A few tips which may help....

1. Don't act like an insensitive fool. For starters, the chick probably speaks better English than you. Guys often see a desi girl at a bar on Western soil, approach and find themselves talking slow and loudly like, “HI H-O-W’-S I-T G-O-I-N-G?” only to find out that the Asian girl that they’re into is actually very fluent in English. You may think that assuming that they can’t speak in English is an act made in good faith but it is actually very patronising.

2. Another common irk among Asian women is when guys assume that just because they’re of Asian roots, they’re already Indian or Pakistani. If you don’t want your date to get offended and leave you, you must first understand that their roots matter to them so saying that India and Sri Lanka is just the same does not only make you look uncultured, it’s also pretty insensitive.

3. Each culture has their own sets of “Dos and Don’ts' so if you really want to impress your MDF, do your research on what they do in her country of origin and not get things confused. Don't rush to display your newfound knowledge at every given opportunity. It sounds fetishistic and desparate.

4. Attracting Asian girls is really no rocket science, they’re pretty much like other girls, the only difference is that they’re of different descent and just like any other person, they would greatly appreciate it that you respect their traditions and views. As for physical tastes, it varies according to what the girl wants. As with all races, there are those who wants to stick with their own kind. It may seem unfair but just respect her decision and don’t take it as being racist, it’s just a matter of preference. Do remember 80% of Asians girls are open to dating you.

5. Generally, just be yourself around her and try to have good time but if all else still fails then it is time to move on. There’s no point in concentrating on someone who’s clearly not into you.

Introducing the Desis...

2011-04-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

A desi is a native/diasporic-byproduct of parents from the Indian SubContinent. In Western Countries, non-Muslim desis are commonly found in the healthcare, engineering, financial and education industries.

As a desi female, I classify fellow desis into 'red sari' and 'white sari' groups, depending on the colour of sari they choose to get married in. 'White Sari' groups, such as Sinhalese, Keralans and Goans are traditionally more liberal (and open to dating outsiders) than their 'red sari' cohort. It's interesting to note they've historically mixed with foreigners far longer than their red sari-wearing contemporaries.

If the MDF of your desire is from the 'red sari' group, do not despair. Chances are, she and her family are professionals/middle-management and well-integrated into the society you both live in. They have most probably discussed dating and the like and are therefore open to the idea of their daughter finding happiness with a man who is not of desi origin.

Read on to find out how to attract desi girls...

Welcome...

2011-04-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

So you've signed up for engineering, medicine or dentistry 101 and found yourself playing 'spot the white person'. Chances are the female talent on offer is of the yellow or brown persuasion and it's up to you to decide where you are on the female version of the graph. I'd like to hazard a guess and say you're in the open eighty percent; open to dating a brown female, that is? If not, then look a way, if so, then read on...

...So brown women. Mysterious species, patronized by their families, commonly seen as 'forbidden' due to Muslim influence pervading the European perception of South Asians. Restricted in their movements, forced to live double lives answering to family honour and Western Societal expectations. Victims of honour killings, forced marriages, saviours of the depraved, workaholic doctors, secret nymphomaniacs...the list of stereotypes is endless. What is important is that you realise the downtrodden characters from 'Brick Lane' and 'Born Confused' are a thing of the past. The Modern Desi Female (MDF) is a forced to be reckoned with.

Brought up in a conservative household in a Western country, the modern desi female is an enthralling hybrid of all things conflicting. Chances are she is a highly-educated, independent woman, exposed to liberal society and espousing some of it's socialist rhetoric. It's possible that she's a capitalist, voting for lower taxes and a free market. Desis like over-achieving and if it's a tax-break and charitable write-offs that get them there, so be it. Your MDF is likely to be living alone or with friends, having flown the nest at the earliest possible opportunity. It is possible she may choose to date MDMs but given exposure to higher education, it is likely she has seen the best that every race has to offer and belongs to the 80% of womenkind who are open to dating YOU.

Keep on reading for an introduction to desis and how to attract them.....

Back to Reality

2011-04-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman,

It's great to be back. Yours truly has been coaxed out of retirement by former students hoping to see me back to my former glory.

The blogsphere has changed since 2008; bloggers are now integral to the media, providing content and opinion for the mainstream outlets instead of feeding from the sidelines. Blogs have led to fortunes, as per Belle de Jour and her TV series. A former blog feed I contributed to has been published as a book which takes pride of place on my mantelpiece.

As we know, there are plenty of opinionated folk out there, backsides intact. My opinion is irrelevant, so I won't be putting it out there unless asked.

Your opinions, on the other hand, are the ones that count. Whilst bloggers like Sapphire and African Girl answer queries for women mystified by the behaviour of Scandinavian, specifically Swedish males; the converse demand has arisen from men seeking information on the predilections and quirks of South Asian, brown-skinned desi females. I'd like to attend to this and write about the topics relevant to desi dating and beyond. Ask your questions and I will answer; your wish is my command.

Onwards and upwards,
The One and Only Lady Luck

I've been tagged, I've been tagged....

2008-06-20T03:36:00.001-07:00

.....and I've had a text message to remind me to write on here! Hello!

Here are the rules:
~ Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog
~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. I would've been to Madrid and Toronto by the time you read this.

2. I find it hard to whistle. Construction work is clearly not the career path for me!

3. My favourite flowers are orchids and tiger lilies.

4. I once met Dave Grohl.

5. The places I most want to visit are Japan, China, Cuba, Thailand, South Africa and Russia.

6. I can't resist Northern/Celtic accents on Black & Asian guys. They're just yummy!

7. I still haven't seen the SATC film or gotten 'round to tagging anyone. Go figure!

Centurial post : Vote for Priya's Novel on World Book Day

2008-02-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to commence my hundreth post with the announcement that Priya Basil (a personal friend of mine) has had her debut novel nominated for the World Book Day's 'Top Ten Books'. Priya's debut, called 'Ishq and Mushq' has made it into the final ten books on the shortlist to find 'The Book to Talk About' for 2008.

The top ten have now entred the next stage of the process - voting recommences on these from scratch. After the final round, the winning author gets £5,000 and lots of exposure.

It'd be super-amazing for such a gifted lady to receive this prize and the rewards that come with it.

Go here and register your vote - your support will be immensely appreciated :D

The perks of being a nice doctor are...

2008-01-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

1)...the rest of the ward staff being happy to see you and not hiding their chocolates when you swing by....

2)...the rest of the ward staff being happy to help you with jobs whilst you're stuck.

3)...being assigned students to teach...

4)...being personally chosen by students as their main supervisor...

5)...being personally chosen by the cutest final year student in the entire hospital to be their supervisor for the month.

Yes, I think I win. Some of the female nurses were convinced he fancied me as they saw him following me around all day. Letting them know our relationship was purely supervisory and his role was to 'shadow' me truly sucked!

Photos etc available on request.

PS Have any of you been truly tempted in your 'teaching/supervisory' roles? What did you do about it? How did things pan out?

Worklife

2008-01-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd write you guys a little note - it's not fair to keep you waiting whilst life goes on ;)

My new year started on an excellent note - I spent NYE getting myself employed until August as a locum (temporary) F1 doctor at a friendly SE London hospital based in a far scarier hood than the genteel climes I hail from. NYD was spent at temple, before starting work on the second.

Since then it's been non-stop - I'm on a general surgery firm with once-weekly on-call commitment. Through the junior doctor's weapon of swapping, I managed to get my 'weekend' for the month over and done with - I've managed to catch myself a cold as a result, hence the time to sit and update on here :D

It'll probably (though not definitely) be the last time for the month. My co-F1 (intern) is heading off to Paris at the end of the week, before hopping over to Africa at the end of the month. Hence, I'll be working seven days as 'two people' to give her a well-deserved break as the team's repayment for doing the same 'til I arrived.

So so, what's it like doctoring? Scary, in a word as for the first week you're continually making sure you don't trip up; I'm proud of having initiated the correct management plans for two acutely ill patients and saving one of them from ICU. I've also managed to get ABG syringes to work; I now need to conquer blood cultures (I'm rubbish at 'needle and syringe' blood-taking) and cannulation (50% success rate). I like the clinical aspects and abhor the endless form-filling/result chasing - it's shocking that I've only touched five patients in a week.

Alas, agreeing to doctoring ASAP has meant that I've turned down two short commutes (twenty minutes and one hour) to two excellent work experience placements (one of which was at BBC Horizon). It's a crying shame as I'd never thought yours truly would ever fall into the top four of hundreds of applications! I keep trying to console myself that there will be other opportunities for TV joy; I just can't say when just yet as thanks to the MMC treadmill.

Work-aside, life is well. I'd prefer more free-time to enjoy the likes of CSS, Otto, Jair Olivera, Olivia, Los Campesinos and Claudio Zoli. I'd also like to get on with learning Spanish and seeing more of London's attractions. Dinner on Friday was at a Peruvian place - and delicious the fresh ceviche was too :D

My new year's resolutions are a ban on alcohol from Monday-Thursday and a reduction in non-fruit dessert consumption to Tuesdays and weekends. I lapsed for the first time today, thanks to a segment of Terry's Chocolate Orange.

How are you guys doing?

Xmas Update

2007-12-25T22:28:00.001-08:00

Guten Morgen chaps and chapesses,

A very belated Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all.

This update has been brought to you by a bout of insomnia. I think the delicious food consumed during the previous 24 hours might have something to do with it. Eschewing vegetables in favour of protein + delicious sauce is a bad, bad idea.

So so, what of me. I think it's time I gave you a proper rundown of my life post-exams.

Immediately post-exams my colleagues and I headed to Lloyds on Fulham Broadway. It was after all, the only drinking establishment open at early o'clock. We then bought some presents for the children's ward at Chelsea hospital, before having lunch and staying in said establishment until 7pm. Surprisingly, carnage didn't occur and I forgot to call up for Manson tickets. Mooning(an activity not carried out by self), OTOH, did.

The day after saw yours truly at a Spa, prior to Xmas shopping and reading three books. I highly recommend 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian' and 'Little Children'. Tim Perotta is an excellent writer - think Ann Tyler gone male.

I then headed off to work experience at Elsevier's and Asiana, before applying to five million doctoring jobs and signing up for media & film classes at Chelsea College and SOAS. In this time, I have had the delectable pleasure of a venison haunch with red cabbage and mustard mash from the no-nonsense Camden Brasserie. I've also had the chance to rediscover my cooking skills, use-up a twelve-day gym trial, and see almost all the friends I've wanted to since the summer. I especially enjoyed this adventure.

I think I've been a super-busy girl. Factor in my fabulous Xmas presents inclusive of a Take That 'Beautiful World' CD and DVD and you've got a pretty-happy-yet-unemployed super-busy girl.

Excellent.

How were your Christmases?

My Response to the Economist's Eelam Shocker

2007-12-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Editor,

As a longtime reader and proud Sri Lankan, I was saddened by the inclusion of 'Eelam' on the map featured in this article.

A respected publication such as the Economist should not be legitimising the actions of an internationally-proscribed terrorist group by including their desired homeland on it's map. This irresponsible inclusion serves to trivialise the violence (equivalent to one of London's 7/7 bombings every week) and condone the terrorist threat endured by Sri Lankans of all backgrounds over the last quarter-century.

I would be thankful if you could remove 'Eelam' from the world map for the forseeable future; its' inclusion is offensive to readers worldwide who support the fight against terrorism.

Yours faithfully,
Dr Luck

Free at Last!

2007-12-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentleman, I've finally made it. Yours truly is a doctor :D

The Wait

2007-11-28T00:49:00.000-08:00

....nerves...restlesness...nerves.

My last exam is over. Fingers crossed I won't be resitting it again.

Alas, I'm beset with a swathe of free time. I actually don't know what to do with myself now there's nothing to procreastinate from :S

I'm up for meeting some of you *looks expectantly at Rhythmic and Savi3* soonish :D

x

Social discrimination

2007-11-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

Whilst we're on the subject of discrimination - what exactly is the point of the Single Sex Equality Bill?

The powers that be are looking to make male-priority social clubs illegal. Female members (who currently join/guest on a second-class footing) will be legally able to access all areas of clubs that are as yet inaccessible to them.

I don't see why the policy-makers are getting so het up on this; women have excluded men via the Women's Institute and the Ladies Circle for a very long time. There are certain topics that are easier to discuss among one's own gender, in addition to the comfort in not being subliminally subjected to sexual interest. Why exactly has the faith-school monger got her heart set on taking this comfort zone away from men?

Written exam over....

2007-11-20T00:45:00.000-08:00

...now we've just got the practical to be getting on with....and the small matter of results and the rest of life!

The future at present makes me ill - opportunities seem to be given and snatched back; a £21k writing job was too good to be true; my professional writer friends with firsts in Literature don't even earn that!

So yeah, the rest of life. Well, Omid Djalili was a disappointment - he just repeated his usual terrorist/kebab shop jokes and did his annoying dance. Why, oh, why do crap comedians get so much airtime (or indeed, an entire series)? Is it cos they is black?

In the case of the aforementioned examples, I'm convinced it is. I'm sick and tired of minorities (LGBT like Alan Carr included) of representing whilst less competent than their mainstream equivalents. Positive discrimination leads to resentment on the part of those not judged on their merits, like my colleague in the aforementioned article, in addition to an exodus of talent elsewhere. The incentive to try one's best disappears when mediocrity starts to rise.

Tonight Matthew...

2007-11-17T04:54:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be watching the X Factor at 1840 and Omid Djallili at 2130.

I can't wait!

Here's that article I was banging on about earlier.

PS Rhydian ROOLZ

Duck, Duck, Goose

2007-11-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

I've become a bit boring this week - things have guided happenings, not my good self. I've also been a bit spoilt ;)

There's been the aforementioned interview with the handsome Reggae crew.

There's been FPAS job applications.

The departure of my grandfather.

The arrival of his brother and sister-in-law.

The receipt of top-class Ghiradelli goodies from my lovely American Aunt.

The seeing of some patients and a perfect Pot-Roasted Duck at the Petersham. Note the patients were not inspected as part of the dish preparation - cirrhosed foie gras would NOT be a good idea!

The highlight of my week has been the ~~Sarkozy's new singledom~~ Grand Prebois 2006 I had to accompany the duck.

I have also entertained thoughts of watching Marylin Manson play Wembley on my results day; he ranks amongst my top 10 of people I most want to see (the rest being Jacko, Mariah Carey, Korn, Sevendust, Placebo, Mary J Blige, SOAD, Take That and COF). Just not sure whether I'd want to be a) in Wembley (shit venue which is a pain to get to) or b) at a gig upon failing. I suppose I should keep the venue number in my phone. Results come out at three, and I could easily call then. Decisions, decisions.

'til next time,
Adieu.

Britz

2007-10-31T02:26:00.001-07:00

Homegrown terrorism two-parter starring MC Riz Ahmed and comedienne Manjinder Virk.

Check it out here or on Channel Four at nine pm tonight :D

Release the Children!

2007-10-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

I got a Reggae interview with some Reggae Reggae sauce. Yay :D

Excuse my excitement, but this is quite possibly my biggest interview yet. The artists, Jam Jah, are on their way to bigger and better things; you can tell by their professionalism and phone manner. They're not massive yet though - I don't think anyone outside of the UK's dubstep/ShambalaFest scene would've cottoned onto them...

The reason why their interview is super-special is that this is my first professional commission. Hopefully, the interview will be up and running for view in ten days time. Yours truly is going to be paid for writing; a long long time before she gets paid for being a doctor ;)

Twelve-point pointer..

2007-10-27T02:14:00.000-07:00

The 'Miscellany Meme', courtesy of El Rhythmico. Feel free to link back to me whilst you post your own take on things :D

I've got a dark sense of humour; give me Brass Eye and Peep Show anyday.

I'm looking forward to Omid Djalili's BBC One series - he's got a comedic wit that inspires; think Russell Peters gone satirical.

My heroine is Nigella Lawson. I met her this week and am not quite sure why I was starstruck.

My permitted celebrity indiscretion is Tyson Beckford.

My permitted 'other' indiscretions are Alexander Armstrong, Hugo Rifkind, Zack Braff and David Miliband.

I've come to the conclusion that Cameron's reforms aren't convincing - attitudes like this towards abortion belong in the dark ages.

My favourite authors are Robert Harris, Isabel Allende and Hari Kunzru.

My favourite ~~boy~~manband may well end up nominated for a soundtrack at the Oscars: check out Take That's new song here.

I'm quite taken by this track too - I'm sure the RnB fans amongst you will appreciate it.

I'm super-impressed one of the Pirates (UK hip hop producers) is a Lankan and a doctoring Lankan too!

I'm writing a piece on Reggae.

I can't wink my right eye without closing the left one.

Aloha

2007-10-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings Readers,

I really have kept you waiting this time! Sincere apologies but life a la Luck hasn't been so thrilling of late.

My life has concentrated around seeing patients, helping to look after my Grandfather, reading some books (vis here, here and here) and finding some work experience for when exams are over.

I've managed to bag myself a month here.

It's the first step in a long line of steps to support my application for this. Science is most certainly the most poorly-reported subject in the press. The majority of coverage is rarely objective, factual detail is often minimised and commentors fall into the celebratory or condemnatory camp far too easily. I prefer to go here or here for my fix of well-balanced reporting.

Either way, it's nice to one of my papers nominated for a Guardian Student Media Award this year :D

I best be off now - got another past paper to do.

Take care,
x

A Bunch of Fives

2007-09-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a few random ponderings; courtesy of the Rhythmic One....

My top 5 Sri Lankan foods:

Patties - with traditional coconut pastry

Hoppers

Prawn curry

Hot Butterfried Cuttlefish

Proper Muslim Buriyani

My top 5 current gadgets:

My Nokia - it's got Adventure Snake and Sudoku on it, in addition to a top quality camera <3

My digicam - it's the cutest :D

My hairdryer

My aerolatte

and

My SkyTV digibox. Terrestrial TV is rubbish before 9pm.

5 things I've learnt recently:

Only Asians in Asia have pets.

A battle which is lost now builds resolution to win the war later.

Your first instincts are very often right.

There's no point wasting time with people who don't inspire you.

Very few females are actually inspiring. Only two girls per year seem to make any kind of impression on me...

Onwards....

2007-08-24T23:51:00.001-07:00

For a woman with limited socialising time I've certainly made the most of what's left.

I've been to a BBC PROM, where everybody's (bh)aiyya Nitin Sawhney put on a superlatively disappointing performance. I'd like to know why the maestro chose to play acoustic guitar despite being over-qualified in the skill of instrument-swapping through his competence and persistence.

I'd also like to know why he chose to serve sub-Shy FX dirge to an audience of music lovers; it's wrong to assume a sea of white faces meant the Independant macrobiotic apologist crew were in attendance. Very little experimentation was done, meaning Reena Bhardwaj and Akram Khan were left to provide whatever 'flavour' was required to get things interesting again. Unfortunately, Reena's moments were brief, so I ended up heading off to the pub.

I get sick and tired of paternalism, where people of colour are held to 'lower' expectations, creating a double-standard. What tires me more is the assumption that other brown people are going to be less critical of a product made by yo' brown self as they're supposed to rate you for 'trying' amongst a sea of apathy. Mediocrity just fuels more self-pity and the aforementioned 'low expectations'. Who's going to hold you to task if your own people don't, eh?

Rant over. Or should I say 'onto the next rant'? I think I'll leave Rant2 for a while; you want to hear about where else I've been aside from academic meetings and tutorials, don't you?

I made time to meet a few lovely non-medic friends, which was lovely. We kept running into various medics at Chelsea, so a catch-up drink at one pub stretched out to another!;I think I'll definitely be heading out to the Hook again!

My last weekend consisted of a post-take ward round (attended to be quizzed by wrinkly Prof with hot voice), face and body waxing, a two year old's b'day party (where I met Priya Basil's grandparents and, in a previous year Claire Hafner) and a girlie lunch for K and N's birthdays.

A lovely lunch (at the Prince Regent) turned into tea; SATC cupcakes, which turned into drinks on the Kings' Road.

In between confronting people with suspected eating disorders and watching Saxondale, I found myself treated to lunch at DeMartino. Stunning stuff (pasta al dente, chillis piquant, veal tender and savoury) - 'tis a real shame about the surly staff and rushed service!

I also made time to check out the Proud Galleries (London's biggest lunchtime sunbathing 'terrace') and their Razorlight exhibition, in addition to tabloid fave 'The Hawley Arms' , The Lock Tavern (home of Field Day) and Camden Lock. I have to admit very little star-spotting took place; they were clearly too trollied from the night before to rock up in the afternoon!

I shall be off to check out the Warhol vs Banksy PopGraffitiArt exhibition, in addition to Donkeybox's new album over the next week.

Stay well!

PS Rant2 is about the lack of affable female role models in science. Believe me, it's on it's way ;)

The wedding...

2007-08-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

My dears, it has been too long - I hope all is well with the lot of you.

Since we last spoke my life & my brain have gotten fragmented. I'm in a different location every day, making meet-ups with friends nigh-on-impossible as 'friend resident in that location' is most often not there on the days I turn up. There's no regular pattern, which makes the last-minute aspect of any social meetups planned ALL the more tantalising.

Life at home obviously sucks. I'm sure quite a few of you are more than aware of why you choose not to share an abode with parental types for more than a fortnight! Needless to say, we're off to a family friend's wedding on Sunday. The wedding is at Asian Location Seven as (I suppose) the Park Lane Hilton, Rembrandt Knightsbridge, Mandarin Oriental, Radisson Heathrow, Clay Oven Banqueting Suites and Brent Town Hall were already booked.

I have a feeling the wedding isn't going to be as fun as the one Darwin just mentioned; those I know there are acquaintances a little strait-laced for my liking - as conventional teetotaller UK SL medic girl (fair, skinny, no extra-curricular or rebellious instincts) met conventional beer-drinking SL medic guy (chesnut brown, not so skinny, speaks in fake Sri Lankan accent around parental types to appear more cultured, follows the crowd) and conventional medic family with rebellious (sic) non-medic father are proud they've gotten one over the rest of the conventional SL medic/dentist social circle. Needless to say, this couple serve as reminders as to how yours truly has failed her mother. Those who have met me can attest to my not being skinny and smiley, 60% not work-orientated and not loved up with a decent professional SL boy (or any similarly upstanding 'boy', for that matter!) and enable her to serve me up a nice dish of guilt on the way home.

Hopefully the Nintendo Wii they left on their wedding registry will keep them entertained!

'You're IT'

2007-08-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

..thanks to the tagging from Rhythmic, it looks like you lucky people are going to get my seven facts. Without further ado, here you go :P

1. I like to sink before I swim; I find I learn quicker when I'm put in the deep end and forced to concentrate on learning by doing! Kinesthetic is the word for people like me; we get very bored when forced to read/listen to dry material. It's a shame there's very little in the way of kinesthetic medical revision aids for the ADHD kids out there ;)

2. Whilst I'm in agreement with Rhythmic and Roshan Gunasekara over the power of the stringhopper, I have to take Child of 25's side and name my favourite SL staple as the hopper. What I wouldn't give for a crisp, bowl-shaped pancake or three with oodles of prawn curry gravy and freshly-fried onion sambol...

3. My favourite SL food (Butterfried Cuttlefish aside) is Malu Ambul Thiyal (Sour tuna curry). Proper Down South food. I like making Onigiri with it instead of sandwiches for packed lunch.

4. Growing up as a chocolate-face in rural England has made it's mark on me. I've always had to prove myself harder as an outsider as I've never arrived through the conventional route to anything. Hence, I get very cross when others capable of winning everyone over choose not to give their very best. Like Nitin Sawhney and his sub-ShyFX performance at the PROMS on Friday.

5. My favourite authors are fellow Londoners. Romesh Gunasekara, Shyama Perera, Preethi Nair, Ben Elton, Hari Kunzru and Stephen Fry. There's a fascinating dichotomy between naivety, adventure and cynicism in the way we see the world :P

6. My dream destinations are Cape Town, Barca, Seville and San Francisco. I'm definitely a sucker for good food and sights <3

7. My dream date is Hari Kunzru. I bet you knew that already ;)

50 ways to meet your lover...

2007-07-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've just watched 'You've Got Mail' and gotten myself into a thought-funk on how people meet their lovers.

There seems to be two schools of thought; the first where one can get some 'knowledge' on what a prospective partner is like - the second being a more 'risky' one where you can't.

The majority of the people I know seem to have met their partners at work/university. Hot on these heels is the old 'friend of a friend' or 'friend of the family' trick. We mustn't forget the internet either when considering self-selecting circles.

Outside this shlock, there's a fair few who ended up using bars and clubs as a meeting point, where they went on to meet a partner previously unknown to them. Whilst this seems to have worked wonderfully for some, I personally haven't had the pleasure of meeting ANYONE outside my friendship circles who happened to interest me in THAT way.

I wondered whether I was going to the wrong places so I changed neighbourhood and event type. I still got approached but not by the types I wanted. Unstimulating small talk with randoms I have little in common with has gotten boring, so I've decided to go back to square one.

And what is this mysterious square one?

Friends of friends. A failsafe which can only get you more friends as birds of a feather flock together and this self-selection makes them all the more compatible, capische?

Weekends of yore...

2007-07-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

...my oh my, have I had a GIRLIE time :D

Talk about beautification, shopping, artisan chocolates and Japanese ice creams. I'm not quite a convert to edamame soya beans in a waffle cone, but hey, the red bean and chestnut are well worth a go!

I also popped out to Richmond for a spot of summer - my girl D and I ended up Pimms-ing by the river. Needless to say, the people-watching wasn't especially entertaining, but top company and great weather is always appreciated :)

Sunday was spent exercising (3 mile walk to fetch paper and come back), reading the Sunday Papers, catching up with a girlie or two and inventing Peking Salmon.

I'm now reading 'Blast from the Past' and 'The Liar'.

'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People' is also an excellent read. Highly recommended.

Sri Lankan Purdah

2007-07-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

I've been in hiding WAY too long. So long that I refuse to let the rules of Sri Lankan social purdah (where a family member's inability to fit convention results in them being hidden from acquaintances and relatives) govern me for much longer.

I figure you'd all respect me a lot more if I came out with the truth anyway.

The good news is that I passed four out of my five exams and had a wonderful holiday in the US.

The bad news is that I have to resit one of my practical exams & hence won't be working as a doctor 'til that obstacle is dealt with.

Alas, every cloud has a silver lining. Failing my exam means I get a London job as the medical school's post-graduate department are obliged to keep an eye on me. The much-derided move to Preston is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. YAY :D

Watch this space for more posting on DC, Philadelphia and the Polyphonic Spree gig.

Tata!

x

Siamese Superstition

2007-06-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Sri Lankans are a funny bunch. Passionate, hospitable, cheerful and contradictory. Sri Lankan superstitions are equally entertaining; you can choose to laugh with them, or indeed at them.

My favourite superstition has to be the avoidance of 'wrongly-sized' fruit and vegetables by the fairer sex. I've come across a lot of 'wrong' fruit in my time. My mother has thankfully put a stop to my consumption of them as she doesn't fancy me coping with the uncertainty of carrying conjoined twins.

She has also taken it upon herself to verbally beat this mantra into me - I fear the consequences of not taking this mantra seriously as I may be (physically) pounded harder than the streets in the Kandy Perehera instead!

Incidentally, the definition of 'wrong' is one of size and number (Sri Lankans never do things by halves!).

I can see why people would avoid a rotting/under-ripe piece of fruit/vegetable.

What I don't understand is the need to avoid 'doubled'/bifid forms of the similar fruits and vegetables. Whilst the birth of conjoined-twins can result in joy/heartache of similar measure, the presence of more fruit/vegetable-matter available within the item reprsents a) greater value for money and b) more taste/flavour?

Surely chopping up/pureeing the offending item will negate the overall 'wrongness' of the piece?

And what about the fathers? I'd assume sperm production takes equal responsibility in the matter, so how come the men don't have to avoid 'doubles' too?

Alas, I won't be the one to tell you the answer. One of you, who has already gone on to complete their family, will have to tell me!

There's most probably a reason for Sri Lanka's virtually nonexistent rate of conjoined twin production - and this my dears, is most probably it.

Sweeteners..

2007-06-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, this 'responsible Baby-Doc' gubbins I present to the big bad world is just a front. Lurking under the surface is a not-so-secret hedonist, hellbent on finding pleasure in many ways, shapes or forms!

Since my opportunity for pleasure has been rather subdued in the run-up to finals, the pleasures I've had of late have been of the simple, comparatively sedate variety. Summer-fruits, sorbets and the sweet feeling of having put over half your exams behind you.

My good friend female R and I went out to lunch, t'other day, as a token attempt at celebration. We chose Sagar, a South Indian Vegetarian restaurant with branches all over West London.

Our reasons for this choice - R is a Vegetarian, we were close-by and 'The Gate' required a reservation.

Alas, as students do, we opted for the lunch special.

Little did we know that a lunch special for one meant enough food for three. Ordering two of these meant we'd got a family feast on our hands, with poppadums, starters (dhokra, boonda, samosas), salad, dosa, pilau rice and four curries each! The food was laid out in a thali, minus the banana-leaf but thoroughly Kerelan in every other way :)

Along with these goodies came dessert, consisting of a sole turd-coloured gulab jamun sitting in a stainless steel bowl of urine-coloured syrup.

Call me a scatophile, if you must - but the visuals and over-powering flavours of South Asian fresh fruit-less desserts described below, leaves much to be desired. You can totally see why an upbringing like mine made Sat Bains and Atul Kochar get it desperately wrong on the Great British Menu.

Watalappam - unevenly textured, slimy and wrong.

Pineapple fluff - leftover whey, blancmange and food colouring gone horribly wrong. A bit like Teletubby Custard with the texture and culinary charmlessness of ectoplasm.

Sauw/payasam - frog spawn. Nuff said.

Kavum - should be sent to hell for looking AND tasting bad.

Barfi - the consumer needs UV eye protection and gumshield prior to attempting to consume this cloying excuse of a fat-laden tooth-decay brick which was created for the sole purpose of providing business for other money-hungry Asian doctors and dentists.

Muscat and the abomination that is salted-buttercream Marie-Biscuit Pudding. Exactly which clown on this planet thought wartime rationing-inspired post-Pilawoos cosh was an excellent idea?

I'm interested in knowing exactly why South Asians are rubbish at making their own desserts.

We don't seem to have made much headway post-migration either - few seem to be aware of the world beyond the pleasures of Kulfi and Jalebi.

I for one, look forward to seeing an Asian-inspired dessert as part of the UK's culinary landscape :D

Afternoon Gangsters

2007-06-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd drop a quick note to let you know my written exams have gone relatively well.

Practicals are next week and week after, so the next two weeks will be spent revising for them, watching Big Brother and cheering for my boys (Simon and Tre) to win the Apprentice.

Nobel Laureate, eh? Pleased to meet you!

2007-05-25T01:07:00.000-07:00

I went to Preston on Tuesday. Absolute cack. People very friendly, but not so much to do.

I didn't do brilliantly at my interview either - the more I think about it, the worse I feel. I'm SO pleased I took the evening off for a sweet recovery.

And dearie me, they don't come much sweeter than this: insight into the selection process behind one of the greatest prizes the intellectual world has to offer. 'How to be a Nobel Laureate' was a resounding success - Sir Tim Hunt spoke very well and remained unafraid to question the selectors present without making them feel uncomfortable. The Science Ed of the Telegraph chaired the whole show, with pepperings of irreverence from Daniel Glaser (BBC Science bod) and Professor Hewish.

Schmoozing with the above bods was muchos fun. I never thought Imperial's Rector knew how to 'hi-five' and street handshake! Ditto the fact that the BBC will be doing a documentary on him. Unlike most IC students, I actually like the Rector despite his plans to turn IC into a university that I wouldn't feel comfortable attending.

The evening was rounded off with a spot of dinner at a Gentleman's club. Not the Stringfellows-type, mind - the one I went to was more genteel - the meal requests are written by diners (in pencil) and various national awards, belonging to Stephen Fry and Anthony Hopkins, amongst others line the cupboards in quiet triumph.

All in all, a rather fab evening. Exactly what you need when the morning gets your goat!

Horses for Courses

2007-05-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

A week doesn't go by in the UK without Gordon or Mourinho getting their kecks dirty again.

This week's hoo-ha is all about horse-meat, food-stuff of the French, supposedly 'unthinkable' to our nation of animal lovers.

Horse-meat, along with the humble ostrich and kudu, is supposed to be low in cholesterol and high in nutrients (iron and the like). Given the recent food-scares over traditionally-farmed livestock in recent years (BSE, Foot-and-mouth, Bird-Flu), it may well be prudent to put the vet's best customers on our dinner tables, considering the great care taken to optimise their health to tip-top racing condition.

Horse-meat was supposedly banned in the UK and sections of Western Europe thanks to it's association with pre-Christian traditions. Increasing secularity puts paid to it's presence causing religious offence in a country with minimal Church attendance so the precise reason for it's continued offence is beyond me. I'd happily eat a horse if I wasn't allergic to it.

What about you?

HiStories - How many of these have you heard of?

2007-05-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

Boys and girls - I'd like to take this procreastination opportunity to re-iterate a babydoc's life isn't just an academic one.

I believe it's educative in a number of ways, most notably so when thinking about the human condition. After all, we are treating people NOT diseases, something our erstwhile colleagues in countries without communication skills tend to forget!

Our educators come from all walks of life, some with, but most without a medical background. It's possible to put forward an argument for patients being the best learning materials, since medicine is very much a craft speciality, with textbooks and teacher support as guidance as opposed to doctrine.

We are continually reminded that seventy-five percent of a diagnosis can be made from the interpretation of a patient's words into doctor-speak prior to an examining finger being laid on the patient. Consequently, it's immensely helpful if you know exactly what your patient is talking about.

London is a cosmopolitan city with 300 years-worth of immigration to speak of. Our language is diverse, influenced, no doubt by the presence of every nationality in the melting pot the majority of us know and love. As a result, the walk of life you come from makes its' presence felt in your speech, such as accent, heredity, fluency in other languages and areas/social groups you've mixed substantially with. Up to five percent of our patients don't speak English either, so consultations with an interpreter/the much-maligned language line service are a reality we've all gotten used to.

The best consultations take place when both parties are able to build a rapport sufficient to communicate their greatest concerns most effectively. To optimise my street-cred, I've had to sit through a number of outpatient clinics and bus-rides to make sure I'm down with the kidz. Since a number of my colleagues are allergic to buses, urban music, Ali G and take-away joints, I'm pretty confident I'd bang most of them out a street-speak battle. Here's a list of some of the terms I should've clocked over my six years in town. I got approximately half of them right.

Don't say I don't help the newcomers ;)

WHIP - a mode/form of transport
SICK - a positive expresion which could highlight a desirable event
BRE/BRUV - a brother of the race you belong to
MAN DEM - the male homosapian
ON ROAD - varied translations e.g. sickest bre on road. meaning sickest guy around
LOCK DOWN - an event/person/thing which is considered to be under control/in good hands
BUTTERS - ugly
BUFF - good looking
TONK - Muscular/ fat people
OHHH SHITT - expression showing concurence/happyness/sadness or any other expression desired by the user.
HIT THAT - To do something

BRAPPPP - an expression showing great excitment/ mimiking the actions of the gun community
BARE - alot
THE GAME - everyday life/sport/womenising/anything e.g. your a serious guy in the game....but what is the game....bruv i am the game
BANGING - sick/good or a descpriction an attractive girl5-0 - the police
YOU KNOW THAT - when an observation has been made and agreed upon.
GIRL DEM - a desired women
BABYLONS/RACK - two features of the female upper body located in the chest region. in context.....check dem babs
TO FEEL IT - to want to do something/ to desire someone....in context..shit, u feel that girl dem.

GAS/RAPS - extremely fast e.g dave is fucking raps, he's a gas man.
YOU BEST RECOGNISE - you better understand what i am saying.
SERIOUS CAT - man on his chirps game; a great white in the sharking game.
CHIRPS - to chat up or flirt with a desired individual.
POTENT/AGG - a descriptive word showing a strong positive feeling/fact. in context........that is absolutely potent/agg.
GASH - a female genital area
SHANK - to knife someone
BANG HIM OUT - to knock someone out
EASY - a common greeting in everyday life in london. in context.....easyyyyy now
WOOD - the male genital sex organ
SPARK - to punch some one
TAP THAT - To have sexual relations with the opposite sex.

BRUCK UP - objects being destroyed. in context.....that shit got bruck up
SKET - undesirable member of the female gender/often diseased and a carrier of viruses
CHI CHI MAN - a homosexual
CLOCKED - to have observed and/or taken note of something
PIECE - male genitalia
SKEEN/SEEN - when an observation has been understood.
LATER - a remark made after seeing something extraordinary
DOUG or DOUGGY - to imply that something is shit or a person is a looser eg, 'that breh was so doug'
CREASE - to find something amusing/to laugh
MERKED - when someone or something is destroyed. In context.......Shit that bre got merked..OR, in sexual context...That girl got merked.
MILITANT - meaning stern, difficult or hard

BATTY - word of a descriptive nature, often used in relation to someone with homosexual tendencies. In context....batty bre...OR, can be used to describe a females' rear end.
COTCH - to relax
YARD - a place of residence
BLUD - a gangster london term for mate
RINSED - an over use of a particular activity/to be mimicked to an extreme level
HOODRAT - a commonly used phrase for a male/female who roam the streets often sporting reebock workouts, hoodies and burberry caps.
BOYD - when someone has been verabally or physically defeated, either through an insult or violent behaviour.
BIG - an emphatic statement of positive approval
ARMS - to possess the power overide any desired individual

WASTEMAN - an all around loser,a sad character, a bad egg, a failure, a burden on society
TOOLED UP - carrying weapons capable of destruction
WASTEGASH - female version of wasteman
CHAPPING - Cold.Often preceeded by "bare"or "pierre"
SHOOK - scared or nervous. e.g "Man got shook" or "Girl got shook"
SECKLE-wait a second
BAIT - when something is obvious
SAFE - either a greeting (e.g. safe blud) or meaning something or someone's positive/ good (e.g. he's bare safe)
LONG - To be complex, time consuming or arduous in nature.

Rihanna: closet Lanka-phile?

2007-05-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

Stunning Barbadian songstress reveals passion for Lankan-favoured fruit via the chorus of her latest single.

FoodSchmood.

2007-05-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

I think that's the attitude I should be taking to edible items, given that I have an exam in precisely twenty four days.

Twenty four days means ten days of medicine, five days of surgery, two days of orthopaedics (a section of surgery I am especially bad at, thanks to prioritising pathology revision during that placement) and seven days of revision questions.

I think it'll take three days to work through my CPT pile (go me for revising one subject early!) so the odds on me being the one person in London to fail a written paper are minimal.

Incidentally, the pass rate for clinicals is not as good - sixty five people failed across town last year. I best work hard to ensure I'm not one of them, eh?

*clears throat*

So, back to the point. I plead guilty to using my egg and dairy-free diet as a further excuse to procreastinate online. Whilst vegancooking (replete with tagged archive and product reviews) has been useful at times, I've felt the need for something a bit more pictorial to get those creative juices going. VeganLunchBox has tried it's best to amuse me this way but it's strong points are of the verbally-orientated sort, not pictorial.

Consequently, I've found myself going back to the drawing board. I've taken care to explore traditionally non-egg/dairy-dependent cuisines. Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia, South India and Mexico have all been points of reference. I've also taken inspiration from traditionally non-vegan recipes, e.g. garlic mash and substituting them with dairy-free replacements. This has led to the creation of some aesthetically pleasing stuff as the food blogs I've been watching closely are of the generic variety, catering to the discerning mainstream eater. My favoured blogs are the warm, funny and immediate ones, where much of the entertainment centres upon the personal lives of the foodies involved. I highly recommend checking out 'Living to Eat', Can Cook Must Cook, Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef and the charming Cook Sister as a perfectly pleasant way to spent a foodie afternoon.

Tschuss!

Friendships and relationships : more musings

2007-04-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

Nocturnal greetings to you all. As you can see I have emerged from a pile of revision and plunged myself into another pile of angst.

Without meaning to sound melodramatic, all things on the revision-front appeared to have ground to a halt thanks to the World Cup final and the number of guests we've had over. In true Ruhuna Kella (that's Southern Sri Lankan girl) style, I took to the role of hostess (my mother chose to nap) with gusto and enjoyed the pleasant respite from the books.

Needless to say, I did my utmost to delay the return. Allergy-attacks, tidying-up, interesting TV programmes (such as 'Blind Young Things' and 'Dispatches : India's Economy') and uninteresting viewing fodder ('Joseph' and 'Grease is the Word'), a visit to the Beauty Shop, a talk from Ajahn Brahm and OKCupid have ranked amongst my distractionary activities.

I've (shamefully) started using Facebook as a stalkbook - it's hard to resist checking out your crush's ex-girlfriends and inadvertently comparing yourself in the process. I'm glad it's killed the intellectual inadequacy I had when under the impression those girls got firsts in physics and computing (they turned out to be geologists - PAH) but it's heightened the physical barrier as it'd be wrong to describe me as porcelain, funky or elfin-featured in any way/shape or form. It's difficult to hypothetically (as said crush is currently taken by an elfin-faced Jewish artist) decide whether to 'go there' or not based on the fact I'm so different to what Mr Yum has had before.

Perhaps it's best to let the crush decide as I've got it astoundingly wrong in the past! Limiting factors are different in each case - I may have been artistic, intelligent, dark-haired and tanned; the similar to a previous crush's exes but my Body Mass Index was ten points higher than theirs. Crushes are perfectly entitled to reject on such grounds - I'd have few qualms rejecting someone on equally trivial grounds (crap CD collection, deficient oral hygiene, preference for polyester-based sports clothing) .

Either way, rejection hurts - and this is precisely why I am r.e.l.u.c.t.a.n.t to go there again. As I get older, the number of prospective dates I meet drops. I also have less time to devote to said dates, which is why I get pickier over whom I choose to spend my spare time with. The stakes devoted to the success of each venture rise as the ventures are fewer and far between and hence, a negative outcome from these ventures has much greater effect than it should. I tend not to take the positive outcomes to heart as a second/third date is a bonus in my world - and expectations lead to disappointment - fact.

My ego is consequently a tad fragile where relationships are concerned - I've been told all sorts of things as to why I have failed in said arena and they're not the sort of things I can correct with ease. Intimidation, tendency to minimise small talk, weight (ok, I've lost a stone since Xmas but it's still not good enough to look *good* in Topshop), sounding too posh/not sounding posh enough, not being girlie enough/being too eccentric - the whole caboodle is enough to send a girl neurotic. Either way, I've decided to push said matter to one side; I'm positive there's someone out there who'll accept me as I am and not hate me enough to not want to donate their sperm/time/company. I've just not met them yet.

Relationship insecurities aside, I turn to relationship musings of another type - platonic friendships. It's been preying on my mind since job allocations came my way - geographical separation is going to mean I'll have to make new chums and see the old bunch less.

Ever since I was a small person, I've had a lot of friends. The friends would often be in disparate places, e.g. different year groups/from different activities and hence, not always get the chance to meet each other. I've chosen to spend time where my interest takes me, e.g. doing the activity that 'I' want to do. Through this I've enjoyed the company of a variety of people but find that, as time goes by, the times I see said friends are as part of groups they see on a more regular basis.

On socialising with a group, you compromise your interactions with an individual. Having a partner (or partners/other priorities) means the time that said individual has for you is diminished. Consequently, a friendship which could've been great is shot from the start by circumstances outside your control. The same person goes on to skank your events 'cos you've not spent time with them. A similar situation occurs when you skank their event for another friend's, by virtue of socialising with too many other groups. You keep missing each other, the cycle continues, to the point where you'll never be bored on a Friday night, but only a select few will think to put you first as/when you need them the most. Understandably, you'll have a few friends who feel uncomfortable coming to events where they haven't met the entire guestlist before, but thankfully, these types are being deleted (from my life) into phonebook obscurity.

Conclusively, the security from a group is something a lot of humans crave. By virtue of my own behaviour (i.e. the desire to spend time with those who stimulate me most), I've excluded myself from the comfort zone of automatic invites and kudos/favours by proxy. I'd like to learn how to take comfort in the sidelines and positively enjoy the detachment/lack of obligation that objectivity (and staying out of intra-group politiking) brings.

What do you guys make of this 'friendship' thing?

Cricket :D

2007-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

World Cup Final in three mins - I can't wait.

I can see a proper post a moi is LONG overdue!

x

Hallo!

2007-04-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings Blogosphere, it's been a while!

I'd like to say my absence hasn't been due to life changing adventurous reasons. The tedium of revision and intensive care has done it's best to keep me away from here, but not for much longer!

Since I left you, I have found out my rotation for the next two years. Understandably, I am aggrieved that I've not landed a post with dermatology input, but life does indeed go on. I've got the small matters of geriatric medicine, colo-rectal surgery, pathology, paediatrics, GP and trauma surgery to keep me busy if finals smile on me. Hopefully they will, as revision is a nightmare when you've got a life to be living and fit people to keep chasing!

Being ill isn't easy either - a horrid bout of tonsillitis is what got me here, as my presence in the living room, where SL are playing the West Indies has led to them losing two early wickets. (I've never actually watched a match where SL won, so I guess that makes me a jinx. Ah well, more me for you lucky, lucky readers :P)

So what else is up with me?

I attended my final year dinner, which sucked. I then went on to Borough Market to sample the Dorset scallops at Shellseekers, venison and wild-boar at Sillfield Farm and the Chabis at Neals Yard. I also tried the nine-year old Jamon at Brindisa, a Spanish speciality stall, before buying the ultimate chocolate brownie (which wasn't a patch on Moby's gooey-vegan baby at Teany).

Fact - fresh stir-fried scallops plus bacon equals foodgasm.
Fact two - the reason vegan brownies = hotness = banana as the egg replacer.

I've also had an excellent dinner out at Imperial China, in the company of HK hosts and the vicinity of Bollywood's power couple, John Abraham and Chowki and Masala Zone!

Foodness aside (there is indeed more food to follow as my allergies have played up and I am again egg and dairy-free, in addition to Ros' latest query as to why some cuisine's have taken off and others haven't), there hasn't been much going on.

Lisa Jewell's 'Vince and Joy', 'Wedding Belles', 'The Apprentice' (Jadine is a MONSTER, Tre is rude and Geri is a bitch) and drooling over Allan from Shipwrecked means I've not been up to much culturally. There's the return of 'Peep Show' to look forward to this week, and the ticketing for all the music fests this summer. There's also a plan for a spa-day post-exams and a girlie-week to a semi-exotic destination. Marrakesh, Kenya (where my friend has just started an orphanage) and South Africa are all looking good to me.

Enough about me? What about you?

Tell me about your summers!

Shrove Tuesday Final Year Dinner

2007-04-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

STFYD is an ICSM institution. Since 1939, Consultants and students have made a point of fraternising towards the end of the spring term, to celebrate the end of the era before finals revision kicks in.

This year's event was held at the Bridge, in SE1. While the year below endeavoured to put on a spectacular night (indeed, the aesthetics were perfect), the failings of the venue worked against them. Things started going downhill when the sound system failed for two-thirds of the tables present, meaning we had to crush forwards to hear Miss Higham, Sam's band and the three musketeers.

The staff (surly and clueless) continually failed to serve guests who weren't seated, meaning a lot of people had to chase after their food whilst the speeches continued. Temperature really doesn't matter when socialising is the number one priority. People are like boomerangs and will eventually return to their tables - it's the law of black-tie does to stave off your hangover before you go back for more!

Thirdly, the food, drink and facilities weren't much cop - spinach and mozzerella tart made with a pastry base of granulated sugar crystals and dry couscous served with rubbery roasted veg. Indeed, there was proof in the pudding that a tasting hadn't taken place before the order was placed; this might have been prudent given that nightclub chefs are more accustomed to providing burgers and chips over gourmet-fare.

Issues aside (clashes over the elective postcard collage), a lovely night was had; the highlights being the meeting of friends, dirty/Dad dancing from the Consultants and the generous gift from Miss PrizeWinner who chose to put part of her winnings behind the bar for the rest of us.

Roll on the Graduation Ball!

Hidden things..

2007-03-09T23:14:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I'm writing to you from hiding, better known as the computer room where all the work-shy doctors hide and pretend to be blitzing evaluations/audits in. I'm hiding from an assessment with my evil sub-supervisor - one of those bug-eyed types who makes you feel bad for not knowing stuff/asking simple questions. I hope to do my assessment with him later, away from t'other student who is 1x BOFF with a special interest in lungs and kidneys. He actually knows more than the junior doctors, come to think of it.

Intellectual inadequacy has very much been the theme of this week. Aside from my fellow student BOFF boy, there's been a slew of boffination passing through this placement. Official records show I'm the least academically-able to do it this year. Cue looks of amazement when I actually answer questions in tutorials and repeated comments of 'think before you speak' once I've given said wrong answer. Medical students are there to learn, not teach and passing five years of medical school is not something to be ashamed of, so :P

I don't especially like the material being taught or the company provided either; it's nice to spend time with those who have other interests beyond the subject-at-hand and career options so G and R (the two without a special interest in intensive care and proper lives outside work as opposed to an existence) will be my saving grace for the next two weeks.

Our current article of amusement is 'dating woman' , our colleague who appears to be on the continual online search for love. It's a shame I can't think of a friend/acquaintance to suit her, she's very nice and quite the pretty one but very conventional with specific interests/hobbies to boot. It's quite scary I don't know anyone conventional enough to date her!

More on my non-working life later....

x

PS Intensivists are a strange bunch. I haven't worked them out yet.
PPS 'R's name' means King in Persian. I am slightly infatuated with him.

Fear the Childe!

2007-02-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hunger and boredom aren't exactly the most comfortable bedfellows life has to offer. After all, one of these quantities may indeed lead the other one towards consequences which might not be in the best interests of the beholder.

The Goldhawk Road isn't a bad place to be when hunger strikes. It's got variety, for one thing and a lack of scary types for another (the scaries prefer to hang around on the other side of Shepherd's Bush Market - near the 207 bus stop on Uxbridge Road. Topics of parlance centre on denying their madness and getting a bigger council house). The proverbial Shreddies, which keep hunger locked up 'til lunch may well be on sale at Tesco's - but hopper porn and the search for crispy curried goodness put me in the path of Damera - a very friendly Ethiopian cafe recommended by a number of colleagues, Miss Ros included.

I have to confess I've not got round to trying Ethiopian cuisine - I've only come across it once before, at a less than salubrious joint on North End Road. Ethiopian women are amongst the best looking on this earth - I've never seen a fat one (in the UK, so proverbial famine jokes are out!), or a super-wrinkly one either. They're almost always smiling too - I put this down to their monopoly over clear skin!

Turns out delicious food for a VERY resonable price (£7) ranks amongst the reasons to smile too - the Ethiopian injera is a little like the centre and sides (but not the edge!) of a wholemeal hopper. It's lemon scented and supposedly low in fat. Their vegetarian and mince curries are very similar to those served by Indians living near Andra Pradesh - keema is an exact replica of a Kenyan Indian recipe my great aunt used to make! Score :D

In other news, I've got a whole host of jobs to rank, a revision-course to help out with, a friend I've not seen in time to catch up with and a load of tutorials with a cute tutor. Life is hard :P

Da Da Da Da Da - Let Me Show You

2007-02-18T04:45:00.000-08:00

....where's that from?

Back in the day, when Camisra reigned the fledgling Kiss FM supreme.

I thought it'd be an excellent intro to '5 Things' - the meme doing the rounds through Ros and a number of other food bloggers.

It's a nice way to update, capische?

1. Yours truly is going to be working in Preston come August. It's supposedly the most Catholic city in England, with a tenth of the population being of Asian origin.

2. I've just finished 'Ishq and Mushq' - Priya Basil's debut novel. Well worth reading if you've got an interest in immigrant life, East Africa and the human condition. Think 'White Teeth' or 'Brick Lane' without the flashbacks and pretension.

3. I believe I'm allergic to soya and mushrooms. I've not been a fan of either food for sometime - rubbery textures don't sit well with other items on my plate, ditto itchy mouth and stomach cramps, confirming that the only vegetarian protein worth knowing is CHEESE.

4. I'm going to see my fellow desi-lover Nelly Furtado this week - she'll be my fiftieth act seen live :D

5. I prefer Britcoms to sitcoms. I'm sure you knew that already ;)

Reflections of a Finalist

2007-02-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

The idiosyncratic routine of lecture courses at Charing Cross Hospital will soon be over. Understandably, I'm slightly gutted by this; the student life can be quite endearing at times ;)

I'm not especially bothered about the lack of teaching material come the summer - it's the cosy social routine and lack of days with casual clothes that I'll be mourning somewhat more!

The last two years have seen me become better friends with a number of girlies (and token boy who has gained 'honorary girl status') in our year. I seem to have rotated placements with the same few, so I get really excited about seeing them (as we're all on our own this year) :D

This 'block' will mark the end of the Reynolds hot chocolates we have at breaktimes, in addition to their toasted sandwiches (I can never get mine to caramelise that well), surly Lithuanian cashier and empty vending machines (empty to me 'cos they eat my money or choose not to possess what I want). Sooner or later our names will join the thousand scribbled on the walls and ceiling - the scribble of a newly-qualified doctor will be marker-penned for posterity. Fingers crossed mine will be up there too. Someday. Somehow.

We'll also be ending the Cafe du Fleur/Whole Hog sandwich routine, in addition to the Puzzle/OSP drinks after work (admittedly, the number and alcohol content of drinks is going down as people get closer to exams). Starbucks gossip sessions are already fewer and far between.

I'd like to think that Hammersmith is going to be a lonely place without us. Somehow, I think not - the year below have already got themselves an equivalent gang or ten, so this rabble is going to live for a long time yet!

In the last few days....

2007-02-10T02:40:00.000-08:00

...I have discovered a delicious Thai takeaway, enjoyed quality tapas-inspired grub (what else could explain the miniscule portions, Mr Rhythmic?) and tasted an heavenly deconstructed triple-creamed banoffee pie. Deeee-licious.

Spurious episodes of gluttony aside, I've been rather occupied with work. Cue acute case assessment and hasty completion thereof. Cue endless ward rounds with junior doctor (consultant in clinic, registrar on ski slope, SHO in bed unwell) and patients with retractable veins (I still miss 60% of venflons on my first go - must do better). I have learnt j*ck about the medical life, aside from the fact there may be a demonstration at Whitehall come the 17th of March (in protest over Mangling Medical Careers). Add to this a few revision tutorials with tutor possessing unbecoming hairstyle and not a lot else, journalism exempted.

My written output (quantity-wise) remains poor. I put that down to revision ('vision' per se being the operative word as 'revision' is for the organised) and procreastination (Facebook has helped me set up my own birthday party - I'm rather curious to see who's said 'yes' to me. I'd almost rather peripheral people said 'not attending' quicker as I'd only invited them out of a twice yearly need to say 'I haven't seen you around and don't resent your company' more than anything else). The party is turning out to be bigger than expected, making me think I might have to seal off a section (and pay a deposit AND do a 'minimum spend' thing).

NB If I have not got round to inviting you, it's because I've forgotten people without a livejournal/facebook. You are indeed invited, although belatedly so.

The written output that does remain (editing/Quarking of MS pages not withstanding) is a review of usedtobecool's new album. It's really rather good if you're into the drum and bass/industrial side of things. I'll be putting it up on drownedinsound once the boiz have OK'd it. I'm hoping the meet-up with PickledPolitics-types today might inspire me a little.

How are you guys doing?

Life Oop North

2007-02-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm going to be moving to Manchester & it's surroundings come this August.

Two years two hundred miles away.

Think I can hack it?

I think you'll find the answer is 'YES' - they've got lots of dermatology jobs, two year allocations (vs one year in most of the country), lots of course fundings, tonnes of gigs, their very own Selfridges, a mile full of curries AND a Harvey Nicks.

Perhaps I'll bump into one of the boys from Take That on a night out?

Eeek!

2007-02-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

Final years across the UK are pissing themselves today - it's D-day for finding out which geographically-based educational supervisors are going to be responsible for our jobs next year.

Wish us luck!

x

Some fruit a day...

2007-01-24T06:00:00.001-08:00

..keeps the doctor away.

Quite.

The highlight of my two-week absence from this blogging phenomenon can be ascribed to two equally mind-numbing and tiresome things.

The first of these goodies is clinical work. I've been spending time at a recently-rebuilt zone six A&E department, under the tutelage of Uncle M. This experience wasn't entirely unproductive - I got to help out in a few emergencies, for one thing and experience the fun of the 'acute case simulation study day', whereby you're put in a simulated resuscitation station with your mates (or colleagues if you happen to be universally reviled thanks to your own behaviour) and told to manage the case set up around the semi-real (yes, it has it's own heart beat, voice and blood pressure) plastic dummy provided.

I've also been wasting time at another local hospital. Quite what my medical school expects me to achieve when three out of my four seniors are away, I have no idea. It's even more worrying when a pre-revision final year student knows more than the person they're shadowing (very good looking, caring female with an excellent soft skills). I have twenty-two hypoxically-driven, overfamiliar paperbag-esque male pensioners for company. Sometimes they call me nurse (as if females can't be doctors!). Other times they ask me to sit on their beds. Whilst charity for the dying is one thing, I can't help refusing their requests - it's their own fault for making tobacco bongs out of their home oxygen pumps.

The second of the badboys is revision. Bleurgh. I had to drive to Hillingdon to see a couple of patients (diverticulitis & obstructive jaundice) yesterday. Our temporary surgical tutor is a nice (but oh-so-slightly-cocky) guy - I rate his band-aid for coronal balding (comb front hair backwards, push back-of-head hair forwards, fill in the gaps with black shoe polish).

So ward-related japery aside, I've not been upto much else.

I wrote a piece on the handshake fiasco, where a female Muslim police officer was exempted from shaking hands with the Met's Chief Officer at her passing out parade

I took part in a London Pubcrawl

with a few friends.

I went to a birthday party and I signed up for a revision course.

I started reading <'Rancid Aluminium'.li>

I've also been trying my hardest to stick to the Department of Health's 'five a day' target.

Prior to starting, my average was two (a fruit juice and two mandarins). Post-starting, I have employed the services of a knife and a plastic box, thanks to the purchase of fruits which aren't naturally portable (read self-encased). I've managed to uptake my average intake to four a day - Snax/Sunmaid dried fruit box, a cup of smoothie, a portion of salad/cooked vegetable and one/two pieces of non-encased fruit. Admittedly, there are days I cheat, where I wash the sauce off baked beans (and hide them in my pasta sauce) but these are very much dependent on who does the shopping.

My mother, for instance, purchases fibrous vegetables which are destined for cooking. Attempting to eat raw aubergine/bitter gourd/courgettes/butternut squash is a feat for the dentally-nonchalant (exactly who wants to break their teeth off when appearance is what counts). Her fruit-buying skills extend to pomegranates purchased alongside said vegetables.

My father OTOH, buys the same things week in/out. Expect to see potatoes, carrots, leeks, spring onions, onions and mandarins in his basket. Bi-weekly, he brings some kiwi-fruit. Once a month, I might see two heads of broccoli or a bunch of grapes. Bi-monthly, it's mango/sharonfruit time :D

Evidently, there are days when I find myself correcting this shortfall. The £10 a week I used to spend on takeaways/canteen lunch has found it's way into a greengrocer/supermarket's hands - thanks to the purchase of promotional portable fruit, promotional dried fruit and half-price salad vegetables at 5pm. The fruit, in particular, seems to disappear once I get home - the parents have started to challenge me on 5aday without realising! The need to eat healthily seems to cut into my revision time (given the bi/tri-weekly 20 minute trips to establishments of retail). Who said lifestyle changes were easy, eh?

What a tard!

2007-01-10T04:50:00.000-08:00

I just rejected a couple of comments from 'The Wanderer' and 'Jokerman' by mistake.

Monkey - all is well; the last entry was written in a slightly morose state. I'm feeling better now, rapidly scribbling notes for my next tutorial with Uncle M! Btw, why don't you like Power Tutes?

Jokerman - I agree TATT and LOC aren't best served by the Power Tutorial format.

Rhythmic - thank you for your lovely email. A minger is a step up from owning a beard ;)

PS

2007-01-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Anyone else ever felt work ruined their lives/their lovelives?

I honestly think my choices are out to get me.

1) 5th/final year clinics make it harder for you to catch up with anyone who isn't part of your rotation/habitation group.

2) Going away for two months has put me entirely out of sync with friends - people have new hobbies/loyalties/relationships, even, which means I'm having to fight harder to get an audience with them.

3) Revision isn't conducive to a social life.

4) Revision/working evenings isn't conducive to a lovelife either.
4a) Being a female doctor makes me non-dateable in the eyes of non-medic types.
4b) Being me makes me non-dateable in the eyes of medic types.

I can't be f*cked.

The Legend of the Power Tutorial

2007-01-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

This afternoon's proceedings taught me a little about medicine & a lot about life. Our legend in the making decided to introduce us to the wonders of the power tutorial. After-all, the format is transferable to other fields/problems.

1) Take a presenting problem/symptom, e.g. chest pain.

2) Ask a potted history of 7/8 questions required to differentiate between differential diagnoses.

3) Decide upon your impression & differential.

4) Sort out a management plan, beginning with Resus ABC, iv access, hi-flow oxygen (if needed)...

5) Talk about treatments, contra-indications and side effects.

6) Go 'round the group & ask each member for 3 points they hadn't learnt before.

Simple but effective eh? Three cheers for a fresh take on revision :D

Thoughts/what you will...

2007-01-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Before I kick off, I thought I'd take this opportunity to wish you a belated (hey, what's my ethnicity again???) Happy New Year.

Onto more important things - people. Do not look away, for this ISN'T a moan. I need your opinions, dammnit - A&E is dull today :(

My little Sis & I have been chatting about people - exactly what makes 'em tick & the like, since she considers the bulk of those she's met at university unstimulating. Whilst she appreciates that new terms & indeed, new academic years herald new friends, we've come up with the following classifications to help us figure out what makes 'us' tick.

We've decided people are either generic, specific or inbetween.

Generic types prefer to follow the mainstream, preferring to remain equally apathetic in all areas. Their conversations centre around themselves (feelings), their bodily functions (hunger, sleep, sex), popular culture (sis defines this as 'what's advertised to the yoof on terrestrial TV') and how/when they interact with society (work, social life, domestic life, gossip).

They're more comfortable making 'small talk' than specifics.

Specific types have 'special' interests - a passion for hobbies/opinions with an informed background. Generic functions alone are not 'enough' to keep them stimulated. Whilst specificity isn't an indicator of intellectual function (most medics are 'generic' types), it tends to present more commonly amongst articulate types. Sis & I decided the majority of our favourite friends share this trait. The very same friends aren't huge fans of small talk, despite the politeness & charm they show to strangers they come across.

The third category is rare, since specificity (defined as a passion for less populist interests/pastimes which aren't necessarily conducive to daily functioning in society) tends to lead to a preference to spend time with others who share similar 'special' interests.

A high percentage of those @ work fit the 'generic' category - so stimulating conversation is rare. A chance coffee & conversation with a colleague I knew in passing made me realise the precise rarity of a 'semi-specific' conversation & made me appreciate him more.

What do you think?

Xmas a la Luck!

2006-12-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings - may the festive frivolity commence :D

Xmas a Luck's is always an interesting time. There is always the small matter of a visitor from foreign (read Lankan) climes. Since Lady Luck's favourite pastime is hospitality beyond comparison, the Xmas experience (for those who've not celebrated Xmas) is a joy she relishes, even if it requires the taming of a two-legged child-like irritant or two. Gifts are exchanged on Xmas morning, before the remainder of the Luck family enjoys their morning lie-in. This has been the way since yours truly was twelve - a rather tender age to start such ministrations, if I say so myself. Mind you, most twelve year olds are too busy with less wholesome fun & games to bother with Xmas dinner.

The fun chez Luck begins with the 'Xmas Shop', a task completed with the help of several retail outlets. The shop begins at Marks and Spencer's, a Jewish-owned national treasure paradoxically responsible for the best Pork, Sage and Onion stuffing in the business. A promotional Xmas pudding is purchased, along with Cornish/Channel-Island thick cream, laced with alcohol & a fat content above 48%. A suitably-British Xmas wouldn't be complete in lieu of said pudding or their evil-pied pastry cousins, so yours truly has to serve both with heavy heart, true to my abhorrance for all things mincemeat-related. It's a compensatory measure for not serving turkey, which I consider a dry, flavourless and aesthetically-challenged abomination of nature.

I wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose or, indeed, a duck (Gressingham/Pekin). Preparing the latter bundle of joy in a French bigarade/Chinese crispy style is something I'm very fond of. However, concessions need to be made - the unacquainted visitor is inclined to view the unfamiliar with suspicion, so I'm resigned to purchasing a posh Chicken (free range & organic) instead. In accordance with my heritage, I tend to be 'late' with regards to everything, so the Cornish French Hens & Label Rouge saplings are out by the time I get there. Alas, I settle for an M&S homeboy & prepare to do my baddest.

With the Laws of Leviticus broken, the tribulations continue. All basic ingredients are purchased in true-tight Asian style, from Tesco & Somerfield. Think potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots and garlic - both fresh and pureed. I might get a packet of bread-sauce mix, skimmed milk & gravy granules whilst I'm out there, it's not like Sri Lankans to be fussed about non-spiced items anyway ;)

A little hedonism is pushed into the mix - a luxury dessert of the dark chocolate persuasion is purchased for the non-Xmas pudding eaters, courtesy of Waitrose or Sainsburys. This year's representative - Delice du Roi's Chocolate Mousse Torte. Highly recommended. Ditto the services of Waitrose for a fine-flavoured Xmas cheeseboard (green grapes, Membrillo, crackers & an assortment of goodies).

The port-filled cranberry jelly & 80% meat cocktail sausages were purchased from Head Fine Foods, in accordance with Real Meat Company protocols. Yours truly is known to support humane practices where items of consumption are concerned - Northfield Farm & Borough Market are excellent providers of free-range, organically-fed, non-clipped flavoursome foodstuffs.

A final visit is made to the Italian deli for the procurance of strongly-flavoured diced pancetta goodies. The raw ingredients are ready in good time for the magic to begin :D

Xmas dinner chez moi commences sans starter. The fuss of vol-au-vents and prawn cocktail is entirely irrelevant when you've got a garlic-roasted stuffed chicken with pancetta and lime-scented carcass in sitting right front of you! You might want to know I employed the Nigella-method of defrosting my chicken overnight in a bath of spiced onion and ginger water, prior to stuffing with sage & onion sausagemeat & massaging it with garlic butter and seasoning pre-roasting!

The chicken is served with garlic potatoes, fennel-scented sprouts, cumin & coriander roasted carrots & Kitul-treacle glazed pepper parsnips. The experience is rendered sublime with the provision of roast-chicken gravy, made with granules and roast-juices and a bread-sauce with black pepper, roasted cumin, mustard and caraway. The chipolatas are served post an evocative smoking with mustard and cumin, in accordance with Madhur Jaffrey's famous recipe. The aforementioned slightly-sweet cranberry jelly with port is kept onside for that spellbinding Mediterraenean kick!

A veritable feast unfolds before the eyes, before the desserts and cheeseboard make their entrance. Cashel Blue, White Stilton with Apricots, Orkney Cheddar, Lancaster Provender and Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese do indeed a fine cheeseboard make! Dinner is finished with the pulling of Xmas crackers, an SL coffee/two and a selection of chocolates. Platitudes are given, speeches are made and Xmas Day TOTP is watched. The Queen's Speech is over before the true mirth and merriment begins - read 'Living to Eat' for an account of Xmas Past, British Sri Lankan style :D

Incidentally, I got a digital camera & a Sanctuary gift set for Xmas. I guess that makes me a good girl then ;)

How did you do?

x

Thoughts...

2006-12-12T04:16:00.000-08:00

Romance and relationships are funny things, aren't they?

Not a day goes by without one of Lady Luck's friends letting her know about a quirk/a problem they have with regard to these matters. Some let me know of medical problems. Others prefer to disclose items of a more personal nature.

I thought I'd share a couple of these thoughts with you (anonymised, of course) & see what you made of it. Mr Rhythmic was certainly intrigued. Whether he wanted to subscribe to either theory is a different matter.

The first matter of intrigue is related to smell. Smell of the bodily kind, though thankfully of not of an unpleasant nature. I suppose 'scent' would be the best term for natural body odour (i.e. post-washing self and clothes). My little sister smells chocolate-y & the excess quantities of cocoa butter she's rubbed into her babysoft skin may well have have had something to do with it. According to Wikipedia, what I define as a 'scent' would be pheromonal - 'a chemical or set of chemicals produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species'.

The theory goes that the female member of the human species sends out scented signals circa ovulation, to indicate availability for breeding. The male of the species is believed to undergo a frenzy termed 'estrus' at the same time - in common speak, we'd term it 'the horn'.

Either way, the availability of contraception means that we can fornicate for fun. This my friends, is where the 'smell theory' comes in - where certain friends of mine find it impossible to indulge in such frivolity unless mutual satisfaction with each other's 'scents' is present. If one partner is not satisfied (and all common causes of low libido are excluded), then 'mating' doesn't take place. I have tried my level best to suggest all sorts of libidinous measures where the partner isn't entirely repulsive to look at/spend time with - but none of these work (possessing me to think the 'scent' seeking is 'intrinsic') & my friends find their satisfaction solo/elsewhere. I myself have subscribed to the theory on occasion - my last relationship was spent avoiding the other party thanks to his natural smell (amongst other things) being a turn-off.

The other theory I've spent time exploring is polyamory. Defined as 'the practice or lifestyle of being open to having more than one loving, intimate relationship at a time, with the full knowledge and consent of all partners involved', poly is a practice that has been around since time began. I'm in agreement with most exponents that it's not a polite word for swinging - the emphasis is on emotional commitment as opposed to 'sex'. It's similar to what a Muslim with four wives would practice in this country (where polygamy is illegal), where he'd have one legal wife and three girlfriends treated in a similar way. I believe Tibetan women practice the same thing - except they call it polyandry. Pretty useful where expensive childcare and a dual-income 'entitlement-driven society' come into play ;)

The terms primary (or primary relationship(s)) and secondary (or secondary relationship(s)) are often used as a means to indicate a hierarchy of different relationships in a person's life. Thus a woman with a husband and another partner might refer to the husband as her "primary". (Of course, this is in addition to any other terms a person might use, such as "lover", "casual date", "friend", "other half", and so on.)

The term tertiary can refer to ongoing casual relationships, though it is much less commonly used.

Famous polyamorists include Amelia Earhart and Edith Nesbit. Whilst my friends who practice these fun and games aren't half as famous, their viewpoint regarding the societal standard for one man to have partner is one I agree with.

It's pointless to moralise using standards set when life-expectancy was half that we have now. By the time one had gotten sick of their spouse in the modern world, one's 18th Century counterpart would be six foot under. Or burnt in an urn, depending on preference. Childcare and property-rights were different in the days before contraception and female mass employment - marriage was invented to ensure women and children were provided for.

It's entirely natural to be attracted to two/twenty people over a lifetime. So why chastise people who choose to follow the scent in the context of honesty and trust? Puritanism & believing oneself to be more 'civilised' by not subscribing to the multi-lover theory is offensive to the natural order. Why not live and let live?

Medic Insecurity

2006-12-12T00:49:00.000-08:00

If you don't like whining, I suggest you look away right now.

As my the good already blogged, the majority of my colleagues seem to spend their days in a seemingly-endless cycle of drudge. Placements are getting 'samey', commuting is making us wearing & the job frustration (where one isn't told the names of colleagues, payment bracket, hours expected and duties given) isn't making us feel any better.

To cut to the chase, six years is a long time to wait for more debt, training post cuts, increased competition and a significantly reduced social life. It's just as well, since I'll be working too much to actually care about former schoolmates ignoring/avoiding social occasions involving me for purely monetary reasons. Granted, living in Kingston doesn't exactly enhance your street cred but it doesn't stop you from living a life you'd like.

I mightn't have the bling/contacts that working for JPDeloitteYoungCoopers & living in West London bring but that doesn't make mean I've got ZILCH to offer.

I reckon these gits should remind themselves that what people like me are training for might actually be helpful to them/their families one day.

Rhythm in Motion...

2006-12-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Friday the 8th of December was a very interesting day for me. The culmination of months of emails, blogs and successive periods abroad finally came to fruition.

The plan I speak of was my meeting of Mr Rhythmic!

As we all know, behind every great blog is a great person - and I take pride in letting everyone's favourite SuperUncle into my life.

Who - Mr Rhythmic and I
What - Wetherspoons pub grub and assorted drinks. All treated courtesy of the good Sri Lankan boy.

When - lunchtime
Where - Surbiton, home of 'The Good Life'.
Why - to talk about life :)

The conversation was fluid yet intriguing - I don't think an awkward moment was there! Topics included family life, recent trips abroad (with particular attention paid to SL), blogging styles, all of you blogging types (hey, we've got YOU LOT in common!), weekend plans, fears and dislikes and music chat.

All very interesting, as I'm sure you're aware.

I guess it proves Kottu is useful for something, eh?

Verbosity..

2006-12-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There comes a time in every conversation, where talking has to stop and listening has to start. Whilst I'm not going to share an epiphany, or a sufficiently self-smung monologue with you - I shall leave you with the latest evolution of the Sri Lankan 'bike' - Mr Theena's music questionnaire..

1. CD or vinyl – CD's! You can't fastforward/rewind or change tracks on vinyl.

2. An album you’ve been meaning to listen to – 'Tapestry' by Carol King.

3. Grammys - Important or a load of bollocks – important for raising awareness of new artists and genres at times, but mostly a self-congratulatory financially-driven load of fluff.

4. Your favourite album is – 'Mesmerize' by System of a Down.

5. Invite 10 Music people for dinner. Who will it be?

Lenny Kravitz (nutter but v.sexy with it), Charlotte Church (GSOH and can be relied upon to enjoy the hospitality), Morgan Rose (one of my best interviewees), Liam Howlett (grouchy), Chris Martin (Sri Lankan parties aren't without a fight - Liam Howlett and Morgan Rose will beat him senseless for producing mind-numbing macrobiotic codswallop), Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Serj Tankian, P!nk and Dave Grohl (nicest guy and best host ever).

6. Appropriate punishment for those who play Celine Dion’s "My heart will go on" while pretending that it’s still 1998 –

Enforced deafness by forcing hookworm-infected melon pulp, matchsticks (appropriate, since Ms Dion's face is melon-esque upon her stick insect frame) and crushed Celine Dion CD's against their tympanic membranes.

7. Choose your favourite instrument and its best player from your point of view.

The voice. You can't win voice. You can have an extremely versatile and tuneful one though - see Billie Holliday, Enya, Etta James, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Shirley Manson and Maria Callas. For male, see Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Coree Richards (ex-Damage), Prince, Lenny Kravitz and Will Young.

8. The one piece of music that can move you to tears – music isn't noise, and noise is unwanted sound. Therefore, I'm going for the most poignant effort - Pink's 'Family Affair'.

9. You are an executive at a major label and have the power to green light one album a year. What would you do? – green light my friends' new album - it's very reminiscent of Tricky, Jega, Aphex and NIN's remix work. Decent dance music (i.e. not Basement Jaxx) has been underground for far too long...

Mortifying or what?

2006-12-08T01:48:00.000-08:00

Girls and boys, today's instalment comes to you inspired by the letter B. B, my friends, is for boredom.

Boredom is an evil thing. It can make you procreastinate from the task at hand (or in my case, most tasks at hand) or lose the will to live should no task/people be present. Since procreastination is inevitable when GP Audit's are around, I find myself visiting the usual host of online suspects (college email, hotmail, gmail, livejournal and facebook) before settling back down to work.

I do believe facebook is the only 'non-self explanatory' one of these. Facebook is a social networking site, designed by two disgruntled Harvard graduates to help people with common histories keep in touch. In keeping with MySpace, Faceparty and other less 'exclusive' profile sites, facebook allows users to post pictures, news and views to be shared with those they grant access to. People within your current work/study place are automatically given the right to view your profile and it is upto the individual to restrict privacy as they wish.

Alas, the whole of my university appears to have signed up to this. A few people I find aesthetically attractive have joined in on the fun. It's nice to know a little info on them in preparation for the next time I see them.

As luck would have it, I tend to fall for people who don't partake in medicine - variety is indeed the spice of life. Consequently, I see these people once/twice a year, as/when I go to our main campus and tend not to talk to them as they seem to appear at mutually inconvenient times. As a result, I am ignorant of any information about them - our college is huge, senior medics don't know non-medics (our non-medic friends have already left) and friends don't tend to ask other friends whether they know 'x who looks like this and rides a bike like this' without sounding remotely stalkerish.

Facebook is a godsend for checking out these randoms. Today's random trawling revealed a certain object of lust had four mutual 'friends' in common with me. Exactly how good a quality of relationship he shares with them remains to be seen. Since my friendship with them could be reduced to acquaintance in three of the four cases, I felt uncomfortable about sharing the admiration.

So I thought I'd tell him directly myself. I messaged said bloke this morning and mentioned I found him cute. F*ck knows what he'll make of it - perhaps he'll reply, perhaps he'll not. Either way, I hope it brightens up his day and puts a smile on his face. That's community spirit for you :D

La le la le laaa. I'm going to meet Mr Rhythmic today :D

One Hour Later...

2006-12-04T04:36:00.000-08:00

..and my wait appears to lengthen. I have rung said recruitment service who believe their writer has submitted her work & put my application through the final checking stages.

If all is fine and dandy, I should be done by 2pm.

This should leave me free to visit my patient project patient (multiple pathologies, multiple sclerosis) and carry on with afternoon surgery.

My stomach is currently a mess - I've had two drinks of Galaxy hot chocolate (made with water) for lunch. Add the water biscuits, low-fat spread and Vegemite to it and you've got yourself a meal with sufficient vitamins to ward of scurvy for the forseeable future. I actually saw a case of scurvy in Sri Lanka, funnily enough, in the country where the colourful healthy stuff (aka fruit and veg) is freely available minus the employment of a five-fingered discount. I guess it goes to show certain cultures consider pulses (Baked Beans/lentil curry) as vegetables?

EDIT - evil form returned, new answers adapted -> evil form submitted. RESULT!

I have cunningly stolen a teaspoon of Philadelphia (unfortunately not light) to add luxury to my lunch. WIN X 2!

Keep Hunger Locked Up 'til Lunch

2006-12-04T03:51:00.000-08:00

Shreddies - who could forget the ad with disarmingly creepy chirpy faces and arms on grids of breakfast cereal? Shreddies (and indeed all whole-grain products) are supposed to keep one's hunger sated 'til the next meal, correct?

I don't think so. I'm ravenous as we speak, after having enjoyed wholewheat Seviyan (Indian sweet noodle pudding) for breakfast. The only thing stopping me from marching into the common room of our surgery & scoffing the six-pack of mince pies generously given by a patient today is vanity. I can't really afford to do physical pride since I checked out my rear-view in a mirror yesterday. There's easily two grand worth of liposuction on there, so I'm doing my best to minimise this cost. Granted, I need to visit the gym a little more often but swimming is the only exercise that takes my fancy.

Hmm. What else. Ooh, lookit, we're at midday now, so I can FINALLY check my email to see if said document has arrived. Surprise surprise, it hasn't.

Shall keep you posted on this sorry saga as/when it happens.

Cheerio!x

Spring Cleaning

2006-12-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

As you may know, I have been away a good couple of months. My father's snoring has driven my mother into my room. Since said room is blessed with a double bed (and my father is flu-ridden as we speak), I feel a tad uncharitable re: the eviction of mother.

So I haven't sent her packing (yet). I have, however, sent her stuff packing as it's starting to take over my room. Not only am I obsessive about tidiness (fear my inner Kim and Aggie!) but I take great care in not allowing the peculiarly Sri Lankan mess to build in my room. The mess tends to appear where a specimen brought up in Sri Lanka resides for over a month. Second Gens don't tend to let said clutter accumulate.

Somehow, the evil mess had made it's evil way into my room and plonked itself on my windowsill). Within minutes of spotting it, I had not only sorted it into it's designated components, but I'd cleaned it and sent it packing on it's evil way out, never to return again.

What is this mess you so speak of?

It's the dust-collecting vermin of vomit-inducing proportions. A collection of random bits and bobs (think coins, loose buttons, paperclips and jewellery), kept in neat piles with the intention of being sorted out later. Said bits appear to glue themselves to one another within the space of a month, with a fine covering of dust and fluff settled for entertainment purposes. The evil pile is often found on dressing tables, bathroom counters and study desks - if not kept in place, it could expand to consume all available space. Disgusting.

So I've wasted the last 20 minutes whining away about f*ck all. Well done me - I've been trying to take my mind off my MTAS form. I've given my Key Skills answers to a pro-writer to have a gander through. They've promised to have it delivered to me by midday. That's twenty-three minutes away, so poor Savi3 is going to have to put up with me for a little while longer. To be frank, I think my answers are sufficiently high-grade (national level achievement x 3) and pertinent to the questions asked, but it always pays to be *that* little more secure in one's work. I wish they would put me out of my misery - especially since I asked to have said answers by Saturday when I sent in my request form one week ago. Grrr. Hmm, only twenty-one minutes to go now. Let me think of something else to bore you with ;)

And you thought Lankans only cooked curry....

2006-11-25T23:11:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd mention a fellow student has started up this little beauty here. Whilst offal and rare-cooked meat don't tend to tickle my fancy, the recipes on offer ARE varied & entertainingly-written.

The prize for the funniest food blog goes here.

Back in Blighty

2006-11-25T04:26:00.000-08:00

...and depressed to boot - such a shame to come back to rain and gloom, eh?

Will be updating about my travels as/when I get a moment, so watch this space and enjoy the ride.

What've the rest of you been upto?

Melbourne, Singapore and Malacca

2006-11-04T01:17:00.000-08:00

So many stories, so much to say. Am enjoying life 'down under' & hope to speak in more detail once I get back.

Am also stressing about job applications - not even Ajahn Chah CD's stop me panicking. I've ranked all the deaneries (health education authorities) with islands last - NO WAY am I gonna get stuck on the Isle of Man with a bunch of cats to talk to!

Shopping in Melbourne is great btw. Shame it's more expensive than England.

Week 5

2006-10-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

Player's got to play on her escalade ;)

Week 4 was fine..hot-hot-cold became scorching!

Mr Evil and his buddy are two absolute charmers.

Mike Cooke & Sandun De Silva (from LT) - absolute hunnies; I got treated to coffee by one and free magazines by both!

Week 4

2006-10-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

Time really does fly when you're having fun. We're still on surgery, landlady's son is still cute (things are hotting up a *tiny* bit there) & I've seen everything in SL I've wanted to see (Jaffna & Trinco aside).

Heavy fighting up North has meant a number of army casualties (60) have been flown in for treatment. It's heartening to see the struggle amputees go through - I'm surprised there's only one angry one - the rest are smiling away, trying to be as cheerful as possible for the benefit of their comrades. It does mean we've got ten patients on the floor as the unit has run out of beds.

Sad stories aside, J & I managed to have a relaxing weekend in the Hill Country. Kandy & Nuwara Eliya are both stunning in different ways (lots of waterfalls, yay!) & it's a great shame we couldn't chill for longer. This weekend we're off to a Sri Lankan nightclub replete with female stripper (Onyx) & plan to head down South, to Hikkaduwa, Galle & Mirissa. Fingers crossed we can visit the turtle sanctuary one last time.

PS Gallery Cafe is lush & the food at Sheraton & the Intercon Tandoori WINZ!

;)

2006-10-09T03:18:00.000-07:00

Week 3 eh? Still can't believe we've made it so far. Things have been picking up, what with the re-invigoration from the weekend away (Sigiriya was amazing - we climbed right to the top) & the introduction of a NICE surgical team to the proceedings.

Am really looking forward to the next two weeks - the team seem helpful & willing to teach. Our trip to the hill country, aka Kandy & Nuwara Eliya is also on the cards; this weekend, I do believe :)

Tripping aside (incidentally, Cora De Lang's Barefoot installation is very reminiscent of a classical migraine aura/a drug trip - do go and see it)...life is good. Amaya Lake was a treat, the relatives are still taking me out & the heat hasn't been so bad of late.

Take care,
x

Secrets & lies...

2006-10-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

In deference to Rhythmic and Cof25's recent confessions, I thought I'd let slip a few secrets to keep the bored amongst ya (Skurj, I'm looking at you!) entertained. In order to keep you on your toes, I've slipped one little lie in there. Let me know which one you think it is!

I have a recent allergy to fish, meat and poultry. Behold the commencement of a veggie diet with eggs & the occasional cutlet/smoked salmon thrown in.

I still have an ongoing Japanese obsession - I *love* everything about that place. From the ongoing conflict between conformism and individualism to the method belieing the madness. I've read pretty much every fictional account of the place, in addition to being a total geek for everything from Tamagotchi's to tea ceremonies. I've tried and failed to learn Japanese in the past - once I've got French and Sinhala under my belt, it's gonna be next.

I have several minor low-level OCDs - hence the love of sushi & abhorrence of shopping in places where clothes are not stocked in size, style & colour order. I'm slightly anal re: cleanliness in my own home & won't allow the eating/drinking of coloured substances in the bedroom unless it's for amorous purposes.

I have a navel piercing.

I have other body piercings.

Aloha!

2006-10-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on what I've been upto.

1) Seeing lots of clinical stuff.
2) Feeling the resentment from the colleagues - thank f*ck I'm changing wards next week.
3) Experiencing an attempt at the latest LTTE flex - getting themselves admitted into Colombo hospitals cos no one is willing to host them privately. We had two suspects in outpatients attending with a police officer. One translated between the (tamil) doctor & the 'ill' one. The venom from which he spat out our language whilst refusing to even *look* at me was pretty astounding - racists are a tragic yet fascinating bunch.
4) Hanging out at the nicest coffee shop (Coffee Stop) ever with Mr Scourge (a total charmer!) - you guys should come!
5) Reading lots of SL literature - collective review to come, but the 1994 Booker-nominee 'Reef' is an amazing read. Highly recommended.
6) Going on a diet. No less than 30 people (some complete strangers) have taken the trouble to call me 'fat'. Being eaten by mosquitoes is my other bugbear.

7) Planning the aforementioned trip to the Ancient cities. Going to be staying at Amaya Lake, which is lush :)

Ayubowan

2006-10-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Evening Folks!

Yours truly has finally made it to CMB. It's way hotter than I'd ever imagined it to be (and they say it's the COOL season..liars).

My accomodation is serviceable - CMB 8, can't ask for much more than that. It's directly opposite the hospital. I'm staying with a lovely host family with two cute sons and a daughter around my age. Nice.

Work is interesting..whilst the patients on the ward are interesting (excellent signs, symptoms & stories out here - mitral stenosis, COPD, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, hardcore rheumatoid arthritis, infective endocarditis, kasippu-powered labourers from Kelani Bridge) & polite, the attitude of the staff leaves a lot to be desired. I get the feeling they're nurses due to status/financial reasons rather than for those of altruism.

Most of our patients are from poor backgrounds. Some are really unlucky, i.e. homeless/deserted/both. One of our chaps had reflux & couldn't afford a pillow. I asked the nurses & attendants whether they could get him one (a reasonable one, IMHO)...

...'not our problem'.

The stench from patients wetting themselves & the ward floor with various bodily fluids & body odour signals..(half our fans are broken, meaning the stench is near putrid)..

...'not our problem'..

What exactly do you guys do, safe for swanning around in starched-up peacock hats?

Alas, life in Colombo is treating me well so far. I've been to the bare essentials - Barefoot, Odel, Crescat & MC. I've swum at Otters, having had the cultural experience at Gangarama Temple (stunning!) and the National Museum, before living it up @ Dehiwala Zoo, the Mt Lavinia Hotel (wedding!) and various favourites old and new (Ginza Hosen, yay!). I've especially liked spending time @ the Commons, Vihara MahaDevi Park & Tea Breeze @ Arkipelago.

Next weekend will see yours truly hitting up the cultural triangle (Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polannaruwa), with Kandy & Nuwara Eliya as to-dos in the weeks to come. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a gem-pit visit (Ratnapura) and a day-trip down South. Also going to have some spa time (Amaya/Sanctuary) & some well-earned R&R.

Guess I'll be seeing some of you next week?
Tschuss!

Attention: Colombo Bloggers

2006-09-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

I shall be gracing your fair city from Sunday for the next month/so. It'd be a pleasure to meet up with you, so feel free to drop me an email and arrange something :)

It's time to get me off...

2006-09-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

God Bless Basement Jaxx - their tunes are infectious things!

I best do my own bit of blessing before we move on to the more pressing matter of that life of mine. A very sweet Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan period to those who celebrate/practice the above festivals! Only another four weeks 'til Eid-comes a banging with presents and feasts, eh?

I'm off to Sri Lanka during this pious time - whilst there won't be many Jewish folks to speak of, there will be plenty of Ramadan-types out there & it's at this point I count myself lucky to have been born into a religion where fasting is for the professionally pious, not the proletariat. Perhaps I should try Ramadan/Passover fasts before expressing my relief at escaping them - collective effort towards a spiritual goal is a fantastic bonding experience, something I've not done in a good few years, come to think of it.

A couple of days previously, I asked my friends what they would do if told they had 24 hours to live. Knowing that the majority were either agnostic/non-practising, I was surprised with the number saying they would visit a place of worship/say their prayers, given the lack of time spent doing/thinking about similar activities during their daily lives. I have to say the prayers would feature in my own series of 24, but I'm pretty confident in saying temple wouldn't. I'd personally like to have a hedonistic last bash as opposed to a reflective one & Buddhist practice is not compatible with say, intoxicant intake or non-committed sexual activity, both of which would feature in my last24.

I've also been mulling about people vs relationships. Having been stuck in a group where 92% of the junior docs were taken, I was inadvertently insulted by a well-meaning colleague who spoke of 'stable relationships indicating stable minds'. Minds are only stable if said relationship is fulfilling - I don't think a relationship with one's own hand is necessarily a bad thing. Buddhism teaches that celibacy and independence from others are of assistance when heading towards enlightenment. Independence can come like all actions, in the form of thought, spoken word and deed, so why rely on another/thoughts of another to get oneself relived?

I feel that women, in particular, are given the onus of 'serving' or 'being pampered' by another as the desired state to be aroused in. I don't really see why evolution made us that way. Ditto the attraction of women to confidence in a man, with 'money, power and intelligence' being the determinants of this. I wonder what men seek in women, beauty aside - it certainly doesn't seem to be the same as for males from where I'm standing! If society judges us on one set of indicators, why don't regular people judge in a similar way?

Hmm. Best stop mulling. Best tell you about my week now ;)

Monday - I visited 'Anon' at Channel 4. He was a fab tour guide, telling me the *exact* sequence of TV programme transmission in perfectly comprehensible technical detail. Whod've thought someone would actually have to watch 12 hours of TV per day to earn a living?

Tuesday - chilled with fab new flatmate then slept.

Wednesday - I headed out to Zulu's post-work. Great move, great company (my mate B). Glad to see Wycombe won - bring on the Premiership, chumps!

Thursday - The Crabtree with workmates (including the department sleaze) followed by Blue Elephant. Amazing food, though not quite VFM. Interior could do with a little more work - the 80's look is *so* over.

Friday - Moved out, sorted out travellers cheques, wrote on here and slept.

I'll see you on the other side ;)

Greetings dear readers...

2006-09-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

A surprisingly non-goth but equally busy entry from yours truly.

I can't believe I'm going to be on a plane to SL in exactly ONE week's time!

Won't labour the holiday angle much more, promise but it is ohsotempting when it's *so* close and I'm v.v. excited..I started packing today :D

I'm still busy as f*ck with my placement - 730 starts are turning into 730 finishes. I've also found out our job forms need clinical referees, so I've been busy sorting that out too. Fingers crossed Mr T says 'yes' to be my head referee - he's got a non-deservedly high opinion of my clinical capabilities.

Other stuff wot happened since we last spoke:

Asha's birthday parties 1&2, both alcoholic & involving lovely new peeps in the year below, some of whom read THIS blog!

Dinner and drinks with the junior surgeon posse (fun, though the group is freakishly (92%) taken and partners were there).

Lots of perving over one of the mentors (P's body is amazing - he possesses the rare combination of beauty and low self-esteem which H took advantage of before I could've done so)...

'On Beauty' finished taking it to NINE books this year.

Erm, all you can eat Chinese with m00ple.

Dropping my 'lil sis off in halls (she's the smallest person there & v.v.shy so I'm sh*t scared for her). She's at the halls near Borough Station.

Meeting H's lovely mates.

The development of a night-time GIN and PeepShow routine.

Watching of 'The Boy in the Bubble', 'Without a Trace' and 'The Cult of the Suicide Bomber'.

Writing of a University Challenge piece.

To do list -

Still need to sort out assessment with Mr T.

Still need to visit Channel 4 after jobs-talk tomorrow. I may well cancel on Dom on Tuesday since the assessment (clerk an acute surgical patient) takes priority - Channel 4 has been rescheduled once after I *forgot* the tour guide was expecting me :P

Wednesday is still blank. Perhaps I should pack the other half of the flat then?

J's b'day is on Thursday. I believe it's dinner at Mango Tree. *groans*...

Friday = last day of placement & moving out day.

Saturday = my cousin's wedding, finish packing.

Sunday = plane at 2135 pm :D

I'll see you on here next week ;)

Nanny State Pornography

2006-08-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd write to say I'm a little annoyed by the recent heavy-handedness re: proposed changes to pornography/violent image legislation. I don't see how the changes regarding what is mostly a private act, are going to improve things when 99.5% of viewers don't act upon the consensual adult/photoshopped acts depicted & cause unwanted harm to other people.

Exactly why are the govt reluctant to accept that one can kill without stimulus? Computer games, rap music, films made for adult viewing....are Xmas trees going to be next?

People are talking about acting on here - (not sure if you have to login to view it)

http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism/102666/

http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism/102808/

http://www.informedconsent.co.uk/boards/activism/102808/

And have organised a campaign here.

This chappie, over on CIF, has articulated my frustrations FAR better than wot I could do myself. Take a look here.

If you're incensed enough to actually DO something about this, then feel free to get in touch with me. Some of my friend's Liberal buddies are working with Backlash and should be able to provide some much-needed political muscle.

Hola!

2006-08-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Luck's been out and about. Or in and around, come to think of it, cos sinusitis and TMJ pain got the better of me for a week.

I've managed to sort out my elective $hit, which is nice - so I'll be heading off to SL, Singapore, OZ and NZ sometime soon.

Any recommendations on things to do/places to go to in the following cities would be gratefully received. I'm really into live music (rock/metal/hip hop), clubbing, quality food and shopping. Also love my spas, art galleries, sightseeing and scenery.

Colombo
Singapore
Melbourne
Canberra
Sydney
Auckland
Dunedin

Why'd you gimme that? You and me baby go one on one?

2006-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ahh...good old JD. A man a girl can always rely on for a decent tune. There's not one artist Jermaine Dupri has ever crapped up on a track with, Mariah, TLC and Usher being amongst the few to receive his star treatment.

Another star who's been keeping me company during this current bout of ILL is Sean Carter, better known to the mortals amongst ya as Jay-Z. Jay's only had two duff singles in his life - 'Hard Knock Life' and 'Big Pimpin'. I'm in agreement that he's no 2pac though; whilst financially astute, I'd bet my house on him never making a song half as lyrically-chic as 'Hit 'em Up' on his own!

So why the rap chat? Well...my parents have just moved house. My company (whilst ill) has consisted of Peep Show DVD re-runs and my sister's iPOD. Since a lot of angry/frustrated thoughts were brewing in my head, I did find myself picking similar songs. A lot of Sevendust, Garbage and Player featured amongst the rappers. I think I've calmed down though, which is a good thing.

Just in case you're curious as to what's been bugging me - the story goes a little something like this. Some of it is a little embarassing, which is why I don't really want to spill. But hey, it's a cultural blog and we all have our moments of frustration with the culture we got brought up in.

(I'll let you in on the other $hit later - it's mainly careers stuff)

I can't stand my mum's view that all SL women should be judged on their weight & ability to live a typical SL upper-middle class life. Believe me, things have changed since she left - girls there do what boys do, oui?

I also can't stand my dad's view that SL women should never be alone outside their home country. Granted, it's nice that he cares, but he's gotta realise that travelling alone in a country I *do* have friends and relatives in is something I need to do to grow up. It's hard to not worry, but I did New York solo with minimal outside input & New Zealand is going to be the same. I don't need no escortation. Baby's Got A Temper and this one's gonna roll.

Hey ;)

2006-08-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings my fair citizens!

Much time has passed since we last spoke. I have much to say, though life in flat without an internet connection has meant my words have been precious & few. Inspiration has also been at an all-time low - my time has been spent socialising, studying and partying, ranked in the aforementioned order.

Things have come and gone since we last spoke. No, I don't mean the identikit strip of soulless bars on the Chelsea Beach - I mean crushes, placements, the joy of minimal weight loss and similar good tidings that make me smile.

A bit like a plate of quality chocolate ice cream, in fact.

In short, I have seen the Kandinsky exhibit at the Tate, wasted time at a Tapas Bar, checked out the goodies on offer at Haandi, Spitfire (complete with WW2 RAF memorabilia), Mokssh and Emperor, seen the mighty Bauhaus in concert & enjoyed the Yann Arthus Bertrand 'Earth From the Air' exhibition on offer at the Royal Brompton. I have also experienced a second helping of Cardiology (excellent fun) & thrown one of the best house parties I've ever had the pleasure of attending ;)

All in all a very enjoyable time, despite the PMS-ing ups and downs and the worst meal ever at Mango Tree!

So how have you been?

Since I left you...

2006-08-01T00:59:00.000-07:00

...quite a bit has happened. Excuse the rambling ;)

Friday saw myself and the girlies taking on Kensington Roof Gardens. Saturday, on the londonpubcrawl avec poptimists was a laugh. Sunday saw me hungover and hovering at my parent's house. It was here I found out another coursemate has stabbed me in the back. She's done it before & will most probably do it again. Not to worry since I have a secret project up my sleeve that no one on my course knows about. Ha.ha.ha. It's horrible to keep things from your mates, but hey. Once bitten, twice shy. I have my own secrets (which are more prestigious than theirs) anyway.

Alas, my EarNose&Throat placement is dull. Hammy, Neil and Asif are quite fun. Shame about the jobsworth of a nurse manager we've got to deal with - it's always the less-educated women who seem to have it out for other women doing better than them. Certain visible minorities seem to be more guilty of this than others in my experience. Ah well. it's less than a year 'til I'll be bossing them around :P

Final year is pretty taxing. Whilst we have less work than the fifth years, the onus is on us to brush up. We've also got to read through our third year notes & add management plans in, in addition to slicking up on examination & explanation skills. There's a long way to go 'til proper doctors can be made of us yet. 'tis a shame backstabbing and bitching seem to be part of the specification - the way things look, it's going to be a hell of a lot worse.

Got a couple more tricks up my sleeve. I can't wait to tell you, although they're rather placid compared to recent revelations.

TBC....we've got a hot date, an exhibition & a house move to be talking about :)

One Hot Minute

2006-07-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

Wow. What can I say. RHCP were AMAZING on Tuesday.

We had all the greatest hits, the singles from the new album, instrument swapping & a fabulous encore. Well worth the money & the stalker weirdo that tried to chat me up. I also had several 5-second love affairs with randoms - I sincerely doubt the aesthetic appreciation was returned!

I've not been upto much else. Saw K yesterday, which was lovely. Also met up with a chick I went to school with. Only a couple of us actually liked her back then. Never again - the voice was bad enough, let alone the offensive hyper-conservative bile she came out with. Even the censored version of my life story ended up getting slighted or moralised upon. Just thinking about Respect Party minions makes me cross!

*breathes*
*breathes*
*breathes more*

'allo!

2006-07-17T02:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Blogsters!

A week has passed since I last spoke to you. Surprisingly, not much has happened; it's been quite chilled. I've also got scared of blogging on here after reading about plagiarism from Sach's blog. A Sri Lankan media outlet lifted text verbatim to complete a film review, without actually mentioning that Sach hadn't seen said film in the first place! My experiences with the Lankan media haven't been pleasant either; there's a lot of nepotism & slackness to boot. Needless to say, I'm not in the best of moods with two spoilt popstars & refuse to have anything to do with them in the future. If they're willing to reject half their potential audience in one fell swoop, then they're not deserving of the coverage we're able to offer. This very pleasant lady on the other hand, is going to blow up huge :D

Monday saw me hanging out with Dave A (hello!) and finding out he wrote coursework essays on Apache Indian. Some people have all the luck, eh?

I also got to meet his coursemates; these guys - who give out charitable vegan lunches outside SOAS. I had one, in exchange for a small donation & had to endure the line of red Marxist tops behind me.

'I don't think it's fair people give 50p and move on. That guy cooked a decent lunch. It would cost a fiver in the restaurant, it'd take an hour to cook & he deserves a minimum wage. I'm going to give him a fiver.'

The cost of the ingredients & labour needed for one plate of rice, veggies and pulses is minimal, twenty pence or less since Hari Krishna's buy in bulk. Since spirituality and giving without return is what's at stake here, the stall holder shouldn't expect much more than cost price in return. Exactly how does it warrant a fiver from a stereotypically stingy student, more so one better served by said fiver spent on his wardrobe?

Needless to say, the Govinda's lunch was not worth the hype or the pigeons crowding round to piss me off.

Monday dinner was a more sedate affair - all you can eat Chinese @ New Kam Tong in Kingston. Highly recommended, aside from myself not liking Chinese any more. I've just gotten bored of anything that isn't Dim Sum/Peking Duck/Special Fried Rice & Prawn Crackers.

Tuesday was a heavy day. J & I traipsed 'round Neal's Yard, shopping in the Covent Garden sales, walking to the National for Rebels & Martyrs, before heading westward to the Crabtree (which is worth the trek for the fantastic River view)with M & out for dinner at Sagar's with K.

K & I proceeded to have an interesting time with her girls @ KBar. It's a shame the tenets of Buddhism have to be commercialised in the name of hedonism; last time I checked, Buddhism was based around the middle path! Was surprised at the amount of attention we (seven Asians & a blonde Spaniard) got - I thought Hooray Henry's only spoke to blondes! Perhaps that phenomenon is unique to medical school prats?

Either way, Wednesday was a sleepy one. And Thursday saw me fight off the managers at my gym - eight phone calls to clarify one single thing! They'd not explained the suspension policy clearly at the time of signing, ensuring I had clearance for my two months abroad to be frozen. I then injured my Achilles (still mystified as to how) & was signed off exercise for two months. Needless to say, it's still not recovered - hurts like hell from Friday's song & dance.

Saturday was the wedding of two ex-Imperial Computing dudes at one very plush stately home. Lower Beeding is a really nice place - washing my hands repeatedly with Molton Brown Naranji (mmm, bitter orange!) really made my day. It's a shame about the forced conversation & set table small talk on offer, but hey, I was pleased to meet two lovely ex-UCL's and lots of sweet old ladies who didn't have rural/urban/white/non-white pretensions! The ceremony itself was very sweet (over-long though!), combining the Sri Lankan Poruwa with a poetic civil service hosted by none other than Marjorie Dawes! We had to rush home to receive our visitors from NZ, who made Sunday worthwhile - I'm going to be spending time with them later this year. I also found myself baking - my strawberry, cream and almond sponge cake went down a treat!

Just reading through all that made me realise why I'm inexplicably tired today - I guess 'not having uni work' really isn't a euphemism for chilled!

Result!

2006-07-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Paper 1 (SAQ): Pass

Paper 2 (EMQ): Pass

Pathology: Pass

Black Books

2006-07-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today's ranting is directed at results day.

Why, oh why do I have to wet my pants for an entire week beforehand?

I'm *really* scared I've failed path - which is horrible because it's a final + the MTAS people, i.e. those who allocate our jobs in October, will know I've resat and move me further down the year rankings (shame because my results this year have been pretty good!).

So yes, come 4pm today, I will know whether my summer will be spent in a library.

Hopefully not, mind! I'm going to Gardening Club/wherever my mates go tonight regardless of pass/fail!

'til then, I have the following set up to distract me; an interview with Dave A for his thesis on Sri Lankan Sinhalese in the UK plus a dentists appointment to remove this ridiculous tea-staining off my teeth. The jaw problem has been coming and going + I can't seem to fit into many of my previously-loose clothes.

Hence the uptake of a massive diet; mainly fish + vegetarian mind - with bits of chicken and sausages once a week. I especially like these they're 90% pork with the crispiest skins ever! Wilfred, the farmer, is an absolute legend; I'm totally inspired by his wish to make the rural life accessible to urban ethnic minorities. Certainly a pleasure to watch during the last few weekends.

The typifying factor was the reaction of boys without male role models to Wilfred. Their struggle with male authority was especially fascinating to watch. Given that 50% of Afro-Caribbean children live in single-parent households, it's unsurprising that the breakdown of the family has been a key part in the continuing cycle of poverty-deprivation-crime. There's a fantastic article in the Sunday Times archive that the Londoners on here have GOT to see - it's set on a Ladbroke Grove estate and details the Kidulthood-type circumstances many children grow up in - it's sad to see that things are heading this way.

So what else have I been upto?

1. Parties - I've been to four. They were fab.
2. Shopping - I've bought a polka dot skirt from Next & some lush goodies.

3. Getting pierced - Cold Steel's the best place to do that; after all, it's the only APP-certified place in the land :)

4. Listening to this piece of well-trampled rhetoric at the Fabian Society. Sadiq Khan MP didn't do himself any favours by using sports teams + the Tebbit test as a yardstick for identity. As Humeyra Khan noted, it's far more complex than that - most people don't even like football!

5. Hanging out at The Glass Bar, one of London's few members-only bars for women & their male guests. Definitely worth a visit next time you're hanging tough on Euston concourse ;)

6. Watching DVD's - 'Mean Girls', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'XXX'

Welcome to Final Year

2006-07-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

...read the meaning of our lecture.

Feels rather surreal - we finished our 5th year exams on Friday, results will be out next week.

Here's to hoping I haven't failed.

What are you guys upto today?

Final year angst...

2006-06-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

Some very nice nostalgic writing from Childof25 has put me on the retrospective bent too. The post-revision chillout is gonna be one *hell* of a writing blitz. You are all going to learn about my electronic moisture detector whether you like it or not :D

Just thought I'd say I'm almost where I should be on the revision. I'm 2/3 done on one subject, half-done on the other two.

Still need to consolidate revision with question books - I'm doing a few as I go along but sieve brain prefers to remember quotes on the precise nature of a DILF in preference to the microbiology of Anthrax!

A DILF is funnier than Bacillus anthracis anyway, despite the efforts of NYC's thrash metal boys to tell me otherwise.

A DILF is a 'dad I'd like to f*ck'. Incidentally, I know two of these. My placement partner and I are in agreement over *which* three of the consultants we would do. I'm going to miss her LOADS when she flies to Mauritius next week - it'd be nice to club together and give her a proper send off cos we're not going to see each other for eleven weeks.

I'm pretty blessed with the placement partners I've been given - I've only had one that could be considered a proper c*ck. The girls have ended up good friends of mine, I spent two placements perving on someone and provided pervery to someone else (nice but not my type) during the last one.

I best be off now - the panicking for my final year has ALREADY started. I'm half-tempted to email some consultants and ask if I could spend time with their clinics in order to slick up for my practical exams next year. I really need to improve on orthopaedics, neurology and rheumatology.

Z&K are blessed in that they failed a placement (by not turning up) and get three-weeks intensive tutoring from the legendary guy who ISN'T tutoring next year. Z&K deserve it though, they're nice guys.

*sigh*

Final year sucks & it's not even begun :P

I.am.so.excited.

2006-06-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

I've got my first 'book' proof-reading/editorial job!

A future publication from the Friday Project, due out in October, want me to look over their health chapter & correct any dangerous/false assumptions.

What better way to start a career in the mainstream media, eh?

Creamy Cat

2006-06-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased to be reporting good news from the sidelines.

I passed my first final - Obs & Gynae, which means I'll never have to visit the f*nny farm again :D

Summer's here...

2006-06-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

..and I'm hiding from my books :P

Only kidding, I'm actually on track to complete today's revision ;) My friend and I have set ourselves timetables and treats - our treats being top-class vegetarian goodies from Curry Leaves, one of London's nicest SL takeaways.

Yummy food aside, much angsting has been done about the object of affection (not Asian, so more complicated for me) and the things I'll be upto in the summer.

Shall we bite at the hard bit first?

Up until two years ago, being in a mixed relationship didn't bother me as religion was WAY more important to me than culture. As long as the guy treated me well and was into his Buddhist ways, colour/nationality didn't matter.

Most of my Asian friends then started dating Asian guys, who, whilst not of the same nationality, came with similar priorities. Their relationships got more serious, questions were asked and I started thinking about 'long-term' questions too. I can see that common ground between lifestyles has made going 'long-term' easier for them, particularly when looking at marriage/children/parents as there'd be fewer things to compromise on.

So I started feeling the Asian thing. Pretty much everyone (mystery guy aside) I've spent time with (romantically) over the past two years has been Asian.

Whilst it's not worked out (each failure had it's own reasons), I have made some excellent friends through it and realised that it is what I feel more comfortable around.

Working in the Asian Media has also had an effect on me as I was forced to look at society more closely. It's made me aware of the benefits of both SL culture and keeping a 'foot' in SL, something infinitely easier if you're abreast of things over there, incl language and culture. Having a partner who'd be comfortable with keeping this alive and moving there if need be, would make things simpler.

A partner brought up with a similar mindset would be more amenable to this; indeed my cousin married his Italian wife for these reasons amongst others. Whilst she isn't Asian, she does buy into the immigrant ethic, extended families and non-Eurocentric thinking.

All very important things telling me to test things on a case-by-case basis. It's unfair to assume someone's ethnic identity is going to preclude them from having the same priorities. 'tis also rude to assume they're going to react a certain way based on said ethnicity - they may indeed enjoy being part of a culture they weren't born into.

At the same time few like to compromise. Not everyone can deal with the loss of 'white privilege' that comes with dating an Asian girl. Granted, things are easier than they used to be but racism still rears it's ugly head. How many guys would really want to deal with it on a daily basis?

Right. Onto more fun-stuff. My summer.

So far, I have:

8th July - RISE festival, Finsbury Park with Sway, Coxon and the Buzzcocks
- Slimelight with Miss K8 on Electro decks.

18th July - Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Earl's Court

20th July - Hanging out at C4 (day), pissing about at the usedtobecool gig at Buffalo Bar. Really funny guys who've been played on Lamacq's session a couple of month's back. They love the Paedofinder General almost as much as I do :P

Everything burns..

2006-06-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Revision sucks. Obs and Gynae sucks harder.

Not to worry, for it's only two days 'til it's over. I'm still on a high from my one and only appearance on television.

That's right ladies and gentlemen - Lady Luck is going to be on this show, come the next series. It'll air starting this Autumn, when yours truly will be hanging out here, here, here and here. Hopefully the next few weeks will herald some good exam results, letting me book my flights and enjoy the sun.

Let's not get carried away though; we'll cross the post-exam bridge when the bastards are over and done with.

I'm still looking for nice things to do this summer, aside from visiting Anon at Channel 4. Any ideas?

Wherever you go....

2006-06-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

..you know I'll be there, with open eyes, and open arms...

You've got to love Brandon and the Boys. Lyrically, they're the most talented lot in the mainstream. Musically, they're simple yet-effective - bringing a turntable into metal the way Korn did back in the 90's was the best invention for the poor devil since downtuning your rhythm guitarist to D flat!

Brandon Boyd is also, quite possibly, the most aesthetically pleasing man ever. 'Make Yourself' is one of the most assured albums released. It's a shame his intellect isn't quite as striking - which is where Lajon and Morgan from Sevendust will be brought in to keep me entertained.

Sexual fantasies aside, I've been thinking about the inspiration for my 'GhostGirl' post. Few things make me insecure. Even fewer people make me insecure. The FitGirl in question is making me feel even worse about myself - ridiculous when I've not spoken to her in four years; merely praising her around me is enough to piss me off. She herself only slightly pisses me off, it's the behaviour of hangers-on/others around her.

Another thing on my mind is the 'London thing' - it's very easy to get sucked into a vortex of self-importance once you're in a competitive field. A visit to Northwick Park showed me exactly how shallow things are 'round here. I'm definitely gonna do my best to stay grounded once I start work; there's less pressure to act a certain way. The expectation to be 'sociable, happy and talkative' starts to wear thin after a while, especially when coming from people one feels anything but around!

Give me a 'p' please Bob

2006-06-05T04:15:00.000-07:00

Lady Luck's thoughts on 'Pro-Anorexia' and 'Personality Disorders'; all part and parcel of medical school life :D

Inter-immigrant hostility

2006-06-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Gruesome is the simplest way to describe it. I'm counting my lucky stars that I'll never have to watch a woman give birth again - the state of their nether-regions afterwards is such a turn off.

Good thing men aren't fussy as I am, eh?

I'm also pleased I'll never have to work with a midwife again - their arrogance is *seriously* misplaced given they've had three years to learn what we do in eight weeks of O&G. As a group, they do a fantastic job - I just don't take too kindly to disrespectful prats who act out of jealousy.

In fact, I quite enjoyed putting down an especially unfriendly Spanish one today. Apparently just 'observing' a birth wasn't worth of her signature - 'you weren't involved, so why should I sign?' - 'actually, there is a box for observed - I know taking observations won't deliver babies'. Watching the comradely smiles from her colleagues' faces made my day - this particular woman displays unremitting rudeness to anyone who isn't white, not taking time to be civil/smile whilst barking orders when she asks for things.

A recent survey of Polish immigrants, published in the Times suggested that 90% of them were hostile towards to minorities of differing skin tones. I've come across similar hostility from other European immigrants myself; annoying midwife aside, there's the Eastern European waitresses at a certain Paddington cafe, who take pleasure in trying to clean tables my friends (differing ethnicities, sometimes white) and I are sitting at BEFORE we've finished our drinks. Nevermind that their restaurant is otherwise empty. They just can't stomach the fact we can afford to treat ourselves there. Similarly, the way black footballers are treated within their countries is disgusting - monkey chants and accusations of 'nigger loving' is pathetic.

Whilst it may be acceptable to be openly racist/homophobic on the Continent, holding those prejudices here isn't an option when you're already one step-back on the playing field. Minorities and immigrants go through the same experiences in a host nation; there's more similarity than difference and believe it or not, that 'black cunt' is going to empathise with you that *extra* bit more. London is nothing without it's tolerance and fair play; without hard work, nobody would prosper. Do yourselves a favour and play by our rules; you ain't going to win the game without them.

Ghost Girl

2006-05-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Recent adventures on Facebook have revealed two uncomfortable truths.

Truth one - my lack of a cohesive friend 'group' inside college.

Fair cop; the people I got on best with left. The people still left are good mates I'm friends with on an individual basis. Whilst I may not have any animosity towards others in their 'respective' groups, I'm not automatically considered part of a group due to the lack of time I've spent with them as a whole.

The reason I don't want to 'limit' myself to just the one group is a diversity of interests. Not everyone is into things I like, so I find myself reaching out to new groups who may/may not have a 'niche' set of interests in order to stimulate myself. I try not to oblige myself entirely to a group - they might meet 4 times a month and I'd most likely make one of the four due to having three other groups to hang out with.

I may never be lonely on a Friday night; but I'm not guaranteed I won't end up 'alone'.

Lady Luck's lesson to those in the early years of medschool - start going out on 'medic' nights out, leaving aside whether 'sports night' is your thing. You won't ever feel entirely left out and you will meet some decent enough friends over time who will provide the group pictures you need to stop yourself looking/feeling like a loner.

Truth two - I used to be a GhostGirl

Y'know, one of those less conventionally attractive types with a really fit mate. My mate was the kind of girl who had this effect: everyone would look disappointed each time I met them alone, not asking me how I was before asking about her whereabouts. The rest of her friends failed to recognise me without her - entire conversations occured in front of me before I'd stepped in to chat.

I spent very much of my first year feeling invisible. Believe it or not, I'm still known as 'her mate'. I've not spoken to this chick in three years and found myself very hurt when one of our acquaintances asked me to remind him of my name after seeing me continually through five years of medical school.

Being FitGirl's mates did ensure an invite to every party going - good fun, but damn tiring after a while when you figured out that people didn't like you on your own merits. FitGirl also had this effect on other girls - they gave her a wide berth if they weren't in the 'Fit' category themselves.

She herself wasn't openly bitchy but continually failed to make an effort with any girl she couldn't avoid.

I thank my lucky stars that I didn't end up sharing a flat with her, another fittie and three lads in my second year. The lack of respect from the lads would've really got me down. Though the FitGirl herself was alright (a few irritating quirks aside) - her hangers-on left a lot to be desired.

I have never felt comfortable opening-up to her and know that it was this which broke our friendship down. It turned out my gut feeling was right - I've never spoken to those guys since; who needs enemies when you've got friends like those, eh?

Whilst we're on the subject of feeling unattractive; I'd like to know why I've only ever had the one British Asian guy romantically interested in my intellect? Plenty of men from other races, not to mention their subcontinental counterparts are feeling it - so why not them?

Answers on a postcard please!

Rain Rain Go Away

2006-05-24T04:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Sun God did listen to my prayers - saving you lot from being saddled with a whiny entry, pontificating the benefits of going into university for 3 hours (in addition to an hour's journey each way in the driving rain).

I'm going to head out soon, looking foward to a one hour tutorial (which might never happen as our tutor chooses to inform us upto half an hour in advance) before heading off to a laparoscopic surgery study (watch the guinea pig go!) at the department with Vitamin D deficiency.

Hopefully the tute doesn't happen - I don't fancy passing by the unwanted admirer for the third day in a row.

Whilst we're on the theme of luck, I'd like to say 'thank you' to 'Anon' who's offered me a tour 'round the Channel Four Building- I guess being a fangirl does have it's perks :D

Sociability...is hard enough for me..

2006-05-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

There cometh a line from my favourite music video of all time, Blur's 'Coffee and TV'. That's the one where a milk carton looks for his girlfriend, reuniting with her in 'Milk Carton Heaven'. Cute, even if I never really did get into Blur.

As a fan of the Britpop-era, I'm agreed they did have some fantastic tunes despite dipping it low for a bit after 'The Great Escape'. They never really found their form afterwards, 'Tender' and 'Beetlebum' aside. I'm not sure I want to hear the post-Coxon era though; Mr James has got smug and started eulogising the benefits of rural life in the broadsheets, Damon's gone smarmy in Mali and Dave's just gotten old.

Alas, I digress. The last week has been marginally better than those prior to it. A lot of crying and frustration was gotten out of my system. I even read a book RELATED to my revision, Tabitha Suzuma's 'A Note of Madness'. Isolation leads to stress which leads to frustration, frustration leads to avoidance, avoidance makes you more stressed as you get less accomplished.

Consequently, I thought I'd try to beat the isolation first. So I looked into getting a flat-share. Many thanks to my friends who got worried about me this week; meeting up with you has kept me sane. We've also managed to single-handedly keep Bonne Bouche in business! I'm convinced one of their waitresses is an ex-hostess/pornstar; she's got the too-much make-up and sultry submissive thing refined to a fine art!

Speaking of submissives, I don't think a consensual version of the Darlington Kaotian practice is worth the outrage it received. It's only the cult-like nature of Lee Thomas' group and his sinister fantasist claims that are especially worrying to those with family/friends in the group.

On a more chirpy note, I'm very pleased I managed to fulfil two ambitions this week; to get published in a glossy magazine (might not be mainstream media, but you've got to start somewhere, eh?) in addition to visiting a national TV centre. Made me realise exactly how little I know about ITV programmes.

*sigh*

It is quality not quantity what counts though; my favourite channel is *easily* Channel 4, home to the most excellent 'Will and Grace', 'Scrubs', 'Green Wing', 'Peep Show' and the tragic car-crash of 'Big Brother 7'. Expect me to be glued to Digital Spy in the coming weeks ;)

Fish and Chip Boy

2006-05-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Recent revelations about 7/7 have got me reminiscing about exactly what I was upto on the day.

I recall deciding to take the day off. I'm sure you'd agree that didactic pathology teaching really isn't worth waking up for! Indeed, I'd have got sick of it at one point during the day so I'd have most probably gone shopping/exploring.

I may well have ended up on one of the London buses/tube trains attacked.

Thankfully, laziness won out. I stayed at home, popped out to get fish and chips for my bro and found myself making head and tail of the commotion going on just ten short miles away. Come to think of it, there'd be no other reason someone cute would be buying chips in front of me! After all, cute people don't live in Worcester Park - chavs do!

Brief conversation ensued, with said guy letting me know where he lived and what he was upto. He was buying chips for his grandmother that day, getting lunch for the pair of them just after heading home from work. I bid him farewell; we parted.

I wonder what he's upto now? Tori's got a 'Cornflake Girl' - I guess this makes him my 'fish and chip boy'?

Five...

2006-04-30T07:40:00.000-07:00

Five is not the loneliest number. One is, as Filter told us in their long-forgotten hit.

Five is the number of fiction books I've read this year. I've tried my level best to get myself a copy of Gautam Malkarni's 'Londonistani' but the Waterstones I went into had run out. A pity, since Malkarni seems like a nice guy - just like that Sathnam Sangera from the FT.

I have however, had the misfortune to have read this effort and the much-hyped 'Brick Lane' in the past - which makes me more than qualified to have an opinion on Sarfraz Mansoor's latest piece in today's Observer.

Mansoor's piece comments on what the reading public expects from an Asian fiction writer, with 'authenticity' being the bugbear of multiculturalism. Readers are supposedly fed-up of seeing writers credited with telling typically Asian stories coming from an 'atypical' background - think either Oxbridge-educated, mixed race, in mixed-race relationships or all of the above.

He considers the valid example of recently-lauded 'Foxy-T', written by an ethnic Englishman. Tony White's portrayal of Bengali immigrants is similar to Malkarni's portrayal of disaffected Hounslow boys. What makes White artistic and Malkarni 'inauthentic'? An atypical background doesn't stop you from a) having an imagination and b) writing well. I'm agreed with Sam Leith that 'middle-class people - mixed-race or otherwise - are more likely to get their books published', purely because class and education do make a difference.

If you've benefited from a good education, you'll have read a lot more, thought a lot more about literary technique, and be more likely in the first place to think that writing a novel is worth your while.

Aspirations aside, it's disappointing to see Asians who do well being held up for intense scrutiny. The triple burden of being either a historian, spokesperson or role-model shouldn't be imposed on people who don't set out wanting to be one.

Another week goes by...

2006-04-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Very little of note has happened this week. Former firm crush has decided not to reply to my textual inquisition, leading me to believe he has either a) given me a false phone number or b) gone off me. I'm not especially fussed (he's on the portly side) - I tend to find most men repulsive after a little while anyway!

I've also developed a new crush on an SPR colleague working for another team - his wrists are a spectacle to behold, attached to manly and capable hands. His wife is one *very* lucky woman!

Alas, as the sophistication and maturity of my crushes increases, I am disappointed to find this bears a direct proportion to their unavailability.

*sigh*

Maybe one day, I'll have the luck of my mutant exes and get myself a functional relationship; it's interesting to note the only ex I don't wish ill-will upon has himself tried and failed to do this!

LOVE HATE MUSIC RACISM

2006-04-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello to one and all!

I'm more than flattered to find myself syndicated on an RSS feed - big up to the guys at http://kottu.org!

Today has been spent moonlighting at the London Fertility Centre, assisting in egg donation and IVF procedures. A very rewarding experience, I might add, given the happiness a little cutie-pie can bring to your life :)

I received this email from the guys at LoveHateMusicRacism. It's written in response to the BNP's proposed popularity at the May 4th local elections.

It's slightly sensationalist, but hey - if we need music to get the anti-fascist message across, so be it. - "If we don't act now, not only can the BNP win seats, but everywhere they get publicity or win votes by stoking up racism, racist attacks against any non-white people or 'foreigners' will shoot up."

Their major London event is in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 29th April – a rally with music against racism. Through music from high profile artists such as Belle and Sebastian, Roll Deep, Babyshambles and Lethal Bizzle, and speeches from celebrities and political figures, the team hope to send out a nationwide message saying 'no' to racism.

The guys have already received considerable national press, radio and TV interest and we want to give the press a photocall with as many bands, MCs, singers, young people and music fans opposing the BNP from across London as possible so please push the boat out and tell everyone you know to come down to the press call on the 26th as well as the carnival itself.

Please contact Jody Mills 020 7420 8938/07768 693 956 or Lee Billingham 07838156052 for further details.

http://lovemusichateracism.com

I'm so tired of being alone...

2006-04-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

So I ditched revision and started procreastinating this weekend. Fittingly, (and thankfully), I might add, I didn't have to go too far for inspiration. I've had the fantastic Samuel Shem, teaching me about the 'House of God' and the unusually-active blogosphere to keep me occupied.

Come to think of it, I've actually got Margaret Hodge to thank for the turnaround for this lady has single-handedly got the left-wing blogosphere up in arms this week! In an attempt to appear 'in-touch' with her constituents (whom she allegedly chooses not to visit, preferring the sunnier climes of Islington), she observed that 'eight out of ten houses canvassed in Barking had considered voting for the BNP' in the upcoming local/European elections.

Cue the furore in the Times, AIM and the Indy - all of which and none of which can be witnessed here, sans the usual discussion of Iraq and Israel. Immortal Radical has examined the 'why' in the most comprehensive manner, putting demographics into the equation, ahead of racism and deprivation. I'm agreed it's a combination of the three factors, in addition to the complacence shown by Labour towards it's traditional support-base.

Sunny boy has also got me busy on the sociological front - Gautam Malkarni, author of 'Londonistani', has written an interesting piece on the masculinasation of British Asian men. Props to making the FT funky - since when has Bombay Bronx ever had a foothold in there? Perhaps this guy is going to get a look-in soon - MIA isn't the only one to get the Lankan talent genes!

Obs and Gobs

2006-04-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

The curse of year five has finally befell me; I've started the dreaded obs and gobs and believe me, I've never been more tired!

Two twelve-hour shifts on labour ward yielded three measly caesarian births, sufficient to fill the logbook requirement plus experience in using fetal monitoring and blood presssure machines. Our logbook confirms that we need to witness ten births, seven of which are normal and three of which are caesars. Not a single normal came in during the 24 hours I was present. There must be something in the NW-Thames water ;)

A number of observations were made. The first - that midwives like biscuits (and chocolate) and long tea breaks. They tried to hide their Ferrero Rocher stash from my accomplice and I and had no such luck!

The second is that many of the births are to practising muslims, who are primarily of African origin. This is all hunky dory (unfeasible demands for female-only operating teams aside) until FGM aka female circumcision/genital mutilation comes into the picture.

I feel very uncomfortable when a lady who's experienced this comes into the room. It's bad enough playing 'find the urethra' on our side - but the fact she'll never experience the pleasure/conveniences that who've been fortunate enough NOT to have this inflicted upon them is a very upsetting thing. Waris Dirie has helped to raise the profile of this barbaric practice in a significant way. Outlawing the practice in the UK hasn't helped - families choose to go abroad in order to put future generations through pain. It's a topic I'm going to be looking into given it's prevalence amongst our patient population.

I tried to discuss FGM with an atheist neo-con friend of mine - she brought up the valid point that people should judge a religion by it's practice, not it's scriptures. I'm not 100% convinced on this one - Islam (if you read the Koran) isn't inherently evil; if anything, there are messages of great practicality and compassion present in the scripture, considered apt at the time of writing. Many muslims DO lead peaceful lives, contributing significantly to the wellbeing of others. Whilst Western Feminism and the conservative Islam practised today may *not* see eye-to-eye (e.g. the imposition of the abaya on Iranian women), it's interesting to note Muslim women are liberated in ways we Westerners aren't. Witness the discussion on Bikini waxing here.