pbjpaulito’s posterous

 
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November 15, 2009

The Story of Stuff and The Triple Bottom Line

A friend recently shared this video with me which really struck a chord.

It reminds me of a concept we called the "Triple Bottom Line" at Trent University. The "Triple Bottom Line" is when we measure success based on Economic, Social and Environmental responsibility and sustainability (not simply economic indicators as was previously the norm). The points Annie Leonard raises are certainly all the more interesting as the holiday season rapidly approaches. This year my mom's side of the family decided not to do a gift exchange (an idea which was sadly not my own) since we all are in agreement that we have enough stuff and spending time with family is more important. It is a really refreshing actually and so much less stressful than shopping at this time of year.

Hope you enjoy.

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Filed under  //   Consumption   Disposal   Economic   Enivronment   Extraction   Holidays   Production   Social   Story of Stuff   Stuff   Sustainability   Triple Bottom Line  

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November 10, 2009

This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed at home.
This little piggy got quarantined.
And this little piggy cried "Wee! Wee! Wee!" all the way home.

I thought this was appropriate given that I will be starting an elective in Infectious Disease in four weeks (my preceptor gave a recent talk entitled H1N1: Everyone's favourite letter and number combination). I'm looking forward to learning about Infectious Diseases from the front lines amidst the chaos of the current pandemic. Hope you will all get your H1N1 vaccination when they become available.

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Filed under  //   Christopher Robin   Eeyore   H1N1   pandemic   Piglet   Quarantined   Rabbit   Swine flu   Tiger   Winnie the Pooh  

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November 9, 2009

Preposterous or Pre-posterous

Came across an interesting esoteric reference to posterous today while reading Eponyms on my iTouch.


Munchausen's syndrome: factitious disorder, eponym given by Asher in 1951 after Baron Karl Munchausen (1720-1797), retired German cavalry officer with reputation for preposterous stories about his activities as a soldier, hunter.

Pre-pos-ter-ous: contrary to nature, reason, or common sense.

Posterous: is the dead simple way to put anything online using email. 

Interesting? I think so...

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Filed under  //   Baron Karl Munchausen   Eponyms   ideas   Munchausen syndrome   Posterous   Preposterous   stories   technology  

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November 8, 2009

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold on to them. They are the life boats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely illusive. So the question becomes, or should have been all a long... What would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What life boat would you grab on to? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfil? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? (Narrator from One Week)

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November 7, 2009

Footpaths to Peace

Poem from the McMichael Gallery. It was an early piece of commercial art done by Tom Thomson. There was a forest landscape done in pen and ink which included the quote by Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) below:

Footpaths to Peace

To be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be contented with your possessions, but not satisfied with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor's except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit, in God's out-of-doors.....these are little guideposts on the footpath to peace. 

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Filed under  //   Footpath   Henry Van Dyke   Life   Nature   Peace   Tom Thompson  

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November 2, 2009

Patient-Physician Relationship

"It has been written that one difference between doctors of today and of the past is that, with the advent of and reliance on technology, physicians today have forgotten how to attend to and to see the patient. It is not the disease, but the man or the woman, who needs to be seen and treated. Attending primarily to laboratory values or to the abdomen or the heart only leads to worsening of the patient ... and failure on the part of the physician. Attention—that simple yet hard-to-conduct behavior of looking, watching, and listening—if present, allows doctor and patient to move toward care and treatment and, if absent, promotes dislike and anger between doctor and patient and disallows any effective care." (Kaplan & Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, p. 1806)

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Filed under  //   Health   Medicine   Patient   Physician   Relationship   Technology  

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November 1, 2009

Thought Broadcasting

"As I think, my thoughts leave my head on a type of mental ticker tape. Everyone around has only to pass the type through their mind and they know my thoughts"

(Adapted from Burton, Psychiatry 2006). 

Interesting that this quote about the psychiatric delusion of thought broadcasting, could as easily be used to talk about twitter and other blog services.

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Filed under  //   Culture   Curiosity   Mind   Psychiatry   Stereotypes   Storytelling   Thoughtful  

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October 29, 2009

Anatomy

Today was our final formal anatomy lesson at the UW Anatomy Lab before entering the clerkship phase of my medical education. I looked to the wall plaque which says,
"You are now in the presence of those who have given their bodies for the advancement of science. Please treat them with the respect which is their due."
 
Thank you to those who gave of themselves so that others may learn of the wonders of the human body.

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Filed under  //   Anatomy   Lab   Medicine   Science   Waterloo  

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May 18, 2009

Narrative Humility: The Art of Medicine

“Not every patient can be saved, but his illness may be eased by the way the doctor responds to him—and in responding to him the doctor may save himself. But first he must become a student again; he has to dissect the cadaver of his professional persona…It may be necessary to give up some of his authority in exchange for his humanity, but as the old family doctors knew, this is not a bad bargain. In learning to talk to his patients, the doctor may talk himself back into loving his work…by letting the sick man into his heart…they can share, as few others can, the wonder, terror, and exaltation of being on the edge of being, between the natural and the supernatural.” Broyard

Broyard A. Intoxicated by my illness and other writings on life and death. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.

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Filed under  //   Art   Humility   Medicine   Narrative  

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May 17, 2009

Building New Type of Housing



In response to recent flooding and mud slides in Honduras , Friends of Honduran Children has been developing new prefab homes. Taking the lead from one of our Honduran translators (who is also an architect) a team of volunteers led by Gregg Gordon and David Cain designed and constructed homes which can be quickly built to provide shelter for families.

David Cain from Friends of Honduran Children says, "Our goal is to build buildings and programs that make sense for them (Hondurans)." He continues that if proven this technology would be, "Part of our play book for future disasters" and that "we would have proven technology that can be shared with other charities".

For more information on Friends of Honduran Children please visit: www.honduranchildren.com

"We can't change the world but in this little part we can make a difference." Dr. Jim McCallum, President, Friends of Honduran Children

Original video report from CHEX Television (Peterborough, ON, Canada).

       
Click here to download:
Building_New_Type_of_Housing.zip (9388 KB)

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Filed under  //   Change   Charity   Flooding   Honduras   Hope   Innovation   Natural Disaster   Social Entrepreneurship  

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