The "Dotting the i's and Crossing the T's" Friday Random Ten

It turned out that I had a pretty low-key week. My 12-hour, 7 am to 7 pm clinical I was supposed to have yesterday was cancelled due to the instructor's illness. We're supposed to have a six hour one on Tuesday, but that's up in the air. In the meantime, we doubled up on classroom work on Wednesday, meaning I don't have class on Monday. I have a test on Gerontology Wednesday, which is very likely going to be the least difficult test of the whole program; it's on diabetes, heart disease, hypothyroidism, and such-- all things we've covered before-- but applied to older adults. Toward the end of the unit, barely half the class was bothering to show up, since it was, essentially, a review.

I have a couple of assignments, already done, to turn in, and I have to do a quick rework of my resume, also to be turned in, and I'm done. I have three HESI tests to take, one next Friday and two on the following Monday. And then graduation on May 11th. Oh, and I also become eligible to join the AARP.

I wasn't going to get a nursing pin, but my friend and neighbor Jane, who is a nurse, convinced me to get one. She pointed out that I'm going to want to wear it to honor other nurses-- at retirement ceremonies, etc. And my feeling is that I'd rather have it and not want it than to later decide I wanted it, but not have it.

One thing I wanted for sure was to have my picture in the class composite picture (the picture at the top of the post was everybody's overwhelming choice out of the four shots I had). I know I'll stay in touch with a good number of my classmates, and I've become good friends with some. This last few years, especially the last two, have been intense. I'm very fond of the people who were by my side in that time.

So this last week or so is going to be tying off loose ends. I'd pretty much have to not show up for the last test in order not to graduate. It's a good spot to be in as I finish.

1. La Dolce Vita- Peter Gabriel
2. Hymn 43- Jethro Tull
3. Here Comes My Girl- Tom Petty
4. Sunspot Baby- Bob Seger
5. One Tree Hill- U2
6. Love Has Brought Me Around- James Taylor
7. So Far Away- David Gilmour
8. Time In A Bottle- Jim Croce
9. One Step Ahead- Split Enz
10. You've Got Another Thing Coming- Pat Boone

Notes:
1. From Peter Gabriel's first post-Genesis solo album.
2. Not a big Tull fan, but love this anti-religion song.
3. Saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform in 1990, so they're not on my "bucket" list (performers to see before they or I kick the bucket-- Tony Bennett, Bob Seger, Tom Jones, Los Lobos are some of who are on that list), but I'd gladly see them again.
4. Speaking of my "bucket" list. Just a reminder-- Seger performing May 14 here in Chicago, and if anyone's looking for a birthday/graduation gift for me...
5. A song of grief and healing. I turned to it often after my friend Mark's murder.
6. An old favorite.
7. From a great solo album Pink Floyd guitarist Gilmour did in 1978.
8. A sadly prophetic song for Mr. Croce
9. These guys are best known for "I Got You," but this one is also great. And they mutated into another great eighties band, Crowded House.
10. Yes, THAT Pat Boone, and THAT song (originally by Judas Priest). From "In A Metal Mood," a tongue in cheek metal album Boone did in the late nineties. The deeply religious singer took grief from the funamentalists for it, showing he's got a sense of humor and fundamentalists are dicks.

A Return To Life

It's a chilly late April night here in Chicago. We pretty much had all four seasons today. Just a typical Spring day here in Chicago.

I got most of the stuff I wanted done today-- didn't find the travel mug I looked for so that my wife doesn't steal mine-- getting her a pink one so that she can distinguish it from the earth brown one I use.

I even got a little schoolwork done. Very little. I have one last small project to turn in for my clincals, a "medications interview." I'm going to Skype my father tomorrow to do it. I had to get the interview questions ready, using the meds list my mother sent me.

Sitting here, with the Allman Brothers' "Dreams" playing over my shuffle, through the little battery powered speaker, sipping a glass of red wine, I had a lot of thoughts running through my head.

One thought was of disbelief. The obstacles I ran across through this journey were considerable. First off, I started out with the idea of going to pharmacy school. And with the idea that I'd work at a particular fancy downtown restaurant while I was in school. As my old friend Michael says, "You want to see God laugh? Show him your plans." First off, I was fired from the downtown restaurant after walking in on the manager doing cocaine in a washroom. He was apparently afraid I'd tell the owner, who thought he'd recovered from a bad addiction (his previous addiction-- not so previous apparently-- was public knowledge there). As I plugged away at the prerequisites, I took classes with my friend Leslie, who was also a co-worker in my other restaurant job, one I'd kept just in case. The place we worked at is a family place, and a pretty nice place to work. Nobody ever leaves. But just when I needed to go to full time there, two people left-- one finished college and moved back to his home country to run the family business, and the other moved to Vegas. This was serendipitous for me. And Leslie convinced me to consider nursing, a degree I could get in two years, rather than the 4 (plus two more years of prerequisites than I'd already done).

Last night I was waiting on one of my long-time regulars. I discovered for the first time that she's a nurse who works at a hospital that's on my short list of hospitals I'd like to work at. She asked where I was going to school and when I told her, she asked how many times I had applied. Once. She told me-- and I've heard this from others-- that there's a long waiting list to get in there. Many people apply three times before they get in, if at all. Again, a little disbelief that I was that lucky.

I was also lucky in having a fine bunch of classmates who have made this journey wonderful, even as grueling as it was. I can say the same about my instructors. I know that I will have lifelong friends among both groups.

In the midst of it all, my wife got laid off twice due to the recession. She managed to find jobs in a tough, tough job market; I considered dropping out of the program so I could work another job, but thanks to her persistence in finding a job, we didn't have to go that route.

And then there are my kids. I tried as hard as I could to make sure they got enough of me, both in terms of quantity and quality of time, but I know that they sacrificed. They are mature enough to understand how important this is to me-- that it will enable me to make sure they have the resources to go to college, and to follow their dreams in general.

This last week and a half, I started doing something I had mostly put off for ages: reading for pleasure. I'll write about both of the books I finished in the last week. And there will also be one other thing I'll be continuing-- blogging, and reading blogs.

In June, it will be five years since the worst week of my life. In the space of a week, I got laid off of a teaching job I loved and planned to work until I retired, discovered my dad had cancer, and discovered that one of my oldest, closest friends was murdered. I remember the weeks and months after that week-- mostly through a haze. I felt numb, dead even. Five years down the line, I feel good-- alive. I feel like my decisions-- to think outside the box, and to stick with my plan to change careers-- have paid off.

In the last five or six months or so, I've developed the habit of keeping a little notebook of blog post ideas. I'll be utilizing that soon. And I've been running some ideas about what I'll be doing besides working. I've got at least two book ideas. I'm also really hankering to travel-- there are some old friendships on the west coast that have had to wait because of school. I'm looking forward to getting out to bicycle more. To take my kids out to movies and plays. To having a glass of wine with an old friend. To watching movies. To return to life.

Spring Break Random Ten

I missed Friday. I'll explain. I had my spring break this week. It wasn't until about Wednesday that I realized how exhausted I'd been. This week, I caught up on the sleep I'd missed this semester, cooked, ate enough, tried to do a little less substituting caffeine for sleep.

I also took an always-lucrative Saturday night off of work last week; it was just Adam and I, and so we hung out, popped popcorn (in my old iron skillet) and watched "North By Northwest." He finally realized why I'd been trying to get he and my daughter to watch it with me for the last couple of years.

So in between all that and everything else, Friday floated on past me. No problem. I did a lot this week (besides catch up on my sleep). I caught up on my reading. I finally finished a book I'd wanted to read for years, Andrew Chaikin's "A Man On the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts." And started re-reading a book I haven't read since 1986, Rob Serling's "The President's Plane Is Missing." Rob was Rod Serling's brother, and a damned good writer. Last time I read it, I checked it out of the Sulzer Library, my local library since 1986. It's long-gone there; had to buy a copy on www.half.com.

Hard to believe, after this four year journey, that I'm heading into the last couple of weeks. Lots to do then-- fingerprints, the state nursing board, find a job, then start working. I think I'm ready.

In the meantime, I've still been taking notes in my little green notebook-- ideas for future posts. I hope somebody will still be reading by the time I have the time and energy to post regularly again.

1. Idiot Wind- Bob Dylan
2. Get Your Rocks Off- Primal Scream
3. Godzilla- Blue Oyster Cult
4. Hot House- X
5. Radio Free Europe- REM
6. No Home For You Here- The White Stripes
7. Old John Robertson- The Byrds
8. Whole Lotta Love- The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra
9. Ferry Cross The Mersey- Gerry and the Pacemakers
10. That's No Way To Say Goodbye- Leonard Cohen

Notes:

1. I heard a couple of lines form this song in a Hootie and the Blowfish song years ago and wondered "WTF?" Turned out they'd taken the line out wholesale and Dylan's people sued and won.
2. These guys are amazing. Span a couple of decades and always come up with something amazing.
3. Not as big a hit as "Don't Fear the Reaper," and has no cowbell. But still awesome.
4. God, I love "X."
5. REM's first single, which pretty much created college radio.
6. These guys split up at the right time, recently, after having turned out an insane amount of great music.
7. My song reloaded his Itunes recently; I was pleased to see that he added a bunch of Byrds tunes.
8. Yes, the Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love." All on kazoo. This was Rhino Records' first record.
9. I never, ever get tired of hearing this little gem.
10. I pity people who haven't discovered Leonard Cohen.

The "One Month Warning" Friday Random Ten

As of today, I have about four weeks left to nursing school. I had my first clinical day of my last rotation, Gerontology, yesterday.

I had taken the bus to the hospital in the morning, but my friend Alina offered me a ride home-- she lives a few blocks up the road from me. She also gave two others in the group, Shirley and Shazia, a ride to an el stop. As the four of us rode toward home, I thought about the work I've put into this, and about the friendships I've made. I've been reading Andrew Chaikin's book "A Man On The Moon," the book the mini-series "From The Earth To The Moon" is based on, in the minute amount of spare time I have. In it, the voyage of Apollo 12, which carried the third and fourth men to walk on the moon, Pete Conrad and Al Bean, to the moon. Bean later talked about how the marvel at the journey ended up secondary to the friendships he made with Conrad and the Command Module Pilot Dick Gordon. You form a bond with the people who shared the journey with you. My life came together for two years with these three friends, who hail from three countries, Romania, Pakistan and Ghana and three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, to sweat this training, this degree, which will define the rest of our lives. It was cool, after an exhausting twelve hour clinical day, to have this moment of joy, camraderie and bliss.

It's hard to believe after these last two ball-busting years that I'm nearly done with school. I was telling one of my friends at school that though this degree is my lowest one-- it's an associate's degree, and I also have two bachelor's degrees and a master's-- that it was the hardest one. And ironically it's also the most marketable one.

There are a lot of changes coming up. My wife and I have talked of moving later in the year. For a while it looked like we might have to move; my landlord was considering moving his mother-in-law into this apartment. We had thought about moving as it were because we've simply outgrown the apartment. We now basically have four adults living here. It looks like the changes may either take longer or not happen at all. I'm hoping for some time. I need to finish school, get a job and then get cash together for a move.

Also, some work changes. The owners of the restaurant had been trying to sell for some time, and finally did a few weeks ago. The transition to the new owners is supposed to happen about the time I graduate. The new owners seem like stand-up guys and are claiming they won't change anything, but in 31 years of working in the restaurant business off and on, I've never once seen new managers or owners come in without changing a bunch of stuff. I'd hoped that the ownership wouldn't change until I was done with school. I guess I got my wish.

One last thing. I got a message yesterday, through the list-serve I set up nearly five years ago when my friend Mark was murdered, that the first Mark Evans Memorial Art Scholarship was awarded at Eastern Illinois University recently, to a senior art student from downstate. It made me happy. It's been nearly five years, but I still miss the hell out of Mark. It's nice to know that every year, a person like him, an art student at Eastern Illinois University, will be helped in his name. In honor of that, I lit a candle in the ashtray that's in the picture at the top of the post. He made it at Eastern, and it was always near his art table-- he used it when he smoked his pot. It was something I associated with him, and when his parents told us to take anything that had sentimental value to us, I took it. If you notice, it's cracked-- there's a funny story, involving me, of course, for why it's cracked. I'll tell it another time.


1. Cry, Baby Cry- The Beatles
2. Saturday Night In The City of the Dead- Ultravox
3. All I'm Thinkin' About- Bruce Springsteen
4. Run, Run Rudolph- Chuck Berry
5. Louie, Louie- The Kingsmen
6. Cherry Bomb- The Runaways
7. If The Kids Are United- Sham 69
8. All The Voices- INXS
9. Isis- Bob Dylan
10. Monday, Monday- The Mamas and the Papas



Notes:
1. A gem from the great White Album.
2. From the "No Thanks" set of seventies punk and new wave.
3. Love this little number.
4. Great Christmas song. Keith Richards did a nice cover.
5. I was just reading about this song on Cracked Magazine online. I'll devote a post to it.
6. Got my daughter the Runaways movie for Christmas. Thumbs up all around.
7. More seventies punk.
8. From "The Swing," an album I bought and just about wore out the summer of '84.
9. On the live "Rolling Thunder Revue" version of this song on the "Biograph" collection, Dylan introduces this song with "This is a song about marriage." One of my favorites.
10. I grew up listening to my dad's copy of the Mamas and the Papas "best-of" album. Still love them.

Double Friday Random Ten

Since I did my Friday Random Ten last week, but never had time to post it, I'm posting this week's and last week's.

This has been two of the busiest-- and most rewarding-- couple of weeks of my life. I mentioned before that a week ago Monday, I had my first Med-Surg exam of the two I'll have this rotation. It's generally considered to be the most difficult test of the second year. I was happy that I got a B-- especially after finding out that most of the class got C's, D's and F's on it. A lot of people are at the edge of dropping out of the program.

Last Friday, we had the HESI exam-- a practice for the NCLEX, the state nursing board I have to pass when I'm done with school in order to get my license. It was one of five I'll take this semester, but the most important one. It's comprehensive, covering everything we learned in the whole program, and counts for a percentage of the grade in one of my classes. It's probably a good thing that I didn't know, until right before the test, that it counted for 15% of the grade, not 1.5% like the other HESI's, which are in specific content areas, count.

I whipped through the 160-question test in a little under two hours, and got the score immediately. I needed to get at least an 850 to get the full 15%. I got an 1007. About a third of the class did not get the 850. The average score was in the high 800's.

I had one more test this week-- the clinical test for my Med-Surg rotation. The instructor, Ms. Beaumard, is one of the favorite teachers I've ever had. She's rigorous and demanding, but knows just when to back off when you're nervous. She inspired us to be better nurses.

Thanks to her and other instructors, I've felt different this semester. I used to walk into clinical days scared to death. Each time I was doing something new and terrifying. I'm still doing new stuff, but I approach it with a new attitude. I'm eager and excited to learn a new skill.

I passed my clinical test with flying colors. Yesterday, the last day of that rotation, Ms. Beaumard did evaluations. Mine was short and sweet. Ms. Beaumard told me that I'd done a great job this semester, and that she didn't have any concerns about my abilities as a nurse-- unlike some of the other people in the program. She praised my critical thinking skills, and that I was going to be a good nurse. Having her tell me that was like having Willie Mays tell me I was going to be a good baseball player.

I have my second and last Med-Surg test on Monday. Then I start my final rotation, Gerontology. Six more weeks to graduation.

1. Mastercharge- Albert Collins
2. I've Been Loving You Too Long- Otis Redding
3. Run Through the Jungle- Creedence Clearwater Revival
4. Gimme Shelter- The Rolling Stones
5. Hold Me Tight- The Beatles
6. Tattooed Love Boys- The Pretenders
7. Car On A Hill- Joni Mitchell
8. I'll Be Around- The Spinners
9. Bastards of Young- The Replacements
10. Roll Over Beethoven- Chuck Berry

Notes:
1. I was fortunate to see Mr. Collins while he was still with us. Great performer.
2. A classic from a guy who was taken from us way too soon.
3. CCR commenting on the Vietnam War.
4. From the great "Let It Bleed" record.
5. Some older Beatles
6. "I shot my mouth off and you showed me what that hole was for..."
7. Read about this song in "Girls Like Us," which was about Ms. Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King.
8. Great break-up song.
9. I saw their last show nearly 20 years ago.
10. I saw Chuck Berry at a show in Grant Park in 1986. Left and discovered that Keith Richards joined him on stage shortly after I left.

And last week's...

1. Hotel Illness- The Black Crowes
2. Love Too Good- The Jefferson Starship
3. Bohemian Like You- The Dandy Warhols
4. If We Make It Through December- Merle Haggard
5. Baby, I Love Your Way- Peter Frampton
6. Rock Me On the Water- Jackson Browne
7. There's a Moon in the Sky (Called The Moon)- The B-52's
8. Your Gold Teeth, Part II- Steely Dan
9. A Girl Like You- The Rascals
10. She- The Monkees


Notes:
1. This is my current favorite song.
2. Gracie Slick voicing some past relationship regret. I can relate.
3. Love, love, love this song!
4. Maybe the perfect country song.
5. I love Lisa Bonet's version of this in "High Fidelity."
6. Jackson Browne taking a spiritual turn.
7. This one was fitting for the "biggest moon" that turned out to be a bust here in Chicago-- overcast that night.
8. A lot of people missed how damned funny Steely Dan was, including this song.
9. Love the Rascals/Young Rascals!
10. For a prefab band, these guys were awesome.

The "Better Late Than Never Tuesday Friday Random Ten"

Completely missed last Friday's Random Ten, since I was busy with school and work. We had a test coming up that is generally considered to be the most difficult of the year, covering coronary problems, AIDS, tuberculosis and lung cancer.

I got together Saturday with a handful of classmates to get ready for the test. One of those people is pretty damned annoying, but worked as a paramedic and understands the coronary stuff, which includes reading EKG's, something the rest of us struggled with.

The study session must have worked; a test I would have been thrilled just to get a "C" on, I got a "B." I kept my mouth shut about it though, because I found out most of the rest of the class (including the annoying former paramedic) got C's, D's and F's.

Going in to clinical today, I had the realization that something has changed. First, knowing that I got through the toughest portion of the program yesterday, I know that I can do this. Secondly, I realized that I'm no longer terrified going into a clinical day. I look forward to learning new skills and perfecting ones I've already learned. I had a moment today when I realized how much I've learned. On clinical days, we team up; one person is the "lead" and the other is the "team member," who is basically serving as a CNA (certified nursing assistant). I was the team member, so I set about getting sets of vital signs, changing linens and witnessing while my partner gave meds.

Toward the end of the day, my "lead" was about to give a heparin shot-- something that we do a lot in the hospital (it's an anti-clotting agent-- people who are bed-ridden are more prone to blood clots). My partner asked me to do it, but I'd given a lot of heparin shots and so thought it best for her to do it, especially since she was the lead. As she started giving the shot, I realized she was doing it wrong, though it was too late to stop her. She gave the shot at a 90 degree angle, like you'd give an insulin shot. A heparin shot is "subcutaneous;" you give it just under the skin, at about a 30 degree angle.

Fortunately, where she gave the shot, on the underside of the patient's arm, was okay-- there's enough fatty tissue there so that it was okay. But I was mortified that just a few weeks before graduating, she did not know that this was how to give heparin. I found myself wishing I'd have gone ahead and given the shot.

I was not the only person mortified. A resident who was in the room took her outside and politely but firmly told her what she'd done wrong. I was glad the resident did it and I didn't have to. But I learned a couple of valuable lessons. First, if I see someone about to do something wrong, go ahead and stop them. Secondly, to have confidence in what I've learned.

On Friday, we have the comprehensive "HESI," a practice for the NCLEX, a big nursing board I take at the end of this program that I have to pass in order to officially become a nurse.

I've got a lot coming up. One of my kids starts his last year of high school this year as the other is starting it. I'll be starting a new career, and may have to move out of the place I've called home for the last nearly-13 years. Oh, yeah-- and I'm turning 50 in a few weeks. It's all good.

1. Ruby Tuesday- The Rolling Stones
2. Turn That Heartbeat Over Again- Steely Dan
3. In the Heat of the Summer- Phil Ochs
4. Fade Into Me- Mazzy Star
5. Are You Gonna Be My Girl- Jet
6. Painting By Numbers- James McMurtry
7. I Hear You Knocking- Dave Edmunds
8. Walkin' After Midnight- Patsy Cline
9. Ever Fallen In Love?- The Buzzcocks
10. She's So Modern- The Boomtown Rats



1. I've always found this to be one of the Stones' more lovely songs.
2. From "Can't Buy A Thrill," one of the greatest debut albums ever.
3. The late, great Phil Ochs, singing about the riots that racked the ghettos of America's cities in the mid to late sixties.
4. This song is haunting and achingly beautiful.
5. Love this nasty little song from a few years back.
6. The son of "Lonesome Dove" author Larry McMurtry. He just did a couple of shows at the Old Town School of Folk Music, just a few blocks from my home.
7. Dave Edmunds had a hit with this back in 1970.
8. Spent many a night in college walking home-- alone-- drunkenly singing this song.
9. A new wave classic.
10. The Boomtown Rats at their snottiest.

The "How Did I Get This Old" Friday Random Ten

Had a hell of a week at school. I'm waiting for the whole cardiac thing to fall in place in my head. SA nodes, V-Tach, Atrial Flutter, etc. I expect it to happen sometime Monday afternoon or so.

I'm enjoying this clinical rotation, despite the fact that it's causing me to be even more sleep-deprived than usual because of the combination of work and clinical schedule-- close the restaurant late, then up at 5:30 am. Have Ms. B., one of the best teachers I've ever had (I had her last semester, and was fortunate to be able to choose my schedule to get her again.) Yesterday was annoying; had to work with the most annoying classmate ever in history, and a nurse who was high-strung beyond belief. Still, it's all good. Thanks, Ms. B, and thanks to the other classmates.

In the meantime, my son's turning 17 on Monday. Trying to get my head around that, and also the fact that I'm done with nursing school in 9 weeks.

We celebrated my son's birthday by going down to a favorite restaurant down in Chinatown, then coming home and watching "Napoleon Dynamite." I was reminded of the day, nearly 17 years ago, that the most terrified guy in the world drove his girlfriend's car home from the hospital with a girlfriend he hardly knew, and a day old baby in a car seat in the back. And I'm reminded of Bill Murray's line Lost In Translation, as the character "Bob Harris," who says

"The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born...Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life."

And they have.

1. Stratford-On-Guy-- Liz Phair
2. Mean Mr. Mustard- The Beatles
3. Wild Horses- The Rolling Stones
4. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds- The Beatles
5. The Mansion On The Hill- Bruce Springsteen
6. The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns- Phil Ochs
7. Born In Chicago- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
8. The Stripper- David Rose
9. No Feelings- The Sex Pistols
10. That's Entertainment- The Jam

Notes:
1. From "Exile On Guyville." Liz must have been in my social circle, from everything I've read about this record, but I don't remember meeting her, let alone dating her. So I can't be one of the asshole ex-boyfriends she's singing about on this album. Not that I wasn't an asshole then.
2. From the great second side of the "Abbey Road" album. Back when there were second sides, or records, for that matter.
3. One of my favorite songs to play on guitar. The Sundays, who are best known for "Where The Story Ends" did a lovely version of this one.
4. Love the story of this song; everybody thought it was about drugs because of the initials. It was just about a picture John Lennon's son drew of his friend Lucy at school.
5. From Mr. Springsteen's "Nebraska" album. If there was a more beautiful song than this one ever written, I have yet to hear it.
6. Ochs was best known for his political songs, but wrote some power songs about tragedies that moved him. This one was written from the point of view of a sailor on the Scorpion, a US nuclear sub that was lost in the Atlantic in 1968.
7. My parents used to go see the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the mid-sixties at Big John's, in the Old Town neighborhood, where we lived. Love this song and album.
8. Anybody around my age remember the shaving cream commercial this one was used in?
9. The Sex Pistols only recorded one album. But why record another when you got the first one right?
10. Rumor has it that The Jam were who the Clash were making fun of in "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" ("They've got new suits and Burton suits....")

Had a crushing last few weeks. Finished my Pediatrics rotation, which was very productive. I've begun my second Med-Surg rotation. Since I got a very low lottery number in registration, I was able to get the instructor I wanted, Ms. B., a very funny, strong-willed French lady who is one of the best teachers of any subject I've had in my life. As I'm fond of saying that she rides you like a five dollar burro, but you learn a ton. She understands that time management is going to be one of our big issues when we're nurses, but also wants to make sure we can think critically.

Last weekend, Kim and Mel went out of town, and it was just Adam and I. I took a rare Saturday night off-- an expensive proposition, but needed, I thought, to spend some time with him. He's missed the most time with me of everybody. Last Saturday, we hung out together, and my best friend Jim came by. We watched an old movie, "Start The Revolution Without Me," which I used to watch with my father whenever it was on television. Neither Jim nor Adam had ever seen it, so it was really fun to watch it with them.

My son and I got to talk a lot. I'd been concerned about him. At the end of last summer, his cousin, my ex's nephew, died at the age of 28. He was more like a brother to my son-- a really nice kid. I came to the conclusion, at the end of the weekend, that he's dealing with it as well as one could expect.

Over the weekend, we had a bunch of great talks. He amazes me sometimes. He's dealt with so much-- he has to deal with my ex- way more than I have to. And yet, he thrives-- he's just unbelievably smart. He talks about history, economics, philosophy and understands Game Theory way better than I ever did when I studied it in Grad school. He's got an incredible intellectual curiousity; we walked over to our local little bookstore and I gave him some money to buy any book he wanted. He chose a book about the famine in China that was caused by Chairman Mao's disastrous policies. How may sixteen year olds do you know who would choose to read about this? He's fascinated by economics and government policy. But above all of that stuff, he is just a genuinely nice person. I couldn't be prouder of him.

In less than two weeks, he turns 17. I'm having trouble getting my head around that. There are times where I feel like it's been only six months since I was holding him on my lap feeding him. I know that he is going to love college, but I can't believe he's almost there.

In other news, my daughter's school basketball team went to the playoffs. They won the first round, but were knocked out in the next round, in a game this evening. I was really proud of my daughter; she played aggressively and well. I hope that this summer we can find some time to play together.

I spent some time tonight doing some online case studies for the Pediatrics HESI test (a preparation for the nursing boards) that I'm taking Monday morning. It's a little staggering to know that I'm so close to finishing this all-- ten weeks left. I'm amazed at how much I have learned, and I'm amazed at how much I have to learn. I've come to the realization that I'm entering a field that I can spend a lifetime learning in. And I'm pretty damned good with that.


1. The Times They Are A'Changin'- Bob Dylan
2. Queen Jane Approximately- Bob Dylan
3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken- Asleep At The Wheel
4. To Be Young- Ryan Adams
5. Car Jamming- The Clash
6. Don't Take Your Guns To Town- Johnny Cash
7. Dock Of the Bay- Otis Redding
8. I Think It Was the Wine- Corky Seigel
9. The Needle And The Spoon- Lynnrd Skynnrd
10. Blues With A Feeling- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band


Notes:
1. One of the hallmark songs of the sixties. Also at the beginning of the movie "Watchmen," which I got for Christmas.
2. From "Highway 61 Revisited," one of my "desert island" albums.
3. A great old standard served up by Asleep At the Wheel on the great album "Served Live."
4. Love this song. If you've ever seen "Old School," it's the song played at the beginning of the movie.
5. From "Combat Rock," and album that came out 29 years ago. Can you believe it?
6. Some classic Cash
7. I never, ever get tired of hearing this song, or singing it and playing it on guitar. A post-humous number 1 for the immensely talented Mr. Redding.
8. I friggin' love this song, which sums up a lot of my younger years. My parents used to see Seigel at Big John's, a club in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighorhood back in the late sixties.
9. Skynnrd warning about dope.
10. Another band my folks used to see at Big John's in the sixties.